1But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
3For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
1 But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
3 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
KJVKing James Version
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.
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.
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.
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.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
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.
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.
3 For I am the LORD thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4 Since thou art precious in My sight, and honourable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men for thee, and peoples for thy life.
Isaiah 41:10(v2)Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will…
Joshua 1:9(v2)Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalms 66:12(v2)You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you brought us to the place of abundance.
Psalms 23:4(v2)Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they…
Daniel 3:25-27(v2)He answered, “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. The appearance of the fourth is like a…
Show all 98 cross-references
2 Corinthians 12:9-10(v2)He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in…
Psalms 91:15(v2)He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
Psalms 100:3(v1)Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
1 Peter 4:12-13(v2)Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. But because…
Isaiah 43:7(v1)everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.’ ”
Zechariah 13:9(vv1–2)I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will…
Deuteronomy 31:6-8(v2)Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them; for Yahweh your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor…
Isaiah 54:4-5(v1)“Don’t be afraid, for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your…
Psalms 91:3-5(v2)For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings…
Titus 2:14(vv1, 4)who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
Joshua 1:5(v2)No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor…
Revelation 5:9(v1)They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your…
Psalms 66:10(v2)For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined.
Exodus 14:29(v2)But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on…
Matthew 1:23(v2)“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;” which is, being interpreted,…
Hebrews 11:29(v2)By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.
Isaiah 45:3-4(v1)I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your…
Matthew 7:25-27(v2)The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock.…
Isaiah 42:6(v1)“I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness. I will hold your hand. I will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light…
Ephesians 2:10(v1)For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
Psalms 46:4-7(v2)There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High. God is within her. She…
Isaiah 43:21(v1)the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8(v4)For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who…
1 Corinthians 3:13-15(v2)each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of…
Isaiah 44:2(v1)This is what Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: “Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you,…
2 Timothy 4:17(v2)But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear.…
Isaiah 29:6(v2)She will be visited by Yahweh of Armies with thunder, with earthquake, with great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame of a…
2 Timothy 2:19(v1)However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the…
Isaiah 41:14(vv1–3)Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Joshua 3:15-17(v2)and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water…
Isaiah 8:7-10(v2)now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come…
Malachi 3:2-3(v2)“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap;…
Hebrews 8:8-10(v1)For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and…
Isaiah 11:15-16(v2)Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will…
2 Timothy 4:22(v2)The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
Isaiah 30:27(v2)Behold, Yahweh’s name comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation. His tongue…
Malachi 4:1(v2)“For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes…
Luke 21:12-18(v2)But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing…
Exodus 33:17(v1)Yahweh said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
Isaiah 44:21-24(v1)Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten…
Isaiah 60:16(v3)You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, your…
Amos 9:8-9(v2)Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will…
Hebrews 11:33-38(v2)who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire,…
Jeremiah 31:3(vv1, 4)Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
Jeremiah 50:34(v1)Their Redeemer is strong: Yahweh of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and…
Ezekiel 16:8(v1)“ ‘ “Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your…
1 Peter 2:9(v4)But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
Malachi 3:17(vv1, 4)They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son…
Isaiah 45:15(v3)Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’ ”
Acts 27:25(v1)Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.
2 Chronicles 14:9-14(v3)Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million troops and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. Then Asa…
Isaiah 49:26(v3)I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall…
Genesis 32:28(v1)He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Exodus 20:2(v3)“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Psalms 102:18(v1)This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah.
Revelation 3:9(v4)Behold, I give some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie—behold, I will make them to come…
Genesis 12:2(v4)I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
Proverbs 21:18(v3)The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, the treacherous for the upright.
Hosea 11:1(v4)“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
John 16:27(v4)for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God.
Deuteronomy 32:9(v1)For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
Deuteronomy 32:9-14(v4)For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He…
Isaiah 35:9-10(v1)No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there. Then…
John 17:23(v4)I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved…
Isaiah 44:5-6(v1)One will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s;’ and another will be called by the name of Jacob; and another will write with his hand ‘to Yahweh,’ and honor…
Isaiah 45:21(v3)Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I,…
Isaiah 49:1(v1)Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned…
Exodus 15:13(v1)“You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.
Jeremiah 33:24(v1)“Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people,…
Titus 3:4-6(v3)But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but…
Jude 1:25(v3)to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Exodus 19:5-6(vv1, 4)Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all…
Isaiah 62:12(v1)They will call them “The Holy People, Yahweh’s Redeemed”. You will be called “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken”.
Hosea 13:4(v3)“Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior.
Deuteronomy 14:2(v4)For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on…
Deuteronomy 26:18(v4)Yahweh has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his…
Proverbs 11:8(v3)A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.
Isaiah 30:11(v3)Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
Isaiah 48:17(v1)Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you…
Psalms 135:4(v4)For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own possession.
Malachi 1:2(v4)“I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;
Psalms 112:9(v4)He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.
Isaiah 43:14-15(v1)Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives,…
Isaiah 63:9(v4)In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore…
Isaiah 63:16(v1)For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from…
Jeremiah 33:26(v1)then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the…
John 5:44(v4)How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?
