{"id":25976,"date":"2023-04-23T22:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T05:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-63_1-6-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-04-04T12:11:27","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T19:11:27","slug":"isaiah-63_7-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-63_7-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Memory Makes a Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 63:7-14 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 63:7-14.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 63:7-8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will tell of the kindnesses of the\u00a0LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has done for us– yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-8:\u00a0 Isaiah seems to begin a new unit that starts here at Isaiah 63:7 and ends in Isaiah 64:12.\u00a0 This whole unit \u2013 Isaiah 63:7 to Isaiah 64:12 \u2013 is Isaiah trying to grapple with a disconcerting picture he sees of Jerusalem being in ruins.\u00a0 This sad situation would happen in the relatively near future for Isaiah, compared to chapters 60 to 62 where Isaiah talks about the very distant future – the end of time – when Jerusalem\u2019s situation is exceptionally glorious.\u00a0 While it is clear that Isaiah is speaking about a future time when Jerusalem will be in ruins, the exact\u00a0time period Isaiah is referring to is not clear.\u00a0 (Isaiah might be painting a picture of 586 B.C. when the Babylonians would capture Jerusalem and destroy the temple, but he could also be describing a later period, since Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed more than once.)<\/p>\n

\n

So whereas Isaiah 60 to 62 pictures Jerusalem in its final glory, Isaiah 63:7-64:12 pictures Jerusalem temporarily in ruins.\u00a0 Yet you cannot tell that anything is wrong with Jerusalem just by reading Isaiah 63:7-14.\u00a0 For instead of beginning this unit with complaining or crying out to God for help, Isaiah begins by saying, \u201cI will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which He is to be praised\u2026yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When you\u2019re going through a difficult time, it helps to focus on the good, to remember the ways that God has been kind and compassionate toward you.<\/strong>\u00a0 Choosing an attitude of gratitude this way helps you to go through the difficult time with a renewed and more powerful perspective.\u00a0\u00a0When you can recall times when God has been good to you in the past, it will help you persevere through present challenges.\u00a0 Your memory makes a difference.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 63:9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 9: \u201cIn all their distress he too was distressed\u201d (v9).\u00a0 Being the loving parent that He is, God feels distress when He sees that His children are distressed.\u00a0 He is the Father of all compassion.\u00a0 But He is also the God of great strength who can follow up His compassion with real help.\u00a0 In His strength, \u201cHe lifted them up and carried them\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0God is full of compassion and strength.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 63:10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 10:\u00a0 A running theme in Isaiah, and in all of the Old Testament for that matter, is that the people took God\u2019s goodness for granted.\u00a0 Verse 10 says that God \u201cturned and became their enemy and He fought against them.\u201d\u00a0 Wait, JB!\u00a0 You\u2019ve said before that God is forever loyal; how could God turned and fight against the very people He created?\u201d \u00a0It depends on what direction you\u2019re facing.\u00a0 God has always been going in the same direction.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t change His mind.\u00a0 It was His people who rebelled, and\u00a0when you rebel against God, you find yourself fighting against Him, instead of with Him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 63:11-14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people– where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them,
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses’ right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown,
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0who led them through the depths? Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble;
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the\u00a0LORD. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-14:\u00a0 Isaiah describes how, in their distress after rebelling against God, the people recall God\u2019s mercy and goodness.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we need to do as well.\u00a0 Whenever we have rebelled against God and suffer as a result, we need to run back to God, not away from Him.\u00a0 Like the lost son in Luke 15,\u00a0whenever we run away, may the memory of God\u2019s goodness lead us back to our heavenly Father.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the way, the fact that Isaiah is referring to the days of Moses and God parting the waters may be a clue that Isaiah 63:7-64:12 was possibly written before Isaiah 43 was written.\u00a0 That is because in Isaiah 43, God essentially tells the people to stop focusing on how He parted the waters in Moses\u2019 day, for He says, \u201cForget the former things; I am doing a new thing.\u201d (see Isaiah 43:18-19)<\/p>\n

Thank You Father that I can choose an attitude of gratitude today and it will help me to get through whatever it is I\u2019m going through.\u00a0 Thank You for all the ways You\u2019ve been good to me.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 63:7-14.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 63:7-8 (NIV)
\n7\u00a0\u00a0I will tell of the kindnesses of the\u00a0LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has done for us– yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
\n8\u00a0\u00a0He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior.<\/p>\n

On verses 7-8:\u00a0 Isaiah seems to begin a new unit that starts here at Isaiah 63:7 and ends in Isaiah 64:12.\u00a0 This whole unit \u2013 Isaiah 63:7 to Isaiah 64:12 \u2013 is Isaiah trying to grapple with a disconcerting picture he sees of Jerusalem being in ruins.\u00a0 This sad situation would happen in the relatively near future for Isaiah, compared to chapters 60 to 62 where Isaiah talks about the very distant future – the end of time – when Jerusalem\u2019s situation is exceptionally glorious.\u00a0 While it is clear that Isaiah is speaking about a future time when Jerusalem will be in ruins, the exact\u00a0time period Isaiah is referring to is not clear.\u00a0 (Isaiah might be painting a picture of 586 B.C. when the Babylonians would capture Jerusalem and destroy the temple, but he could also be describing a later period, since Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed more than once.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25976"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25979,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25976\/revisions\/25979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}