JEHOVAH-Ga al I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer 26:1-4

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1 JEHOVAH-Ga al Is. 49:26 I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. The prophecy of Isaiah can be divided into two very basic sections. The first section has all to do with condemnation; the opening twelve chapters are sermons against Judah and Israel, and this is followed by sermons of judgement against their enemies (chs. 13:23 Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Tyre). Then, chapters give the Israelites hope of future glory (cf. 25:1-3; 26:1-4), but the theme of judgement returns in chapters (cf. 28:7-8) although notice the great promise in 28:16, Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. The promise of the Redeemer God! And then you enter an historical interlude (chs ). This is mainly concerned with King Hezekiah who lived from BC, at the time when the nation of Assyria had risen to power. The previous king, Ahaz, had decided upon a policy of compromise with Assyria and he introduced Assyrian idolatry and paganism into the Temple. However, when Hezekiah began his reign he was not interested in courting favour with the Assyrians. Instead he removed the idols from the Temple; he resanctified the Temple vessels that had been desecrated, and the places of idol-worship throughout the land were destroyed, - a clean sweep! He even destroyed the old bronze serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness (Num. 21:4-9) because it had also become an object of idolatry. Hezekiah knew it was only a matter of time before the Assyrians set their sights upon capturing Jerusalem; he constructed a tunnel through solid rock from the spring of Gihon to the pool of Siloam in order to provide water for the inhabitants of the city during any possible siege. During Hezekiah s reign Sennacherib sent messengers to the Jerusalem wall to urge the people to surrender, and he boasted to them of having conquered 46 walled cities and having taken 200,000 captives. His messengers taunted the citizens of Jerusalem that God would not come to Judah s defence. King Hezekiah, dressed in sackcloth and ashes, went to the Temple to pray, and God answered his prayer in a marvellous way II Kings 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and

2 2 dwelt at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his God just as Isaiah had prophesied, II Kings 19:7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Jehovah had again proved Himself to be the Saviour of Israel for in Is. 49:26 He told them, all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. In chapters 40-48, we see God s Greatness and how He dealt decisively with the false gods of the heathen, - the emphasis being on Jehovah God. In chapters 49-57, we see God s Grace the Suffering Servant, with the emphasis on the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapters 58-66, we see God s Glory and the glory of the future Kingdom, with the emphasis on the Holy Spirit (e.g. 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.) It is a wonderful book. Yes, it contains many pages of judgement, - judgement upon the nations and judgement even upon God s own people but when God spoke about judgement being brought to bear upon His own people He spoke also of a Saviour and a Redeemer, Jehovah Ga al. ASSYRIA THE POWERFUL Assyria was the world power of its day; and actually they came from the same origins as Israel, - the sons of Shem (Gen. 10:22). They were a successful military nation on the face of it, the very opposite to a tiny country like Judah and Israel. They were a conquering power who shook off the yoke of their ancient Babylonian masters, and who subdued the whole of northern Asia. They had a tremendous history triumphant over every nation in their day. They were massive!

3 3 And yet God used them to fulfil His purposes, Is. 7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, even the king of Assyria. However, God also promised Judah, 10:12 it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. God was using the Assyrians as judgement upon His people. Throughout the history of the Church, - God s redeemed people, - He has permitted them to undergo refining, sometimes painful and difficult. The early New Testament Church was persecuted, - they were burned and thrown to the lions, their freedom was denied them and they were made to become slaves many of them. The Jewish leaders hated them because they saw them as a distortion of the true Jewish religion. The Gentiles loathed them because the Christians were so dogmatic that their God and their Jesus was so superior to any of the idols they worshipped. Through the rise of the Roman apostate church, true believers had been persecuted long before the Reformation. Communism in the last century was unable to silence the Christian faith, even despite their cruelty, and neither will the evils of Islam quell Christ s Redeemed for the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church (Mt. 16:18). Assyria was powerful, but Assyria, - like every enemy of God, - has its day! The time and their successes are only loaned to them. Some people say Christianity is breathing its last but our faith does not know what it means to breathe its last because the breath that we breathe, - spiritually-speaking, - is the breath of God the Holy Spirit and He is eternal! When they stood round the cross, they looked at Jesus. Jesus had become a distraction, a nuisance and He was soon to be put out of the way! Not a bit of it! The enemies of Christ, - like Assyria, and all the other enemies of God and the people of God, - considered themselves to be powerful, but Job 4:9 by the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. No matter how powerful the enemy thinks he is, in Christ the enemy is defeated for we belong to the God Who has declared, I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer. Jehovah Ga al Assyria the powerful (or so they thought)

