Scripture Isaiah 43:16-21 (NRSVUE)
Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down; they cannot rise;
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
Meditation
This evening’s passage from the prophet Isaiah starts with a reminder:
What God has done.
In these words, directed at the Babylonian exiles, God reminds them of an earlier moment when God showed up, and God took care, and God carried God’s own people out of danger. I’m betting that you could recognize the scene that is described as the passage opens.
“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters” (Isaiah 43:16). When did God make a passage through the waters? Yes, absolutely—during the great exodus of God’s people from enslavement in Egypt. The people were able to cross on dry earth with the waters held back. But what happened next? The pharaoh’s soldiers followed in chariots pulled by horses, and then…
chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down; they cannot rise;
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick. ~Isaiah 43:17
God releases the waters, and the pursuing soldiers are drowned by the very seas that stood still so that God’s people could escape.
Our passage opens with a reminder of the remarkable: WHAT GOD HAS DONE.
But then the Lord says a strange thing—but don’t think about things that happened before, kiss today goodbye, and point me toward tomorrow. Now we are going to hear:
What God will do.
God says, I will do a new thing. Here it comes… can you see it? And then God tells of a different kind of rescue: Instead of leading God’s people through water, God will lead God’s people through wilderness, a desert, complete with ostriches and jackals.
I have to say, the ostriches and jackals caught all our attention last evening at our Music Team meeting. So, here are some things you might not have known about them.
Ostriches are the largest living bird, standing between 6 and 8 feet tall, and between 200-300 lbs. Ostrich eggs are so large they can feed a small family. Unlike most other birds, ostriches do not fly—unless you count their running. They are the fastest running bird on the planet, with speeds up to 43 miles per hour. They do that running with just two toes, which are also claws. Naturally, their legs are incredibly strong, and their main means of self-defense. An ostrich can kill a lion with one kick. The ostrich’s native habitat is flexible: they can be found in the savannah, grasslands, woodlands, and deserts. And their large eyes—unusually large—enable them to see for miles and miles.
The word for ostrich in Hebrew means “greedy.” Greedy bird. This is probably connected to the ostrich’s omnivorous diet, which includes greens, gourds, fruit, invertebrates, bugs and lizards—not to mention small stones and sand, which they need for grinding up food in the gizzard.
Jackals, on the other hand, are the smaller cousins of wolves, dogs, and coyotes, with a average weight of about 13 lbs. They are natural predators of the ostrich, and their small size is an advantage against the large bird. Unlike ostriches, who mate as they are able with all and sundry and are known to be less than stellar parents, jackals are monogamous types, mating for life and raising their pups together. They’re known as opportunistic omnivores—they’ll eat a vegetarian or carnivorous diet as available, and they’re not too proud to scavenge the leftovers of larger predators, like lions. In fact, the Hebrew word for jackal indicates that it is a scavenger.
Why, we have to wonder, are the ostrich and the jackal named here, where Isaiah offers the words of the Lord saying,
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise. ~Isaiah 43:19-21
Why name the ostrich and the jackal, who, in the animal kingdom, are not exactly A-listers? For one thing, God is speaking of how all creation will honor the almighty, for all God’s good provision and help—for how God will continue to care for them. But if we look more closely, don’t the ostrich and the jackal have just a little bit in common with the people who are in exile? Their similarities fall under the category of “making do.”
The ostrich and the jackal can adapt to any environment—as the exiles had to adapt to the loss of their homes, and being involuntarily transplanted in Babylon.
The ostrich and the jackal can make do with most any food—as the exiles had to learn what the local fare was, and what was available at Babylonian markets, and to figure out a whole new way of eating.
The ostrich and the jackal have radically different behavior around what we might delicately call family life—and the exiles have been doing something they might never have anticipated. They are intermarrying with gentiles, those who are not part of God’s covenant people, those who don’t yet know the wonders of the Lord their God.
The ostrich and the jackal are scrappy, innovative survivors, much like the Israelites who were taken from their homes and forced to relocate for a full seventy years. During that time they had to adapt, they had to learn new ways, they had to make do.
And God is casting no blame on them for any of that. Instead, God is reminding them, if these beasts can be part of the creation that will understand and give thanks for the goodness of God, surely the Israelites can, too.
And now, God is doing a new thing—can they not perceive it? And there is no need for fear. God was with them the last time, and the time before that. God will be with them through this next transition, whatever that may be.
We know what it’s like to live in unsettled times. Most of us know what it’s like to live through something so painful we’re not sure how we’ll ever get through. But we also know what it’s like to get through. And whether we were aware of it or not, God was there, as God is here, now, with us.
God is doing a new thing, and God will be with us, every step of the way.
Thanks be to God. Amen.