Dry Up

Isaiah 11:15 The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his handover the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.

It is enlightening to see themes and images throughout the Scriptures. How many times does the image of the seven days of creation get brought up and used to emphasize a point. The image of Sabbath rest on the seventh day is another.

These pictures of truth form the backbone of the Scriptures, so we need to see them and hear the theme and understand the music being played. One of those themes is the Exodus from Egypt. This deliverance from bondage is a key theme throughout the remaining books of the Scriptures. So in order understand the later works, we must understand the original image.

Our text today feeds on this image of the Exodus. Isaiah is using this image to show the mighty hand of the LORD is once again going to deliver Israel in an impossible way. Israel will be delivered from the Babylonians and from the Exile that the LORD imposed on them as a punishment for their rebellion.

But the LORD is offering hope to those who see no escape from their captors. Some long to return to Jerusalem and the life they used to have. But all they can see is the power of their oppressor nation. They don’t see a way out.

So Isaiah uses the image of the Exodus to say that it will be the LORD who will deliver them. It will be His doing. He will make a way out where there doesn’t seem to be a way.

But in the same way as the first Exodus brought praise and awe among the nations at what the LORD had accomplished for His people, so this new action by Him will bring praise and honor to the LORD. The actions involved in returning from the Exile will be just as miraculous. The nations will see it and know that the LORD is the God who accomplishes the impossible.

The next chapter of Isaiah includes two songs that will be sung in praise of the LORD’s mighty deliverance. When the LORD delivers, both the Israelites will see God’s mighty hand at work on their behalf, and the other nations will see it as well. They are told to sing these truths so that it will be known everywhere what the LORD has done.

I am wondering if our lives sing of the LORD’s mighty deliverance? Do we tell what the LORD has done? Do we use our voice to tell the story? Do we show it with our actions toward others?