The God Who Makes a Way.

The God Who Makes A Way from Bishop Ronald Powell on Vimeo.

“The God who makes a way!”

The Messiah in Isaiah

(mes·si·ah  /  məˈsīə- noun

noun: Messiah; noun: the Messiah; noun: messiah; plural noun: messiahs

1. The promised deliverer of the Jewish nation prophesied in the Hebrew Bible.
2. Jesus regarded by Christians as the Messiah of the Hebrew prophecies and the savior of humankind.

3. A leader or savior of a particular group or cause.)
4. In Abrahamic religions, the Messiah or Messias is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of Moshiach, Messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible; … Wikipedia

Isaiah Chapter 43: “He makes a way!”

Introduction

Isa 43:16; Thus says the LORD, Who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters…

From the passage above we see that God introduces Himself as the God who makes a way. This is a very special verse for me because God gave it to me during a very difficult time.

So the whole focus of this study is to simply say what the Lord emphasized to me during that time – and that is that despite the difficulty of a situation and despite the options that look limited in the natural, God is a God who makes a way.

He makes a way. I’ll probably use a few words to say the same thing, but if you leave this study stronger in your faith that God ‘makes a way’ then I’ll be content.

So let’s start with the context of the passage before moving on to what it means for you and me.

The background to the passage

“I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” Thus says the LORD, Who makes a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters… (Isaiah 43:15-16)

In many prophetic passages in Isaiah, the prophet foresaw a time of great difficulty for the Israelites – a time when they would be captives to their enemies. It would be a time when they were taken from the homeland and exiled in foreign countries. Historically we know and see the fulfilment of such passages in the Babylonian exile in 586 BC. With their home and temple destroyed, and as the years in exile became many decades, the great question that burned in the hearts of the Israelites was ‘is the situation hopeless?’ ‘Is there a way out of this impossible and difficult time?’ ‘Is there a way home?’ It was to people feeling completely hopeless whose faith was reaching breaking point that God stepped in and spoke.

And as He did so, it was like He had to re-introduce Himself again to His people and remind them once again of His character.

He starts in verse 15 by saying ‘I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, and your King.’

He begins by reminding them that He is YAHWEH – the great I AM! The self-existent, active, ever present God.

Maybe you have taken your eyes off the Lord and onto your situation? Maybe the difficulty of what you face has clouded out the thought and presence of He who is for you?

Maybe you have forgotten that the one who is on your side is eternal, all-powerful, ever present God ‘who makes a way’?

Israel sure had. And I had when God reminded me of this scripture. So maybe you have as well.

Unfortunately it is something that our nature find all too easy to do.

So what else did God remind them in this little re-introduction about Himself?

• Well, He reminded them that He is the Creator of Israel.
• Israel, God’s people, didn’t come into being by accident.
• It was through the plan and purpose of the eternal God.

So the Lord was saying to them in so many words ‘I created you. You are mine. Do you really think that I am going to forget you or let you go?’

[1] And finally God reminds His people that he is the King with a capital ‘K’. Israel was in exile and suffering under the king of Babylon, but they were not to fear this earthly ‘king’. The real King was still overlooking all that occurred.

He who makes a way through the sea…

‘…Who makes a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters…’

In verse 16, God reminded the people that He makes a way through the sea. What was God doing here do you think? What has the ‘sea’ got to do with their current predicament? What He is doing is reminding them of their past [2] and in particular of a time when there previously seemed like there was no way out. It was the time of the exodus from Egypt when the Israelites faced certain death!

