Your faith in God is according to the revelation of God you have. God reveals Himself uniquely in each season. God’s people must know God in a certain way in 2023. Here are five ways you need to see God in 2023:
1. A REVELATION OF GOD AS THE SOVEREIGN LORD
Isaiah 42:8: I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
Isaiah 43:12-13: I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the LORD, “that I am God. [13] Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?.”
Isaiah 44:6: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
Isaiah 44:24-28: Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; [25] Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; [26] Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’ And I will raise up her waste places; [27] Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’; [28] Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”‘
Isaiah 45:18-19: For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. [19] I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
Isaiah 48:17: Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.
Isaiah 51:15: But I am the LORD your God, Who divided the sea whose waves roared- The LORD of hosts is His name.
2. A REVELATION OF GOD AS THE LORD OF HOSTS
Isaiah 2:12: For the day of the LORD of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up- And it shall be brought low-
Isaiah 5:16: But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
Isaiah 8:13: The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread.
Isaiah 9:19: Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.
Isaiah 23:9: The LORD of hosts has purposed it, To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
Isaiah 31:4-5: For thus the LORD has spoken to me: “As a lion roars, And a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice Nor be disturbed by their noise), So the LORD of hosts will come down To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. [5] Like birds flying about, So will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it.”
Isaiah 37:16-17: “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. [17] Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
Isaiah 48:2: For they call themselves after the holy city, And lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name:
Isaiah 54:5: For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
3. A REVELATION OF GOD AS REDEEMER
The word “Redeemer’ is used only in 18 verses in the Bible. Thirteen of those verses are in the 23rd book of the Bible – Isaiah. This indicates that ‘the Redeemer’ is so needed in the 23rd season.
Isaiah 41:14: “Fear not, you wortm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 43:14: Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives- The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.
Isaiah 44:6: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
Isaiah 44:24: Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
Isaiah 54:8: With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the LORD, your Redeemer.
Isaiah 59:20: “The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the LORD.
THE LORD IS THE REDEEMER WHO HAD REDEEMED AND WILL REDEEM HIS PEOPLE
Out of the 59 verses where the word ‘redeemed’ is used in the Bible (NKJV) 13 verses are in Isaiah – the 23rd book of the Bible. That’s more than 20%.
Isaiah 29:22: Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Nor shall his face now grow pale;
Isaiah 35:9: No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there,
Isaiah 43:1: But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
Isaiah 44: 22-23: I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” [23] Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel.
4. A REVELATION OF GOD AS THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL
Isaiah’s ministry began with a revelation of the Holy God. Isaiah 6:1-7 says, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. [2] Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. [3] And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” [4] And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. [5] So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” [6] Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. [7] And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
The title, ‘The Holy One of Israel’, is commonly used in the 23rd book of the Bible (Isaiah). This should take our minds back to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy where God revealed Himself as the Holy God. The Lord God of Israel is not an unholy God. He detests filthiness, sin and iniquity. 2023 is the year of the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 1:4: Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward.
Isaiah 40:25: “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.Isaiah 52:11: Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD.
Isaiah 57:15: For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
HIS HABITATION IS THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
Isaiah 11:9: They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 66:20: Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
5. A REVELATION OF GOD AS SHEPHERD
Psalm 23:1-3: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. [2] He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. [3] He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Psalm 23 reveals God as Shepherd and in 2023, God’s people need to know God as the Shepherd Who cares, protects, provides and guides. Isaiah 40:10-11 says, “Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. [11] He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young”.
