Isaiah 44:23-45:13 uses the image of God forming and molding Jacob/Israel in the womb of his mother Rebekah to describe the LORD forming and molding the nation of Jacob/Israel. Not only did he do this metaphorically for the whole nation, but he literally formed each and every Israelite from the womb like a potter working with clay. And it was the same God who did this creation work who would be the Redeemer of Israel. Israel was supposed to be God’s under-shepherd and his anointed, but God would do something radical — He would form and mold a foreigner named Cyrus to be the new Moses shepherding Israel as God’s anointed. And to answer Israel’s objection about this decision, God says that just as it is absurd for the clay to talk back to the potter it is absurd for Israel to complain about how God will save them from exile and by whom. And God says that just as it is absurd for an unborn child (or better yet, a not yet conceived child) to speak disrespectfully to his parents and complain about his future birth, so too it is absurd for Israel to complain about what God will do in the future. It is the same God who formed and molded Israel from the womb and formed and molded Cyrus who formed and molded Jesus in the womb of the virgin Mary and brought salvation to His people. And it is the same God who is molding and fashioning you today from the womb and throughout your life. He has formed you to be the person that you are for a reason, into the family where you are for a reason, into the church where you are for a reason, and into the community where you are for a reason: that people may know, from the east and from the west that there is none besides the LORD. So are you arguing with God about His design for you or are you being formed into the image of His Son?
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