The first Exodus for God’s people was from Egypt. The second Exodus is for the exiles in Isaiah. The greatest Exodus would be for all people with Jesus.
Up to the point of our text, the structure of Isaiah gives a context for how we should approach the task of preaching this hymn at the end of the prophet’s first movement. Chapter 1 of Isaiah gives the introduction followed quickly by 2:1-4 which supplies the summary and goal of the book. Chapter 2:6 through 11:16 are oracles of judgement and hope for Judah and Israel. And then we have our reading, which is just before chapters 13-23, and are the oracles against the nations you have in our text. Rather, in chapter 12 you have a “hymn of comfort” God gives His people concerning “that day.”
His audience might have wondered what that “day” was on which they would give thanks to Yahweh God? Some preachers may wander over to the best fifteen chapters in the Old Testament (Isaiah 40-55) and start to truck in some clarity about God’s “Day of Restoration.” They may begin to track this day by following Cyrus who one day brings God’s people back to Zion (chapters 41-48) but “that day” still is not fully there yet. They may see “that day” as Israel gets out of Babylon (chapters 49-54), but it would not be Cyrus who enacted God’s “Day of Restoration.” Instead, it will be Yahweh’s “Suffering Servant” who gets the people back fully and reconciles them to God through His work as the Messiah.
Something worthwhile to explore in this text is the idea of when they should be giving thanks for this great deliverance of God (verse 1). Notice they are not asked to praise God for “that day” as it happens or after it happens. Instead, they are invited to praise God for “that day” before it happens! They are invited to live in the reality of the restoration and redemption even before they see it happen.
They are invited to live in the reality of the restoration and redemption even before they see it happen.
That is how certain and hopeful the promises of God are for His people. Taking time to develop a meaningful connection to your listeners will connect the text to their life lived at church. This hymn of Isaiah and its eschatological focus is the very same behavior the Church has when singing hymns about the hope we have in the “now and not yet” of God for us. In the “New Exodus,” God connects the ask in this text to our lives today (Exodus 15:2; Isaiah 40:55; 43:16-21; 52:10; 53:1-11).
Sung hymns are not the only way we are connected to God in this text though. In verse 3, we see how we are connected to this “Day of Restoration” and the “New Exodus” more significantly by water as well. Streams of salvation flow because God graciously delivers through water. An Exodus is all about water. The first Exodus for God’s people was from Egypt. The second Exodus is for the exiles in Isaiah. The greatest Exodus would be for all people with Jesus. This would be through the new water of the new exodus found in the waters of our baptism which connect us to Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-11). Jesus alone has the water from the rock of salvation (1 Corinthians 10:4). We see it as it flowed from Jesus riven side on the cross (John 19:34; 1 John 5:6-8). The final Exodus is when Jesus comes at the end to take us to Himself and restores all things according to the Father’s will.
Our text invites the Church to sing this hymn during Lent as we go with Christ to His great Exodus in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). It also welcomes us to sing these songs of deliverance as we await His coming on the last day. Even in the dark days of Lent, the Church still sings for joy because God’s comfort has come and is coming through Christ.
Since we are focusing on how we receive comfort (effect) from God through a previous Exodus into a present and future Exodus (cause), perhaps the “Cause/Effect Structure” could serve our purposes best for preaching:
“This structure considers a topic as part of a larger active system of causation. The sermon may unfold the system of causation in one of three ways: Naming the causes that lead to the topic; naming the effects that proceed from the topic; or analyzing the topic itself as embedded in a system of causation. For example, if the topic were comfort, the preacher could enumerate the causes that lead to the topic (for our purposes in Isaiah 12, we could use the causes of Christian comfort) or the effects that proceed from the topic (as an example, the effects of comfort from being baptized into Christ) or the entire system of causes and effects (which could be, Christ’s promised return gives comfort for Christian living).
In listing causes and effects, the preacher may consider a serial process of causation (in our example, God gave comfort to His people through the Exodus, He did it once He can do it again, and we have comfort in Christ through our baptism as we await our own future Exodus) or a parallel body of information (here, you could use the four exodus’ in the Bible that give us comfort).”[1]
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Isaiah 12:1-6.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Isaiah 12:1-6.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaeching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop.
[1]https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/thematic/causeeffect/
