Sermon for 4/3/22 "Rivers In the Desert"

Isaiah 43:16-21

This morning I'll be reading Isaiah chapter 43 verses 16 through 21. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Isaiah 43:16–21 Isaiah is giving the Israelites words from God. And in these verses,,, encouraging words that are meant to help them in their struggles,,, and,,, through our reading and studying,,, they become encouraging words for us today as well. Isaiah 43:16–21 (HCSB) 16 This is what the Lord says— who makes a way in the sea, and a path through surging waters, 17 who brings out the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty one together (they lie down, they do not rise again; they are extinguished, quenched like a wick )— 18 “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. 19 Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. 20 The animals of the field will honor Me, jackals and ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people. 21 The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- We are in our fifth week of Lent,,, and we are always in need of encouraging words,,, especially as we get ready for the different services that we have as we head into Palm Sunday,,, and Holy week.

Last Sunday we looked at Joshua 5:9-12 and we seen how important obedience to God is.

It was important for the Israelites as they prepared to enter the promised land,,, and obedience is important for us today as well.

This morning we will look at these verses in Isaiah and see how they can help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 16 and 17 say: 16 This is what the Lord says— who makes a way in the sea, and a path through surging waters, 17 who brings out the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty one together (they lie down, they do not rise again; they are extinguished, quenched like a wick )

Isaiah begins this verse with the words,,, This is what the Lord says— ,,, a statement used frequently by Isaiah in the second major division of his book to stress the authority behind his words.

Doing what he can to let the people know that God was trying to keep them heading in the right direction,,, and keep their focus on God instead of the world around them.

The rest of this verse,,, and verse 17,,, are a reference to the Egyptian army that tried to follow the Israelites through the path that God had made when He parted the waters of the Red Sea,,, and the way that He protected them as they left Egypt.

When the army entered the pathway,,, God allowed the waters to collapse on the Egyptians,,, drowning all of them.

As it says,,, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick ,,, basically they were snuffed out.

So God has reminded them that He accomplished His job of protecting them,,, now He has new words for them.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 18 says: 18 “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old.

My Faithlife Study Bible says,,, that after God has reminded them of the strong memories of the exodus from Egypt,,, now He is directing them to stop dwelling in the past.

And the past here is not the exodus from Egypt,,, but the judgement against Israel,,, that was predicted earlier in Isaiah,,, so the instruction may have two parts: stop dwelling on your punishment,,, which was the exile that they are experiencing now,,, and to not yearn for the former days of Israel’s power.

Instead,,, attention should now be focused on God and His miraculous redemption.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 19 and 20 say: 19 Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. 20 The animals of the field will honor Me, jackals and ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.

This time God will create,,, instead of “a way in the sea” like He did in verse 16,,, He will create a way in the wilderness.

This future deliverance is pictured as a reversal of nature,,, with rivers in the desert.

And because of the new provision of water in the wilderness,,, the animals that live there will be pleased.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 21 says: 21 The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.

God’s people who have been oppressed by the Babylonians,,, will find new freedom,,, and praise God for their release from captivity.

----------------------------------------------------------- Augustine gives his explanation of these verses by saying,,, “The the abolition of the old ways is evident.”

Here is what the text means. “I will do new things “which were not there before”,,, so that you can understand the things “that were there before”.”

And he explains it this way,,, An animal used to be slaughtered,,, blood poured out,,, and by means of the blood God was being placated.

But was God really being satisfied by means of the blood,,, does God really desire blood sacrifice,,, does God really take delight in the smoke of sacrifices,,, or does the one who created all things,,, who gives you all things,,, really have a craving for the smell of incense or other aromatic spices?

He says,,, No,,, that’s not what God wants!

It’s your devotion that He feeds on,,, and that’s for your benefit,,, not for His benefit.

Those who serve Him,,, serve Him for their benefit,,, not for His.

It says in Psalm 15:1-2 “Lord, who can dwell in Your tent? Who can live on Your holy mountain? The one who lives honestly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in his heart —”

There you have an unconditional statement,,, there’s nothing you can have any hesitation about; God has no need of your sacrifices.

So he says to stop believing that your God is in need of such things,,, but to ask yourself what lesson are they teaching,,, what do they mean.

Previously blood used to be shed by animal victims,,, because the blood foretold what was to be shed by the “one true victim”,,, the blood of your Lord and Savior,,, the blood that is the price paid for you,,, the blood by which the bond of your debt would be cancelled.

Colossians 2:14 “He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.” ,,, by which, that is, the old staleness of your sin would be eliminated.

It has happened,,, it has been shed,,, He himself is being offered.

There is no cause for you to be mindful of ancient things or to call old things to mind.

For I will do new things which will spring up now,,, and you will understand.

Now at last we can understand why those things came before which were foretelling things to come.

They all point to Christ,,, they all have their end in Christ.

Before all these new things came about,,, the old ones were being practiced and not being understood.

What comes next?

He repeats part of verse 19,,, I will make a way in the wilderness (43:19).

In which wilderness?

He says,,, “That of the nations,,, of course,,, where there was no worship of the true God.”

I will make a way in the wilderness,,, and streams in the dry places.

Nowhere among the nations were the prophets ever read; now their writings are flooding all the nations.

You can see the streams in dry places.

One of the early examples of living water in the Bible comes from Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Another place was Jeremiah 17:13 “Lord, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away from Me will be written in the dirt, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.”

In the New Testament,,, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:10 “Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”

Jesus once again speaks of living water in John 7:37-39 “On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been received because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

We can see all of these things in detail today,,, we have the benefit of this vast amount of knowledge and material so that we can see these things being performed right before our eyes.

We are witnesses that all of this is happening today,,, and we can rejoice that God’s word is true!

Jesus’ living water is alive,,, and flowing today,,, and it’s getting closer and closer to flowing everywhere.

----------------------------------------------------------- So this morning as we begin another week,,, I ask that you remember these verses and the way that Isaiah gave them words of comfort even though they were during a trying time.

Also remember that God wants our praise,,, our devotion,,, and wants us to be true to ourselves in our feelings for Him,,, not just putting on a show every Sunday morning,,, but a commitment to Him that last all week long.

Because it’s through our relationship with Him,,, that others see Jesus’ love flowing,,, and want the same “living water” that flows in us,,, and out of us,,, each and every day.

----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------