START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 43:16-21
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OBSERVE:
This passage appears to have been written after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BC, when the Jews were transported by the Babylonians into exile. Isaiah has made this clear in earlier verses:
Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon
and break down all the bars,
and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation (Isaiah 43:14).
The first section of this passage relates to the history of Israel, as Isaiah recalls the deliverance from Egypt some 600 to 700 years earlier:
Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
The “Road Out” (the literal meaning of “Exodus”) was paved through the Red Sea, where the Egyptian army was drowned according to the great story of Jewish deliverance in Exodus 14.
As astonishing as this act of salvation history may be, Isaiah urges his people to look beyond that past event to the deliverance from exile that God is about to accomplish for Israel:
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Isaiah assures the Jews who are in exile that God will do a “new thing,” and bring them back from their latest bondage. This time it will be from bondage in Babylon instead of Egypt, and their escape route will take them through the wilderness to the west of Babylon, not through the Red Sea.
Isaiah foresees that God will create a new highway that leads back from Babylon to Judah:
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
The language that Isaiah uses is a reminder of some of the events in Exodus. For example, God provided water in the desert of Sinai (Exodus 15:22-25). Now, God will not simply bring forth water from the rock, he will cause rivers to flow in the desert!
The Lord reminds the people that they belong to him, and their purpose is to worship and praise him.
APPLY:
When we look back to what God has done in the past, we sometimes get “stuck” expecting that God will do the same thing exactly the same way again. In fact, God is always doing a “new thing” in a new way. We need to keep our eyes open for new insights, new guidance, and new opportunities as God reveals the plan to us.
RESPOND:
In C.S. Lewis’s Christian allegorical novel Prince Caspian, the great Lion Aslan — the Christ figure of the book — says gently to Lucy:
Things never happen the same way twice.
We human beings tend to like to find patterns in life and in history. We are taught to believe that history repeats itself. In fact, the philosopher George Santayana is quoted as saying:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Can both of these views be true? I believe there are events and behaviors that create patterns. If we can’t learn from history in order to either avoid disaster or to make wise decisions, why study the past at all?
Perhaps the best way to understand this is to recognize that we human beings have a tendency to be boringly redundant. Our essential character hasn’t really changed all that much since the Garden; the only changes have been in our fashions and our cultures. Like the cliche says,
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
But God is not limited by our boundaries of time and space. God can and does act in surprising ways. Thus, John writes,
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:50).
When it comes to God’s plans for us, to quote an old Australian Army song from 1944:
You ain’t seen nothing yet!
Lord, thank you for reminding us of your miracles in the past. But help me to be reminded that you are still very much alive, and there are still miracles all around me today. When I get stuck in redundant patterns, remind me that you will make all things new. Amen.
PHOTOS:
The “New” graphic by Peggy Marco is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license.
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