Isaiah Day 124 - There Are Things To Remember and Things to Forget

43:14  Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel:

“For your sake I will send to Babylon,

And bring them all down as fugitives—

The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,

The Creator of Israel, your King.”

16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea

And a path through the mighty waters,

17 Who brings forth the chariot and horse,

The army and the power

(They shall lie down together, they shall not rise;

They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):

18 “Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert.

20 The beast of the field will honor Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I give waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My people, My chosen.

21 This people I have formed for Myself;

They shall declare My praise.

Are you following the bigger picture as God lays out the future? One disadvantage of going slowly through is that we can miss the forest because of the trees.

At the time this was written all was relatively well in Judah. Yes they were paying tribute to Assyria but God prevented Sennacherib from doing them any harm. Babylon heard news of this success as well as the miraculous healing of Hezekiah and came to visit. After their departure God began presenting the future of Judah. In succeeding generations wicked Babylon would visit again, only this time it would be to plunder the wealth Hezekiah showed off to them. Their princes would be taken captive and made eunuchs in the palace of Babylon.

Now God looks further into their future. He will deal with Babylon. The captors will be themselves taken captive.

Quite a prophecy. To back up His claims He directs their gaze backwards into history. Their own history. The deliverance from Egypt. The crossing of the Red Sea etc...

Then He says something strange. He tells them not to remember the past. Odd advice for often He tells us to remember. He even has them remembering in this very chapter. So what is it we are to forget?

18“Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?"

What does He mean by this?

Judah has been in a cycle downward. That cycle is not going to end any time soon but it will end. It becomes difficult for the defeated to believe in victory. It becomes hard for captives to dream of freedom becoming a reality. God wants them to forget their failures and focus on His victories, both past and present and future. Even in their capture God preserved.

I'm sure like me you have a trail of regrets behind you. Forget them. Paul wrote centuries later "Forgetting those things which are behind I press forward..."

Remember His exploits and forget your defeats. This is the recipe for success.