Isaiah 43: God of new things

Major Sarah Butler encourages us to look at things with a different focus.

Key texts

• Isaiah 43:16–21

Do you remember the trend of Magic Eye books? You were told that their seemingly bizarre patterns of colours and lines contained the image of a train or a horse or even a secret message. You had to hold them up close to your face and then gradually pull them away while trying to soften your focus to see beyond the picture in front of you and, if you got it right, you saw the hidden image leaping out before your very eyes. Once you had seen it, you couldn’t unsee it – you’d cracked it!

In this week’s study passage from Isaiah 43, God asks us to look at things with a different focus, to forget what we think we know and to soften our gaze to see what he is really doing. So let’s dive in.

Through a dramatic retelling of the story of the Exodus, Isaiah reminds us of the Lord’s mighty act of making a dry path through the sea for the Israelites to escape Egypt, while snuffing out the enemies in their wake. Time and time again, God prompts the Israelites to remember their story, their salvation and all the amazing miracles and works of grace that he has done for them.

Pause and reflect

• What miracles or works of grace does God often cause you to remember?

In verse 18, there’s a very sudden change of focus. Instead of allowing the Israelites to pause and remember all that God has done, he tells them to forget all that. Move on! I am on to the next thing now. Don’t get stuck in the past glories!

How many times have you heard these said or maybe said them yourself?: ‘Ah, I remember the good old days.’ Or: ‘Well, this is how we’ve always done it!’ The danger is that we get trapped in the mindset of the past, remembering what has been, and our focus stays on all that is behind us. The Israelites were often caught in this deception as well – even during the Exodus. They often thought they were better off where they were before. However, God was clearly using Isaiah to call the Israelites into a new way of thinking.

As we move into verse 19, we read: ‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?’ God is not calling the Israelites into forgetfulness of their past. Rather, he is shifting their focus to the future, to the greater things that are yet to come. He speaks of the opposite of the dry path through the water, as he says: ‘I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’ Not only is God doing something new, but he is also doing the reverse of what he has done before – from dry land in the water to water in the dry land.

Pause and reflect

• Where is God urging you to focus your gaze? Is it behind or beyond?
• What could this look like for your local ministry?

In my role as territorial pioneer officer, I have the great privilege of encouraging people to think beyond what they have seen before and what they see right in front of them. Asking questions such as: what would happen if we tried it this way? Or: what would it look like to reach that group of people with the gospel? Such questions take us beyond what we know, into the possibilities of what could be, shifting our focus to what God is already doing in our communities and asking how we can get involved.

Pause and reflect

• Why did God raise up The Salvation Army?
• As a Movement, how might we best discern and seek to be involved in what the Holy Spirit is doing right now and in the future?

The end of our study passage reminds us that creation honours God – creatures and human beings recognise his provision for their needs because he provides ‘water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland’ (v20). It concludes with God’s words of encouragement – he has created his chosen people for himself, and their purpose is to proclaim his praise.

God is a timeless God who has always provided for us. He is always faithful, and always committed to the salvation of his people. He always receives our praise.

Our study passage reminds us that God is always doing a new thing, taking us to places we have never been before, and showing us miracles far greater than the ones we have already seen.

The Israelites found comfort in what they knew and what they had experienced. However, they were also in danger of becoming complacent rather than using the truths of their history to prompt them into looking ahead to an even more exciting future.

Pause and reflect

• What might happen if we realised that all the amazing things that God has done in and through The Salvation Army are about to be surpassed in every way?

Isaiah speaks of a journey from the Exodus to the coming Messiah, from dry land through the water to streams in the desert, from the salvation of the Israelites to the salvation of all humankind through Jesus. How do we recognise and discern our part in the next move of the Holy Spirit in our corps, communities and nations?

William Booth once said: ‘I am not waiting for a move of God, I am a move of God!’ If we were to view ourselves as being at the centre of God’s mission in our world, where might our focus shift? Are we looking at things only through what God has done in the past, or are we looking beyond, to an exciting missional adventure with the new things that God is doing?