Israel Beyond Abraham

Isaiah 63:7-17

“I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things He has done for Israel, according to His compassion and many kindnesses. He said, “Surely they are My people, children who will be true to Me”; and so He became their Savior. In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy and He himself fought against them. Then His people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and His people— where is He who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who set His Holy Spirit among them, who sent His glorious arm of power to be at Moses’ right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for Himself everlasting renown, who led them through the depths? Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble; like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD. This is how You guided Your people to make for Yourself a glorious name. Look down from heaven and see, from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are Your zeal and Your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us. But You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; You, LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your name. Why, LORD, do you make us wander from Your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes that are Your inheritance.”

Today, I pray as in Living Life: “Dear Lord, thank You for Your grace in my life. You have always been faithful me, even when I was not faithful to You. May I always remember Your love and walk in Your ways. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” God suffers with us as He did with His people, Israel. This is the meaning of compassion, it is not found in asceticism and meditation alone but practiced and honed in relationships. Christian philosopher Dr. Alvin Plantinga notes "as the Christian sees things, God does not stand idly by, coolly observing the suffering of His creatures. He enters into and shares our suffering. He endures the anguish of seeing His Son, the second person of the Trinity, consigned to the bitterly cruel and shameful death of the cross. Some theologians claim that God cannot suffer. I believe they are wrong. God's capacity for suffering, I believe, is proportional to His greatness; it exceeds our capacity for suffering in the same measure as His capacity for knowledge exceeds ours. Christ was prepared to endure the agonies of hell itself; and God, the Lord of the universe, was prepared to endure the suffering consequent upon His Son's humiliation and death. He was prepared to accept this suffering in order to overcome sin, and death, and the evils that afflict our world, and to confer on us a life more glorious than we can imagine. So we don't know why God permits evil; we do know, however, that He was prepared to suffer on our behalf, to accept suffering of which we can form no conception.” Through Christ we have received salvation intimated by the prophet Isaiah that goes beyond the children of Abraham and Israel, because God is our Father (v. 16). Indeed as the LORD answered the Pharisees in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, “do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham (Matt 3:9),” in fact He did change our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, as promised also through the prophet Ezekiel: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances (Eze 36:25–27).” Our LORD claimed, “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and through Him we have become children of God! Brothers and sisters, praise Him for His compassion, His love and kindness, thank Him for His grace extended to us today!