Behold! A New Thing!
Isaiah 43:19
“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.”
One day in the fall of 2018, as I was driving around picking and dropping kids off at school and practices, my iTunes began randomly shuffling through songs. This usually irritated me- but today, I was too busy driving in the insane Fayetteville rush hour to try and switch it up. So, it continued to play. And as I turned towards home, suddenly a sermon began to play over the speakers in the car.
Our church had been going through some significant changes and struggles, and my heart wasn’t in ministry anymore. I was tired. Exhausted and obviously burned out. But as the preacher continued on, his words, direct from the Holy Spirit, washed over me. And the thought that popped into my head was, “Pay attention, Meg!”
The preacher talked of the word “Behold!” in Scripture and refers to God, demanding the audience to pay attention and see what God is doing. The verse he used was Isaiah 43:19,
“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.” Pay Attention!
My heart began beating faster when he finished speaking aloud the verse. I listened to the entire sermon, not even realizing that the kids had all unbuckled and gone inside our house. “A new thing? God, are you doing a new thing?” I began to cry... and pray... and things began to shift. Again.
Take a Step Back
Seven years ago, my faith had begun, in a sense, to dry out. Every time I opened God’s Word, I struggled to have it feel authentic or fresh. I prayed openly one day for God to fill me with an unquenchable thirst and hunger for His Word. “I don’t want to ever get enough, Father!” I remember crying. It seemed that everything was being set in motion… for something… but I didn’t know what!
By the end of the month, I had discovered the Bible Project podcast and began listening to them every time I shuttled kids around. I began to feel the need to return to school, and so began the process of researching grad schools all over the U.S.
I began to teach a more academic class at our church, where I started to dig into the Greek and Hebrew meanings of words and relate to our English translations today. I felt the need to begin writing more regularly and soon started a new blog that focused my energy.
Fast Forward to 2018
As I sat there, in my Ikea wingback chair, seeing these Behold Moments over and over in Scripture, I had my own Behold Moment. My mouth dropped open, and tears flooded my eyes. Suddenly, I saw a movement of women coming together to lay out these Behold Moments in the Bible and teach them to others.
After hearing this sermon, I could not get enough of the Bible. I began carrying it around with me, digging in constantly. I began hearing and seeing the word “Behold” everywhere. At first, it was once every couple of months… but then it was once a month… then once a week. The year flew by, and by the fall of 2019, I was enrolled in Western Seminary, pursuing my Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies, emphasizing the Hebrew Bible.
I felt more like myself than I had in years and marveled at how God had directed and prepared me for such a time as this. As I studied and wrote at seminary, I began to notice a pattern when I wrote my final Hermeneutics paper on Jeremiah 29-31. There’s a massive shift in the Old Testament in Jeremiah that most people aren’t aware of. This is where God changes course with His People from the Old Covenant to the New. And guess what, there are several Behold moments here in these specific chapters.
The Beginning of the Behold Collective
One afternoon, I cracked open my Bible to study from the book of Joshua. My eyes were immediately drawn to 2:18, where it reads, “Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.”
Now, this is another pivotal moment in the history of Israel. If not for Rahab, a possible harlot living in Jericho walls, the spies would not have been able to escape and return to Joshua. This would have been a significant kink in their plans. But God came through. I felt this Behold moment in Joshua was another fingerprint of God’s might and plan coming through when it looked dire and without hope.
But “Behold!” God came through in the heart of a woman. Suddenly, when that thought crossed my heart, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me… “Keep looking for Behold moments!”
And so, I did.
There are over 1,000 Behold moments throughout the Bible from the first chapter in Genesis to Revelation. Frequently, it is God addressing His People. Other times, it is an angel bringing a message from God on High. And often, it is a person marveling in the crazy, extraordinary time they are living through. Sometimes, it’s a painful, awful time. But each time, is a change-up, a wind variation, or a course recalculated.
Each time, God is there in a powerful way saying, “PAY ATTENTION! THIS IS IMPORTANT!”
Behold Moments in Scripture are God’s map towards Christ and the deviations in the timeline that directed us towards the Messiah and His Kingdom. As I sat there, in my Ikea wingback chair, seeing these Behold Moments over and over in Scripture, I had my own Behold Moment. My mouth dropped open, and tears flooded my eyes. Suddenly, I saw a movement of women coming together to lay out these Behold Moments in the Bible and teach them to others.
