God keeps his word
Isaiah 44: From the beginning, who else has always announced what’s coming?
These pages of Isaiah are some of the most encouraging in the whole Bible. God has such good news for his people. Salvation is coming to their spiritually dry lives like streams flowing into a parched desert. This promise is so great that people can hardly get their minds and hearts around it. To help them do that, the Lord puts his credentials on display. He says he’s the first and the last and “everything in between.” He’s always trustworthy and he’s the one who can speak about his future actions with absolute certainty. I know some see this passage as ammunition for “God’s knowledge of the future” discussions but it’s more correctly seen as “God keeps his word” material. The Lord isn’t passively watching events unfold and he’s not letting history proceed in whatever direction it happens to find. This God is on purpose in his dealings with Creation. As he speaks to a fallen Israel he has promises to make. Salvation will come because he’ll keep his word. How does God know salvation will come? He knows it because he’s going to do it. Generations later, God’s promise is kept in a stable in Bethlehem.
Take Away: The Lord is the only one who can speak of the future with absolute certainty.