Who allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt? It was the LORD, against whom we sinned,  for the people would not walk in his path, nor would they obey his law.

Isaiah 42:24

Isaiah 42:24 acknowledges that the Lord himself “allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt.” The original Hebrew of this verse speaks of God as “giving up” Jacob to the looter and Israel to the plunderers. Though the Lord did not directly harm his people, he did allow them to be hurt. In this sense God “gave them up.”

Why? Why would a loving God allow his people to suffer? We can’t find a full answer to this question from one small verse of Isaiah. Indeed, the question of suffering is one of the toughest for Christian theology. But Isaiah 42:24 reminds us of one small facet of an answer. God “gave up” his people to suffering because they had sinned against him, repeatedly rejecting him as their God, consistently failing to return to him no matter how much he sought to bring them back. So one reason we suffer is because of our sin. This does not mean, of course, that every bad thing that happens to you and me comes as a direct result of our own personal sins. We are caught in a sinful, fallen world, and often we experience its brokenness independent of our particular sins.

Though God does give up his people, he does not do so forever, but only for a season. When we dishonor God, there are often painful consequences to our behavior. Yet God “gives us up” so that we might realize the folly of our ways and return to him. His desire for us cannot be quenched by our sin. Indeed, in his mercy, God does not wait for us to return to him, but pursues us when we are lost and rejoices when we are found (Luke 15:4-7).

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Have you ever experienced God’s “giving up” in your life? What happened? What was the result? Have there been times in your life when the pain caused by your sin has turned you back to the Lord?

PRAYER: Gracious God, I must admit that I’m not especially happy about the “giving up” part of your relationship with us. I love the picture of you as the good shepherd seeking the lost sheep. But the idea that you let us get ourselves lost is not a happy one. Of course, it isn’t happy for you either!

Lord, I am reminded today that my actions have real consequences. You have allowed my choices and deeds to matter. So if I do that which puts distance between us, and if I fail to heed your invitations to return to you, then you may very well “give me up” for a season. You allow me to experience what life apart from you is like, so that I might come back to you once again.

How grateful I am, Lord, that you don’t “give me up” forever! Though you allow me to feel pain for a while, you don’t turn your back from me. Because Christ was forsaken on the cross, you will never forsake me. How I thank you!

Help me, dear Lord, to live in such a way that you have no need to “give me up.” May my heart be ever near to yours. May my thoughts and deeds glorify you in all things. Amen.