Isaiah 43:14-21

Babylon to Be Destroyed

14 Thus says the LORD your ¹Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, "For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And will bring them all down as fugitives, Even the ²Chaldeans, into the ³ships in which they rejoice.

15 "I am the LORD, your Holy One, ⁴The Creator of Israel, your ⁵King."

16 Thus says the LORD, Who ⁶makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters,

17 Who brings forth the ⁷chariot and the horse, The army and the mighty man (They will lie down together and not rise again; They have been ⁸quenched and extinguished like a wick ):

18 "⁹Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past.

19 "Behold, I will do something ¹⁰new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even ¹¹make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.

20 "The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The ¹²jackals and the ostriches, Because I have ¹³given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people.

21 "The people whom ¹⁴I formed for Myself ¹⁵Will declare My praise.

Isaiah 43:14-21 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 41:14
• 2. Isaiah 23:13
• 3. Jeremiah 51:13
• 4. Isaiah 43:1
• 5. Isaiah 41:20; Isaiah 44:6
• 6. Exodus 14:21, 22; Psalms 77:19; Isaiah 11:15; Isaiah 44:27; Isaiah 50:2; Isaiah 51:10; Isaiah 63:11, 12
• 7. Exodus 15:19
• 8. Psalms 118:12; Isaiah 1:31
• 9. Isaiah 65:17; Jeremiah 23:7
• 10. Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 48:6; 2 Corinthians 5:17
• 11. Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11; Deuteronomy 8:15; Psalms 78:16; Isaiah 35:1, 6; Isaiah 41:18, 19; Isaiah 49:10; Isaiah 51:3
• 12. Isaiah 13:22; Isaiah 35:7
• 13. Isaiah 41:17, 18; Isaiah 48:21
• 14. Isaiah 43:1
• 15. Psalms 102:18; Isaiah 42:12; Luke 1:74, 75; 1 Peter 2:9

Footnotes

• [a]. Another reading is "As for the Chaldeans, their rejoicing" is turned "into lamentations"
• [b]. Lit "of their rejoicing"