Isaiah 43:1-15 (Reform)
(Traditional Reading: Joshua 5:2-6:1, 6:27)
“Have no fear, for I am with you. אַל-תִּירָא כִּי-אִתְּךָ-אָנִי God speaks these words to the people as a whole in this morning’s passage from Isaiah. God promises to ingather the exiles from the east, the west, the north and the south. In a time of Exile in Bavel, the people need to hear that there is hope that they will return to their homeland. In a fitting connection to our celebration this week, Isaiah reminds the people that God is with them to protect them when they walk through fire and when they pass through rivers. God is with Israel. כִּי-אִתְּךָ-אָנִי.
This phrase however is meant to evoke more than just a connection to the Israelites that are dispersed throughout the ancient world. There is a connection to history here that is not to be forgotten. There is a connection to the past. Each of the three patriarchs received this same blessing. Each was told not to fear, for God is with them. In a stunning example of Zechut Avot, the merit of the ancestors, God takes this phrase, which has had specific individual meaning for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and makes it communal. God mimics the promises to the ancestors in the language.
Abraham is told not to fear in Genesis 15. God tells Avram, as he is known at that point, not to fear because God will be his shield. Abram demands to know why he has no children, no one to carry on the name and the faith. All he has is his servant, Eliezer. God takes Avram out to look at the stars and tells him to count the stars, for his offspring shall be that numerous. God’s promise of not to fear in this case has to do with a connection to the future of the people. You will have a progeny. You will have a family. You will have someone to teach your traditions to.
Isaac is told not to fear in Genesis 26. Do not fear, for I am with you is followed by Avimelech the king of the Philistines coming to Isaac to make a treaty with him. Avimelech had seen that God was with Isaac and wanted to extend a hand in friendship based on the fact that so far, neither had done anything bad to the other. Isaac accepts this treaty and together they swear an oath of peace and have a feast. This scene ends with an immediate discovery of water in a well. God’s promise based on the phrase not to fear in this case has to do with peace and sustenance.
Jacob is told not to fear in chapter 46. God tells Jacob not to fear going down to Egypt, for Jacob will become a great nation there. God will be with Jacob and his family when they go down and when they come back up. This phrase of not to fear is a promise that God will be with the people in good times and in bad and that God is looking out for the people Israel even as they leave the land that has been promised to them. This scene is followed by a list of the families that went down to Egypt with Jacob.
And then we get back to Isaiah. Our phrase, fear not for I am with you, is found in our Haftarah this morning as well as two chapters earlier. Other than that, it is only found in conjunction with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. God’s words through Isaiah are meant to remind us of what God did for our ancestors. They are meant to remind the people, exiled in Bavel, that God will provide a future for our people. God will provide protection, peace and sustenance for our people. God will be with us in the good times and the bad.
No where is this more exemplified than in the story of the Exodus that we recall this week. God remembers the promise of a future and redeems the people from slavery. That would have been enough. But God also gives manna from heaven and provides us safe passage through the wilderness. That would have been enough. But ultimately, God is with us in the wilderness, as well as when we get to the Promised Land. God is a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. That would have been enough, too. But do not fear, because the work of the Lord is not yet done. God will return us from our exile in triumph. God will bring us back together as a people to Jerusalem.
Though we may find ourselves in the wilderness from time to time, God is with us. Though we may be wading through mud, God is with us. Though we may be singed by fires, God is with us. God’s promises to our ancestors are also promises to us. And, just like them, we may not fully live to see their fruits in this world, but that does not make them any less of a promise. Our Haftarah ends with God’s words to us. “אֲנִי יְהֹוָה קְדוֹשְׁכֶם. I am Adonai, your holy one. בּוֹרֵא יִשְֹרָאֵל מַלְכְּכֶם, the creator of Israel, your king.” By saying your holy one and your king, God reminds us of the covenant that started with Abram, that worked its way through Isaac and Jacob, through the slavery in Egypt and the exile in Bavel and through the diaspora to today. Isaiah’s message from God to us is that God is still with us.
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