God's People Have a Bright Future

God promises in Isaiah 49 that the exiles in Babylon will return. The language is similar to that of the original exodus from Egypt. God is once again bringing His people to the land but this time to establish a new covenant fulfilled through the Servant that is His Son. 

Isaiah 49:13 (ESV) Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.

But not all are glad at the promise made here. Israel is certain God has forsaken her. 

Isaiah 49:14 (ESV) But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”

What Israel embodies here is the natural human tendency to believe there really is no hope. I don't know if you're like me but many times in my life I'm sure the proverbial "other shoe" is going to drop or the bottom is going to fall out. But God never fails in His promise. Even though Israel felt abandoned they would soon be restored. And the restoration was so sudden and surprising that Ezra records a fraction of the people returned to the land at first. What's the point? The point is God calls us to be POSITIVE about our future in spite of our present. He may bring us low and discipline us but as Hebrews says, it is for our ultimate GOOD. 

Hebrews 12:10 (ESV) For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

The good news of Isaiah 49 is that God refuses to let them wallow in self-pity. The rest of the chapter is home to some of the most precious words God has given to them in history. 

Verse 15: God will NEVER forget His people:

Isaiah 49:15 (ESV) “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

Verse 16: We are written on His hands. 

Isaiah 49:16 (ESV) Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Verse 20: God's people will be more prosperous than they expect. They will be overtaken by fruitfulness. 

Isaiah 49:20 (ESV) The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’

I especially like verse 20. Isaiah says the fruitfulness will be so great in Israel that the children will be demanding room. This harkens back to the blessing the nation experienced under the harsh conditions of Egypt. 

Exodus 1:12 (ESV) But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.

Then God promises royalty to the exiles.

Isaiah 49:23 (ESV) Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”

Now you consider the advancement and increase of Israel since Babylon. They are indeed a blessed people to this day. And even in their land, they are supported by Kings and Queens from England and heads of state in the U.S. The modern-day miracle that is the nation of Israel should wake us up to positivity about our future as God's adopted children. We have the blessing of Abraham. We have the promises of Christ. 

Our future is brighter than our present.