Forgetting Israel?
Isaiah 49:8-26
May 5, 2024
We saw this morning a remarkable truth
Regarding the sovereign prerogative of God.
How it was God’s plan to use Israel’s rejection of the Messiah
To push the gospel to the Gentiles.
This plan was so mind-blowing to the apostle Paul
That when God revealed it to him, he wrote:
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
God’s ways are indeed unfathomable.
But this announcement, while glorious news to the Gentiles,
CAUSES SOME CONCERN FOR ISRAEL.
The remainder of this chapter deals with Israel.
It deals with Christ’s promises for them.
When you read the chapter
There are two main segments of Scripture that jump out at you.
Both of those segments have to do with Israel’s doubts.
They are a nation that has rejected Messiah.
They are a nation that has been broken off.
And the ringing question in their minds is, is it over for us?
Will we ever escape our current punishment?
You actually see that fear voiced in verse 14
(14) “But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me.”
It reminds us of their complaint way back in chapter 40:
Isaiah 40:27 “Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
If you will remember, God answered that complaint by saying:
Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
Israel, in captivity, moaned that God had forgotten them
God reminded them that this never happens.
• He doesn’t grow tired or weary.
• And if you will trust in Him, you will find new strength and deliverance.
Well now we see that same fear manifest itself again with Israel.
This would be the fear, not of the refugees in Babylon,
But even the fear of the Israel of our day,
Since we have noted that Christ is speaking to our time period.
We could see Israel today say, “The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me.”
It would be easy to see how it may look like the Gentile church has replaced her, and how God no longer cares for her.
And yet, God gives the answer:
(15-16) “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”
There is a memorable analogy.
• God speaks of a nursing mother.
• She has given birth to a child and she brings it up to her to feed that child.
And the question of God is: “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb?”
• Every woman in here would certainly say, “Absolutely not!”
• Mothers by nature are focused on their children.
HOWEVER, in our depraved world nothing seems to surprise us,
And it doesn’t surprise God either.
“Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.”
It is an analogy meant to cause you to focus on the goodness of God.
Jesus gave another one like this:
Matthew 7:8-11 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
If you’d do good, then you know God will.
And that is the same type of analogy here.
If you find that mothers love their children,
Well I’m going to tell you that I love you even more.
THE POINT IS, that I am not going to forget you.
God goes on to say:
(16) “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”
I’m sure every mother has a place like this in her house,
• My wife’s is our bedroom dresser mirror.
• It’s where she keeps pictures of her kids and others that she wants to remember.
• You put them on the mirror because that is something you look at often and you want to be reminded of them.
And God uses similar language here to speak of Israel.
How could I forget you Israel? I look at you every day!
How could I forget Jerusalem? I think about her all the time.
God answers Israel’s fear.
I have not forgotten you…that can’t happen.
What it teaches us is that
Redemption is just as important to God as it is to us, if not more so.
We often think of our desire to go to heaven and be with Christ.
Have you ever thought of His desire for you to come to heaven and be with Him?
• Do you as a parent not long for your children to come home?
• Do you not miss them when they are gone?
• Do you not cherish your moments with them?
Well God is a better parent than you are.
John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Or we think of that prodigal father.
Luke 15:20 “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
One could easily argue that of the two
It is the father who is the most excited.
Earlier in Isaiah we read:
Isaiah 43:6 “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth,”
God is not indifferent towards His reunion with those He has redeemed.
HE LONGS FOR THEM TO BE WITH HIM.
Could it even be fathomed that God is more excited about you getting to heaven than even you are?
ABSOLUTELY!
So Israel’s fear here is unfounded, God has not forgotten her.
THE OTHER SEGMENT; the other fear of Israel; that jumps out of this chapter is found in verses 24-26
(24-26) “Can the prey be taken from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?” Surely, thus says the LORD, “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued; For I will contend with the one who contends with you, And I will save your sons. “I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
What is the fear here?
That even if God wants Israel to be set free and return home, can it really be done?
• Can anyone really rescue captives from a mighty man?
• Can anyone really steal back those whom a tyrant has taken as prey?
And God reassures Israel: I CAN!
“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued; For I will content with the one who contends with you, And I will save your sons.”
I won’t have any problem delivering you from your enemy.
