I Am the LORD

KEY VERSE: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” —Isaiah 45:22

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 43:1-7

PROMISES are never more certain of fulfillment than the reliability of the one who made the promises. The Lord recognized that Israel in captivity and under duress needed some hope for the future, so he supplied them with many wonderful promises of a future deliverance and the rest of peace and prosperity of the kingdom. But in order to give the Israelites confidence in the promises, he made a point of calling their attention to his great works, his glory, and his power.

One of the outstanding examples of the principle stated above is found in Isaiah 42:5 and 6, “Thus saith the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit unto them that walk therein; I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, and for a light of the Gentiles.” This text was directed to Jesus for his encouragement during his first advent.

The Heavenly Father realized that the three-and-one-half years of Jesus’ ministry would be difficult, because his message was the Gospel of light which would be in opposition to all the forces of darkness under the control of the prince of this world, Satan. (John 14:30) It was the Lord’s purpose to assure Jesus that the same power that created the universe and the earth and all the visible things in it was going to be working on his behalf to help him accomplish his mission here on earth.

It was in this spirit that the Lord spoke to the nation of Israel as recorded in our Selected Scripture, “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isa. 43:1,2) The Lord states that he has called Israel by name, which is an expression implying that the Lord knew Israel’s heart, the very essence of their being, and he loved them and called them for his own. They had the full assurance that the Lord would help and assist them to be obedient if only they would repent and show the proper heart attitude.

Notwithstanding all the past evidences of the Lord’s overruling in their affairs and the wonderful promises of blessings in the future, the Lord states, “Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. … I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and I will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.”—Isa. 43:22-28

Israel’s first father who sinned was Adam, and as a result, all of his progeny, including Israel, suffered his penalty for sin which is death. The Apostle Paul expresses the matter in this way, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) When God gave the children of Israel the Law Covenant at Mount Sinai, he gave them the opportunity, if obedient to his laws, to be freed from the Adamic penalty of death (Lev. 18:4,5), and earn life. What the Lord is saying in this prophecy is that the Israelites, by their inherent inability to be obedient, forfeited this opportunity and therefore remain under the same general condemnation as the rest of the world. But he still holds forth the promise of a return to favor in the kingdom. “All Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”—Rom. 11:26

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