Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isaiah 43:18 (NIV)
The Past
In 1776, the 13 British colonies to the south of Quebec declared independence and formed the United States. More than 40,000 people loyal to the Crown, called “Loyalists”, fled the oppression of the American Revolution to settle in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. Joseph Brant led thousands of Loyalist Mohawks into Canada. The Loyalists came from Dutch, German, British, Scandinavian, Aboriginal and other origins and from Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Quaker, and Catholic religious backgrounds. About 3,000 black Loyalists, freedmen and slaves, also came north seeking a better life.
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When God delivered Israel from Egypt, He freed them from slavery. Never again would the Egyptians be able to enslave God’s people. He whom the Lord sets free is free indeed. The challenge was not with the Lord, but with the hearts of the Israelites. As they wandered through the wilderness they began to grumble, forgetting the pain of slavery and the severe oppression of their masters. The prophet Isaiah reminds them that there is no going back. God had delivered them and Isaiah 43:18 reminds them, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” The delivery of the Israelites from Egypt is a picture of our delivery from sin through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Isaiah reminds us that there is no going back to our sin. Just as God had to get Egypt out of the hearts of the Israelites, so He has to get the world out of us. He reminds us that as sons and daughters of the Living God, we no longer belong to the things that used to bind us in sin and guilt. He has provided a way out. Don’t allow yourself to be pulled back into slavery.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley