Isaiah 43:16-21 (NIV) - “This is what the Lord says-he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.’”

The people who were really listening to these words of Isaiah would hear that he was remembering the miraculous Exodus of God’s people through the Red Sea in the days of Moses. However, the main verbs that govern the tense of verse 16 are in the present tense - he who makes a way or leads a way through the sea. Isaiah is not just calling to mind the past Exodus - he is also prophesying that the new and final Exodus is coming. And Jesus has come! God has turned everything right side up through Jesus, and continues today to provide His water to anyone who is thirsty and would come and drink from Him. Are you thirsty? Come and drink from Him. God’s fierce love brings His new things to and through His people, His witnesses. May the Spirit of God fill the church with His living water so that God’s salvation and love may overflow and spring forth new life!

-CH