Growing with God: A daily devotional with Tonia Slimm.
Isaiah 45:20-21 (NIV)
“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.”
Isaiah 45:20-21 (MSG)
“So gather around, come on in, all you refugees and castoffs. They don’t seem to know much, do they—those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood, praying for help to a dead stick? So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence. Put your heads together. Make your case. Who told you, and a long time ago, what’s going on here? Who made sense of things for you? Wasn’t I the one? God? It had to be me. I’m the only God there is—The only God who does things right and knows how to help.”
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“Assemble yourselves and come; come together, you survivors of the nations! They are ignorant, who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle] and keep on praying to a god that cannot save them. Declare and present your defense of idols; indeed, let them consult together. Who announced this [rise of Cyrus and his conquests] long before it happened? Who declared it long ago? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, a [consistently and uncompromisingly] just and righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me.” -AMPLIFIED
“Seek Him with all your heart, and you shall find Him; you shall indeed, for God says so, and He is waiting to give Himself to you.” ~Samuel Logan Brengle
In yesterday’s text we were reminded that God, who is the Creator of all things, holds the authority over all things. Isaiah told us:
“This is what Yahweh says, heaven’s Creator, who alone is God.
He created the earth, shaped it, and established it all by himself.
He made it fit and orderly and beautiful for its inhabitants.
He says: “I am Yahweh, and there is no other god.
I didn’t whisper in secret, in a realm of darkness.
I didn’t say to Jacob’s tribes, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I am Yahweh!
I speak the truth and declare to you what is right!” -Isaiah 45:18-19 (The Passion Translation)
Today’s passage reiterates that Jehovah is the One we need to seek!
“Come, come. Gather around, all who survived among the nations. They have no idea what a real God is as they coddle their wooden idols, and pray to worthless images that cannot save them. Go ahead, talk among yourselves. Present your case. Now, who declared what would happen long ago? Who predicted how these events would turn out at this time? Was it not I, the Eternal One? There is no other God but Me. I alone am the righteous God and Savior. There is no other.” -(VOICE)
These are the words of the Lord. Once again, He addresses the folly of idolatry. Once again, we find Him accusing the people of the nations of being disloyal to Him, the One True God. They had no excuse for their infidelity to Him. They cannot make the excuse that they did not know, for He had declared Himself to them in days long past. He has told them of things that would come; what other “god” could do that? None! Only He could. He reminds them that He is the One that they seek, Jehovah, Adonai–Tzva’ot, God Almighty, their Savior.
“Gather together and come, you nations that escape from Cyrus’s hand. What fools they are who carry around the wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save! Consult together, argue your case and state your proofs that idol worship pays! Who but God has said that these things concerning Cyrus would come true? What idol ever told you they would happen? For there is no other God but me—a just God and a Savior—no, not one!” -(TLB)
“A just God and a Savior: As much as anything else, this shows the amazing power, wisdom, and love of God. At first glance, it is impossible to see how a just God can be a Savior when justice demands that sinners be damned. But prompted by His great love, God fulfilled the righteous demands of His justice at the cross, so He could extend Himself to us as Savior, yet still remain a just God.” ~David Guzik
A few chapters over, in the book of Isaiah, we find Isaiah imploring the people of Israel to seek God while He could still be found. Isaiah wrote:
“Seek the Lord Yahweh when he makes himself approachable;
call upon him when you sense he is near.” -Isaiah 55:6 (The Passion Translation)
To the children of Israel, God gave this Message through His prophet Jeremiah about seeking Him:
“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree. “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.” -Jeremiah 29:13-14 (MSG)
Our response to God’s directive to seek Him should be like David’s. David’s response was:
“I heard your voice in my heart say, “Come, seek my face;”
my inner being responded,
“Yahweh, I’m seeking your face with all my heart.” -Psalm 27:8 (The Passion Translation)
The God who knows all things, knew a time would come when the hearts of the people would turn away from Him. He also knew that they would be seeking what is right and true, so He gave them this promise:
“In the future, when your children and grandchildren are born and you have been in the land a long time, and you have defiled yourselves by making idols, and the Lord your God is very angry because of your sin, heaven and earth are witnesses that you shall be quickly destroyed from the land. Soon now you will cross the Jordan River and conquer that land. But your days there will be brief; you will then be utterly destroyed. For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, and you will be but few in number. There, far away, you will worship idols made from wood and stone, idols that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But you will also begin to search again for Jehovah your God, and you will find him when you search for him with all your heart and soul. When those bitter days have come upon you in the latter times, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you. For the Lord your God is merciful—he will not abandon you nor destroy you nor forget the promises he has made to your ancestors.” -Deuteronomy 4:25-31 (TLB)
“To hunger is to be human, but to hunger for God is to feed on Him. Hunger and thirst after His righteousness and feed on Him in your heart. Taste and see that the Lord is good; it is He who will fill you to satisfaction.” ~Joni Eareckson Tada
My friend, seek God with all of your heart. If you do so, you will find Him.
“God desires to reveal His heart to us and to build His heart into us as we seek His face.”
~Bill Mills
My Prayer:
Adonai–Tzva’ot, God Almighty, you promised that if I sought you with all of my heart, I would find you. I am seeking. I want to know you better. I want to know you more. Help me to put aside everything else that tries to distract me from knowing you. I understand, you need to be first and foremost in my life. Help my understanding of you to grow. Help my life to become a reflection of you. Help me to be a light to others who are seeking you too. Thank you, Lord, for you know my heart, and you are ready and willing to answer. Amen.
Growing with God 