Bible Study: July 12, 2023

Tonight we're going to look at chapter 43 as we continue in the book of Isaiah. As we've been in this section of Isaiah that began back in chapter 40, more and more as we get into this section of it, we see God. We see more about the character of God.

We've seen Him in the chapters preceding how merciful He is to His people, Israel. We're going to see in the chapter tonight that He loves Israel. He calls them His people. He created them. But we see God's love. We see His concern for all of mankind. We also see what He is doing as Jesus Christ returns and as the kingdom is set up.

In the prior chapters, we saw where God says, look at your gods, were they able to do what I did? He reminds us He is the only Savior. He is the answer to all of the world's problems and the only answer to this world's problems. We're going to see that again in the chapter tonight as we see God repeat some of these things we've seen in the prior chapters.

Even as it strikes me as we go through chapter 43, He's giving the proof that He exists.

We're going to see that a little bit in the chapter tonight. As we encounter people in the world who may question, does God exist or the proof of the Bible? Some of the answers are here in these chapters in Isaiah that we could use and turn right to the Bible and ask people who may have those doubts exactly the same thing He's going to be asking or telling the world in the time after Christ returns. Let's get into chapter 43. God, of course, as we open the chapter here, is talking to His people. He calls them Jacob and Israel, and we know who Jacob and Israel are, but we'll turn to that in just a minute. In verse 1 here, it says, But now thus says the Eternal, who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel.

While we remember—and we could turn back to those chapters, but I think everyone online here remembers who Israel is. He calls him Jacob, and we remember that God changed Jacob's name to Israel, and that God placed that Israel's name in chapter 48 on His people, Ephraim and Manasseh. You remember that from from chapter 48. But going back to how Israel was formed, we go back to Abraham and the promise that God made to Abraham, who was childless. He and his wife, Sarah, they had no children, and God said, you know, I'm going to give you an heir. Your descendants are going to be as the sands of the sea. And they waited well past Sarah's childbearing years, but Isaac was born, and he was the child of promise. He was a miracle child. He was a gift from God.

God formed that baby. God gave that baby. God gave that son to Abraham and Sarah. He was a child of promise. And He is, you know, when God says, I formed you, O Jacob. I created you, O Jacob. Indeed, the only reason that Isaac ever lived is because God gave him to Abraham and Sarah as a gift. He is that. So when God says, I created you, Jacob. Of course, you have Isaac, and then Isaac and his wife had Esau and Jacob. Jacob had the 12 sons of Israel. Jacob became Israel. So we have this line that God had there. And as he talks about, I created you, Jacob. I formed you, Israel.

He means what he's saying, but he has always seen them as special people because of the obedience and the faith of Abraham. And God, you know, God loved Abraham, and God loves the descendants and the descendants of Israel that God gave. So he says, fear not, as we continue in verse 1, fear not, for I have redeemed you. Well, we know, we go back, you know, to the time that Israel was enslaved in Egypt. It was God who redeemed them then. He delivered them from Egypt. He took them out of slavery. He brought them out with a high hand, took them to the promised land. God will do it again. Israel, who physical Israel, who never could obey God without the Holy Spirit, it's impossible to look to obey God because of the human nature in us that we are, what we talked about and we read about in Romans 8, 7, and other places. You know, God delivered them, and because of Israel's sins today, as they depart from God, they'll go into captivity again. But God will redeem Israel again, as we've talked about several times in this book. Fear not, I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. And that's a very encouraging and a very exciting thing for God to say about his people, Israel. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 7. Again, keep your finger there in chapter 43. And in Deuteronomy 7, verse 6, we've gone back to this at some time. This is God talking to physical Israel. Now, he makes the same comment later on in Peter's epistle to spiritual Israel, but to physical Israel, who God hasn't forgotten, and who he's talking about here in chapter 43. He says this, Deuteronomy 7, verse 6, You are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. God did not set his love on you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples, but because the eternal loves you, and because you would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And so God says, I called you by your name. Today we don't call modern day Israel by its name. Now we know that, you know, God did chapter 48 of Genesis when Israel was giving the blessing, and he laid his hands, and God and Israel said, that my name be on you, Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. We know who those are today. We've talked about those, but God says, I called you by name. You are mine.

You are mine. You are Abraham's descendants who I promised to him, and who he never forgets.

Verse 2 is just a tremendous, verses 2 and 3, just an extremely encouraging set of verses here. Anytime we're having any kind of troubles or trials, there's so many verses we can go back to and just remember who God is. But here in verse 2, he says, when you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they won't overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. You know, those are things that we can remember because our God has that power. And as he talks about these three things, as he's talking to his physical people, Israel, you know, we remind we might be reminded that God has already done that for physical Israel. When Israel came out of Egypt, they did pass through the waters of the Red Sea. They didn't overflow. They didn't overflow him. He was right there with them. He led them to safety through the Red Sea.

When his physical Israel was crossing over the promised land of the Jericho River, they passed over it. The river was parted so that they could cross over on dry land. The rivers didn't overflow them. And when, you know, his descendants, the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they were there in Babylon after they'd been taken captive and they refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's God, they did pass through the fire. They did pass through the fire, and it didn't touch them, not even the smell of smoke on them. So when God says these things, it's like, He's reminding, I've already done this. You already know, you already know that I've done this for you. He can't see us through anything. And whatever happens to us is our, you know, is His will. But I think, you know, just when you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. Through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. You know, I've been talking here for the last few weeks, and the sermons I give, God is our only Savior. You know, we will all, I know that we all know that. Every one of us would say, God is our Savior. We absolutely know it. But we will come to the point where we realize there is no Savior on this earth, no Savior in any government, no Savior in any leader, no Savior in anything, only God. He is the only one. I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt for your ransom. And certainly He did. Egypt was destroyed.

