In one of the most famous passages in the Bible, the prophet Isaiah seeks to remind the people of Israel following Exile about the ground of their hope and comfort. He reminds the people with a series of questions about their faith: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” – God is creator and liberator! God is the Lord of heaven and earth (v. 21-22).
In other words, don’t underestimate what this God will do, when compared with the gods and goddesses surrounding you in Babylon! Nothing is going to defeat this God, or the purposes of God, for the good of God’s creation, or for God’s people! No matter how difficult the moment (Rom. 8:28).
This is the reason for Isaiah’s hope: it is in the very nature of God to create new beginnings for his people, to offer a way when there appears to be no way!
Think, for example, of how God led Israel out of the wilderness following the Exodus: it was during this wilderness time of struggle that Israel developed the Tabernacle, the priesthood, the Sanhedrin, the Torah, and the twelve Tribes. It was actually a time of creativity. Or, consider how God led the people of Israel back to Israel following the Exile in Babylon: it was during this time of disturbance that Israel created the synagogue, the teaching class called the rabbis, and wisdom literature. God did not just create and then stop creating in Genesis. God is creating all the time, even now. New things are being born.
Think of all the online-learning opportunities now occurring, for example, or of the ways some churches are now cooperating with other churches because they may not have the resources, or think of the different ways we are trying to connect and encourage differently, or the way we have had to adapt and experiment. What’s the old saying? Necessity is the mother of invention!
How is God calling us to trust and walk together? How God is working to show us new possibilities? How are we walking in God’s strength and not being weary?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
In other words, don’t underestimate what this God will do, when compared with the gods and goddesses surrounding you in Babylon! Nothing is going to defeat this God, or the purposes of God, for the good of God’s creation, or for God’s people! No matter how difficult the moment (Rom. 8:28).
This is the reason for Isaiah’s hope: it is in the very nature of God to create new beginnings for his people, to offer a way when there appears to be no way!
Think, for example, of how God led Israel out of the wilderness following the Exodus: it was during this wilderness time of struggle that Israel developed the Tabernacle, the priesthood, the Sanhedrin, the Torah, and the twelve Tribes. It was actually a time of creativity. Or, consider how God led the people of Israel back to Israel following the Exile in Babylon: it was during this time of disturbance that Israel created the synagogue, the teaching class called the rabbis, and wisdom literature. God did not just create and then stop creating in Genesis. God is creating all the time, even now. New things are being born.
Think of all the online-learning opportunities now occurring, for example, or of the ways some churches are now cooperating with other churches because they may not have the resources, or think of the different ways we are trying to connect and encourage differently, or the way we have had to adapt and experiment. What’s the old saying? Necessity is the mother of invention!
How is God calling us to trust and walk together? How God is working to show us new possibilities? How are we walking in God’s strength and not being weary?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
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