Isaiah 43
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CHAPTER 43
Israel’s only Savior (43:1–13)
1–7 But now . . . (verse 1). Isaiah has just announced Israel’s punishment for its refusal to obey God (Isaiah 42:18–25). But now God says to Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you” (see Isaiah 41:10,14). Over and over in the Old Testament, God shows mercy and love to the Israelites in spite of their repeated disobedience. God will be with them through waters and fire (verse 2), because He is their God, their Savior (verse 3), who delivers them from both physical and spiritual bondage.169
In verse 7, the Lord specifies who will be redeemed: “. . . everyone who is called by my name.” Not every Israelite by birth could expect to be saved; most would be destroyed because of their persistent disobedience (verse 28). Paul wrote: A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly . . . a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly . . . by the Spirit (Romans 2:28–29). Those with the Spirit are the ones who are called by God’s name, who are written in God’s book of life. Those are the ones who make up the faithful remnant of Israel, who are precious and honored in God’s sight (verse 4).
8–13 Here the scene shifts to an imaginary courtroom where Israel and the nations have been called to testify before God. In verse 8, Isaiah refers to the Israelites as those who are spiritually blind and deaf—as indeed most of them were (see Isaiah 42:18–20).
In verse 9, God challenges the nations to show whether or not they have foretold former things (see Isaiah 41:22,26). Of course, they have not: only God knows the future. God then calls on the Israelites to testify: “You are my witnesses,” He says (verses 10,12). Israel is to testify that there is no other god, no other savior, except the God of Israel. Today, we too are witnesses: we too are called to testify to the ends of the earth that Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior of the world (Acts 1:8).
God’s Mercy and Israel’s Unfaithfulness (43:14–28)
14–15 God announces what He intends to do for the Israelites as their Redeemer (see Isaiah 41:14). He will cause the Babylonians to become fugitives.
16–21 Just as He led the Israelites through the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army (Exodus 14:21–22,26–28), so He will lead the Israelites out of Babylon (verses 16–17). Just as He made a way through the sea, now He will make a way in the desert (verse 19); God will lead His people in a new Exodus: See, I am doing a new thing (see Isaiah 42:9). Why? Because God loves His people (verse 4), and because He expects them to proclaim [His] praise (verse 21).
22–24 Yet, in spite of God’s mercy, the Israelites have remained unfaithful. In return for His love, they have repaid Him with their sins (verse 24).
25–28 It is God alone who blots out transgressions (verse 25); yet the Israelites ignore Him and refuse to confess their sins.170 They have been sinning since their first father sinned;171 their spokesmen (their priests and leaders) have rebelled against God. Therefore, says God, “I will consign Jacob (Israel) to destruction” (verse 28). And yet we know that God will preserve a remnant of Israel, through which His eternal purposes will be fulfilled (Isaiah 6:11–13; 10:20–23).