You know, God took Israel out of Egypt. And we read about Egypt in latter days as well, that they will be, you know, God will deliver them, deliver us through Egypt, through Ethiopia, through Siva, which is that nation, Kush, that we talked about, that's sitting down there on the southern part of Egypt as well. And all those Middle Eastern countries that we talked about back in Isaiah 14, 15, 16, and the prophecies that God said about that time, that He will deliver from them. And those nations are going to be, those nations are going to be judged by God in the end time. Verse 4, since you were precious in my sight, since you were precious in my sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you. Therefore, I will give men for you and people for your life. You see that you can just see the love and mercy that God has for His people, Israel. And you might stop and think, well, I mean, God's going to give men for them. Now, I have to remember that as people die, God's plan for mankind was never just, you know, 70, 80, 90, 100, 600, 700 years of physical life, and then it's all over. That isn't why He created man. He created man for a physical existence on this physical earth, but He always has eternity in mind. You know, His will is that everyone will repent, turn to Him, and receive eternal life.

So when He says that their life is over the physical life, there's the second resurrection. There will be people who live again and who have the opportunity to know what you and I know today as God leads us. They'll have the same opportunity to be able to choose God and live that way of life.

This is just a world that mankind has chosen by their choice. We live in a world of of hate, a world of violence, a world of war, a world where physical life can be taken at any minute because people even more increasingly now just have less and less respect for for human life. But God does, and His plan of salvation includes every man, woman, and child. So you are precious. Here's kind of this thing for physical Israel. Let me look at my notes here for... wrong chapter. Let me get over to chapter 43.

Yeah, we're in verse five then, Isaiah 43. Fear not, for I am with you. Now you remember in the prior chapters, God would talk about bringing people back from all the ends of the earth. We talked about how the coastlands, we talked about the coastlands, that He would call them from there. And here He's talking about His physical people, Israel, that have been scattered all over the world as a result of their disobedience and turning from God. As part of the consequences for their action, they lose their country, they lose their possessions, they are conquered. Some die in famine, some die in pestilence, some die in swords, some are taken captive, they are scattered around the world. And here in verse five, God is beginning to call them back at the return of Jesus Christ. Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east. I will gather you from the west. I will say to the north, give them up, and to the south, don't keep them back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Everyone who is called by my name, who I have created for my glory. And here it is again, God repeating, Israel, the people I have loved, He loves all of mankind. Don't make the mistake that God only loves His physical Israel. He loves all of mankind. But there's a special place in His heart for Abraham's descendants, who He created, who He formed, and who He named, and who He has blessed. I mean, the world has truly been blessed because of Abraham's descendants. We should have turned back there before, but let's go back to Genesis 12.5 and just rehearse again, because I think as we go through the book of Isaiah, we see how all the Bible fits together. We go back to Genesis many times. We go back to Job. We go back to the Psalms. We see how the Bible has this symmetry in it, that everything fits together. And in Isaiah, we see a lot of this. But back in Genesis 12, we have God's promise to Abraham. And indeed, all nations of the earth have been blessed because of Abraham's descendants. We go back there to Genesis 12. Genesis 12 and verse...

Let's just read. Let's just read verses 1 through 4 of Genesis 12. The Lord said to Abram, Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. And again, I remind people, you know, this is not like Abraham wasn't living or Abraham wasn't living in the land like today, where we might just say, okay, we got transferred to XYZ place. We just get our cars, get our moving trucks, and move to another place. This was an unusual thing. Families stayed together back then. God said, Leave your home. Leave your home and go to the place that I tell you to go. And Abraham just did it. Abraham just did it because he had faith in God and he would follow God wherever it is, the same attitude that you and I have to have. Wherever God says, that's what we do. Get out of your country, from your family, from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You shall be a blessing. And indeed, they have been. When you see who the modern day Israel is, the Americas, the Britons, the Australians, the Canada's, the New Zealand's of the world, indeed they have been a blessing to the world. And the world would not be the place, the physical place you and I enjoy today if it wasn't for God's blessings. You shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And Abraham did just what God asked him to do, something that we have to kind of learn to do as well. And of course, we talk about the physical blessings, but it is through Abraham's line. His descendants that Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was born as well. So that you have that very tremendous spiritual blessing for the world as well. And when God said this, to remember to Abraham in Genesis 12, there was no Isaac at this point. He was promising him to send this, but they were childless at this point until God much later gave him the blessing of Isaac as their child. So we can see how, because of the faith of Abraham, because of the obedience of Abraham, how God loved those descendants. Those descendants were special to God. David's descendants were that way as well. When you look at the throne that David's thrown, because of David's complete faith in God, and because he became a man after God's own heart, God said, your throne will exist forever. It'll exist until the time that Jesus Christ returns, and he takes that throne. And we've talked about that. I know with the recent change in the monarchy in Britain that's been talked about. We've done Beyond Today TV shows on that. There's one of the Beyond Today magazine on all that. That throne still exists because God, because of the faith, because of the faith, and because of the way that people have lived.

God loves his people. When we love him, we do his will, and we yield ourselves completely to him.

So we go back to chapter 43 then in Isaiah. I'm looking at my notes here. I've got a scripture I'm going to turn to in a minute here.

Yeah, I don't know if I read verse 7, but let's read verse 7 here in Isaiah 43. Everyone who has called my name whom I have created for my glory. I have formed him, yes, I have made him. One of the themes that we've seen in chapters 40, 41, and 42, and even before that, and through the other prophets, the Old Testament prophets, we see that God often says that they may know that I am the Lord. They will know that I am the Lord over and over. He says that. Many of the things that he goes through, God is proving that he is God. He's proving that he is God. Let them go. I'll go for you.

You can still hear me? Okay.

He's proving that he is God. I want to go back to a couple of chapters here. Deuteronomy 31.

We're going to come across this again. As God talks about Israel and shows his love for them and his concern for them and his mercy on them, because they certainly haven't been people nor have we that has pleased God right down through history. We've been a disappointment of times. We've turned from him. He's had to punish and chastise us all for the purpose that we will turn back to him so that he can give eternal life. Deuteronomy 31.

