Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.’ Isaiah 43:18

Great verse. So key for this moment.

‘Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.’ Isaiah 46:9

Hang on, God said to forget the former things, and now he’s saying to remember them? So which is it?

On the surface, it looks like there’s a contradiction in the Bible.

But that’s not the case, because the Bible doesn’t contradict itself and God doesn’t contradict Himself. If it looks that way, it’s an invitation to go deeper. We mustn’t just get stuck at the words, but we need to dive into the meaning.

The bible is full of so much nuance! We can’t read it like a textbook — it’s God’s story.

So what is God meaning here?

In Isaiah 43:18, God is talking about the ways in which He delivered the people in the past.

But in Isaiah 46:9, God is calling the people to remember who He is.

It’s important that we don’t dwell on the ways in which we’ve done things or the way in which we’ve seen God move. Otherwise we will get stuck in old wineskins.

However, we must remember and lean on who God is, because He will continue to move in alignment with His character!

We must become familiar with the character of God so that we can recognise and move with God when He does a new thing.