Fear Not, Isaiah 43:1-7

Isaiah 43:1-7 is the third section in a four part Word from the Lord. In fact, there are two parallel Words from the Lord here in Isaiah 42-44. Both of these declarations from the Lord are made up of 4 parts, and the parts parallel one another.

Part One- God announces divine intervention

Part Two- God exhorts or encourages Israel

Part Three- God delivers a message of salvation for His people

Part Four- God declares His sovereignty over all nations and his supremacy over their gods.

The focal part of our sermon today comes from Isaiah 43:1-7. But, as you can see, if we are going to rightly apply the passage to our lives today, we must first understand the meaning and significance of the passage in its book of Scripture… and then see it in the broader context of the rest of God’s revelation.

What I mean is that every part of God’s revelation is meaningful, but its meaning is dependent on its context. And there are layers to context. For the sake of our time today. The layers are where the passage fits in the broader section of the book of Scripture. Then, where that section fits in the book of Scripture. And then how this book of Scripture fits with the rest of the books of the Bible. And then how the truth this passage relates to the rest of God’s redemptive story and plan as revealed in the Bible.

So, with all of that said, our sermon focuses its attention on the third part in the Word that God sends through his prophet Isaiah.

Part one of this word is found in Isaiah 42:13-17

At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 42, God had been silent for some time as a part of His judgment on them. See Isaiah 42:14…

Isaiah 42:14 (ESV) “14 For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself…"

Everything unfolded in Israel just like God had said it would. Israel had been conquered and dispersed from the promised land to the kingdom of their enemy.

God is going to come like a warrior, like he did in the days when Israel was freed from Egypt. When God comes as a warrior he comes to deliver his people, and this is he announcement of his divine inervention. Though his people are described as blind… He is coming to lead them home.

Part two of this word is found in Isaiah 42:18-25

In this passage God reminds Israel why they are in the situation they are in. He refers to them as deaf, blind, disobedient, plundered, trapped, looted, and hidden in prisons, God reminds them that they are in their difficult and even terrible situations because they did not observe His commands or live for His glory.

As He says in Isaiah 42:22 (ESV), “22 But this is a people plundered and looted; they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become plunder with none to rescue, spoil with none to say, “Restore!”

Not only are they in a difficult situation, there is no one to rescue them or to restore them. But, no one can save them because God is the one who put them in their situation as punishment for their sins.

(Live for his glory?)

Part four of this word is found in Isaiah 43:8-13…

Israel was spiritually insensitive to the Lord’s instructions. They were so far from the Lord that there wasn’t anyone who could even remember what God had done for them in the past. Isaiah 43:9 (ESV), “9 All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true.”

In this moment God says that He will put the nation of Israel on trial before all the other nations… and they are to serve as witnesses and also testify to the truth that God has saved them in the past. God has done for Israel what He is now promising to do again.

As the Lord says in Isaiah 43:10–11 (ESV) 10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. 11 I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.”

God promises to deliver Israel and declares that there is no one can stand in His way or turn back his advances.

In the middle of all that God says… his promise to intervene, His reminder that they are in their predicament because of their sin and his judgment, and the declaration of His sovereignty and supremacy… in the midst of this massive moment God speaks gently to Israel to dispel their fears and give them comfort in the face of what seem like insurmountable odds.

Isaiah 43:1–7 (ESV), “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

They were scattered and dispersed from the Holy City and from the promised land. They had not heard from the Lord in some time… and I think this personal moment in the midst of God’s grand declarations is one of the most comforting and encouraging passages in all of Scripture.

God’s people have been sent into exile… and at this point it must seem like the nation of Israel will die out and be no more. At the point where no one remembers and no one testifies of the goodness of God it has to feel dark and hopeless.

Who hasn’t felt like his or her situation was insurmountable?

Who hasn’t felt like there was no hope and no future?

I think we can even identify with Israel being in a predicament of their own making… I mean who hasn’t sinned at some point in some way that made a mess of a relationship, a job, your finances, etc?

When we are in the worst situation imaginable… where do we turn?

In the place of darkness, struggle, and despair God doesn’t just declare His might and power, He also provides comfort with two truths about his relationship with His people.

Fear not because you are His

Isaiah 43:1-4

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

You have been redeemed

You have been called to Him (He has called you by name to confess your sins, pray for forgiveness, trust Him by faith, and live for Him.)

You have been saved from the consequences of God’s judgment on your sin… Because you belong to Him the chaos and struggle of this world will not overcome you… you will pass through the fire of His judgment… Like Noah passed through the flood, like Israel walked through the sea… Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked in the furnace of fire and were not burned, not even their clothes…

God is your redeemer… and He has not redeemed to lose you or to leave you.