Okay. I'm going to go ahead and read this. I think I have my note in the wrong verse here. Let's read Deuteronomy 31.29. Here, this is Moses in the latter chapters of Deuteronomy. Remember that he's talking about what will befall Israel in the latter days. Verse 29, he says, I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days. Well, that evil will include the famine, the pestilence, the war, the captivity that we've talked about. Evil will befall you in the latter days. Why? Because you will do evil in the sight of the eternal to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. And that's exactly the situation that that God is talking about here. Jesus Christ has returned, as we're in chapter 43. He has come back. He is redeeming Israel, but Israel has been through a very difficult time in their history because they turned from God. Now, we remember that as we talk about the hope and we talk about the expectation of Christ returning and how all things will be made well when people are living by His law, there is that period. It comes after the time where there is the consequences for turning from God and the suffering that Israel will do as a result of that. You know, God says, I redeemed you and I'm going to bring you back. And He talks about that many times, but as we go into the next few verses here, keep that in mind. You know, we're coming out of this, and in the verses coming up, we begin to see God again talking about the proof of who He is. You would think when Jesus Christ returns and He saves the world from destroying themselves, right, and the armies and weaponry that are gathered together there in Armageddon are just completely obliterated after He's returned. The world would need no other proof. But God wants everyone to know He is God and He is the Savior. The world has been plagued with false gods. Here in America, we're plagued with false gods in Britain all over the world. There are all these false gods that people have in place of God. The world will know. The world will know who God is when He returns, and God keeps talking about that and that. And it's something for us to keep in mind, too. We have to know there is only one God and put all the other gods away from us. In verse 8, then, if we go back to chapter 43, chapter 43, verse 8, God's brought Israel back, and then He says, bring out the blind people who have eyes. Bring out the blind people who have eyes. Now, He might be talking about Jews, Israelites that aren't seeing yet. Probably talking more about Gentiles whose eyes have not been opened yet. They are blind, but they can see when God opens their eyes, they will see the same things you and I do. Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. They haven't heard. Maybe over the course of time, they've heard the message, put it out of their mind, didn't want to hear the truth, but they do have ears. They will understand. Bring out the blind people, God says, who have eyes. Bring out the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled. Bring them all out here. The world has been saved from itself. Destruction is gone. Jesus Christ has returned. They are the Savior. Bring everyone together, and then God starts asking questions like we saw in chapter 40, like we saw in chapter 41, like we saw in chapter 42. Who among them can declare this?

So, He's like, you see what's happened, and you know the Word as He opens the Bible. You know what has been prophesied. You know what's going on. Who among all of you can just—who among them, all these gods that you had can declare this? Of all the books you had, of all the gods, who could declare what has happened in exactly the way that the world happened, that is clearly recorded in the Bible that we will more fully understand after it happens? Who among them can declare this? And who can show us former things? Who can prophesy? If we look back at the prophecies that we've looked at back in the earlier chapters of Isaiah, we looked at, you know, Tyre, which is still an amazing thing to me. When you look at the detail of Tyre, that God recorded as a prophecy, and it came out, and it came to about exactly as He said to the detail.

Cannot possibly be a coincidence. Cannot possibly be a natural occurrence. It's absolutely God's hand as He predicted, and He's beginning to show, again, here's the proof of who I am. Here, I am the God. I am your only God. Look at the things. Look at the things that have been told. Look at what you've been told. Who among them can declare this? Who can prophesy and show us former things?

Because let them. Let them bring out their witnesses. Do they have any God? Do the Muslims have any? Do the Buddhists have any of these things? Can anyone else match what God has done? Can anyone else match what's in the Bible? That is absolutely every prophecy fulfilled. Every prophecy at that time fulfilled that we've seen. We still have yet some to go, but we've seen many of them, and that's one of the proofs of the Bible that God is showing us here. Let them bring out their witnesses that they may be justified. Come on, bring it out. Tell us which of you predicted these things. Tell us which of you were able to prophesy that this would happen. Tell of us which of you knew the plan of salvation that God has opened our minds to and what God has said. Let them bring out their witnesses that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, it is truth. This is truth. All the other so-called truths around the world absolutely exposed as being falsehoods. One truth, and that's the truth in the Bible. One true book— you and I know what that book is, the Bible—is that. Let them come out and say, it is truth. And God says to the people that are there at that time, to Israel, the other nations that are assembled there, you are my witnesses, says the Lord. You are my witnesses, Israel, among them, because God has said about Israel, you will go into captivity. You will do this. You will suffer these things because you turned from me. But when you turn back to me, I will save you. I will redeem you from around the world. I will not let you be utterly destroyed, which is what the world, under Satan's sway, will want to do. Satan wants to completely destroy all of the people, the physical descendants of Israel, and God's people, too. Make no mistake about that. That's very clear in the book of Revelation. His will is to destroy them all. God says that won't happen. You are my witnesses, verse 10, says the Eternal. And my servant, whom I have chosen, you are my servant, whom I have chosen. Let's go back to Revelation again. You are my servant, whom I have chosen. God is talking to physical Israel there. In Revelation 7, I think a few Bible studies ago we turned to this as well. In Revelation 7, we have 144,000 from 12 of the tribes of Israel. Dan isn't mentioned to those 12 tribes, but Manasseh and Ephraim are.

Verse 3 of Revelation 7, as the trumpets are about to sound, it says in verse 3, Don't harm the earth. Well, let me just read verse 2. I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted, to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Don't harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. And he lists these 12 tribes here with 12,000 in each of them, the servants of my God.

You know, the other 144,000 are clearly identified as the first fruits, the ones who are without guile, calls them the servants of God. And here in chapter 43, he says, Here they are, they're my witnesses, my servants whom I have chosen. So it's just an interesting thing, as you see what God is talking to physical Israel. And of course, we know what his words and his promises to spiritual Israel, the Church of God today, is as well, what our futures are, you know, judgment is now on the house of God, it is our time to turn to God and to become who we want so that we can be born as spirit beings at the return of Jesus Christ into his kingdom. But here, you know, here in verse 10, You are my witnesses, says the eternal, and my servant whom I have chosen.

And then if we go back to verse 10 here, in chapter 43, that you know, that you may know and believe me.

Again, I do these things, I say these things, I show you these things, God is proving over and over again, that you may know that I am the only true God, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me, there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me. Only one God, the one who is, was, and always will be. And you don't have to turn there, I'll turn back to Revelation 1a, because we see right there at the beginning of the book of Revelation, speaking of the end time events and the prophecies that are there, we see Jesus Christ saying the very same thing in Revelation 1a. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. So we have, you know, we have God declaring, I am the only God. You and I know that, we need to know it to the very depths of our being, and all the other little gods, you know, disappeared, one God we trust in, one God we rely on, one God that we know is our Savior.

