“To prove His love for His people, God was willing to give Egypt, Cush, and Seba as a ransom for Israel. He loves us! We are precious in His sight! This is an Old Testament example of the truth in John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. Since you were precious in My sight: God here describes the motivation for His work of redemption. ‘He that believeth shall not make haste’ (Isaiah 28:16).” (Redpath)Ĭ. When you are not burdened or anxious, then you walk. “Walking is the pace at which you go when you are not in a hurry, when you are not concerned or alarmed. He can so strengthen us in our trials that we can walk through the fire. We don’t have to panic, we don’t have to fear, and we don’t have to run as if we didn’t trust God. Walk through the fire: God helping us, we can do this. Against it, too, the flames have raged and the waters have boiled but, according to His promise, the Lord Jesus has always been with her.” (Bultema)ī. What is true of Israel, however, is equally true of the Church. Whoever can annihilate Israel can do more than Satan and all the powers of hell have been able to do in ages past. “Israel is just as indestructible as God’s Word and Covenant are. So, learning from this past event, they could rest in his promise to bring them again into their own land.” (Grogan) “The statement, ‘I am the Lord, your God’ would remind every Jewish reader of Exodus 20, where the divine description is followed by the words ‘who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery’ (Exodus 20:2).
YOU CALL ME TO WALK IN DEEPER WATERS FULL
This passage is also full of images from the Exodus from Egypt. They also were preserved in the fire by the presence of God (Daniel 3:19-25).
The mention of the LORD’s presence and protection in the fire reminds us of the story of the three sons of Judah cast into the Babylonian furnace because they would not bow or bend to worship an idol. Trials are varied sometimes we face waters, sometimes rivers, and sometimes fire. The text doesn’t say, “When you walk on a luxurious padded carpet, I will be with you.” It says God will be with us in the toughest of circumstances. Trials are inevitable it doesn’t say if you pass through the waters, it says when you pass through the waters. Israel had and would have their trials, but we have ours also. When God is with us, He is for us, and who can be against us? Must you walk through the fire? Then you shall not be burned. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you: Through any potential obstacle, God will be with us. I will bring your descendants from the east,Īnd to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’Īnd My daughters from the ends of the earth Ī. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you Īnd through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. (2-7) Fear not, knowing the LORD is with you. How can we be afraid when we know this God is for us, is looking out for our interests? 2. We can know that He would not have created, redeemed, and called us unless He intended to finish His work in us. We can know that He holds us, protects us, guards us, and cares for us. Knowing that we belong to the LORD is a wonderful answer to fear. His ownership is certain because He seals it by saying You are mine. His ownership is personal because He says I have called you by your name. He has the right of ownership both as Creator and Redeemer. I have called you by your name You are mine: God twice owns His people. When God calls Himself our Redeemer, it looks forward to the price that must be paid for our salvation.ĭ. He rescued them and paid the slave price or debt they could not pay. The redeemer bought an unfortunate relative out of their slavery and debt.
He is the One who bought them out of literal exile and spiritual slavery. For I have redeemed you: Not only did Israel have an obligation to God as their Creator but also as their Redeemer. God points them past the present circumstances to both this command and promise.Ĭ. By outward circumstances, the people of Judah had reason to be afraid of Babylon’s army and exile. Fear not: This is a command, accompanied by promises. When men forget or reject God as Creator, they fail in the most basic obligation they have to God.ī. God has a special and unique claim upon us because He is our Creator. Says the LORD, who created you…and He who formed you: God speaks to His people as their Creator. (1) Fear not, knowing you belong to the LORD.īut now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob,Ī.
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