Fear not because He is with you

Isaiah 43:5-7

“5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

God has redeemed you… and He is with you. When God redeemed and saved Israel from Egypt He was with them… Cloud by day, fire by night… He had them build a tabernacle where He would meet with them… They were known as the people who’s god was in their midst. Then He had them build a temple in the promised land… The place where they would come and meet with Him.

Unlike the other religions that had many different places to go and offer sacrifices… God’s people had a place to come and meet with Him. This was a promise and reality unlike any other religion. No other religion promises that God will be there… but God is there and God comforts Israel in her distress with the reminder that she belongs to Him… and the reassurance that He is there.

In all that you are going through God says Fear Not, I am with you. You are not alone… no matter how alone you feel. He knows you and He is with you. He is not watching from far off in the universe or even across the street. God is with you.

The comfort that God provides is the comfort that was lost in the Garden of Eden.

When Adam sinned everything changed. Where there was no problem there was now the eternal problem.

Adam and Even walked with God in the garden… they lived in His presence as He would walk with them in the cool of the day. They knew Him, they knew His voice, and He knew them. But when sin came into the world that changed.

You see God is holy… and He does not dwell with sin. So, he casts sinners away from His presence. It’s what he did in the Garden of Eden after they sinned. And, it’s what He did to Israel over and over again as they rebelled and ignored His instructions.

As sinners we are separated from God. But, in the Garden of Eden God whispered a promise of redemption from sin and a return to His presence. Genesis 3:14–15 (ESV) says, 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

In this moment of judgment God points forward to the day when the Messiah would be born to crush Satan, overcome sin and death, and redeem God’s people.

God redeems and restores in Jesus Christ

When God delivered Israel from Egypt He aimed us forward to the day when Christ would come to redeem us from our sins. When God tabernacled with Israel in the tent and in the temple He foreshadowed the day when Christ would come to be Immanuel- God with us.

God redeems us and He also restores us to the relationship and His presence that was lost in the Garden of Eden.

The redemptive work of God has always been pointing us to Jesus Christ… and in Jesus Christ we have both redemption from our sins and the promised presence of God.

Jesus said in John 16:7 (ESV), “7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit who would then “tabernacle” in us… in the same way that God had tabernacle with Israel. When the veil of the temple was torn it symbolized that you no longer came to the temple to be reconciled to God… God had come to us and was not calling us to Himself and sending His Holy Spirit to be with us.

God’s redemptive plan, from before the book of Genesis, through Genesis 3, through Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, and through the book of Isaiah was always Jesus. It’s a long passage… but listen to Ephesians 1 with the redemptive plan and the promised presence of God in mind:

Ephesians 1:3–14 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Friend, as Ephesians 1:7 says… we have redemption through the blood of Jesus. Jesus has come to free you from the curse of sin and to give you forgiveness and eternal life.

And, as Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us you have been redeemed to live with God and He lives with you. The Holy Spirit has come to live and dwell with us now, as a guarantee of what is to come. Like the tabernacle pointed Israel forward to the building of the temple… The Holy Spirit points us forward to the day when we Christ returns and we will dwell in His presence forever.

So, let me encourage you today… in the midst of your struggle and in the midst of uncertain times and events with this truth:

Fear not, you belong to God and He is with you.

He knows you, He knows what you are going through, and He has promised that not even death will have victory over you.

But, there is one more thing I want to share… and this is the opposite of the comforting message we have had so far.

If you do not belong to God, then you should be very afraid.

The promises of God are for those who are His… That’s the point of Ephesians 1, it’s evidenced over and again in the OT… and it’s a reality.

If you are not redeemed and restored by faith in Jesus Christ then you are still in your sin, separated from God, and without any hope in the dark and chaos of the world.

God called Israel to Himself… He said to them, “you are mine.” And today, right now God is calling to you… He calls you to turn from your sin and trust in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. He calls you to follow Him and be forgiven for your sin and receive the gift of eternal life… and He promises to be with those who are His… He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in you as a sign of the promise of what is to come, and also as a helper in your pursuit of living for Him… to help you follow His instructions and live for His glory…

God loves you, and He sent Jesus to save you…

Jesus is the way to the Father, the truth that was prophesied, and the life that was promised.

in fact Jesus said this in John 14… In John 14:1–7 (ESV) Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Fear Not, Believe in Jesus

This was Jesus’ message when His disciples found out He was going to be leaving them to return to Heaven. Having had the presence of Jesus they did not want to be without Him… So Jesus told them that He was the way to be in His presence forever… And this is the only way to live without fear in this world… to trust in Jesus.

Without Jesus, be afraid. With Jesus there is no fear… for HE has redeemed you and He is with you.