Jehovah Leads His People Safely Home

Comparing his earlier  acts of deliverance with what he is about to do, Jehovah says:  "Do not remember the first things, and to the former things do not turn your consideration.  Look! I am doing something new. Now it will spring up.  You people will know it, will you not ?  Really, through the wilderness I shall set a way, through the desert rivers.  The wild beast of the field will glorify me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I shall have given water even in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to cause my people, my chosen one, to drink, the people whom I have formed for myself, that they should recount the praise of me." -Isaiah 43:18-21. 

In saying, "do not remember the first things,"  Jehovah is not suggesting that is servants erase his past acts of salvation from their minds.  In fact, many of these acts are part of Israel's divinely inspired history, and Jehovah commanded that the escape from Egypt be remembered annually at the Passover celebration.  (Leviticus 23:5: Deuteronomy  16:1-4) However, Jehovah now wants his people to glorify him on the basis of "something new"-something they will experience first hand. This includes not just their deliverance from Babylon but also their miraculous journey home, perhaps by the more direct desert route.  In that barren land, Jehovah will make "a way" for them and will perform powerful works reminiscent of what he did for the Israelites in Moses' day-indeed, he will feed the returnees in the desert and quench their thirst with veritable rivers.  So bounteous will Jehovah's provisions be that even the wild beasts will glorify God and refrain from attacking people.

Similarly, in 1919 the remnant of spiritual Israel were freed from Babylon captivity, and they set off on a route Jehovah had prepared for them.  "the Way of Holiness." (Isaiah 35:8)  Unlike the Israelites, they did not have to move through the burning desert from geographical location to another, and their journey was not concluded after a few months with an arrival in Jerusalem.   However, "the Way of Holiness" did  lead the remnant of anointed Christians into a spiritual paradise.  In their case, they remain on that "Way of Holiness," since they still have to journey through this system of things. As long as they remain on the highway-as long as they observe God's standards of cleanness and holiness-they remain in the spiritual paradise. And what a joy for them to be joined by a great crowd of "non-Israelite" companions!  In sharp contrast with those who look to Satan's system, both the remnant and their companions continue to enjoy a rich spiritual banquet at Jehovah's hand.  (Isaiah 25:6; 65:13,14)  Discerning  Jehovah's blessing on his people, many beastlike ones have changed their ways and glorified the true God. -Isaiah 11:6-9.

Next time: Jehovah Reveals His Hurt

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001