4 JERUSALEM THE PREY God s people are always an easy touch, or so the enemy believes. The Christians are objects of scorn and the butt of jokes. Jerusalem stood in the hills of the countryside and they were a people of the countryside. Yes, they had their armies, - of a sort, - but nothing compared to the armies of Assyria. The Jews only believed in one God, the Assyrians, - on the other hand, - had many gods! Their gods had helped them win battles and conquer regions for which they were so famous The Jews, they were just a simple localised people. The Assyrians marched through the territories of Damascus and Syria and Samaria and along to Philistia, on the west, and it was like being on a Sunday stroll for them, - their fame proceeded them and it would just be a simple matter capturing the city of Jerusalem and its people. But there was one thing these Assyrians had not taken account off; they had not reckoned on Israel s God! Yes, I know Nebuchadnezzar came and subdued Jerusalem in 606 BC, and again in 598 BC, and finally in 586 BC when he ransacked it completely and carried off its inhabitants to Babylon but we are talking about a long time before Nebuchadnezzar, - well over 100 years before him! God was promising His people when Assyria was the dominant nation, I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer and He was about to demonstrate this promise. He had promised them earlier, 11:16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. 12:1 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. To the enemy, Jerusalem was already their s but to Jehovah Ga al, - Redeemer, - Ps. 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Again the promise, 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: 5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. 4

5 5 Indeed, many of the very people who were under the domination of the enemy, - who shouted and mocked Jesus at the cross, - came to saving faith on the Day of Pentecost, and the days following even some of the very priests who had earlier condemned him such is the almighty power of God to save! Assyria the powerful or so they thought; Jerusalem the prey or so it seemed, but our final consideration never crossed their minds JEHOVAH THE PROMISE In the lead-up to our verse 26, God gave a very precious promise to His people, v.25 I will contend with him that contendeth with thee. What a promise from what a God! God was saying, I am not standing idly by. He saw what the enemy was doing, and He knew what the enemy still intended to do, and He was already prepared to defeat them. v.25 I will contend with him that contendeth with thee. The enemy has an appointment with God! so, take that promise and look towards Calvary, - God contended for His people at Calvary. Jesus death on the cross was in obedience to the eternal will and battleplan of the Godhead for our salvation. No matter how much the work of redemption entailed, Jesus strived until He had it completed, - He contended for us. In the courtroom of God s justice He argued our case, and on the cross He took the only action that would satisfy the righteous and holy God the Judge He took the place of the convicted and condemned sinner! When He said, I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, He stepped down from the dock, removed His Kingly clothes and took the filthy rags of a sinner, - He contended with him that contended for me. And He made this very personal and passionate promise, I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine, what does that mean? Each child of God, - for whom the precious blood of the Saviour was shed, - has the confidence that when Christ defeated the enemy at Calvary He defeated him completely, absolutely, totally and entirely. The enemy will never be able to undo what Jesus did when He became our Redeemer. The enemy has lost forever those who have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation, according to God s grace.

6 6 Yes, even though the enemy thinks he has gotten away with it, - when he thought he had silenced Jesus on the cross, - he became so drunk with the apparent success he thought he had achieved but he had not reckoned on the victory of the resurrection of our Saviour. God keeps His promises. When the battle looked to be lost, He triumphed. When the enemy looked to have succeeded, Jesus died and rose again, defeating death, Hell and the devil. Who is this Jesus? He is the Lord Who is my Saviour and my Redeemer, my Jehovah Ga al. CONCLUSION There is no other Saviour from sin but Jesus. There might be others who claim they can save but none can save except Him. All the offence has been made against the holy God; it is such a degree of offence that not even the holiest person alive could ever correct the wrong that has been done to Him only Jesus could put the problem of man s sin and it brought Him to Calvary to achieve it. Our God is the great Jehovah Ga al, Jehovah our Redeemer. It is a privilege to be invited to His table of remembrance because it is only the invited of the Lord who come. This is where we remember what He has done for us; this is where we remember our Heavenly Father provided the Substitute of His Son to redeem us I the Lord am Thy Saviour and Thy Redeemer v.8 In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee.