Isaiah 43

July 16  

Reading: Isaiah 43 

¹  But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob,    

     he who formed you, O Israel:     

   "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;    

     I have called you by name, you are mine.   

²  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;    

     and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;    

     when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,    

     and the flame shall not consume you.   

³  For I am the LORD your God,    

     the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.    

     I give Egypt as your ransom,    

     Cush and Seba in exchange for you.   

⁴  Because you are precious in my eyes,    

     and honored, and I love you,    

     I give men in return for you,    

     peoples in exchange for your life.   

⁵  Fear not, for I am with you;    

     I will bring your offspring from the east,    

     and from the west I will gather you.   

⁶  I will say to the north, Give up,    

     and to the south, Do not withhold;    

     bring my sons from afar    

     and my daughters from the end of the earth,   

⁷  everyone who is called by my name,    

     whom I created for my glory,    whom I formed and made."  

⁸  Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,    

     who are deaf, yet have ears!   

⁹  All the nations gather together,    

     and the peoples assemble.    

     Who among them can declare this,    

     and show us the former things?    

     Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,    

     and let them hear and say, It is true.   

¹⁰ "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,     

   "and my servant whom I have chosen,    

     that you may know and believe me    

     and understand that I am he.    

     Before me no god was formed,    

     nor shall there be any after me.   

¹¹ I, I am the LORD,    

     and besides me there is no savior.   

¹² I declared and saved and proclaimed,    

     when there was no strange god among you;    

     and you are my witnesses," declares the LORD,     

   "and I am God.   13 Also henceforth I am he;    

     there is none who can deliver from my hand;    

     I work, and who can turn it back?"  

¹⁴ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:     

   "For your sake I send to Babylon    

     and bring them all down as fugitives,    

     even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.   

¹⁵ I am the LORD, your Holy One,    

     the Creator of Israel, your King."   

¹⁶ Thus says the LORD,    

     who makes a way in the sea,    

     a path in the mighty waters,   

¹⁷ who brings forth chariot and horse,    

     army and warrior;    

     they lie down, they cannot rise,    

     they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:   

¹⁸ "Remember not the former things,    

     nor consider the things of old.   

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.   

²⁰ The wild beasts will honor me,    

     the jackals and the ostriches,    

     for I give water in the wilderness,    

     rivers in the desert,    

     to give drink to my chosen people,   

²¹ the people whom I formed for myself    

     that they might declare my praise.  

²² "Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;    

     but you have been weary of me, O Israel!   

²³ You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,    

     or honored me with your sacrifices.    

     I have not burdened you with offerings,    

     or wearied you with frankincense.   

²⁴ You have not bought me sweet cane with money,    

     or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.    

     But you have burdened me with your sins;    

     you have wearied me with your iniquities.  

²⁵ "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,    

     and I will not remember your sins.   

²⁶ Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;    

     set forth your case, that you may be proved right.   

²⁷ Your first father sinned,    

     and your mediators transgressed against me.   

²⁸ Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,    

     and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling." 

Remember that most Hebrew prophesy is poetic discourse, a conversation (in poetry) between God, the prophet, and the people of God. Sometimes others, like kings or nations, are included in the conversation. 

Isaiah 43 is God speaking to His people. It draws a contrast with what we have read in Isaiah 42:14-25. Yes, Israel is the bad servant, but the Lord is going to do something for them. It is significant that Yahweh is called “your Creator” in Isaiah 43:1 because what the Lord will do is a re-creation of Israel. 

Verses 1-13 are amazingly encouraging. This is Yahweh’s promise for His people, even thought they are a mess. It is His promise for us, even though we are a mess. But He tells us this so that we trust Him. If you read all this and then go back to your idols, then these verses mean nothing for you. 

Verses 1-4 describe the redemption of God’s people using Exodus language. He will redeem His people, call them, lead them, protect them, and give them victory just like He did for His people in the Exodus. Verses 5-7 reassure His people that He will bring them back from all the places where they have been scattered. Verses 8-9 tell us that He will make His people see the truth again and live by it. In verses 10-13 He declares that He will re-create His servant into His faithful, saved, witness whom they were always supposed to be. He will do this. He is God. 

And He does this with us. This is why this passage is here, to help us understand what the new creation in Christ really is, so that we understand it in Old Testament imagery. 

In verses 14-21 the Lord assures his people that He will de-create Babylon. 

In verses 22-28 He reassures His people that, though they are a sinful mess, He will wipe away their sins.