Isaiah 43:1-14
Isa 43:1
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob,
and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have
called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
In contrasting the end of Chapter 42 which God states
that he gave Jacob for a spoil because of their rebellion but now the story
changes. God declares to Israel
that he is the one who created them and formed them through the lineage of
Abraham. When Israel entered Egypt
under Joseph they were not a great nation but when they left, they had
multiplied mightily and became a great nation.
The LORD then tells them not to fear their future or even what is
happening at the present because he has given the gospel of grace to those elect
within the nation of Israel and for their sake he will keep them.
God is the one who has redeemed Israel and that is through the cross and
not the keeping of the law. Grace
is all God’s doing and as a result those whom he has redeemed he has called with
an effectual calling by their name.
To him the porter openeth; and the sheep
hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
(John 10:3) Then God declares
that those elect among the nation of Israel are his, that is, his redeemed
people who are given everlasting life.
These promises are to all believers whether Jew or Gentile because God is
the one who has redeemed every single believer throughout the world and history.
Isa 43:2
When thou passest through the waters, I will be
with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee.
Israel had gone through the waters twice, once through
the Red Sea where the Egyptian army met its death and then the waters of Jordan
which were heaped up to allow Israel to cross into the promised land.
God showed Israel that he was going to be with them when they crossed
those bodies of water and his promise holds true to all believers who will face
great rivers of persecution or problems.
The rivers will not overflow them which means they will not drown under
the problems they face. Their lives
would be protected by God who promises to walk with them.
Then in contrast to the bodies of water, the fire that believers will
walk through which is the fire of persecution, they will not be burned.
Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not even have the smell of
fire on them when they were in the fiery furnace because Christ was in there
with them, the believer has the same promises that whatever they face will never
harm them and not so much as a flame will be kindled upon them.
And his feet like unto fine brass,
as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
(Revelation 1:15) Revelation
1:15 gives us a picture of Christ who was crucified for the elect of God and
shows that he went through the furnace of the judgment of God on behalf of all
the elect.
And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
Back in Genesis 3:15 we have the prophecy that the devil will bruise the
heel of Christ and in Revelation 1:15 we are shown that the foot of Christ
looked as though it was burned in a furnace.
Since Christ has suffered for the elect, they will never have to go
through the furnace of God’s fire for salvation because it was Christ who paid
that price for us.
Isa 43:3
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
God declares that he is the Holy One of Israel and it was
his plan to bring Israel out of Egypt.
He gave Egypt for a ransom by destroying it and then saving Israel and
bringing them out of bondage. He
destroyed the firstborn of Egypt but saved the firstborn of Israel.
The Egyptian army was drowned in the Red Sea but Israel crossed safely
through the Red Sea on dry land.
Then Ethiopia and Seba was also affected by God’s judgment.
Sennacherib was planning on attacking Jerusalem but God diverted them to
engage the Ethiopians and Sabeans.
The Sabeans were around since the time of Job.
And the Sabeans fell
upon them, and took them away;
yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am
escaped alone to tell thee. (Job 1:15)
Isa 43:4
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been
honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and
people for thy life.
Since within ancient Israel there were many true
believers by grace, they were precious in the sight of the Lord as his eternal
people. As a result of them being
precious in the sight of the Lord, he considered them to be honorable because
God had a great esteem and affection of his people.
Then God declares that he had loved them and God’s love is qualified
meaning only those in Christ are loved by God, all the others are the enemies of
God because they are in rebellion to him and that included many in ancient
Israel. So God had planned to
protect his people by allowing others to be sacrificed instead of them because
they are under his protection.
Isa 43:5
Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy
seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
Then God makes another declaration concerning the body of
Christ. He tells those believers in
Israel that he will unite the entire body of Christ on the last day as it is
scattered throughout the whole world.
This is not referring to the regathering under Cyrus because they would
only come from the east but we see west mentioned here which means it is
speaking universally. Israel was
located on the shore of the Mediterranean which was west.
And he shall send his angels with
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31)
Isa 43:6
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep
not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Then not only will the east and west give up all the
children of God, this will include the north and south.
The sons and daughters are mentioned because that will be the entire body
of believers will be gathered together.
And they shall come from the east,
and from the west, and from the
north, and from the south, and
shall sit down in the kingdom of God. (Luke 13:29)
This is what the regathering of Israel is all about, it has nothing to do
with a strip of land but is referring to the Israel of God which is the body of
believers and as you can see it is a universal calling which will take place on
the last day.
Isa 43:7
Even every one that is called by my name: for I
have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
This is speaking of every single true believer that has
been redeemed in Christ and the true believer is called by the name of God as
belonging to the family of God.
Then we read an expression of the power and grace of God.
Every true believer has been created anew.
Therefore if any man
be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Then the true believer has Christ formed within them.