I even I, before me there was no God formed, I'm going back to chapter 43 in Isaiah, nor shall there be after me. Verse 11, I, even I, am the Eternal, and besides me there is no Savior.

There is no Savior. It's the second time he said that in this, I am your Savior. Besides me, there is no Savior. Apart from God, no hope, no future, but he is our Savior, and it is absolutely certain that he's that, and we can put our hope and our expectation in that. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior. Some pretty, pretty dramatic and some pretty forthright statements that God makes here. Verse 12 goes back to what he's talked about, the things that he has said, the things that he has said through the Bible, his Word, right, in writing, the things that God gave the prophets of old to talk about, and Jesus Christ talked about that he recorded in the book of Revelation that the prophecies match up from the beginning of Genesis all the way to the end of Revelation. As God says, here's what the world is going to be. This is the plan of God that's going to unfold, and this is how things will be. I have declared, verse 12, God says. That means he's predicted the future. He's declared what is going to come, and it is certain. I have declared, and I have saved. Indeed, he has saved. Jesus Christ is there at this time when he's talking and foreshowing that. He saved exactly as Jesus Christ said. I will return. I will return. I have declared, and I have saved. I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign God among you. It was only me. You can't look to your God and say, well, it might have been this little idol over here that saved me. God, we read a verse. Let me check it out again. Mind you of a verse we read. I think it's Zephaniah. Yeah, Zephaniah 2 and verse 11. Keep your finger there in Isaiah 43. There will be no other God that people can say, well, maybe it wasn't God. Maybe it was our military might. Maybe it was our economy. All those things are going to be destroyed, just like God destroyed all the gods of Egypt. Zephaniah 2, verse 11, it says, The Lord will be awesome to them, for he will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth.

All. When he says all, he means all. No other things to look at. When people are standing there, and the world is still intact and still alive, and people are still alive, and Jesus Christ is standing there, the only one they can look at is he is the Savior. No other God, because God will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth. People will worship him, each one from his place, indeed the shores of all nations. So, again, it goes right along with verse 11 in chapter 43. Besides him, there is no Savior, and the world will know it at that point. Here we have God painstakingly showing them there is only one God. There is only one Savior. I am God. I am the only God. I am, was, and always will be. No other thing you can look at. There's only one reason the world is still standing. Therefore, he says—I'm back in chapter 43 and verse 12—therefore, you are my witnesses, that I am God. Here's the proof again. You're going to know I am God. There will be no doubt. Verse 13, indeed before the day was, I am he. What's he saying in that verse?

Well, what he's saying is that before there was day and night—remember in Genesis 1, it was him who formed day and night—before that, he was there. He predates this physical earth. He goes back in eternity, in infinity, whatever you want to call it. Before the day was, I'm here. I'm he.

I know the beginning. Before the foundation of the earth, all this was planned, and it's come about exactly as I said. Only one being in the universe and infinity could do that. Indeed, before the day was, I am he. And there is no one who can deliver out of my hand. If I say I'm going to save you, if I'm going to protect you, no one. No one can touch you. That's what my will is. It is as good as the fact that you and I are here on this line tonight. It is absolutely certain.

There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I work, and who will reverse it? Who has the power to undo what God did? You know, in the book of Isaiah, we've seen, you know, the mighty, the miracle that's just physically impossible. Remember, with Hezekiah and the sundial, went back 10 degrees, that means that physically the earth had to stop rotating, go back, turn back the opposite way, and that happened. And somehow God made all that happen, and mankind didn't even know. He wasn't thrown off. The whole world wasn't thrown into chaos because God supersedes anything, things that we, our minds, can't even comprehend He's able to do. We see those miracles, the other miracles that Israel has seen when they look back at their history, the parting of the Red Sea, the Jordan River, the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego passing through the fire, and not even the smell of smoke on them, the things that God can do that are physically impossible because He's God. He's not limited by the physical universe. You and I are. He isn't. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I work, and who will reverse it? What God says—we get into chapter 44 and 45, verses we've read before—when I see it, my word will not come back to me empty. It will happen exactly the way I say. Verse 14, thus says the eternal, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I will send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives. For your sake, Israel. Now, he might be reminding them of when the Jews were captive in Babylon, and God did send Cyrus. Remember, actually, this is the next chapter. We'll be talking about Cyrus again in the chapter 44, the beginning of chapter 45. We talked about him at the time of the fall of Babylon. Cyrus came in, and Babylon was conquered. The Jews were set free at that time, and Cyrus allowed them to go back. For your sake, I will send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, the Chaldeans who rejoice in their ships. That is where they're gods. Look how great we are in the armaments we have. Verse 15, I am the Lord, I am the Lord, your Holy One. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King, your King. So God uses this term, your King, you know, we might remember—again, if you keep your finger there in Isaiah 43—go back to 1 Samuel.

1 Samuel, you'll remember as, you know, Samuel was a judge at that time, and they were coming out of the times of the judges, and the people demanded a king. Remember that?

Chapter 8 of 1 Samuel. And, you know, Samuel—let's just pick it up in verse 3. 1 Samuel 8, verse 3.

His sons, Samuel's sons, didn't walk in his ways. They turned aside after DeSaunas gain. They took bribes. They perverted justice. And all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel and said to him, Look, you're old. Your sons don't walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. We want a king, Samuel. You're too old to do this anymore. We want a physical king. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the eternal. And the Lord said to Samuel, Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you, They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Everything they've asked you to do today, just kind of do it. Give them what they want. We'll see what the end of their way is. And then he warns them what kings will do to them. But here it is. Israel rejected God as king. And here God is saying in chapter 43, as he's going through this, I've done this for you. I've done this for you. I never forgot you. I never forsook you. I was there with you through all these things. I am your king. I am your king, the king they should have chosen way back whenever, the king that we, you know, that you and I better in our minds have God as our king today. Okay, first now, again, any comments or anything anyone wants to add? You're more than welcome, you know, to join in anytime. We're back here in chapter 43 of Isaiah now, verse 16.

