A dominant theme throughout Isaiah is the Exodus, just as Israel had been slaves in Egypt, so too, they would be exiles in Assyria, Babylon and Persia. Just as God had brought them up out of Egypt, so too, he would come to their aid, deliver them and lead them home.
Read Isaiah 43-45
In chapter 43, God repeatedly tells the people not to fear. They do not need to fear their captors and oppressors because God will redeem them. They do not need to fear the different challenges and obstacles along the way because God would lead them through fire and flood, just as he had led them through the desert, Red Sea and Jordan.
The Lord is the unique and only redeemer, without rival (ch44). This is true generally because he is God but also specifically because he is Israel’s God and so he is the one who formed or created them, just as he is the one who gives life to the embryo in the womb. Again, this is reason not to fear and if the things we fear are the things that become our idols, then again we see the futility of idolatry. Notice in this chapter (v28), the specific prediction of Cyrus and his future role on God’s behalf and say so in Israel’s redemption.
Chapter 45 sees God calling and commissioning Cyrus as his appointed servant. He will use this Gentile., pagan emperor who does not know him to deliver the people. In fact,if we take the conservative view that there was one prophet responsible for the oracles in the book, then God is able to call Cyrus by name, many years before these events come to pass. Cyrus may well be the agent through whom God acts, but he is only God’s instrument. It is God alone who saves.
Ponder
Mediate on:
Fear not, for I have redeemed you (43:1)
- What are the things you ae tempted to fear?
- In what ways might those things become like idols to you?
- What does it look like for you to be free from fear?
- What does it mean to be redeemed?
There is a redeemer
Jesus, God’s own Son
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah
Holy One
Jesus my redeemer
Name above all names
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah
Oh, for sinners slain
Thank you, oh my father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
‘Til the work on Earth is done
When I stand in Glory
I will see His face
And there I’ll serve my King forever
In that Holy Place
Thank you, oh my father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
‘Til the work on Earth is done
There is a redeemer
Jesus, God’s own Son
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah
Holy One
Thank you, oh my father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
‘Til the work on Earth is done[1]
[1] Keith and Melody Green.
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