My little children, of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, (Galatians 4:19)
Then the LORD states that he was the one who made the true believer.
We did not attain this by good works or even keeping the law but it was
God himself who chose us and placed us into Christ long before we were even
born.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
(Ephesians 1:3-5)
Isa 43:8
Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf
that have ears.
Then in light of true salvation, those whom God has
chosen for salvation are to be brought forth and they are normally brought forth
when they hear the preaching of the gospel.
So then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
The true believer before salvation is just like the rest of the world.
We have eyes but we cannot spiritually see things and have ears but are
incapable of hearing and understanding the true gospel.
We must be given those things by God and that normally comes with the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit who gives us spiritual ears and eyes.
Isa 43:9
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the
people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things?
let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them
hear, and say, It is truth.
Then the LORD makes a challenge to all the nations of the
world and all the people if they could be assembled in one place to accept the
challenge. He then asks the
question who can declare what the LORD had declared in the past and the people
saw what he has prophesied and then brought it to pass.
Was there any false god among the nations that has the ability to declare
events in the past which came to pass at a future time?
Then God states that they may bring forth their witnesses and if they had
any truth in them, then they would be justified and they would be witnesses to
the truth which they have seen. Let
them produce their evidence in public and state their case.
This challenge is still apropos for today.
Let the nations produce their religious systems and produce their
evidence of having the same effect as grace.
Let Saudi Arabia produce its witnesses for Islam.
Let modern Israel produce its witnesses for Judaism.
Let Rome produce its witnesses for Roman Catholicism.
Let India produce its witnesses for Hinduism.
Let Nepal produce its witnesses for Buddhism.
Let Utah produce its witnesses for Mormonism.
All these countries that espouse false religions will all be found
wanting on Judgment Day and their evidence will fail them.
Isa 43:10
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my
servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that
I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after
me.
Then God declares that the true believers are witnesses
to these things that God declares something and it will come to pass in his
timing. Then the ultimate witness
is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who came on the scene and performed many signs
and miracles attesting to the fact that he was the Messiah and the fulfillment
of what God had prophesied to the nation of Israel even though the majority were
in spiritual blindness. The true
believers would understand by the miracles in both the Old Testament and the New
Testament that would confirm the fact that God was the true God and his power is
only limited by himself and could and would accomplish what he sets out to do.
The true believer will understand because they have the spiritual
capabilities to understand spiritual things. They
will also understand that God is the true God and there is no god who was formed
before him nor will there be any gods after him.
There may be many statues like Buddha or Mary in the world today but they
are just stone and cement. There
are no gods in the heavens or in the earth behind them.
There is only one God in three persons who exists, anything beyond that
is just religious fiction.
Isa 43:11
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me
there is no saviour.
Then the LORD declares that he is the LORD which is his
name “Jehovah” and there is no savior but him.
This means that all those religions in the world that reject Christ, his
servant, will have absolutely no salvation because within worldly religions and
idolatry there are no saviors nor any form of salvation.
Any religion which tries to circumvent the cross will find only eternal
disaster on Judgment Day.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me. (John 14:6) John 14:6 contains two irrefutable truths.
First, three times the definite article “the” is used which means there
is nothing beyond those words. The
way, the truth and the life means that is it, there is no secondary.
Then the two words “no man” is one word in the Greek text and it is in
the cardinal form meaning a number such as one, two, three, etc.
It is teaching that not even one man or person will ever come to the
Father outside of Christ. So beside
Christ there is no Savior.
Isa 43:12
I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when
there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my
witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
Then the LORD tells them that whatever he has declared
such as the salvation from Egyptian bondage or the prevention of Assyria
invading Jerusalem in 701 B.C. he has done it and he did it in the presence of
thousands of witnesses both on the side of Israel and the side of the enemies of
God. Israel was witness to the
things the LORD had done for them and they could not deny what they saw.
God states that he did all these things before the times that Israel fell
into apostasy and idolatry so therefore the false gods could not be credited
with those events. It was like at
the cross when the disciples were dispersed so none of them could ever take
credit for being crucified with Christ especially Peter because he would wind up
being the first pope according to the Roman Catholic heresy.
God did these things in Israel by himself with no help from anyone.
Isa 43:13
Yea, before the day was I am he; and
there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall
let it?
Here God tells them that before there was even one day of
creation in this universe and world, he was already in existence.
In fact his name “Jehovah” means the “self-existent one.”
Then he teaches that none can deliver out of his hand, whether he
determines to save someone or whether he determines punishment on an individual
or a country, that decree will be brought about and no army or false god can
deliver from that decree. The LORD
states that he will proceed with his work and as a result, no one would be able
to let it. The term “let it” means
to turn it back or to reverse it.
This means that when God saves someone, that person cannot lose their salvation
because they will not be able to reverse God’s work in their life.
Isa 43:14
Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their
nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.