God talks about this way of the sea again, a path through the mighty waters, verse 16. Thus says the eternal who makes a way in the sea. And he might be talking again about the Red Sea, right? But he may be talking about what has gone on. Thus says the Lord who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters, who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power. And he says they shall lie down together, they shall not rise, they are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick. It sure looks like he's talking about Pharaoh, the passing through the waters again, and the delivery through the Red Sea. But you'll remember, perhaps, several chapters ago in Isaiah back in chapter 11. Then he talked about this as he is talking about the end time, right? The Lord, I'm in chapter 11 now of 15, just to remind you of the symmetry in the book of Isaiah, too, that Isaiah, God will give Isaiah the words that are written at one time. We come back to him later as God builds the case for who he is and builds us through this prophecy that this book of Isaiah gives us so much information on. In verse 15, it says, The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt. With his mighty wind he will shake his fist over the river and strike it in the seven streams and make men cross over dryshod. And then he says in verse 16, There will be a highway for the remnant of his people who will be left from Assyria as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt. So you'll remember that this is kind of prophetic because there will be this highway that's there who will be left from Assyria. And we talked about that highway in Isaiah 35, and we're about to see this highway again that God is going to talk about.

As he talks about bringing his people back from all ends of the earth to the land that he promised to Abraham way back thousands of years ago. So in verse 16 and 17 of Isaiah 43, come back to passing through the waters, going through those things. And in verse 18, God makes an interesting comment. As he reminds the people who he is and what he's done in the past, he says, well, don't remember the former things. What I did in the Red Sea was great. What I did with Pharaoh, you know, I conquered Egypt, the greatest power on earth. You didn't have to lift a finger, you just had to do what I had to say, and Egypt was brought down. But don't remember the former things. Don't consider the things old. Even though he's been reminding us of his great power, because he says, in verse 19, I'll do a new thing. You think those were wonders? You think those were great things? Wait until you see what I'm going to do from here on out, God says. What I am going to do in the future, the wonder that I work with you in the future is going to be so great you won't remember the Red Sea. That'll be like, that's minor compared to what God is going to do. Might remind you of 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9, where God says, eye hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard, it hasn't entered into the hearts of man, the wonders that God has prepared for those that love him. And so as he's saying this, he's saying, you know, okay, you've seen what I can do. Watch what's going to happen from here on out. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth. Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Oh, here's the road. I'm going to make this road in the desert, this road back to salvation, this road back to God, this road back to the promised land. I will make a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness. All those dry lands that we talked about in Isaiah 35 that now will be flowing forth with water and great things, and God will make the world a veritable garden of Eden as the world develops under his leadership. The beast of the field will honor me, the jackals, the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people, my chosen. I didn't write down, but in the last two or three chapters, we talked about that as God brings Israel back, that there are the pools of water, that he will refresh them. They will have water along the way as they come back, and as he brings them back, and he will provide all that, even though they are marching through what was a very parched wilderness, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people I have formed for myself.

They're my people. They're my special treasure. They're the descendants of Israel that God loves.

He loves you and me, too. Whether or not we're physical descendants of Israel makes no matter. God loves his people today, and you know that, and the first fruits that he has called, we at this point, when Jesus Christ returns, won't be part of physical Israel. We'll be part of God's family, born into the kingdom of God, spirit beings. If indeed we follow him, yield ourselves, and become who he wants us to become in this lifetime. This is physical Israel he's talking about. He gives them physical drink. They will have spiritual water as well, as God opens their minds. This people I have formed for myself, just like he's formed for himself, you and me, as part of this group of special people that we read about in 2 Peter 3 or 1 Peter 3 verse 9.

He talks about, you are my special people. You were once not a people, but now you are the people of God. That's you and me, and everyone God has called. So we have these two groups of special people to God that he says these things to. Verse 22, he says, this is what the prophecy is. This is what I'm going to do for you, Israel. I mean, what I've done for you is absolutely awesome. You should be bowing down to me, and if I, no matter what I say, you should just be doing it, right? Because this is what's going to happen, as God blesses the people of Israel, who he's blessed in this time, and verse 22 says, but you haven't called on me, Jacob. You didn't do these things, knowing these things, even though I sent prophets to you, and I told you what I would do to you, even though you saw me, bless you, you haven't called on me, Jacob. You have been weary of me, Israel. You didn't want to keep me in your thoughts, and you know, that's the world we live in today. You know, we, you and I, and most everyone here, we live in lands that have been so greatly blessed in Canada and in America, and I know we got Trinidad and Tobago and Nigeria on the line with us today, and whatever. I mean, God is, this is a great world we live in. It's going to be even greater, but he says, Israel, you haven't, you haven't honored me. You haven't, you have been weary of me. You don't even want to hear about me anymore. You haven't brought me, verse 23, the sheep for your burnt offerings. You haven't honored me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, nor reared you with incense. Frankincense is when you look at the word that's translated there. You know, I haven't burdened you. You know, Jesus Christ said, you know, and well, the apostle John said, God isn't, his law isn't a burden. Living his way of life isn't a burden to us. It's the way to happiness and joy and peace and everything and fulfillment in ways that we can not imagine if we don't have God's Spirit and aren't living his way of life. But God says, I haven't demanded a lot of you and you haven't done anything to honor me, is what he says. Israel, look at everything I've done for you. And he goes on and he says, you know, I've, I want to turn to a couple verses here. Hold on just a minute. Let me look at my notes, because I know I had a something in mind here. I have there. God doesn't burden us, right? Well, we burden him by the things that we do.

Yeah, Romans 1.20. That's I don't see where I wrote that down. But let's look at Romans 1, verse 20.

