Lesson for Jan. 16, 2011: Reassurance for God”s People (Isaiah 48:12-22)

This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for January 16) is written by Matt Schantz who serves as director of organizational development with a national building supply company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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Reassurance for God”s People (Isaiah 48:12-22)

By Matt Schantz

I don”t listen well. Too often I get distracted and I fail truly to hear what someone is saying to me. My daughter has come up with a remedy for this malady. When she senses I am losing focus, she grabs my cheeks and cranks my head in her direction and says, “Daddy, listen to me with your face!”

In this section of Isaiah, God implores his stiff-necked people to listen to him and offers them some good reasons why, “I am the first and the last. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together” (48:12, 13). I am “your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (48:17). “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (48:17). In spite of these affirmations, we, like Israel, often turn a deaf ear toward God and go our own way.

Unfulfilled Potential

It is sobering to reflect on what might have been. I went through a season of rebellious living during my high school years. Admittedly, it was fun for a time, but in the end the damage to my relationships and to my own character cost me dearly. All of us have unfulfilled potential brought on by sin that keeps us from experiencing God”s best.

Isaiah 48:18 reveals God”s heart for Israel in this regard: “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” God laments Israel”s disobedience. He carries a keen awareness of “what could have been” had Israel been faithful. He wanted to shower the Israelites with blessings so they could be a blessing to the rest of the world (Genesis 12:3), but Israel”s disobedience could not be ignored. Instead, God disciplined the Israelites by sending them into captivity in Babylon.

Had the Israelites listened to God through the years, their life and circumstances would have been remarkably different. Instead of being enslaved in Babylon, they would have walked in righteousness and known God”s peace. But it was not too late. Israel would miss out on much of what God wanted to do for her, but he would not abandon his promise. Isaiah prophesies about a new exodus, but this time the chosen redeemer is not Moses, but a Gentile named Cyrus, king of the Persians.

Unwavering Pursuit

God refuses to dwell on what might have been, but moves forward in the pursuit of his people. He encourages them that a time is coming for their exit from Babylon and their return to the promised land. And they were not to simply leave Babylon, but to be God”s witnesses to the ends of the earth (48:20). They were to joyfully shout and proclaim what God had done for them. They were to bear witness that God had redeemed them out of captivity from their oppressors. They were to declare that God is alive and eager to draw near to those who seek after him.

Even if your past has placed you in bondage, God is able and willing to deliver you from that captivity. Persia would soon conquer Babylon and Cyrus would sign an edict allowing the Jews to return home. Only 42,000 men and their dependents got out of Babylon. This remnant returned to Jerusalem facing a difficult rebuilding process. In time, they repaired the altar, instituted the daily sacrifices, and laid the foundation for the temple, but it wasn”t easy. The path to wholeness is often slow and difficult, but there is nothing better than watching the Holy Spirit transform a person over time.

In Revelation 18:2, 4, John declares, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! . . . Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.” This Babylon represents a decadent, evil world, linked with a rebellious, apostate church! For us, Babylon represents a life of spiritual indifference and worldly compromise””a religion that believes in God but denies his power to radically change lives.

I believe God is raising up a new generation, a growing remnant of holy, set-apart believers whose hearts have been stirred. This sovereign work of God is preparing those who obey his Word to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. These believers are tired of the worldliness and compromise of today”s church. They hear the Holy Spirit calling them to a life of holiness and separation from the world. They have come out of Babylon, out of the deadness and corruption of apostasy. They refuse to bow to the idols of materialism and popularity. They are a holy people, truly separated””a people hungry to go deeper and live freer than ever before. They are hungry for the Word and God”s leadership in their lives. They are consumed with declaring the wonders of God and making his name great in a fallen world.

I”ve got to tell you. I want to be one of those people. I don”t want to get distracted by the shiny things of this world. So I”m praying a lot these days, “God please help me listen with my face. Do whatever you have to do to get my eyes on you alone. Train my ears to hear your voice and no other. Help me to walk in your peace” (v. 22).

Let”s go together.

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*Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, unless otherwise indicated.

HOME DAILY BIBLE READINGS

Jan. 10: 1 Kings 8:33-40

Jan. 11: Acts 9:3-6, 10-18

Jan. 12: Jeremiah 15:19-21

Jan. 13: Isaiah 48:1-5

Jan. 14: Isaiah 48:6-8

Jan. 15: Isaiah 48:9-13

Jan. 16: Isaiah  48:14-22

ABOUT THE LESSON WRITER: Matt Schantz has been a campus minister, church planter, and now serves as the director of organizational development for a national faith-based building solutions company. He loves to read, eat ice cream, and play driveway basketball with his wife and four kids.