Who Told This Long Ago?
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Isaiah 45 (exceprts)
2. "I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron, 3. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. 4. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me. 5. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I gird you, though you do not know me, 6. that men may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7. I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe, I am the Lord, who do all these things. 8. "Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth, and let it cause righteousness to spring up also; I the Lord have created it. 12. I made the earth, and created man upon it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. 18. For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the Lord, and there is no other. 19. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, `Seek me in chaos.' I the Lord speak the truth, I declare what is right. 20. "Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. 21. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. 22. "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: `To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.' 24. "Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed, all who were incensed against him. 25. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall triumph and glory."
This morning as I prepared to begin my bible reading, I asked God to reveal to me what He wanted me to know today. I opened immediately to Isaiah – one of my very favorite books of the bible. Chapter 45 offers revelations of the future that God has revealed to Isaiah—down to the detail of who will restore Israel—naming him – 150 years before the events will take place! God wanted to be sure people would have a record of Isaiah’s predictions so there would be no doubt who had put into place the events that lead to the city being rebuilt!
My husband and I watched an Eagles concert last night on television and reflected on the last 30 years of our lives (could we possibly have even been alive that long!?). And during the commercials we reflected on the revelation of the identity of Deep Throat in the Watergate case, and talked about some of the other “big headlines” over the past 3 decades. Matt Lauer ended the interview with Woodward and Bernstein this morning with a facetious question, “So where’s Jimmy Hoffa?” Last night my husband indicated now he wanted to know where was D. B. Cooper’s money? (If you are very young, these questions may not resonate with you, but believe me they occupied the headlines for many years and were the topic of conversations at water coolers across the country!) When I shared my scripture selection this morning he asked me why I had used these examples from “the world.” I told him that I can remember during so many of these events focusing only on the headlines – the big story of the day. What I failed to think about was that God had already been there—as he is always in our future!
He already knows, not just what will happen in the next 30 years – but in the next 30,000 years and far beyond—to the end of time! He even knows when the end of time will be! That’s what he is telling Isaiah for his own comfort and reassurance, but also for the people of the time, the people who will be alive 150 years from that day, and even to us—in this day and time—God is in charge. He always was, always will be. Dare we trust in any other power? Dare we go out into the world relying upon the promise of any other being?
I hope today you find tremendous comfort in knowing that you are never alone – because God has already been where you are going. And that when you don’t see that second set of footprints in the sand, you’ll know He is carrying you lovingly and with care.
Mary
