Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"You have sold yourselves for nothing"
Text: Isaiah 52:3
THE SAD HISTORY OF ISRAEL
The LORD recalled the sad history of Israel. There were lessons for Israel to learn and to remember.
“For thus says the LORD:
‘You have sold yourselves for nothing,
And you shall be redeemed without money.’
For thus says the Lord GOD:
‘My people went down at first
Into Egypt to dwell there;
Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.'”
Isaiah 52:3-4
1. “Thus says the LORD”
a) The LORD identified Himself.
b) He was speaking as the LORD to Israel.
c) He was their God and they were His people.
d) He had always wanted to bless them.
e) But Israel had turned away from the LORD preferring to worship idols.
2. The plight of Israel.
a) They were sold as if they were slaves.
b) Worse, they sold themselves and for nothing.
3. The hope of redemption.
a) The only hope for Israel lay in redemption.
b) It would take the mercy of God to see them redeemed.
c) The LORD would redeem them without cost.
4. Remembering the days of Israel in Egypt.
a) They were oppressed by Egypt.
b) They had to endure much hardship in Egypt for 400 years.
c) They were then redeemed by the LORD.
5. Israel under oppression again.
a) Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians.
b) They were oppressed once again.
c) Would Israel have learned nothing through the years of oppression?