Now, I know you are a busy individual [3] so let me just give you the quick executive summary of that time as a little reminder:

• When the Israelites began their journey, God specifically lead them in a path where they would avoid trouble and confrontation. Exodus 13:17-18 tells us ‘When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.
• For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.’
• This is what the Christian would call the ‘honeymoon phase’. Did you experience something of this when you began your journey with God? Did you notice that God made things easy for you when you were born again?
• [4] It is often the way as we take our first steps in the Lord. As God did for the nation of Israel as a whole, so He does for His people today.
• As Israel’s journey continues, their God ordained path became more difficult and culminated in a good old fashioned dead end with the sea in front of them and the armies of Egypt behind them! Yet this was all part of the plan of God for He said to Moses ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ (Exod 14:1-3)
• Your journey also will lead to some over-whelming situations where there is no hope – save the action of God. It’s all part of the walk.
• With no way back and no way forward, God does what God does best – The impossible. He made a way where, naturally speaking, there was no way.
•  ‘ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”… Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.’ (Exodus 14:13-14, 21-22)

So this is what God wanted the people of Israel in the days of Isaiah to remember. He is STILL the God who makes a way through the sea. Let’s break this thought down a bit further.

The Path of God leads to the Waters

From what we have been looking at, it is clear that you can be following the God designed path for your life and it can lead straight to mighty waters.

This is especially so if God desires to use you to help others. He won’t have pretenders. If you are to comfort others you first must have been comforted yourself. (2 Cor 1:3-4).

But all of us will face the waters at some stage. The verse earlier on in Isaiah chapter 43:2 says ‘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.

’ Note how it doesn’t say ‘if you pass through the waters…’ It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but a matter of ‘when’.

It doesn’t say ‘when others pass through the waters’ but ‘when you pass through…’ It will happen. But praise God that He also adds that ‘I will be with you!’ That makes all the difference.

A quick look at ‘through’ – the good and the bad!

Thank God that He is able to make a way when no way naturally exists.

He makes a way through. Now, this has positive and negative aspects does it not? Let’s start with the negative and then end on a high!

The negative aspect of this word ‘through’ is that we have to go ‘through’. I’m not sure about you but I would have preferred some other words here. Um, something like ‘around’ or ‘over’ possibly. ‘He makes a way around the difficulty’. Yeah, that sounds better. I would have even accepted ‘over’. ‘He makes a way over the sea’. That at least gives the impression that we are lifted above it and don’t really experience the trouble. Yep, I would have accepted that. But going ‘through’ is what the scripture and experience tells us is the truth.

The positive aspect of this word ‘through’ is that we get through.

The period of difficulty is not forever and there is no need to setup camp in the middle of the waters thinking that that is your lot in life for all time.

No, Israel had to walk through the waters but they kept walking. They kept progressing forward. And when the mighty waters rise in your life, you too will get through because God is the one who gets you through.

Don’t remember the past???

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Straight after saying the He will make a way, God instructs His people to forget the former things and not to dwell on the past.

Now why would He say this? Especially after just reminding them of a past event! Normally God wants us to remember the past so that we can bring to mind the previous deliverances and learn from our former mistakes. Now He says “don’t”. Why is that do you think?

There is a tendency to think of the Lord as the God who was and the God who will be, but not as the God who is.

That is, we remember great things that God once did and rejoice in them… we look forward to what God has promised He will do when He returns and gain hope from that. But what about now? What about the great “I AM” – the God of the present tense?

That is what God wanted His people to avoid. He was telling them that He is going to do something new and amazing for them in their day. No longer would the children of Israel just have to look back to the stories they had heard from their youth of God’s deliverance during the exodus from Egypt.

No. They were going to experience something amazing themselves. He would make a way so that they could return from their exile and provide streams even in the desert. God is alive and interested in the lives of His people – then and now.

Conclusion

As I mentioned at the start of this study, this verse is special to me for God gave it to me at a difficult time in my life. And He did provide and make a way for me as well in honoring and fulfilling His word.

The scripture in Isaiah goes on to say that he does this so that His people ‘may proclaim my praise.’

You may be in the place right now where you can see the mighty waters rising around you. The trials and difficulties of this life may be coming against you in way that seems like there is no way out. If that is so then please remember that God is One who ‘makes a way’. May you too proclaim His praise as you trust Him once again.