Isaiah 43:4 ESV
2 Kings 17:7 (sinned against God)
2 Kings 17:9-10 (worshiped other gods)
2 Kings 17:11-12 (did wicked things)
2 Kings 17:13-14 (did not listen to God)
Romans 3:9-12 ESV
Romans 3:21-25 ESV
The explanation we read in Isaiah 43:4 was given by God to His precious children of Israel. God is proclaiming His eternal love for them.
In Isaiah 43:4, God tells Israel through the Prophet Isaiah:
“Because you are precious in my eyes,and honored, and I love you,I give men in return for you,peoples in exchange for your life.”
Even though Israel had not been faithful, God loved them. One…just one example found in scripture is in 2 Kings 17, which was written around 720 B.C.
We are told they sinned against God (2 Kings 17:7).
They worshiped other gods (2 Kings 17:9-10).
They did wicked things (2 Kings 17:11-12).
And they did not turn to God; they did not listen to God (2 Kings 17:13-14).
The list found in 2 Kings was just one example of Israel’s history with God.
Scholars believe 2 Kings 17 was written around 720 B.C. approximately 170 years before todays key scripture in Isaiah 43 that was written during the Babylonian Exile around 550 B.C.
The examples found in 2 Kings are not unusual to Israel’s history. They are not an isolated incident.
The point is not that Israel was bad. The point is that God IS good and loving.
God is good and loving even when we are not.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:9-12, “What then? Are we Jewsany better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
All have sinned against God. A few verses later in Romans 3:21-25 Paul’s wrote, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”
Because God loved us…loves us even though we have all sinned and sin, through the righteousness of Jesus we have all been given grace as a gift. It’s a free gift of God’s divine forbearance.
The words written in Isaiah 43:4 are true for us today.
We are all precious in God’s eyes.
God honors us as His children.
God loves us.
Because God loves us God gave His son in return for us. In other words, so that we might have access to grace.
God offers us eternal life through Jesus.
You know, I’ve read Romans 3 many many many times. I’ve taught it in Sunday school and in Bible Studies. I know it and I believe it, and but when we look at Isaiah’s words in chapter 43 and our examples from 2 Kings 17 we see that we have a history of turning from God and God has a history of loving us and restoring us.
That is a documented fact throughout scripture and it’s still true today.
What strikes me about it is God’s constant and unwavering love for us. I wish I could say that I consistently attempt to return God’s love with my love.
Brennen Manning wrote in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-up, and Burnt out, “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”
I get that. I really get it. The truth is that I fail God.
I am no different than the Israelites in 2 Kings 17. I get tired and I ignore God. I don’t mean to but I fail. In spite of that, I am deeply loved by God.
I have done nothing to earn it.
I do not deserve God’s love, but His love is always there…right in front of me, behind me, around me.
God has never ever failed to love me.
Even when I bury my head in the sand and take a time out.
God still loves me.
God loves you.
God loves you with an everlasting love. Even when you don’t love yourself, even when you ignore God, even when you don’t deserve it, God loves you.
Everyday in every way.
God. Loves. You. You ARE Precious to God!
Spiritual Practice: Love God
Take time to sit with God. Tell God about your love. He’ll be really glad you decided to spend time with…
In God, Deborah
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