In fact, look at what God says He is doing to do to those who persecuted them and held them captive.
(26) “I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
• “drunk with their own blood”
• Eating “their own flesh”
On that day, God will have no trouble liberating His people.
• How much trouble did Pharaoh cause?
• Did Babylon prove to be too hard to deliver from?
It won’t be a problem.
BUT THESE WERE THE FEARS OF ISRAEL.
• God has forgotten us.
• Even if He hasn’t, the enemy has too strong a hold on us.
Neither of those points was true.
They were the IRRATIONAL FEARS of Israel.
It is true that God broke them off.
It is true that God is saving Gentiles.
But that does not mean that He is finished with them.
We even read this morning that if God can graft in a wild olive into that redeemed olive tree, then the natural branch is really on problem for Him.
Romans 11:24 “For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?”
But that is not all Paul had to say
About this majestic mysterious plan of God.
Paul also warned us as that wild olive, not to grow arrogant against Israel.
Romans 11:17-24 “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?”
• It is true that God broke them off to graft you in.
• It is true that they walked in unbelief.
• But it is a mistake to think that it is now over for them.
It is a mistake to think that God cannot and will not save them.
If He can save a pagan Gentile,
Then a wayward Jews is certainly no problem.
In fact, Paul goes on to say:
Romans 11:25-32 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”
Paul says that their hardening is a PARTIAL hardening.
• There are actually some Jews who believe today.
Paul also says that this partial hardening is only TEMPORARY.
• It will only last until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.
And then God will open the flood gate
And all the Jews alive at that time will come to Christ and be saved!
We’ve read it many times.
Zechariah 12:10-13:1 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. “The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves. “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.”
• God will open their eyes…
• God will unstop their ears…
• God will awaken their hearts…
• And they will return.
And because their affiliation with Christ is even more natural than yours,
They will come faster and easier than any Gentile ever did.
THEY ARE COMING HOME TO CHRIST.
But Paul also taught us something remarkable
About the day when they return.
We learned this morning that their rejection was riches for the world, but what about they day they come back?
Romans 11:12 “Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!”
Romans 11:15 “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
• By rejecting Christ they opened the door for Gentile salvation.
• By accepting Christ it will be nothing less than the new millennial kingdom.
Listen to Peter speak to Jews:
Acts 3:17-21 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
Peter is calling Jews to repent and return
So that Christ will return and set up His times of refreshing.
We are waiting for that!
And all creation anticipates it with us!
Romans 8:18-21 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
• Creation itself longs for the return of God’s children to Him.
• For their return will bring in the millennium
• The curse will be removed and creation itself will be set free.
This is why even in verse 13 of our text tonight we read:
(13) “Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.”
It echoes the Psalm:
Psalms 96:11-13 “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.”
SO I THINK YOU GET THE IDEA:
• Israel is not finished.
• God has not forgotten her.
• She is still very much a central part of His plan.
• God has not forgotten her.
• God will not leave her in the hands of the tyrant.
• He is going to save her.
And that is the reassurance we see spoken
Over and over and over again here in Isaiah 49.
Now it all begins with an important verse, and that Isaiah 49:8
(8) “Thus says the LORD, “In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;”
This is a statement spoken by the Father to the Son.
In the first 7 verses the Father told the Son that He would be saving Gentiles.
Here we find that He will also be saving Israel.
God says “And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people”
• The result of that covenant will be “to restore the land”
What does God mean that He will “give You for a covenant of the people”?
We remember the New Covenant that Jeremiah promised:
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
God promised a New Covenant which would result in salvation.
And God here reveals that Christ is that New Covenant.
Did He not say?
Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
Hebrews 9:15 “For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
And obviously then we understand what God speaks of.
That Christ will be the means of their salvation and return.
When we speak of the return of Israel,
We are NOT saying that God is doing to do something
Different for them than He did for us.
No, the return of Israel is a return to Christ, then it is a return to the land.
Their deliverance is predicated upon their trust in Him.
This is NOT some gracious work of God
Performed outside of the atonement of Christ.
It’s just that God has promised that one day
They will look on Him whom they pierced and will trust in Him.
And when they do, God outlines here 3 basic realities that will occur.
