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Author: Pastor Thomas G. Wilson
May 11, 2020
Isaiah 42:1-9 KJV [9] Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
 
To comprehend the gravity of what God is saying to the children of Israel through the prophet Isaiah, you need a little history.  God delivered the children of Israel from Egypt in dramatic fashion.  Moses received the law from God, which represented rules and ordinances regarding the covenant that God made with them.  The Lord led them through the wilderness to what was then the land of Canaan, also known as the “promised land”.  The children of Israel strayed from God and eventually they were defeated and taken into bondage by the Babylonians.  The Babylonians destroyed the temple and confiscated all of Israel’s treasures.  The defeat was absolute and the land was left in complete devastation and ruin for decades.  They were left to wonder, how the mighty God who delivered them from Egypt allowed this to happen?  Had God abandoned them?  Were they still God’s people without access to the temple to make sacrifices?  While in exile they could only “logically” conclude that God had withdrawn His favor.
 
It was into this backdrop that Isaiah spoke a word to God’s people in chapter 42 to remind them who God is and how God works.  He then draws their attention from this particular moment in time to the larger plan and purposes of God all the while building their faith.  He does this by reminding Israel who God is, how He works and what God is doing by sending His servant (Jesus).  Isaiah encouraged them with the exhortation that God is not simply the God of Israel, or even Israel and Babylon, but He’s the One who created the heavens.  With meticulous accuracy and purpose He stretched them out and within His plan He spread forth the earth.  Seriously, check His resume; can He be matched at all?
 
Then we come to verse 9, where God provokes Israel to review their history where He spoke to them through the prophets and then kept all of those promises.  Considering the vast consistency of His ability and faithfulness therefore without hesitation, set your gaze on the future.  Yet with all that, God was not done speaking, He remained the architect of time and eternity.  At the right time, at the opportune time, at the precise moment of that time which was laden with His purpose and meaning, He would declare new things.  Like only He could do, before they happened He would speak of them.  Then He would do exactly what He said.
 
This prophecy remains significant for all humans today.  God has an outstanding resume from eternity past of delivering, directing, and sustaining His people.  Remember who He is and how He works.  He works by declaring what He will do and then doing what He declares.
 
For further reading:  Isaiah 42
 
 

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