God is Doing a New Thing - Part II

God is Doing a New Thing! – Isaiah 43:14-28 Part II

Isaiah’s allusions to the past acts of God enable him to remind the people of the fundamental attributes of Almighty God.  The classical, orthodox definition of God insists upon four simultaneous, substantive and set characteristics: omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence and omnibenevolence.  Accordingly, the prophet declares that he speaks on behalf of “your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”  Yahweh is “the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”  He is infinite. He does not have a birth date nor will He have a death date.  He is as infinite as the universe itself.  He, who does not change like shifting shadows or the blowing winds, determines that He will take the atrocity of the Babylonian exile and redeem it toward a useful purpose to accomplish His will and renew His people.  Out of the rubble of this horrific experience, which arguably exceeded the magnitude of Egyptian slavery and the wilderness period, Yahweh will show the nation even greater faithfulness, grace and mercy.  As He works in mysterious ways, He will surprise the people with His magnificence and majesty in unparalleled ways heretofore.  Isaiah’s announcement of the dawn of new things by God derives from the authority of God’s holy, eternal and immutable nature.

The great apostle of love, John, the Beloved Disciple, states straightforwardly that “God is love.”  As a consequence, demonstrating His holy and unconditional love toward His people emerges naturally for Almighty God as He intervenes favorably in their affairs.  In the twenty-third verse, Isaiah tells the people that God obliterates their sinful offenses for God’s own sake.  He refuses to remember this rebellion and infidelity.  Colloquially, God does not record a “rap sheet” on them.  His love cancels the debt of their individual and collective transgressions against the holy character of God.  Practically speaking, God hits the delete button, thereby permanently erasing the totality of the people’s sins that led initially to the Babylonian captivity.  In so doing, God decides that He will do a new thing as the dawn of their return to Jerusalem approaches.  Nevertheless, the people of Israel can rely genuinely and formidably upon the unconditional love of God as the future unfolds.

However, the eighteenth verse presents a perplexing question.  Isaiah says, “Forget the former things and do not dwell upon the past.”  In the ears of seasoned saints, those words may mean that the younger generation may want to “kick the past to the curb.”  Often, the latter group insists upon moving beyond tradition.  Erroneously, they do so without appreciating the riches of the past.  Nonetheless, Isaiah redirects the attention of both groups in the ways in which they interpret the past.  Incessantly dwelling upon the past limits the ability of Almighty God in the eyes of the people who do so.  This tendency speciously arises to believe that God cannot exceed His great deeds of the past.  Thus, we limit an infinite God to a few acts in the past.  Cynics hasten to wonder what will be different in the future.  It is easier to point toward one or two past incidents and polish the memories of them.  In fact, legend which exaggerates these events understandably develops.  Yet, Isaiah appeals to the people to open the eyes of their hearts and look beyond the past.  He recommends that they forget those things in order that they cultivate expectancy for the ways in which God shall exceed His deeds in the past.

God does new things in ways that are unimaginable to us.  Interestingly, He does it in small and mysterious ways.  Isaiah depicts the birth of spring as a mosaic of how intricate and majestic the movement of God can be.  He says that these new occurrences of God will pop up in the most unexpected places.  Also, God often uses people whom we least expect to be the messengers of His grace, peace and love.  In the blockbuster movie, “Hurricane,” Oscar award winning actor, Denzel Washington, depicts the character of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter who finds redemption through the unconditional love of Lesera Martin.  Rubin Carter accepts that his arrogance similar to that of Reuben of Genesis 49 factors significantly in his wrongful conviction and unjust life sentences.  Lesera is a form of the biblical name, Lazarus, the man whom Jesus calls from the dead in John 11.  Lesera purchases Rubin’s bestselling but quickly forgotten book for a quarter at a used book store.  That providential event is the divine catalyst in acquiring Rubin’s exoneration and release from prison.  In that book purchase, God did a new thing in the life of Rubin Carter.  He uses a young and eager boy as the conduit to vindicate an innocent man.  Amazingly, such a small act and amount becomes a significant turning point in the life of a man who was dead existentially.