Isaiah 45:20-23
20 “Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.
21 Declare what is to be, present it–
let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none but me.

22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.

Reading this, it’s almost as if God has left this message on humanity’s answering machine and is just waiting for us to call Him back. He speaks directly (at least, directly through the prophet Isaiah), calling us to “gather together,” to “assemble, to “turn to [Him] and be saved.” This is God as authority figure, God as our Heavenly Father, firmly calling for us to come home where we belong.

Here, we see God referring to the rampant idolatry of Biblical days in no-nonsense words; He treats the many false prophecies about the future in the same way. There is “no God apart from [Him],” He also states–by Himself God swears, to doubly prove how dependable His Word is on these and all other issues. And, at the end of this passage, He promises that “every knee will bow” to Him and “every tongue will swear” by Him, likely on Judgment Day.

This can read as an “angry” statement by God, but I perceive it more as a resolute statement of facts. What is left for us to do is to “declare what is to be”–declare whether we are coming back to God or not. While we worship “gods that cannot save,” like mere “idols of wood,” God waits for us each to make the decision to come back home to Him. He’s laid His terms out there in plain language, which speaks to us just as He spoke to His people in ancient Israel. In fact, He speaks to each of our hearts today…but will we answer?

Isaiah 48:3-5
3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. 4 For I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze. 5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’

Here, God is rebuking ‘stubborn Israel,’ His people who have gone off and worshipped regional Canaanite deities of metal and wood rather than following God. All the things the prophets spoke of so far have come to pass; Israel as a nation is struggling, yet still they cling to tangible idols, sacrificing to them in a vain effort to change their circumstances, rather than turning back to God and trusting Him.

It’s very easy (and tempting) to laugh at the ancient Israelites for doing this. They knew the right things to do, so why didn’t they just do them? Very easy, indeed, to say these things, until we realize we are doing the same things in the present day. Our idols may not look the same as the Canaanite deities, but we still worship the gods of money, technology, and power, and we often trust in those powers far more than we trust in God. There’s a belief, subtle and insidious, that tells us if we just have enough money/technology/power, we will outrun our problems and trials–and we like to believe in that rather than trusting a God we cannot even see.

The Israelites were doing the same thing, trusting in things they could see, touch, and even create rather than really trusting the God who had brought them out of Egyptian slavery and through the wilderness. And then they wondered why their deities had “abandoned” them! God, through the prophet Isaiah, is proving that He is the only One they can trust, and the only One who has power to help them–if they can just trust in that, and stop running off after the tangible things that are powerless to change anything. We need that reminder, too.

Isaiah 43:1-3a
1 But now, this is what the Lord says–he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…”

This is truly a Scripture passage for our time, as our whole world faces social, political, and economic instability, not to mention ceaseless war, natural disasters, and rampant destruction. It’s admittedly hard for us to trust in God when He feels so far away from what is reported in the nightly news.

But this Scripture from the Book of Isaiah should reassure us as much as it reassured the people of ancient Israel: God is with us, even as we wade through floods, even as we walk through fire. Even when it seems the world’s problems are crushing in on us like a trash compactor, we know we can rely on God, because He rescued ancient Israel from slavery, starvation, and the spiritual bleakness of sin, and He will do the same for us. All we need to do is trust in that promise, and give those problems (which are unsolvable for us) over to Him.

Isaiah 53:4

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

This part of Isaiah, prophetically describing the coming “servant” who would save so many (Jesus), describes how the servant would be despised and hated by many who could (and would) be saved by his sacrifice. We know that about 400 years passed before this prophecy came into truth and was recorded in the New Testament, but it seems as though Isaiah was really there to see Jesus–seeing the outright hatred on the faces of the Sanhedrin as they condemned Him, hearing the hoarse cries of the crowd as Pontius Pilate asked the Jews what they wanted him to do with Jesus.

For most of us, even established Christians, Jesus is more often a vague presence in our lives, worthy of worship, but little else. We don’t think about Jesus walking with us, even though we talk a lot about it. He’s kind of like that friend we keep meaning to contact but never quite get around to it; you know you should, but the longer you keep forgetting, the harder it gets to contact, until finally you’re too ashamed to acknowledge it.

But in fact, Jesus should be (and is) a close presence in our lives. After all, He bore our pain, sorrow, and other afflictions, and took care of our sin; He knows everything about us because He is God in flesh. Yet we do not treat Him as a close friend, but hold Him constantly at arm’s length. (I’m guilty of doing this, especially as a younger believer.) If we can shift our thinking to understand Him more as the closest friend and advisor we could ever have, it would be much closer to the character of Jesus.

For instance, driving in dangerous traffic? Jesus is riding shotgun with us. At the gym, laboring to lose pounds? Jesus is lifting weights with us. Trying to deal with ignorant people at work? Jesus knows exactly what you’re feeling when you walk away from the argument. Whatever we’re going through, Jesus has been there–we Christians have a Friend and Counselor that will never leave us. No wonder He’s also known as the Comforter!

Isaiah 1:18-19

18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.”

In this, one of the first verses in the Book of Isaiah (otherwise full of hard-hitting, prophetic verses that the Israelites needed to hear), Isaiah quotes God promising forgiveness. Though our sins might be as plain and as staining as scarlet blood on our hands, that stain can yet be cleansed by forgiveness.

But that promise is not automatically given to all. It is given pending our personal willingness to follow God’s will. The “if you are willing and obedient” part is the key line here; in order to accept God’s promise of forgiveness, we must promise similarly to God that we are ready for forgiveness and the obedience to His will that it entails.

God does not force Himself in where He is not wanted; we have free will. We can choose to accept God or not–it’s a personal decision, and cannot be forced by another person or an institution. But if we want salvation, if we want to be cleansed from the sins that we’ve committed, God stands ready to forgive us. We just have to make that promise of obedience.

Obedience to God Is Not Burdensome

Now, living obedient to God’s will is not easy, but it’s not a total drag, either. I can say that I’m living a much happier and more fulfilling life these days, because I FEEL the forgiveness in my heart and I FEEL my relationship with God growing stronger. It is like having the very best, closest friend in the world, multiplied ten times over.

And yet, it is also like having an awesome Parent who has a few “house rules.” Following those “house rules” yields harmony; breaking one or more of those rules leads to distress. It may be difficult to follow these rules at times, but I know the reward if I do.

God wants to forgive each of us, wants to reconnect with us–that’s why Isaiah writes of God saying “Come now, let us reason together.” That’s the beauty of His promise: He’s done the hard work for us, with the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, as the atonement for our sins. All that remains now is to accept that gift, and fulfill that promise.

Isaiah 26:4-5
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. 5 He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.

This verse exhorts us to trust in God, for He is powerful (the “Rock eternal,” meaning security and strength), and He alone has the power to humble us and take apart the godless things we build up for ourselves. (The “lofty city” referred to in verse 5 can reference Babylon, Jerusalem, Tyre, or even Rome, but the meaning is the same, regardless: those things we build up to be so “impenetrable” and “strong” can still be taken down at a word from God.) Whatever we worship in place of God, like money, power, technology, or knowledge, will always be leveled to dust, to show us that they are not what we should be focusing on.

But the enemies that rise up against us and the trials we endure can also be defeated at a word from God. He is trustworthy because He never deserts us, as the rest of chapter 26 of Isaiah, a song of praise, attests. When we are faithful to His Word, He is faithful to His promises for us; when we are unfaithful to His Word, He disciplines us, but still never leaves us utterly alone. God is the truest friend we will ever have, but He is not like an earthly “buddy”–He is God, almighty and sovereign.