God's Faithfulness is Eternal

Today's lesson is taken from Isaiah 48:17, 20-22. In verse 20, God says, "Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians..." Babylon symbolizes idolatry, slavery, and a place of suffering. In this devotion, I want to challenge you by asking, "What sin do you need to flee from? What is your Babylon?" I pray that God may speak to you through this episode, and that you may be challenged and encouraged.
Gospel in the Air is a podcast ministry of Cornerstone Christian Church. We are located in Maui, Hawaii, USA. Our number is (808) 463-8859. You can also visit our website at www.cornerstonemaui.org or you can send your email to danibanggo@gmail.com.

Transcript

Episode 23
God’s Faithfulness is Eternal
Texts: Isaiah 48:17, 20-22

From the beautiful island of Maui Hawaii, I greet you all with warm aloha! Welcome to “Gospel in the Air,” a short devotional meditation that will encourage your daily walk with Jesus. May you be enlightened with new insights for living as the Spirit of God reveals His passion for humankind to be saved, that is, that no one should perish but all will come to repentance. 

Our devotional lesson is taken from the book of Isaiah 48:17b, 20-22. I will read the following verses to you: 

17 I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

20 Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.”

21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out.

22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

Our lesson for today is entitled, God’s Faithfulness is Eternal.

Because of the sin of idolatry, that is worshiping and serving pagan gods instead of the only one true God, the Hebrew people of the northern kingdom of Israel were severely punished by God and paid a very costly price because of their sin. In the year 722 BC God used the fearsome and ruthless Assyrian Army to invade their country until their land became desolate. They were captured and were all exiled as a result. After more than a century of that devastating occurrence, that is about the year 586 BC, or 136 years thereafter, the Hebrew people of the southern kingdom of Israel, which is called Judah, had never learned that hard lesson. They did not only repeat that same grievous sin of idolatry but became even more rebellious than their brothers in the North by following exactly the way pagans live their lives. 

Consequently, God punished them by using the ruthless & brutally cruel Babylonians to judge them. God could no longer withstand the magnitude of their wickedness by being idolatrous despite his enduring patience of giving them many chances to repent and reform their ways. In the end God’s justice always prevails even how slow and patiently enduring.  God’s justice, though it may be late, will surely come and it will make anyone accountable to him. No one can run and no one can hide from the final arbiter of our life. And these people never reformed their ways but even more that they took the sin of idolatry for granted. They set aside completely the covenant of God with their forefathers and instead followed the way of Baal, the fertility god of the pagans. In his disappointment with them God through his prophet Jeremiah resoundingly echoed their grievous sin by accusing them of their wickedness. And this is what He told them in Jeremiah 19: 4-6: 

“For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned sacrifices in it to gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. They have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal – something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.”  

These people never learned their lesson. History repeats itself for the same kind of sin, which is idolatry. Yet God patiently waited for about 136 years for them to realize the grave sin they’ve committed, and for them to reform of this wickedness. But never did they reform, instead they continuously pursued to worship and serve Baal. They took the sin of idolatry for granted. They have forgotten their humble beginnings - what God had done to them when he rescued them from centuries of slavery in Egypt and brought them up to a new land, which he promised to their forefathers where milk and honey flow. But they allowed themselves to be influenced by their neighboring pagan nations. Instead of being grateful and loyal to the only one true God who deserved all the praise and glory for blessing them abundantly, they became even more arrogant and forgot their history. Through the prophet Hosea God accused them squarely of their sin when he said, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” (13: 6). Does this sound familiar? Truly, they have been long suffering shamelessly in Egypt as poor slaves having been deprived of their freedom and property and the enjoyment of their life in the hands of a cruel and pagan nation. God waited for 70 years for them to realize the magnitude of their rebelliousness. This is the result of the hardness of their hearts and 70 years were needed for them to realize the magnitude of their sins. Indeed, these people are stiff-necked (Deut.9: 13)

And this is the way how God works for our soul to be rescued from eternal damnation. Sometimes they come in different forms and circumstances for our own good. God uses many means for us to be healed and saved from our own folly. When life seems so unfavorable to us, and everything seems to work against us we should not panic or become too wearisome but take this occasion to pause for a moment and look more deeply of our situation because in them, God is using this opportunity to speak to us and even to break us for our own good and blessing. God is just reminding us of something very important that we have somehow long forgotten Him have been shattered due to many excuses. God is showing a way, a different path for you to follow and that is for your own good. God is indeed faithful and ever good, and he does not want you to perish but to enjoy his presence and company. Thus, you don’t need to complain when he disciplines you because this is for your own good and salvation. 