You know, such a verse for our time. You know, as God, as he's telling Israel here, you have an honor. You have tried to put me out of your thoughts. You just kind of want to forget that I even exist. And that's what Romans 1.20 here says. It says, for the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen. Now, you know, Israel didn't, Israel saw some of the wonders of God. But you know, you and I living in this place that we live in today, we see attributes of God that the rest of the world and all the mankind who has lived before us haven't seen. Well, we look at this web telescope that God allowed mankind to invent, and you see the galaxies that are out there, things that the rest of the world could not even imagine. When David laid down, when he was a shepherd in the field, and he was looking up at the heavens, and he was talking about how they declare God's great glory, he had no idea, you know, the things that you and I have seen that we know exist up there, the galaxies that are there, the beauty, the color that's in there. I mean, that God has created all those things. We see those so dramatic and so deep that even scientists today have decided the Big Bang Theory can't possibly be an answer. This is impossible for all these things to have happened like that out of some of these theories. They know something's there. They won't accept yet that there's a creator God. They don't want to know there's God. And you know, you look at some of the undersea pictures, too, and I was looking at some things on just a thing that was going through on the TV that had the undersea waters, and God took all that time to create all those things on earth, all those fish, all those reefs, all those things that no one knew existed. Now we have cameras that go down there and we can see, and God took all that time to create this physical earth. We see the wonders, and we think, He didn't have to do that, yet He did. They're absolute proof that God exists. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made. It's there. It's obvious. There's only one answer. Even His eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they didn't glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Israel fell into that same thing. They just didn't want to do what God said. They wanted to resist everything He said and do things their own way. It's part of Romans 8, 7, the carnal nature that we have. So that's what God is talking about here in Isaiah 43. You haven't done all these things I've done for you, and you haven't done anything.

You haven't done anything. Verse 24, going back to Isaiah 43, you didn't do the sacrifices I had asked you to do or anything. God says in verse 24, you have brought me no sweet cane with money.

You haven't satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities. You do all those things. I keep providing for you, and I keep being patient with you, and I keep being merciful with you, but I'm not laying any burden on you, but you keep burdening me with your sins. You can take some time maybe later to go back to Isaiah 1, where God is talking. What time do we have here? We haven't gone an hour yet. Let's go back to Isaiah 1. Again, just to remind ourselves where the book of Isaiah is, as God comes back to these things, it reminds us of what our responsibilities to Him are as well. In Isaiah 1, Isaiah 1 and verse 12, God has some stern words to Israel, to His people. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand to trample My courts?

We talked about that. Bring no more futile sacrifices, incense and abomination to Me, the new moons, the Sabbath, the calling of assemblies. I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred and the sacred meeting. They're not keeping what God has asked us to keep with heart. They're just going through the motions and thinking that's enough. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates. They're a trouble to Me. I'm weary of burying them. I'm weary of your sins, Israel. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. You go through the motions, but you haven't given Me your heart. You haven't done the things I've asked you to do and yield yourself to Me. Verse 16, turn back to Me. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean.

1 John 3. If you have the hope of God, if you have the expectation of Jesus Christ's return and what He has promised, purify yourself. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Rebute the oppressor.

Defend the fatherless and plead for the widow. God says, Come, let's talk together. I'll talk to you about it. We'll work this out, and I will forgive your sins. Come before God and know, like He's saying in verse 43 here in these chapters, Know that I am God. Know that I am God and yield to Me. He's the answer to everything. So if we go back to verse 25, following up what we just read, God says to Israel, You've forgotten Me. You've walked away from Me. You're not doing what I have to say. So verse 25, I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake. I want to forgive you. I want to give you eternal life. I want you to turn to Me. I want you to experience everything that I had in mind when I first created the earth and when I first created mankind. I want you to do all those things. I will blot out if you will just turn back to Me.

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake. And I will not remember your sins. I will forgive you. That's why Jesus Christ died. That's why He's coming back. He wants to save the world and He wants to. God wants to give all of mankind the opportunity to know Him and to receive eternal life. Put me. Put me in remembrance. Let us contend together. You want to talk about it? Come and talk to me. State your case, He says, just like Jacob, not Jacob.

Job did. Remember, we talked about it. You remember the discourses between Job and his friends and Job would state his case. And then finally, God got involved and said, Job, where were you? Where were you when this happened and this happened? Can you measure the earth? Can you tell me where the treasures just know are, where the hail is, how all these things happen?

God says, bring it to Him. Bring it to Him. Talk to Him. Bring it to Him. Put me in remembrance. Let us contend together. State your case that you may be acquitted. Reason with God. Go back to the Bible. Prove from the Bible. And then yield to Him when you prove to yourself that He is God and this is the Word of Truth. That's what He's saying. Do it. He's talked about, I'm proving who I am.

Look what's happened. World, look at what's happened to the nations who have gathered together. State your case. State your case. We will work together because I want you to know that I am God. Let us contend together. State your case that you may be acquitted. Your first father sinned. Talk about Adam. In all likelihood here, your first father sinned and your mediators have transgressed against me. He's talking about physical man, right?

The priests, all of us are sinners. Only Jesus Christ is perfect. Everyone is a sinner. All need the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. All need to yield to Him. Your first father sinned. Your mediators have transgressed against me. Therefore, I will profane the princes of the sanctuary. I will give Jacob to the curse and Israel to reproach, because you've turned from me, turned to me, and talked to me. Just talk to God and ask Him to give you the understanding that He wants to give us. He will. He will, if we keep knocking, if we keep asking, He will give us what we need.

And we need to do that. Let me just move quickly into chapter 44 here, because I want to get through verse 5 here that kind of goes along with chapter 43, because you know, as God says these things to Israel, again pleading with Him, turn to me. I want to give you those things. I will talk to you. I will reason. You will come to see. I am God. Yet here now, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen, thus says the eternal who made you, who who formed you from the womb, who will help you. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and you gesture in, and we know that's Israel, for you gesture in whom I have chosen, for I will pour water on him who is thirsty.

I will give him what he needs. I will pour floods on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring. They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.

One will say, I am the Eternals. Another will call himself by the name of Jacob. Another will write with his hand the Eternals and name himself by the name of Israel. You are my people. God says to physical Israel then, He says it to you and me as well. Let me just stop there. We'll pick it up the next time with the rest of chapter 44. We'll learn more about God and his mercy and his love for his people and more as he talks about the proof of who he is that's there for all the world to see and for us to meditate on as well.

So let me just end there and open it up for any comments, questions, anything that anyone wants to to talk about.

