Isaiah 48:17 This is what the LORD says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
The section of Isaiah that our verse this morning comes from is chapters 40-48. This section has its foundation in the study of the one true God as opposed to Idols. From this section of Isaiah, we see how God used Isaiah in a great and mighty way to comfort the generations of God's people even after his death. Isaiah lived and carried out his ministry between the reigns of King Uzziah (767-740 BC) and King Hezekiah (716-642 BC). Some Bible scholars believe that Isaiah wrote this book between 701 and 681 BC.
In this section (Chap. 40-48), we can see how God used Isaiah (his writings) to comfort the generations of Israelites in captivity in Babylon after his life on this earth was over. More than any other prophet, Isaiah foretold of the glorious coming of the promised Messiah in the person of Christ Jesus.
In this verse, God is saying to the readers of Isaiah that He is our Lord and Savior (Redeemer) who instructs and directs our ways. Although today, as believers in Christ, we have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in the Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit was there for the same purpose. The contrast between the Holy Spirit then and now is that in the dispensations before the sixth dispensation, the Holy Spirit would come upon someone for a specific reason, for a certain length of time. The Holy Spirit came upon those like Joshua (Numbers 27:18), David (1 Samuel 16:12-13), just to name a couple; we see this in many places throughout the Old Testament.
In Isaiah's time, God taught them then, as He does now by His revealed Word and His Spirit, the paths He wanted His children to follow. The bottom line of this verse (Verse 17) is that no matter what time- period, during the life of Adam, when the floodwaters came in Noah's time or when Moses led the people through 40 years in the wilderness. When Joshua led the people in the conquest of the Promise Land, or today, as you and I seek to serve God in the position He has called us to, His Holy Spirit will always be there to teach, guide, and direct us in the paths He desires us to follow.
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