This is what happened to the ancient Israel who in despite of their grievous sin God restored them back into his fold for them to start all over again. God broke them down by using a ruthless pagan nation for them to turn from their wicked ways. With this we can learn that God is sovereign that he can use whatever means for his own purpose. In this instance, God used even the Babylonians to discipline a holy nation to accomplish his purpose. 

How manifold is the faithfulness of God towards his children that he does not want them to be led astray from his salvation. He did everything, even a pagan and idolatrous nation, just for them to reform their ways. And the good news is that it worked out beautifully for the Israelites to realize the magnitude of their sin and they repented as a result. This reality has never changed because this is true even for us today. God, in his faithfulness, disciplines us for our reformation. “He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness” (Heb.12: 10). 

Because God is ever faithful to his covenant with Israel’s forefathers, he reassured them of their salvation by bringing them back to their land in Jerusalem after their allotted years of exile. Now that they are ready to start all over again from their shattered relationship with God, they will be restored back to their place in the Promised Land and will rebuild the temple and reconstruct its walls. 

Today, I want to share with you some fundamental truths that will help with your daily walk with the Lord.

While God is faithful, we need to do also our part to enjoy and experience His blessings.  In other words, we need to obey Him. (20).

In verse 20 it says, “Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians!”

Babylon symbolizes bondage of slavery, the place of suffering, humiliation and hopelessness. It is a place where people practice all sorts of abomination by worshiping and offering sacrifices to idols and other pagan gods.  This is a place where people deny the existence of the one true God. When the Israelites were deported to Babylon, they were denied their rights and freedom as any citizen enjoys in his own country. They were forced against their will to submit and follow a culture and practices that were foreign to their way of life. But worst of all was when their children were brought up and raised in this foreign land. They too became Babylonians! This is the consequence of their sin. Had they obeyed God’s covenant with them then they would not have suffered all this. Verses 18-19 speak well of this condition of the Israelites in Babylon:

18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me.”    

It was a great loss for them to be denied those blessings supposed to be enjoyed by them; how they missed out the abundant blessings from the real source of wealth. The prophet Habakkuk clearly describes the situation of those who trust in idols by saying:   

“Oh, what value is an idol since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trust in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.” (Hab. 2: 18-19)

God in his faithfulness did not forsake them despite their wickedness but instead gave them hope - a chance to mend their ways. Indeed, God is a God of many chances, and it is up for us to make our good response, otherwise we will miss out God’s faithfulness and eventually lose those opportunities and would soon be too late for us to repent. Verse 20 says, “Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians!” In other words, God is warning us to get out of that place and flee from sin before it is too late! Any minute to lose would be fatal! It will not do you any good and you cannot take sin for granted! I don’t know what your Babylon is right now. Only you and God know it. And before it is too late, make sure to make right with God. Don’t wait for God’s discipline as he did to the ancient Israelites who went through for 70 long years under the bondage of slavery. Yes, get out of your Babylon. Flee from the Babylonians! 

Only you can pinpoint where your Babylon is right now. The Lord is calling you to leave that place at once if you want to receive and experience His forgiveness and blessing. I do not need to enumerate them one by one what are these “Babylon” in your life because you are the only person who knows it well. I want to say it again; you cannot take sin for granted before God. The book of Proverbs 28: 13 says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them find mercy.” 

God is calling you to mend your ways now that there is still a chance. You cannot live in sin and at the same time serve the Lord. You cannot have a double life. God does not even honor your worship to him even how sincere you are unless you make yourself right with Him. What the Lord wants from you is to live righteously, to receive and enjoy His eternal faithfulness. Romans 10: 2-3 say: 

“For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”

In other words, it is not an excuse that you are ignorant about God’s righteousness. He wants your complete devotion and loyalty to Him. Anything that has more importance over Him in your life is definitely a sort of idolatry. It might be your job, your family, your career, your possessions, your child, or your wife, or your friends, and we can continue adding the list without ending. God wants us that we will enjoy life to the fullest and experience His abundant provisions. But most often than not, the folly of riches and selfish ambitions are very tempting until finally you don’t even realize that you are already being led away from Him. 

