The Power that Transforms
January 9, 2005 - Isaiah 43:1-21
Open It
What techniques do you use within yourself to deal with fearful situations?
How have you felt about the finished product of a project you have labored over?
Explore It
Why did the Lord tell Israel not to be afraid? (43:1)
Through what sorts of trials did Isaiah say God's people would pass unscathed? (43:2)
What valuable price was God willing to pay for Israel's ransom? (43:4)
How did God promise to address the exile and scattering of Israel? (43:5-7)
What could God's people witness about Him that other peoples could not claim about their gods? (43:8-10)
What is impossible for human beings apart from God? (43:11-13)
What did God promise to do with a proud, conquering nation? (43:14-15)
What past deeds of God were related by Isaiah to illustrate his point? (43:16-18)
What forsaken land and its animal inhabitants would recognize God's activity among His chosen people? (43:19-21)
Get It
What are some of the ways that we can know God loves us?
For what different reasons do you think people fail to express gratitude to God?
Why do you think God's people sometimes fail to perceive His provision for them?
Why was God continually reminding Israel of how He delivered them from Egypt?
What attitudes lead us to neglect worship and prayer?
What is sometimes difficult about remembering that God has forgiven and forgotten our past sins?
What is the penalty of unforgiven sin?
Apply It
In what practical ways can you remind yourself to pray this coming week, knowing that God is eager to answer?
How can you use God's promise in Isaiah 43:2 to help you have the faith and courage to endure your own difficult circumstances?
Notes
Isaiah 43:1-4: Isaiah 42 ends with God's sorrow over the spiritual decay of his people. In Isaiah 43, God says that despite the people's spiritual failure, he will show them mercy, bring them back from captivity, and restore them. He would give them an outpouring of love, not wrath. Then the world would know that God alone had done this.
Isaiah 43:1-4: God created Israel and made it special to him. God redeemed Israel and summoned them by name to be those who belong to him. God protected Israel in times of trouble. We are important to God, and he also summons us by name and gives us his name (Isaiah 43:7)! When we bear God's wonderful name, we must never do anything that would bring shame to it.
Isaiah 43:2: Going through rivers of difficulty will either cause you to drown or force you to grow stronger. If you go in your own strength, you are more likely to drown. If you invite the Lord to go with you, he will protect you.
Isaiah 43:3: God gave other nations to Persia in exchange for returning the Jews to their homeland. Egypt, Cush, and parts of Arabia (Seba) had attacked Persia, and the Persians defeated them.
Isaiah 43:5-6Isaiah was speaking primarily of Israel's return from Babylon. But there is a broader meaning: all God's people will be regathered when Christ comes to rule in peace over the earth.
Isaiah 43:10-11: Israel's task was to be a witness (Isaiah 44:8), telling the world who God is and what he has done. Believers today share the responsibility of being God's witnesses. Do people know what God is like through your words and example? They cannot see God directly, but they can see him reflected in you.
Isaiah 43:15-21: This section pictures a new exodus for a people once again oppressed, as the Israelites had been as slaves in Egypt before the exodus. They would cry to God, and again he would hear and deliver them. A new exodus would take place through a new desert. The past miracles were nothing compared to what God would do for his people in the future.