You Haven't See Anything Yet!

5th Sunday in Lent, 3/21/10
Isaiah 43:16-21


You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet!
I. God’s past deeds were great.
II. His latest deeds are greater.


We like to be amazed by the things that we see. At least once a week I hear a commercial on television telling me to tune in tomorrow evening to see something that has never been shown on TV before. And it piques my interest. You never hear a commercial informing you that the next program is going to be a rerun. They show reruns, but they don’t advertise them as such. That’s because the networks know that you are drawn to watch and listen to something new.

Likewise, your favorite comedian or magician doesn’t tell you that this year’s performance is the same as last year’s. In fact, he probably makes the point that his show has lots of new material.

It’s simply natural for us to be interested in something new.

And yet, each Sunday we gather in this house of worship to hear the same word of our God. It’s written for us in this book, the Bible. That word of God in the New Testament is nearly 2,000 years old. In the Old Testament, it’s even older. And it doesn’t change. In fact, we like it that way. We would be upset if someone here in this house tried to change the word of God, tried to come up with something new.

So, does it amaze you to hear your God tell you this morning, “See, I am doing a new thing”? Immediately our spiritual antenna goes up. What’s this new thing that God is going to do? Is it something I’ve never heard before? Why would God tell us about something new?

He tells his people that because he doesn’t want them to dwell on past great things; he wants them to focus instead on the great things he would do in the future. In effect, he was telling the Israelites, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” And he states the very same truth to us this morning. You haven’t seen anything yet! Let’s see what the Lord is talking about as we ponder these verses of his word this morning.

Part I.

Have you ever noticed how the stories about great events from the past seem to get greater and greater each time the story is told? The classic example of it is the size of the fish that the lucky fisherman caught. The first time he told the story, the fish was this big. The last time he told it the fish had grown to this big. That happens with all sorts of great stories. Legends always tend to increase, not decrease.

But not when it comes to the great events of our God. Throughout the Old Testament God frequently refers to the history of his dealings with the Children of Israel. But he never exaggerates the details. When he recalls how unfaithful his people had been, he’s not exaggerating how sinful they were; he’s telling it like it was. Likewise, when he speaks about how patient, loving and faithful he had been toward his people, he’s not exaggerating the details in order to make himself look better than he really is. He’s telling the truth.

Now, why am I telling you this? Because the first point the Lord makes in our text with his people is that he had done great things for them in the past. He’s not embellishing the story at all. His recall of the events is exactly factual.

The first of those events was the parting of the Red Sea. Isaiah writes, “This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters.” No doubt you recall this story. I can’t imagine that any Sunday School curriculum omits it. It’s one of the most famous scenes in the movie, The Ten Commandments. Moses stood at the edge of the Red Sea surrounded by millions of his fellow Jews. Pharaoh and his army were closing in on them. At God’s command Moses stretched out his hand and the Lord used a mighty wind to create a path of dry land through the sea. Imagine watching that miracle take place. It’s one of the most impressive miracles in all of Scripture. And the Lord recalls it exactly here in Isaiah as one of his mighty deeds.

But he also refers to another mighty deed. Isaiah writes, “The Lord…drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and there they lay, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick.” Once the Israelites had crossed through the Red Sea, the Lord drew Pharaoh and his army into it. This was the greatest army on the face of the earth. And when he had the army in the middle of that path, he caused the walls of water to come crashing down on Pharaoh and all his men, killing them instantly. And the Bible states that the shores of the sea were littered with their dead bodies. What an impressive victory for the Lord! How awesome is our God!

Indeed, God’s past deeds were great!

Those miracles were pretty impressive and one of our reactions to them is this: We sure wish God would do something impressive for us! It doesn’t even have to be as impressive as parting a sea or destroying an entire army. We’d be happy with God giving us a little cushion in our checking account or making our work environment a little more tolerable or helping us get along better with our spouse or children or helping us find that right person to spend our lives with or just making it clear to us what we should do with our lives. And in doing so, we forget the past great things God has done for us, such as remaining faithful to his promise to send us a Savior, sacrificing that Savior for us on Calvary’s cross, winning forgiveness and eternal life for us, and now in our lifetimes bringing us to saving faith in that Savior through Baptism and keeping us in that faith through his word and the Lord’s Supper. Those are God’s great past deeds in our lives!

Part II.

And yet the Lord says, “Forget the former things.” That’s his way of saying, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” Instead, he wants us to focus on some new thing. Just what is it?

Well, in the case of God dealing with the Israelites at the time of Isaiah, it involved the Babylonians. In a previous portion of Isaiah the Lord had foretold that he would allow the Babylonians to destroy the city of Jerusalem and deport its inhabitants. That was his judgment on them for their apostasy. But the Lord wouldn’t show favoritism to the Babylonians. He would hold them accountable to him as well. In the verses before our text he announced that he would bring the Babylonians down.

And when he did that, then he would allow the Jews to return from exile in Babylon. He speaks about it this way, “I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” What’s he talking about? He would make a way of return for the Jews all the way from Babylon to Jerusalem. That seemed hopelessly unlikely, almost as unlikely as streams of water appearing in the desert. What God was here announcing had never been heard of before—a nation being uprooted and exiled and then allowed to return? Incredible! More incredible than the parting of the Red Sea when you consider the magnitude of the event.

It would be such an amazing thing that it’s as if even the desert animals would be impressed. That’s why Isaiah writes, “The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself, that they may proclaim my praise.” Imagine desert animals, who live on the edge of survival because of the harsh environment, suddenly finding streams rushing with water. Incredible! Even more incredible is the Lord leading his people back from exile in
Babylon.

But was this future great thing really so impressive in the grand scheme of things? It is when you realize that bringing his people back from exile was another important step in fulfilling his promise to use the nation of the Jews to bring a Savior into the world. God knew all along that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem during the Roman occupation, not in Babylon. He needed to get his people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and re-start the proper worship of the Lord there. Parting the Red Sea and destroying Pharaoh’s army were nothing compared to that.

And we have the advantage of knowing exactly how the Lord accomplished that. We know of his birth in a stable in Bethlehem. We know how Jesus spent nearly three years preaching to the people and performing miracles. We know how his enemies plotted his death and one his disciples betrayed him. We know how he was arrested, the injustice at his trials, and the mockery and brutality that he endured. We know how Pilate handed him over to the Jews and how they crucified him. And yet in that terrible act God accomplished the greatest blessing—forgiveness and eternal life for sinners. And those blessings are guaranteed by the greatest of acts—Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

Indeed, to the Jews of Isaiah’s day, the Lord could say, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” God’s past deeds were great but his latest deeds are greater.

But can he say the same to you and me? These great things happened nearly 2,000 years ago. What can he do for us that would be any greater than what he did for them so long ago? Friends, you haven’t seen anything yet! Heaven is your certain destination. We get so busy dealing with this life that we forget the life God has in store for us. We get so depressed dealing with the problems of this life that we can’t bring ourselves to think about the life to come. But it’s real! It’s sure. It’s what Jesus came to win for us! And as we focus on the resurrection of Jesus in just a couple weeks, may it remind you of what God has in store for you—your own resurrection from the dead. A perfect life forever for both soul and body! Indeed, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Our God has all that in store for you. It’s yours now by faith in Jesus. May those future great deeds of God for you fill you with hope and joy today. Amen.