Mr. Shaby, this is John Elliott. Hey, John. Yeah, I appreciate you mentioning Revelation 7 there in context with this redemption that's going to happen to Israel. You know, there in the first chapter of Isaiah in verse 22 where we were just a minute ago, God said that if you sin, I'm going to send the sword after you. We know this time of Jacob's trouble is coming. We know Satan would like to kill all humanity. And if God did not put a seal on the tribes of Israel, they would be wiped out. And these prophecies could not happen. And I think sometimes the Bible indicates there's going to be fewer than we think. Like in Jeremiah 3.14, it says, Return, O backsliding children, I'm married to you, says the Lord. I will take you one from a city, two from a family and bring you to Zion. So I mean, that's a very important ceiling there, the 144,000. And it could just be a small number. You know, when you think of that Palestine area where Israel is, it is the same size as Vancouver Island. Those of us in Canada are familiar with that small island. Some say it's about the same size as New Jersey. But if you think of all the Israelites descendants, perhaps that exist today, we knew who they were, they would be very, very reduced to come down to numbers like Revelation 7, and to be one from a city, two from a family. So that's going to be quite a saving there in the end.

And what you're covering here in Isaiah just speaks to how exciting and how wonderful that's going to be for those who remain. Yeah, you're exactly right. It should be very encouraging, right, when you see the sound of God, because he promised, like you said, that otherwise the Israel would be completely wiped out. That's what Satan wants. So, yeah, the guy will interrupt that.

Hey, Elizabeth, again. How are you doing today? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm good. I'm good. Thank you, Mr. Shavey. Thank you very much. In Isaiah chapter 43 verse 22, God told the children of Israel that they had grown weary of him. And I like the fact that you referred to Isaiah chapter 1 verse 13.

Isaiah chapter 1 verse 13. Bring no more futile sacrifices. Incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure iniquity and a sacred meeting. I think as spiritual Israelites today, it is possible for us to go through the motions. Here God is telling the children of Israel that he did not have pleasure in their new moons and Sabbaths because they were not doing it from their heart. I think that sounds a note of warning to us today as spiritual Israelites, that we should serve the Lord, we should worship the Lord with understanding, we should never lose sight of what we do and why we do them. I think it's important to know that. Yeah, you're exactly right. God wants to see the heart, not just go through the motions, right? Yeah, very good. Hey, Margaret? My husband Charles is going to talk. Okay, okay. There was a gentleman who chime in about one thing ago and he said that he was told by worldwide to stay with worldwide. I too had a similar experience about 96 with a minister that came over and let's go have a cup of coffee. All right, fine. And he said before he said, then he should stay with worldwide because that's where you started. Meanwhile, as you know, 95, everything that Mr. Armstrong established on the gods inspiration was being done away with.

Yep. So how do you stay with the Lord? I had arguments with people like, I didn't leave the church. The church loved me because I was willing to keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days and it came out of the hierarchy, whatever, like that. You know, you can work on the Sabbath and the whole and the dietary laws were done away with and you lived through it, you know. Yeah, and you're right. The church did leave. The church did leave God, right? And then the church today is the continuation of what God's truth is. Not didn't just stick with the ones who turned away from God. Exactly. Yeah. Very good. Okay, I'm not sure who Galaxy is, but hello. Hello.

Yeah, good evening. I'm asking a question. Okay, Mr. Eliot was saying that Revelation 7 versus 42 eight. And you are talking about the people who are sealed.

Hello? Yeah, oh yes, we can hear you. Yes, all right. No. He, if I understand what he's saying, what he said is that that is a physical Israel. Was that what he was saying? That's Israel.

Physical. Physical. That's what it appears, John. Am I putting words in your mouth?

All right, no. I was just following on with what you had said. Well, I have said yes. I mean, he says these are the tribes of Israel, right? And he says they are servants of our God. Okay, may I continue? No. In Isaiah 6 verse 13, it states that only 10% of the physical Israel will be alive when Christ comes. Exactly. Okay, so if he's saying that Revelation 7 one to one, whatever, he's saying that's the physical. I'm kind of confused right here, because I don't see, oh, can that be? I think that's, I know what you're saying here, because God does say in Isaiah 6, 13, a tenth will be in it. And when you add up the numbers there in Revelation 7, that is a very small number compared to the number in Israel today, right? I think we have to wait for God to understand what all that means. I don't know. Okay, well, what I think, okay, because for a long time, that's what I think. I think that that 144,000 is actually the church.

Okay, and then that will be because there's 144,000 in Revelation, what is it, 14 as well. So, yeah. It's the same group. I think it's the same group, and for me, I think I'm in one of those tribes, and all of us are in a tribe. That is why the wealth names are so important. I'm going to be on the gates. None of us really. Yeah. I hear what you're saying. We're going to have to wait for God. We're going to have to wait for God to kind of... we'll know what this means, but I know what you're saying. None of us really know exactly what our backgrounds are. So, yeah. That's my thinking. Okay. Okay. Hang on to that. God will reveal to us what all that is, right? Right now, we just...

Okay. Very good. Mr. Shavey, in verse 23, where God's speaking to Israel... well, I go back to 22. He says, But you have not called upon me, or Israel. You have been weary of me, or Israel. Right. So, you brought me to keep for your offerings, nor have you honored me to sacrifice Israel was supposed to set the example. And I think this can refer to more than just the actual offerings that the church did. If Israel had done what God intended for them to do, there would have been more sheep, more people coming to God because of their example and the blessings that he gave them. Yeah, they failed God. They should have been an example to the nations and a witness of what God's way of life was. They failed in that regard. So, yeah.

Elusigan?

I just wanted to buttress what you said about the 144,000. I think we just have to leave that to God. Yes. We can figure it out because looking at it, it looks like something that is symbolic to me because of its exactness. How do you explain the fact that you have exactly 12,000 from each tribe? That looks like a pretty... that means something to me. You know, it's what God has predetermined himself. I think we cannot figure it out. You're right. There are some things God hasn't revealed yet. We will know one day exactly what he meant by all that, but we don't know today. We can just speculate maybe and then stay right there.

