Key Verse: Isaiah 43:19
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.
Take a moment and pray that the Lord will speak to you in this time of study.
I have come to believe in my understanding of God that He is a God of New Beginnings. When Adam and Eve failed to keep God’s covenant, God made reference to a plan of salvation for them and for mankind. Even as He pronounces judgment on Adam and Eve, He makes reference to One who is to come who will “crush” Satan’s head, even as Satan will bruise His heel. (Genesis 3:15b), The One in God’s plan of redemption is Jesus, the Messiah, whom Satan will attempt to destroy on the cross, but will in fact condemn Satan to the Lake of Fire on the Day of Final Judgment. (Revelation 20:10) He speaks of a new beginning.
When God seeks to judge the world and destroy mankind with a universal flood, He provides a means of preservation for man and the rest of creation through Noah whom He instructs to build an ark for himself, his family, and the animals. (Genesis 6:13-14, 18-19) He provides for a new beginning.
Even in God’s promise to Abraham, He tells him that he will be the father of a mighty nation. But the people will be in bondage some 400 years and after that time God will bring them back to the land that He is promising to Abraham. (Genesis 15:13-16) It is a prophecy of the coming events of Joseph and a 430 year period when Moses would come to deliver them. The story of Joseph is about God preserving His promise to Abraham to make him the father of a mighty nation. Although after the death of Joseph, four hundred years later the Israelites become slaves in Egypt, God sends a deliverer in the person of Moses. It is a new beginning.
One of the most beautiful stories of God’s faithfulness is found in the book of Ruth. It is a story of how God brings blessing and fulfills His plan of redemption of mankind through the person of one gentile woman named Ruth. Ruth is a Moabites and she is married into an Israelite family. When her father-in-law dies and her own husband dies and her brother-in-law dies, she is left without hope for a family and a future. She pledges herself to her mother-in-law, Naomi and her God, Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews. They travel together to Naomi’s home of Bethlehem. It is there by God’s providence and direction that she meets Boaz, who is to be her Kinsman Redeemer. The Kinsman Redeemer was a provision under Jewish law whereby the closest male relative to a widow who is childless could marry her and have children by her. She and her children would have protection and financial provision by becoming part of the family of the Kinsman Redeemer. The widow would be saved from a future life of poverty and desolation. And along with Ruth the future of Naomi is preserved as well. I like the way the story ends. When Ruth gives birth to her first child by Boaz, we are told: “Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” And it is from this line that the Messiah, Jesus comes. (Ruth 4:16-17) There is a new beginning for Ruth and Naomi.
Finally our verse for the week introduces God’s promise of a new covenant and the coming of the Messiah to fulfill the Old and the New Covenant. God says, “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.” (Isaiah 43:19) The new beginning is for all mankind.
In all of these examples God makes a way for his will to be done. The Bible is full of these kinds of stories where God continues to bring about His will and fulfill His Covenant Promises. It is important to know that God does not work with a Plan B in mind. That is to say that He does not say “If my first plan, my preferred plan does not work, then I have a Plan B that I can go to.” All that transpires, God knows of in advance and He uses to accomplish His will. God’s “new beginning” is always part of His A Plan. There is no Plan B. And because of this truth, we can trust in Him.