Like Mist in the Sun

Read Isaiah 44:22-44

Context: This chapter of Isaiah is a reminder to the Israelites that, no matter how they have sinned, they are God's elect and he will restore their nation.

Text:
22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you."
23 Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;
shout aloud, O earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
you forests and all your trees,
for the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
he displays his glory in Israel.

24 "This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD,
who has made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself, (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

I love to see the morning mist on a lake. I don't see it often in this part of town, but every once in a while I go on an early morning trip and I have to be careful not to drive off of the road as I 'rubberneck' every time I pass a pond or river! It's fascinating how quickly this mist will burn off when the sun hits it...it's almost magical.

In this passage, God tells us how he sweeps away or sins in the same way. If we look back at our reading in Peter, it tells us about how we are redeemed from our empty way of life not by gold, but by the blood of Jesus. The concept of a redeemer is pretty vague for us these days, but in Jesus' time it was a relatively common concept. If someone was in difficulty, danger, or bondage, they could be delivered from it by the payment of a ransom price. A redeemer could buy back property or enslaved people, he paid the Temple to receive back dedicated property and firstborn livestock, and he could even take the life of one who had murdered a relative as a 'blood price'.

Usually the redeemer was the family protector -- the father. One who was always there for you and to whom you could turn in times of trouble. God places himself in this position for the whole family of Israel -- and for the Gentiles. God is called "Our Redeemer" in the Bible 18 times. As Peter says, gold and silver will not redeem us from sin -- that required a blood sacrifice. Jesus has fulfilled that role.

Just like the mist on a pond, Christ swept open his arms and redeemed us from death. It's amazing how quickly our sins 'burned off' when the Son rose!