#1 SLAVES WILL BE LIBERATED
Isaiah 49:9-12
Verse 9 speaks of those “who are bound”
And the command is to “Go forth”
It also speaks of those “who are in darkness”
And the command is “Show yourselves”
Which means, “Come out of hiding”.
This is nothing less than the salvation of Jesus.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.”
And God speaks of His great care to bring them home from their place of slavery.
• He’ll feed them on the roads.
• He’ll pasture them on the bare heights.
• “They will not hunger or thirst”
They’re not going to get hammered by the elements.
He is going to lead them and guide them.
Does any of that sound familiar to you?
Psalms 23 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
• He is caring for them.
• He has delivered them and He is leading them home.
He’s going to smooth out the rough roads.
He’s going to bring them from every nation.
It is simply a time of His great deliverance.
Psalms 121 “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.”
Christ will do that for Israel.
• He will set them free from their sin.
• He will deliver them from their corruption.
• He will bring them back to Himself.
IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.
Slaves Will be Liberated
#2 DESTROYERS WILL BE LEAVING
Isaiah 49:17-19
We think today of all the enemies of Israel that live within her land.
• We think of that gaudy Dome of the Rock sitting right there on the temple mount.
• We think of terrorists inside her borders that continually terrorize her.
To be certain,
• The presence of such affliction is due to Israel having been broken off.
• They are under the discipline of the Lord and these afflictions are part of that process.
However, on the day they return to Christ.
On the day they enter His covenant.
The “destroyers and devastators” have to leave.
In fact, the Lord will crush them under His feet.
Destroyers will leave and “builders” will come.
• And Israel will be revitalized into a glorious dwelling.
The time of punishment will be over
And the time of refreshing will come.
#3 CHILDREN WILL RETURN
Isaiah 49:20-23
The point to be made here is that
It will be shocking to see how many return.
You remember in Elijah’s day, he was certain that he was the only faithful man left in Israel.
1 Kings 19:14 “Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
1 Kings 19:18 “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Elijah had no clue how many there actually were.
And so it is with Israel on the day they return to Christ
And He brings them home.
(21) “Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Behold, I was left alone; From where did these come?’”
It will be shocking!
We all grew up with images of Billy Graham crusades and people flocking forward in mass waves.
• That will be nothing compared to the day when Israel returns.
• It will be the greatest revival ever seen in the history of the world.
• They are all coming back.
And Israel will be the chief of all nations.
Other nations will be relegated to their service.
(23) “Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know that I am the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.”
That’s a strange role for a King.
• But it speaks to the value of the people whom God has saved.
AND WHAT IS THE POINT TO ALL OF THIS?
CHRIST IS STILL GOING TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL.
Now, this is the first announcement by Him of that fact,
But the next 17 chapters are devoted to revealing that.
Yes, Israel was broken off.
Yes, Gentiles were grafted in.
But God does not forget His people whom He foreknew
And the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
HE WILL SAVE THEM.
We rejoice in this even as Gentiles because
• It reminds of the great compassion of our God.
• It reminds of the great faithfulness of our God.
• It reminds of the great power of our God.
And this is the goal.
Christ says that He is going to save Israel and bring them all back.
And at the end of verse 23
He says, “And you will know that I am the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.”
• That’s a great point isn’t it!
• No one who ever trusted in God was ever disappointed.
And it’s not just Israel.
At the end of verse 26, “And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
THE WHOLE WORLD WILL KNOW IT.
It just really startles and shocks me the number of people
Who so quickly assume that God is finished with Israel.
• I get that they are rebellious.
• I get that they are treacherous.
• I get that they are idolatrous.
• I get that they are stubborn.
• I get that they do wicked deeds.
• I get that they worship the wrong gods.
• I get that they reject God and His Son Jesus Christ.
But what else is new?
God has never promised to save them
Because of their great worth or faithfulness.
He promised to save them because it glorified Him to do so.
And because He promised it, He will do it.
And church, that is the God we trust too.
• We trust a God who keeps His promises.
• We trust a God who has the power to keep His promises.
• We trust a God who does not forget His people.
• We trust a God who has more compassion than your mother.
• We trust a God who can easily deal with our enemies.
AND HE WILL.
He has never even hinted at doing anything else.
