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.

 

Then the LORD speaks about the coming destruction of Babylon by Cyrus and the Medes and Persians.  God declares himself to be the Holy One of Israel which means he is holy within himself and as a result he can impart his holiness to his redeemed children.  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)  God encourages Judah that when they are taken to Babylon, they will eventually be returned to their land in seventy years so they can rebuild the temple and the Messiah will come through them.  He did this for their sake as his people who will bring forth the Messiah through whom salvation will come and the Mosaic ceremonial law will be abolished.  Babylon’s cry or their strength was in their shipping industry which they navigated on the River Euphrates but that strength will be brought to nothing as their naval strength will be destroyed along with their army and city.

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