Above all else, God should be your foremost priority in life and everything else will be secondary to Him. However, God wants also that you need to balance your priority in life. You cannot just leave your family getting hungry by forgetting your obligation and responsibility to them as a father or being as a mother. Balance your time with the Lord and your family to enjoy a happy and an abundant life. The same is true with your job or career. Don’t allow yourself to be enslaved by it. Balance your priority. If you want to experience and fully enjoy God’s faithfulness of blessing in your life, then you need to honestly seek His righteousness. Balance your priority but nothing else can take the place of God first in your life. Otherwise, it will be a sort of idolatry when anything will take His place. Be reminded of this.

In his faithfulness, God is gracious to give you a chance to renew and start all over again to get into Him. (22) 

In verse 22 it says, “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

We cannot use God’s faithfulness as a license to continue living in sin. While it is true that he has chosen Israel among all nations as his people it does not mean, however, that they are exempted from His justice. It is still their choice whether to accept His offer of grace. God’s attribute is that he is so considerate and forgiving. He opens all possibilities for our sake by giving us a chance to start all over again despite our dark past. His supply is unlimited, and he will always meet our needs. The only condition is our willingness to recommit our life to him - to turn and go back to him and renew our life and live according to His will. The bottom line is sin. Are you willing to compromise sin for the sake of convenience and comfort, which is only short live compared to that eternal reward that God has in store for us? I am sure you don’t.

When the Israelites were allowed to go back home to Jerusalem the first thing, they did was to rebuild the temple and its walls that were crushed and destroyed by foreign invaders who captured and enslaved them for many years. The temple in the OT represents the ever presence of God among them. It was the place where God usually go to meet with his chosen leader Moses. The temple represents the ever presence of God Almighty in their midst. There was no other place dedicated for Him to meet His people. This gave them strength, hope and assurance because of God’s presence with them. But when the temple was destroyed, they could no longer feel his presence. They craved him but he could no longer be found because of their sin. And the first thing they did upon their return was to rebuild it.

Today, the temple of God is no longer the building as in the Old Testament where people see and experience His glory. But now, God made your body as His temple. I Corinthians 6: 19, 20 say, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.”  

No wonder why the apostle Paul urged the Christians in Rome (and to us) to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice because it is God’s temple. This is what he says in Romans 12: 1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.”

In other words, we need to take care of this physical body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit and guard it safely with a high wall to guard it from the attack of the enemy, who is Satan, who wants to kill, steal and to destroy us (Jn.10: 10). Are you willing to rededicate your life to Him and allow the Holy Spirit to make your body his temple again? Don’t be enslaved with sin. The Bible is very clear when it says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn.1: 9) Not only that, Jesus’ promise to those who back slide but are willing to recommit their lives to Him - this is what He said: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Rev. 3:20) What an assurance for everyone who is willing to come back and reform his life to the Lord. He is giving everyone a chance to be saved. He is giving you a second chance, my friend, to reform your life and be saved! Isn’t that amazing! This is what grace is all about. It is good news, especially for those who were once saved but unfortunately for some reason, were discouraged along their journey of faith and fell down again. But this is what the Bible describes them: “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again…” (Prov. 24: 16) If you are willing to rebuild that temple of God, meaning your body, and allow the Holy Spirit to live with you again, then this verse is for you. Rise up and be God’s temple!  

Jesus Christ withstood all the shame and humiliation of the cross because he wanted to let the whole world know of God’s faithfulness towards humankind. Had it not for Him dying on the cross there is no one left standing that is alive today because of sin. Yet he paid a very costly price on that ugly hill called Golgotha. God’s faithfulness is not a cheap grace that can be bargained. God’s faithfulness is a costly grace that cost dearly the life of His only Son. What is your response? Do you want to continue living in sin? Time is running out. You need to stop sinning and accept the offer of grace of forgiveness of the Lord for you to have another chance. 

And for those who have not yet committed their lives unto Jesus, this is your moment. Accept Jesus Christ into your lives by faith. Make Him to be your Lord and Savior today.  

Let us pray. Thank you, dear Father, for this opportunity of sharing the message of the cross. I pray that you will change people’s heart for them to accept Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. May you continue to touch their lives by bringing them into your fold. In His name, Amen.

It is my prayer that you have been blessed today. Thank you for allowing me to share with you the message of hope. Continue to stay tuned. This is your host, brother Dani Marantan Banggo saying, keep punching the good fight of faith. Mahalo!