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The VBS Series
Today I am breaking away from our summer sermon series in Genesis, “It All Starts Here”, and I starting a new mini-series called the VBS series.
That is the nice thing about summer, we will just break off of one series for a while, go on to something new, then perhaps come back to it.
The VBS series, is not about Vacation Bible School, it is about the lessons that will be taught in VBS.
Today, we are talking about the theme verse of VBS this year.
Each year VBS selects a theme verse.
This year for Rolling River rampage they have Isaiah 43:2, for their theme verse.
We are going to look at that verse, first in it’s context, then see what it has for us individually, and as a church.
Pray
As we come to the book of Isaiah, it is helpful if we remember the setting of the book.
At the end of the book of Genesis, we find that the twelve sons of Jacob are living in Egypt.
They are fruitful, and the multiply and the they start to be quite a population in Egypt.
The Egyptians place them in bondage and they are put to brutal slave labor.
God then redeems or purchases them out of slavery.
God leads them out of Egypt through the red sea, into the wilderness.
At the foot of Mount Sinai, Yahweh, God, created a nation of His people, called Israel, made up of His chosen people.
Then Yaweh gave them a law to follow, and the jewish people were formed.
Then, His people the jews, with a law, needed land, so God led His people through the waters of the Jordan river, into the promised land.
Yahweh, had originally intended that the Nation of Israel was to be one-united Nation, living under God’s law and following Yaweh, in the promised land.
Well you know people right.
Even with God dwelling among us, even with guidelines set in stone, we still love sin, right ?
So, as a result Yahweh’s kingdom.
split.
The one single nation of God’s people split into two kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom called Israel, and the southern kingdom called Judah.
The split caused a whole new set of problems.
The southern kingdom, Judah had Jerusalem, the temple.
The northern kingdom did not, they had troubles worshipping so they set up their own centers of worship.
Although the southern kingdom had the temple sacrifices and priests, they did not have right hearts either.
They were judgmental, and not helpers of the poor and oppressed.
But even through all this, God did not abandon His people.
Instead God sent prophets.
Old Testament Prophets were messengers, sent by God to deliver His message to call the people back.
The prophets gave warning messages, and told the people that of they did not turn back, God would punish them.
Isaiah was a prophet who began his ministry in 736 BC.
He was sent to deliver God’s message to the southern Kingdom.
The Northern kingdom already had ignored God’s prophets, and God was bringing His judgement upon the Northern Kingdom, through attacks from foreign countries.
The Northern kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 BC, and the southern kingdom suffered under Assyria attack as well, but did not fall to them.
It is in this setting that Isaiah is delivering God’s message to the people.
In today’s scripture reading I had Jowane start off in Isaiah chapter 42 verse 18.
This is that warning and judgement I was talking about.
This is addressed to the jewish people.
The people who have everything from God that could need.
They have land, they have the law, and even when they aren’t following the law, God is sending prophets to call them back.
They don’t get it.
It is so frustrating.
I can imagine the prophets, and those whose hearts were right with the Lord, over and over again, they talk of God, they have the book, they have the ark the actual 10 commandments, Evidence of God’s hand in how they were led through the waters and into the promised land.
Yet they didn’t listen.
This appears to be a pattern with people.
This idea that God is attempting to reach out to people, but they aren’t seeing it.
Or to use another sense, they are not hearing God’s message.
John picked up on this in His Gospel when we echoed the prophet Isaiah in John 1 “The people walking in darkness...” It is like they could see, what was happening.
Jesus took off on this as well calling the religious leaders of his day “Blind guides”, in Matthew 15 and Matthew 23.
Last week we talked about Cain.
God said to Him, remember that?
Cain sin is crouching at your door.
But, Cain ignored God’s call, He didn’t hear him.
He wasn’t physically deaf, but as Isaiah says, your ears are open, but you do not listen.
So what happens.
What happens when people do not heed the warnings of God.
When that happens, when people don’t hear, when people don’t see, when people don’t turn back, they are subject to God’s judgement.
We know for Cain, he did not heed God’s warning, he committed murder, and Gen 4- Cain went “out from the Lord’s presence.”
The northern kingdom, did not heed the warnings and God allowed Assyria to invade, and to carry off the people into captivity.
The southern kingdom would later fall to the Babylonians, for not listening to the prophets.
Here in Isaiah 42, we hear about that judgement that awaits the nation.
They were experiencing the discipline of the Lord.
It is as if God is saying through the prophets, here are my words, follow them, but if you don not follow them, if you refuse, I will use physical means to draw you back.
I will do whatever it takes to bring Israel back.
If that means an invasion, If that means for a period of time you will be out of the land, then that is what I will do.
Again, this idea of punishment from the Lord as discipline is not unique here.I think this is also what the author of Hebrews warns against.
When God’s people hear His word to turn from sin and follow Him, and they do not, and instead when they don’t God may use his discipline to draw them back to Him.
Do not lose heart when he rebukes you.
People have a tendency to lose heart when they are rebuked.
People tend to be discouraged and wonder where God is.
The people fo God were certainly wondering.
War is a horrible thing to happen on your land and in your city.
The city is in ruins, people are killed, others are captured.
Houses and cities are destroyed.
Perhaps even God abandoned them.
This is very traumatic for people.
You can go through just about anything as long as God doesn’t abandon you.
They were wondering if God had abandoned them.
Was it too late?
Like David, don’t take you spirit from me.
As he pled with God in Psalm 51, to not abandon him even though he had been such a horrible sinner.
That is what the jewish people are going through, when we turn to chapter 43.
For the Nation of Israel it looks dark -things are at an end but God comes to them and says, do not fear!
But now....do not fear.
The country is ruins, there is only a few people left, the wrath of God has been poured out, But NOW. this is what God says-Do not fear.
Your creator is telling you do not fear.These people were formed by the hand of God.
He formed them, like creation itself was formless and void.
God took a nation that did not exist before- He gave them order and law and and God’s word and formed them and made them a Nation.
Then our VBS theme verse.
Verse 2.
The waters God is talking about here, are not the same waters as the red sea, or the Jordan river.
The waters here are the trials, the tribulations, the difficulties that the Nation has faced in their discipline, from turning away from the Lord.
It may seem to them like an overwhelming flood of problems, like a rapidly flowing river due to sweep them away into oblivion, but God says, Do not fear!
they will not sweep over you, Yahweh will be with you.
The fire will not set you ablaze-God will be with you.
Like shadrach Meshach and Abengo in the fiery furnace the flames will not destroy you God will be with you.
Israel must have need that assurance.
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