Okay. Ms. Shaby, it's interesting that of all the ones that came out of Egypt, and they were going to the Promised Land, not one of them went into, you know, the Promised Land.

Promised Land is actually a sisterly land that they were going to. The generation came out. They did not go. It was their ancestors that went.

Right. Okay, right. Except Joshua and Caleb. Right. Yeah. Right. Exactly. The rest of them all died in the wilderness. Exactly. Right. Exactly. That's kind of a lesson for us, right? Or a reminder. It's a redoor to the end. A door to the end. Not led by one. Yeah. My point was, though, that we might not even be alive if Christ comes to us. None of us can come.

We might not be. Only God knows. Only God knows, right? When Christ will send Christ back. So.

Right. Yep. Hey, Xavier.

Good evening. Hi, guys. In regards to the statement there that we read in chapter 43, where God says, you've become weary of me and don't call upon me. There is a verse in Jeremiah 23 where God says, the people, there is a, the phrase that's used much nowadays, conspiracy. He says it, there's a conspiracy among the rulers. There's a conspiracy from the adversary. There's a conspiracy of the teachers. He says it now in Jeremiah 23 verse 30, that the people, the prophets have robbed the people of his word. This is why you see a lot of the problems where people are in issues and not because people don't call on God.

How they gonna call them when they're robbed of the word of God? When they're teaching school, when they go to services, even people will go to Sunday church. They're very minimal. And they go and they don't teach. They go and they may sing. They go and they may have a story. They don't teach. They don't. The people are robbed and they don't know who to call upon. And if they do call, they call a miss. They act as a miss, as James tells us. You're exactly right. They don't know God. They know entertainment, right? That's kind of what they go to church for. I feel like just by being there, they've done everything they need to. One more point, bro, should be in chapter 6 of 1 Timothy, when Matthew was set in 42-43. And chapter 6 summarizes that whole part where he says, I am God. I am your king.

In chapter 6 of 1 Timothy, he says, admonishing Timothy and the rest of us, he said, Keep this commandment without fault, without rebuke, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is in his own time, the blessed and only sovereign will make known the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in light. No man can approach, whom no man has seen, and has the ability to see, whom we belong, eternal honor and power. Amen. Yeah, very good. Yeah, good set of verses. Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. Very good. So... Okay, any anyone else? Any other comments? Good, good comments? Good discussion? Hey, Fred.

Fred, did you want to say something? Yeah, you're muted if you do. Since man has done a lot of marvelous things, like in the medical field, space exploration, it seems that, well, more than seems, like God with all these outstanding things that he's going to do, he's going to cause the earth to shake, the heavens to shake, to prove to man that he is God.

And he will. He absolutely will prove that he is God. There will be no doubt. Exactly. Yeah, and the second thing I'd like to bring up is, I don't fully understand or get why God punishes us so severely. And when you look at our society now, hardly with the young people know anything about the Bible or God. But yet, I think God still holds them responsible. But when you think of how hard the punishment is going to be, I just wrestle with that a bit.

God is all wise, right? And sometimes the more we hurt, the more we appreciate the salvation or whatever. So, yeah, I understand what you're saying, though. But God knows what's best and what people will turn back to Him. And sometimes it has to be pretty severe for us to get the message.

Mr. Shaby? Yeah, yeah, Sherry. I had sent you a question. I was wondering, whenever you get a chance, could you answer that for me? Or just give me something to look at? Are you a text that you send? Yeah. Okay, I'll look at it as soon as possible. Okay, thank you. Okay, I think I saw Becky or Dale. You're on, Dale. Oh, okay, thank you. Now, just to go through the whole chapter of Isaiah 43. God revealing who He is, His plan for Israel, and the love He has for them. And it just reminded me of this particular verse right here, Exodus 34 verse 6, and where it says, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Yeah.

That's all. Yeah.

It's character. Yeah, a key verse in the Bible, right? It tells who God is. And even through the sufferings of things, He always has our best interest at heart. So.

Okay. Anyone else?

Hey, Sherry. Yeah, Sherry, another question besides the text one? No, no, I was just smiling.

Okay. Very good. Okay, so next week, I'm going to do a Bible study, but I happened to going to be in England the next week of this time. So I'm doing a Bible study over there, and so I'm not going to be live unless you want to be up at whatever time in the morning, 730 their time is, right? So I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I may do Isaiah 44 because I really like the scriptures that we're in. I think they're very encouraging. So no Bible study at 7 o'clock Wednesday night, Eastern time. But if indeed I do 44, we'll get it posted by Friday evening from there. So anyway, just so you know. So no Bible study next week. No Bible study at 7 o'clock Eastern time. So. Mr. Shavey? Yes. Mr. Shavey? Oh, hey, Wayne. Yes. Just a quick question.

The person being quoted in Isaiah 43, would that be Jesus rather than God the Father?

So it seems like everything described there would be something that Jesus was doing either through the Old Testament and today.

It could be one or the other. I kind of looked at it as God the Father, but because it says in there, I am the God of salvation. And I think it could be either one of them, right? So before me, there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me.

I don't know. I kind of looked at that as God the Father talking, but it could be Jesus Christ too.

At least in parts, there are those he said, I haven't said it. I mean, referred to being a Savior several times. Yeah, yeah. I like that Jesus Christ is a Savior. Yeah, okay.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, anything else anyone before we leave? Becky, I see you're, yeah, Becky.

I was just going back to what Fred said earlier. And I just wanted to say, I think it's important to remember that God looks at the heart of everybody, not just the church. So he really is in all his wisdom, knows how severe I think individual punishment even has to be. I think if there's someone whose heart is toward God, even without that knowledge, sees that goodness in their heart, he's going to spare them to a certain degree, or just that we have to trust that he knows what he's doing. That's absolutely right. God is merciful, and he alone makes the judgment. He yes, and he knows. So. Yeah, absolutely. Brenda, did you? Okay. God, no. Okay, okay. Okay, well then, hey, thank you everyone for being here tonight. Great to be with you. Have a very good rest of the week, a very good Sabbath. Those in Cincinnati, I will see you this, we will see you this Sabbath. Okay, okay. Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye, Hemingway kids! See you later.