Isaiah 43

15. creator of Israel--( Isaiah 43:1 ).
your--proved to be specially yours by delivering you.

16, 17. Allusion to the deliverance of Israel and overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, the standing illustration of God's unchanging character towards His people ( Exodus 14:21 Exodus 14:22 Exodus 14:27 Exodus 14:28 ).

17. the power--the might of the enemies host, every mighty warrior.
they shall lie down together--as Pharaoh's army sank "together" in a watery grave.

18. So wonderful shall be God's future interpositions in your behalf, that all past ones shall be forgotten in comparison. Plainly the future restoration of Israel is the event ultimately meant. Thus the "former things" are such events as the destruction of Sennacherib and the return from Babylon. "Things of old" are events still more ancient, the deliverance from Egypt and at the Red Sea, and entry into Canaan [VITRINGA].

19. new--unprecedented in its wonderful character ( Isaiah 42:9 ).
spring forth--as a germinating herb: a beautiful image of the silent but certain gradual growth of events in God's providence ( Mark 4:26-28 ).
way in . . . wilderness--just as Israel in the wilderness, between the Red Sea and Canaan, was guided, and supplied with water by Jehovah; but the "new" deliverance shall be attended with manifestations of God's power and love, eclipsing the old (compare Isaiah 41:17-19 ). "I will open a way, not merely in the Red Sea, but in the wilderness of the whole world; and not merely one river shall gush out of the rock, but many, which shall refresh, not the bodies as formerly, but the souls of the thirsty, so that the prophecy shall be fulfilled: 'With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation'" [JEROME]. "A way" often stands for the true religion ( Acts 9:2 , 18:26 ). "Rivers" express the influences of the Holy Spirit ( John 7:37-39 ). Israel's literal restoration hereafter is included, as appears by comparing Isaiah 11:15 Isaiah 11:16 .

20. beast--image of idolaters, defiled with blood and pollutions, dwelling like dragons, &c., in the wastes of Gentile ignorance: even they shall be converted. Or else, literally, such copious floods of water shall be given by God in the desert, that the very beasts shall (in poetic language) praise the Lord ( Psalms 148:10 ) [JEROME].
dragons--"serpents," or else jackals
owls--rather, "ostriches."

21. This people--namely, The same as "My people, My chosen" (see Isaiah 43:1 Isaiah 43:7 , Psalms 102:18 ).
my praise--on account of the many and great benefits conferred on them, especially their restoration.

22. But--Israel, however, is not to think that these divine favors are due to their own piety towards God. So the believer ( Titus 3:5 ).
but--rather, "for."
weary of me--( Amos 8:5 Amos 8:6 , Malachi 1:13 ), though "I have not wearied thee" ( Isaiah 43:23 ), yet "thou hast been weary of Me."

23. small cattle--rather, the "lamb" or "kid," required by the law to be daily offered to God ( Exodus 29:38 , Numbers 28:3 ).
sacrifices--offered any way; whereas the Hebrew for "holocaust," or "burnt offering," denotes that which ascends as an offering consumed by fire.
I have not caused thee to serve--that is, to render the the service of a slave ( Matthew 11:30 , Romans 8:15 , 1 John 4:18 , 5:3 ).
offering--bloodless ( Leviticus 2:1 Leviticus 2:2 ).
wearied--antithetical to Isaiah 43:22 , "Thou hast been weary of Me." Though God in the law required such offerings, yet not so as to "weary" the worshipper, or to exact them in cases where, as in the Babylonish captivity, they were physically unable to render them; God did not require them, save in subordination to the higher moral duties ( Psalms 50:8-14 , Psalms 51:16 Psalms 51:17 , Micah 6:3 Micah 6:6-8 ).

24. bought--for "sweet cane" (aromatic calamus) was not indigenous to Palestine, but had to be bought from foreign countries ( Jeremiah 6:20 ). It was used among the Hebrews to make the sacred ointment ( Exodus 30:23 ). It is often offered as a mark of hospitality.
filled--satiated ( Jeremiah 31:14 ). God deigns to use human language to adapt Himself to human modes of thought.
made me to serve--though "I have not caused thee to serve" ( Isaiah 43:23 ). Our sin made the Son of God to become "a servant." He served to save us from servile bondage ( Philippians 2:7 , Hebrews 2:14 Hebrews 2:15 ).
wearied me--Though I have "not wearied thee" ( Isaiah 43:23 ; see Isaiah 1:14 ).

25. I, even I--the God against whom your sin is committed, and who alone can and will pardon. ( Isaiah 44:22 ).
for mine own sake--( Isaiah 48:9 Isaiah 48:11 ). How abominable a thing sin is, since it is against such a God of grace! "Blotted out" is an image from an account-book, in which, when a debt is paid, the charge is cancelled or blotted out.
not remember . . . sins--( Jeremiah 31:34 ). When God forgives, He forgets; that is, treats the sinner as if He had forgotten his sins.

26. Put me in remembrance--Remind Me of every plea which thou hast to urge before Me in thy defense. Image from a trial ( Isaiah 1:18 , 41:1 ). Our strongest plea is to remind God of His own promises. So Jacob did at Mahanaim and Peniel ( Genesis 32:9 Genesis 32:12 ). God, then, instead of "pleading against us with His great power," "will put His strength" in us ( Job 23:6 ); we thus become "the Lord's remembrancers" ( Isaiah 62:6 , Margin). "Declare God's righteousness" vindicated in Jesus Christ "that thou mayest be justified" ( Romans 3:26 ; compare Isaiah 20:1-6 , and Psalms 143:2 ).

27. first father--collectively for "most ancient ancestors," as the parallelism ("teachers") proves [MAURER]. Or, thy chief religious ministers or priests [GESENIUS]. Adam, the common father of all nations, can hardly be meant here, as it would have been irrelevant to mention his sin in an address to the Jews specially. Abraham is equally out of place here, as he is everywhere cited as an example of faithfulness, not of "sin." However, taking the passage in its ultimate application to the Church at large, Adam may be meant.
teachers--literally, "interpreters" between God and man, the priests ( Job 33:23 , Malachi 2:7 ).

28. profaned the princes--( Psalms 89:39 , Lamentations 2:2 Lamentations 2:6 Lamentations 2:7 ). I have esteemed, or treated, them as persons not sacred. I have left them to suffer the same treatment as the common people, stripped of their holy office and in captivity.
princes of the sanctuary--"governors of" it ( 1 Chronicles 24:5 ); directing its holy services; priests.
curse--Hebrew, cherim, a "solemn anathema," or "excommunication."
reproaches--( Psalms 123:3 Psalms 123:4 ).