A New Season

• Isa 43:16–21: The God who once made a path through the sea tells His exiled people not to dwell on the past. He is doing something new: making a way through the wilderness and streams through dry land.
• Josh 1:1–9: After Moses' death, God tells Joshua to cross over, be strong and courageous, and keep His word close, because He will be with him wherever he goes.
• Eccl 3:1–8, 11: There is a time for everything, and God makes everything beautiful in its time.
• Lam 3:22–24: His mercies are new every morning.
• 2 Cor 5:17; Rev 21:5: In Christ, a new creation; at the end, God makes all things new.

• Deut 34:5–9: Moses dies, Israel mourns, and Joshua is filled with wisdom because Moses had laid hands on him.
• Josh 1:1–9: God's charge: the season has changed, but God's presence hasn't (Josh 1:5).
• Josh 3:1–17: The priests step into the flooded river first, and the waters stop.
• Josh 4:1–7, 20-24: Twelve stones are set up as a memorial so that future children will ask what they mean.
• Josh 5:10–12: The manna stops, and they eat the produce of the land. God's provision changes form, but it doesn't stop.

Connective note: The new season began with grief (Deut 34:8), and God didn't skip it. Joshua was told to be courageous because God would be with him (Josh 1:9), not because the task was easy. Isaiah's "forget the former things" (Isa 43:18) sits next to Joshua's memorial stones (Josh 4:7). God's people don't erase the past. They refuse to be trapped by it, and they remember God's faithfulness in it as fuel for the road ahead. Isa 43:18–19 was first God's promise to Israel in exile, a new exodus (Isa 43:1, 14-21), and its deepest fulfillment is in Christ and the new creation (2 Cor 5:17; Rev 21:5). It does not promise any reader a particular change of circumstances. What it does show is the character of God, who makes ways in wildernesses and keeps His people, and that God is the same in every season (Heb 13:8; Lam 3:22–23).

• Ps 121: The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in.
• Ps 31:14–15: Entrusting every season of life to God.
• Ps 90:12–17: A prayer for wisdom about our days, and for God to make our work last.

Seed verse: Isa 43:19 Suggested first links: Gen 12:1–4 · Exod 14:21–22 · Deut 31:6–8 · Ruth 1:16 · Ps 37:5 · Prov 16:9 · Isa 42:9 · Isa 48:6 · Jer 29:4–7 · Ezek 36:26 · Phil 3:13–14 · Heb 11:8 · Heb 13:8 · Jas 4:13–15

• How do I wait on direction or calling? → How do I wait on direction or calling?
• Is my life on hold while I wait? → Waiting in Life Seasons
• How do I serve God fully in this season? → Waiting in Life Seasons
• Is God in control when things feel out of control? → Is God in control when things feel out of control?
• Is the new earth a renewal or a replacement of this one? → New Heavens & New Earth

Skeptic. Isn't "God is doing a new thing" just optimism with a religious label? In Isaiah the promise was tied to history and to God's track record. The God who once opened the sea (Isa 43:16–17) promised to bring His people home from exile (Isa 43:5–7, 14). Christians read its fullest fulfillment in Christ, who makes a new creation (2 Cor 5:17) and will one day make all things new (Rev 21:5).

Brand-new. If you've started a new season, including a new life in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), it's normal to feel both excited and unsure. God goes before you (Deut 31:8). Take the next step with Him (Ps 37:5; Prov 3:5–6). Find God's people in your new place (Heb 10:24–25), and set up a few "memorial stones": record what God has done so you remember (Josh 4:7).

Developing. Ask what God wants in this season, not only what you want from it. Seek the good of the place where you've been planted (Jer 29:4–7). Ask for wisdom (Jas 1:5) and make plans humbly (Jas 4:13–15; Prov 16:9). Bring along what was good from the last season, such as habits of prayer, Scripture and fellowship (Phil 4:9). Grieve what was lost (Eccl 3:4) without trying to live in it.

Experienced. Tension texts:

• Don't dwell on the former things (Isa 43:18), yet remember the former things of old (Isa 46:9) and remember the Lord's works (Deut 8:2; Ps 77:11).

The difference is the direction of memory. Remembering God's faithfulness fuels trust, while being trapped in past glory or past failure hinders it (Phil 3:13–14; Num 11:5). Also: God does new things (Isa 43:19), yet He doesn't change (Mal 3:6; Heb 13:8). The newness is in His works, not His character.

Where believers differ, presented fairly.

• Applying Isa 43:18–19 and Jer 29:11 personally. Some readers apply these promises directly to individual new beginnings. Others stress that they were first spoken to Israel in exile, are fulfilled in Christ, and apply to us through Him, as a picture of God's character rather than a promise of a specific outcome. Both can draw real comfort from them. Neither should claim a particular result God hasn't promised (Jas 4:13–15).
• Guidance. Christians differ on how God guides life changes. Some expect specific inner leading (Acts 16:6–10). Others emphasize wisdom within God's revealed will (Prov 3:5–6; Rom 12:2; Jas 1:5). Most hold both: Scripture first, then prayer, counsel and circumstances.

Scholar.

• Isa 43:18 uses zakar (remember) negatively, and Isa 43:19 calls it a chadash (new) thing that will tsamach (spring up) like a shoot.
• The midbar (wilderness) and the rivers reverse the exodus imagery: water in the desert, not a path through water.
• Josh 1:9: chazaq (be strong) and amats (be courageous).
• Phil 3:13 uses epilanthanomai (forgetting) and epekteinomai (straining forward), a runner's image.
• 2 Cor 5:17 and Rev 21:5 both use kainos (new). 2 Cor 5:17 calls it a ktisis (creation).

Pastor: a teaching outline (4 sessions).

• The God who makes a way (Isa 43:14–21). New-exodus hope, fulfilled in Christ.
• Be strong and courageous (Josh 1:1–9; Deut 31:6–8). Transitions, grief and God's presence.
• Memorial stones (Josh 4:1–24; Ps 77:11). Remembering God's faithfulness without living in the past.
• All things new (2 Cor 5:17; Rev 21:1–5). New creation now, and the final renewal.

Application across the series: each person names their current season, sets up a "memorial stone" of God's past faithfulness, and takes one step to seek the good of their new place (Jer 29:7).

Word studies: verified (STEPBible). Hebrew was checked in TAHOT and Greek in TAGNT.

• zakar (Hebrew, H2142): to remember (Isa 43:18). chadash (Hebrew, H2319): new (Isa 43:19). tsamach (Hebrew, H6779): to sprout, spring up (Isa 43:19). midbar (Hebrew, H4057): wilderness (Isa 43:19).
• chazaq (Hebrew, H2388): to be strong (Josh 1:9). amats (Hebrew, H553): to be courageous (Josh 1:9).
• epilanthanomai (Greek, G1950): to forget (Phil 3:13). epekteinomai (Greek, G1901): to strain forward (Phil 3:13).
• kainos (Greek, G2537): new (2 Cor 5:17; Rev 21:5). ktisis (Greek, G2937): creation (2 Cor 5:17).