Redemption Is Not A One Off

 

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Redemption is not a one off. Sometimes God has to let his people re-experience the hardship caused by their sins, so that they might truly understand what it means to be redeemed.

Micah tells us,

“10 Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies” (Micah 4:10).

Micah is warning the people of Judah that they will go into exile in Babylon. They shall again be under the power of another nation, they shall again wander in the wilderness, on the journey to Babylon, and they will be banished to a foreign land where people speak a strange language and worship foreign gods, just like they were in Egypt. There they will be under the power of others, second class citizens, removed from their beloved home, and from their heritage and legacy in the land.

But Micah also notes this, “There you shall be rescued.” God is going to bring them back out of Babylon, he will rescue them and redeem them. But I cannot help but note that this line “there you shall be rescued” can be taken another way. How is that?

Well, there they shall be retaught the importance of following God’s law, of honouring their neighbour, of enacting justice, of practicing righteousness and living as the people God has called them to live. They will be disciplined in Babylon and made new. The experience will refine them and make them closer to the image God had ordained for them to reflect. “There you shall be rescued.”

The discipline of the Lord is as surely a part of our being rescued as the rescue from our troubles itself. Troubles help us cling closer to God. Troubles drive us into his arms and remind us to call on him all the more. Troubles are necessary to protect us from arrogance and wandering, so that we question ourselves and drive closer to God. God disciplines those he loves, so when troubles come do not be disheartened.  

Redemption is a one off in the sense that Jesus paid for our sins once, on the cross. That is a fact. But it is not a one off in the sense that in other ways God has to rescue is, a.k.a. redeem us, from many troubles in our lives. Sometimes of our own making, sometimes caused by the sins or evil of others. But either way, we are in constant need of being reminded how much we need to rely on God in faith and live as he would call us to live. And if we forget that, and you are truly the Lord’s, he will rescue you through trouble, so that you remember it even better in the future.