Isaiah 43

1 But now this is what ADONAI says, he who created you, Ya'akov, he who formed you, Isra'el: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I am calling you by your name; you are mine.

2 When you pass through water, I will be with you; when you pass through rivers, they will not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you will not be scorched - the flame will not burn you.

3 For I am ADONAI, your God, the Holy One of Isra'el, your Savior - I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and S'va for you.

4 Because I regard you as valued and honored, and because I love you. For you I will give people, nations in exchange for your life.

5 Don't be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east, and I will gather you from the west;

6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Don't hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth,

7 everyone who bears my name, whom I created for my glory - I formed him, yes, I made him.'"

8 Bring forward the people who are blind but have eyes, also the deaf who have ears.

9 All the nations are gathered together, and the peoples are assembled. Who among them can proclaim this and reveal what happened in the past? Let them bring their witnesses to justify themselves, so that others, on hearing, can say, "That's true."

10 "You are my witnesses," says ADONAI, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you can know and trust me and understand that I am he no god was produced before me, nor will any be after me.

11 I, yes I, am ADONAI; besides me there is no deliverer.

12 I have declared, saved and proclaimed - not some alien god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses," says ADONAI. "I am God.

13 Since days began, I have been he. No one can deliver from my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?"

14 Here is what ADONAI, your redeemer, the Holy One of Isra'el, says: "For your sake I have sent [an army] to Bavel and knocked down the fleeing Kasdim, all of them; their songs of triumph are now lamentations.

15 I am ADONAI, your Holy One, the Creator of Isra'el, your King."

16 Here is what ADONAI says, who made a way in the sea, a path through the raging waves;

17 who led out chariot and horse, the army in its strength - they lay down, never to rise again, snuffed out and quenched like a wick:

18 "Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by;

19 I am doing something new; it's springing up - can't you see it? I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wasteland.

20 The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I put water in the desert, rivers in the wasteland, for my chosen people to drink,

21 the people I formed for myself, so that they would proclaim my praise.

22 But you haven't called on me, Ya'akov; because you have grown weary of me, Isra'el.

23 You have not brought me sheep for your burnt offerings, you have not honored me with your sacrifices. I didn't burden you by requiring grain offerings. or weary you by demanding frankincense.

24 You have not spent money to buy me sweet cane or filled me with the fat of your sacrifices. Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your crimes.

25 I, yes I, am the one who blots out your offenses for my own sake; I will not remember your sins.

26 Remind me when we're in court together - tell your side, make the case that you are right.

27 Your first father sinned, and your spokesmen rebelled against me.

28 Therefore I repudiated the officials of the sanctuary, delivered Ya'akov to the curse of destruction, and subjected Isra'el to scorn.

Isaiah 43 Commentary

God's unchangeable love for his people. (1-7) Apostates and idolaters addressed. (8-13) The deliverance from Babylon, and the conversion of the Gentiles. (14-21) Admonition to repent of sin. (22-28)

Verses 1-7 God's favour and good-will to his people speak abundant comfort to all believers. The new creature, wherever it is, is of God's forming. All who are redeemed with the blood of his Son, he has set apart for himself. Those that have God for them need not fear who or what can be against them. What are Egypt and Ethiopia, all their lives and treasures, compared with the blood of Christ? True believers are precious in God's sight, his delight is in them, above any people. Though they went as through fire and water, yet, while they had God with them, they need fear no evil; they should be born up, and brought out. The faithful are encouraged. They were to be assembled from every quarter. And with this pleasing object in view, the prophet again dissuades from anxious fears.

Verses 8-13 Idolaters are called to appear in defence of their idols. Those who make them, and trust in them, are like unto them. They have the shape and faculties of men; but they have not common sense. But God's people know the power of his grace, the sweetness of his comforts, the kind care of his providence, and the truth of his promise. All servants of God can give such an account of what he has wrought in them, and done for them, as may lead others to know and believe his power, truth, and love

Verses 14-21 The deliverance from Babylon is foretold, but there is reference to greater events. The redemption of sinners by Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, and the recall of the Jews, are described. All that is to be done to rescue sinners, and to bring the believer to glory, is little, compared with that wondrous work of love, the redemption of man.

Verses 22-28 Those who neglect to call upon God, are weary of him. The Master tired not the servants with his commands, but they tired him with disobedience. What were the riches of God's mercy toward them? I, even I, am he who yet blotteth out thy transgressions. This encourages us to repent, because there is forgiveness with God, and shows the freeness of Divine mercy. When God forgives, he forgets. It is not for any thing in us, but for his mercies' sake, his promise' sake; especially for his Son's sake. He is pleased to reckon it his honour. Would man justify himself before God? The attempt is desperate: our first father broke the covenant, and we all have copied his example. We have no reason to expect pardon, except we seek it by faith in Christ; and that is always attended by true repentance, and followed by newness of life, by hatred of sin, and love to God. Let us then put him in remembrance of the promises he has made to the penitent, and the satisfaction his Son has made for them. Plead these with him in wrestling for pardon; and declare these things, that thou mayest be justified freely by his grace. This is the only way, and it is a sure way to peace.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 43

Is this chapter the Lord comforts his own people, under their afflictions, with many precious promises; asserts his deity against the idols of the nations; promises deliverance from Babylon, and a greater redemption than that; one branch of which is forgiveness of sin; and closes the chapter with a prediction of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, for their iniquities. The Lord claims his interest in his people, not only on the foot of creation, but of redemption and calling, and promises them his presence in the midst of afflictions, Isa 43:1,2, puts them in mind of what he had done for them; and assures them of future layouts, as the effect of his unchangeable love to them, Isa 43:3,4 and promises the conversion of their seed and offspring in the several parts of the world, Isa 43:5-7 then challenges the Heathen nations to give such proofs of the deity of their idols as he was capable of giving of his, as his people were witnesses, taken from his eternity and immutability, as the alone Jehovah, and from his omniscience and omnipotence, Isa 43:8-13, after which the destruction of Babylon is prophesied of, and the redemption of his people out of it; which they are encouraged to believe from his being Jehovah, their Sanctifier, Creator, and King; and from what he had done formerly for them, when he brought them out of Egypt, Isa 43:14-17, and which yet was not to be mentioned or remembered, in comparison of what he would do in the world, a new thing, redemption by the Messiah, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the glory of his grace, Isa 43:18-21, the sins of omission and commission the people of God had been guilty of are mentioned, which are freely pardoned for Christ's sake, Isa 43:22-25 when the body and bulk of the Jewish nation were given up to destruction, because of their sins, Isa 43:26-28.