“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” (Isaiah 49:16)
In this section of chapter 49 of Isaiah, he prophesies of the restoration of Israel. But Israel believed that God has disowned her. “But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” (Isaiah 49:14) The Lord’s response is that just like a mother would never forget her nursing child, He has not forgotten her. (verse 15)
The practice of engraving something on the palms of the hands is the ancient practice many had of tattooing on their hands images of their god or loved one on their hands or arms. The Lord meant that He would never forget nor abandon Jerusalem. Her walls or means of protection were always in His presence. In other words, He was keeping an eye on her walls that no enemy would be able to breech them.
Because of the many sins of the Israelites, they reaped the consequences of sin. Sin is death and destruction. History tells us the people of Israel went through much suffering. But when they turned to the Lord and repented, the Lord always received them and blessed them. We may think that they would have learned to stay faithful to the Lord. But the spiritual condition of a country, a people or a single person is the product of many factors.
There’s the condition of the heart. We are so fortunate that our hearts are born again of God. Those of us who have been born again as adults know the suffering and helplessness of a heart that is in darkness. We have experienced it. A person with a darkened heart cannot resist temptation. They have no power or help against the flesh, the world or the enemy. Such was the situation of the Israelites.
The tempters which are the flesh, the world and the enemy, are hard to resist. The flesh is the carnal and sinful nature of man with the inclination of immediate gratification. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1John 2:16) The flesh is of the world, the world system ruled by the enemy. “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2Corinthians 4:3-4) Paul called the devil the god of this world. We certainly can see that in the values of the world which are contrary to God’s commandments.
We have an enemy that is intent on destroying us. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy...” (John 10:10) So why would we ever want to do anything contrary to God’s command which is from the devil. It leads to death. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) When we think on the Israelites, we should not exalt ourselves but be grateful to the Lord for His mercy that had pity on us and plucked us out of the enemy’s clutches. The Israelites didn’t have that option. Jesus hadn’t redeemed them yet. Their covenant was based on their works and efforts. We know that human effort will fail and that works originate from man’s efforts and are temporal, earthy and unacceptable to the Lord. Although in the Old Covenant, it counted as righteousness. Man’s works in the New Covenant are not counted as righteousness if those works are not originating and authorized from God. Doing our own thing is like offering strange fire. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.” (Leviticus 10:1-2) Nadab and Abihu died because they offered strange fire. Thank God that Jesus took all our sins upon Himself. He took the death of strange fire of unauthorized works zealous the brethren offer. The crux of the matter is that works although they counted for righteousness in the Old Testament didn’t change their hearts, and neither do works in the New Testament. It is being born again of God by placing the old man to death at the cross.
In the New Covenant, we still have the flesh, the world and the devil with which to contend. The difference is we can resist. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) We can submit or surrender (which we should do daily) to the Lord. If we are weak, He is strong in us. He helps us to resist the enemy. And it happens step by step, from glory to glory. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2Corinthians 3:18)
The glorious principle of our Scripture of study, Isaiah 49:16, in which the Lord reassures Israel that He loves them so much and will never abandon them is to express to them that He has engraved them on His palm, He makes to the church also. Again, I remind us that we are part of Israel, grafted in and partaking of the root, Jesus. All the promises He made to Israel belong to us also. He has us engraved on His palm. And He watches and protects us. He made this promise to Israel, His people. And He makes this promise to us, His church and His children in Jesus.
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