John 17:26(v4)I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
1 Peter 1:7(v4)that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in…
Exodus 10:7(v3)Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you…
Isaiah 20:3(v3)Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning…
Titus 2:10-14(v3)not stealing, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things. For the grace of God has…
Acts 27:20(v1)When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
98 distinct cross-references across this passage (105 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (27 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv1–4After these threatenings he promiseth deliverance to his Church,…
After these threatenings he promiseth deliverance to his Church, because he hath regenerated them, adopted them, and called them.
When thou seest dangers and conspiracies on all sides, remember this benefit and the love of thy God, and it shall encourage thee.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv1–3Isa 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that…
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.
Ver. 1. But now, thus saith the Lord.] Here the prophet comforteth those with the gospel whom he had frighted with the law, saith Oecolampadius.
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That created thee, O Jacob.] By a new creation, especially. {Isa 29:23 Eph 2:10 2Co 5:17} Magna sunt opera Dei creatoris, Dei recreatoris longe maxima. {a} The work of redemption is far beyond that of creation.
And he that formed thee, O Israel.] As the potter formeth to himself a vessel of honour, and distinguisheth it from other vile and sordid vessels; so have I dealt by thee.
I have redeemed thee.] A mercy much celebrated in this book, and for very great reason.
I have called thee by thy name.] Which was no small favour. See Exo 33:17 Psa 147:4. Some think he alludeth to his giving Jacob the name of Israel, when he had wrestled with God and prevailed.
Thou art mine.] I have adopted thee, which is no small honour. {1Jn 3:1} Meus es tu, you are mine, may very well be the new name spoken of, {Rev 2:17 Hos 2:23} better than that of sons and of daughters, {Isa 56:5} See it displayed 1Pe 2:9.
{a} Augustine.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv1–4But now thus saith the Lord; but notwithstanding thy…
But now thus saith the Lord; but notwithstanding thy gross insensibleness under former judgments, for which I might justly send far heavier ones upon thee, yet I will deal mercifully with thee.
That created thee; that made, thee his people, and that in so miraculous a manner, as if he had created thee a second time out of nothing; and therefore he will be gracious to his own workmanship. I have redeemed thee from the Egyptians, and divers other enemies; and therefore I will redeem thee again.
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By thy name; by the name of God’s people, which was as proper and peculiar to them as the name of Israel.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v1This chapter has a plain connexion with the close…
This chapter has a plain connexion with the close of the foregoing chapter, but a very surprising one. It was there said that Jacob and Israel would not walk in God's ways, and that when he corrected them for their disobedience they were stubborn and laid it not to heart; and now one would think it should have followed that God would utterly abandon and destroy them; but no, the next words are, But now, fear not, O Jacob! O Israel! I have redeemed thee, and thou art mine. Though many among them were untractable and incorrigible, yet God would continue his love and care for his people, and the body of that nation should still be reserved for mercy. God's goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom 5:20), and mercy rejoices against judgment, as having prevailed and carried the day, Jam 2:13. Now the sun, breaking out thus of a sudden from behind a thick and dark cloud, shines the brighter, and with a pleasing surprise. The expressions of God's favour and good-will to his people here are very high, and speak abundance of comfort to all the spiritual seed of upright Jacob and praying Israel; for to us is this gospel preached as well as unto those that were captives in Babylon, Heb 4:2. Here we have,
I. The grounds of God's care and concern for his people and the interests of his church and kingdom among men. Jacob and Israel, though in a sinful miserable condition, shall be looked after; for, 1. They are God's workmanship, created by him unto good works, Eph 2:10. He has created them and formed them, not only given them a being, but this being, formed them into a people, constituted their government, and incorporated them by the charter of his covenant. The new creature, wherever it is, is of God's forming, and he will not forsake the work of his own hands. 2. They are the people of his purchase: he has redeemed them. Out of the land of Egypt he first redeemed them, and out of many another bondage, in his love, and in his pity (Isa 63:9); much more will he take care of those who are redeemed with the blood of his Son. 3. They are his peculiar people, whom he has distinguished from others, and set apart for himself: he has called them by name, as those he has a particular intimacy with and concern for, and they are his, are appropriated to him and he has a special interest in them. 4. He is their God in covenant (Isa 43:3): I am the Lord thy God, worshipped by thee and engaged by promise to thee, the Holy One of Israel, the God of Israel; for the true God is a holy one, and holiness becomes his house. And upon all these accounts he might justly say, Fear not (Isa 43:1), and again Isa 43:5, Fear not. Those that have God for them need not fear who or what can be against them.
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II. The former instances of this care. 1. God has purchased them dearly: I gave Egypt for thy ransom; for Egypt was quite laid waste by one plague after another, all their first-born were slain and all their men of war drowned; and all this to force a way for Israel's deliverance from them. Egypt shall be sacrificed rather than Israel shall continue in slavery, when the time has come for their release. The Ethiopians had invaded them in Asa's time; but they shall be destroyed rather than Israel shall be disturbed. And if this was reckoned so great a thing, to give Egypt for their ransom, what reason have we to admire God's love to us in giving his own Son to be a ransom for us! Jo1 4:10. What are Ethiopia and Seba, all their lives and all their treasures, compared with the blood of Christ? 2. He had prized them accordingly, and they were very dear to him (Isa 43:4): Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honourable. Note, True believers are precious in God's sight; they are his jewels, his peculiar treasure (Exo 19:5); he loves them, his delight is in them, above any people. His church is his vineyard. And this makes God's people truly honourable, and their name great; for men are really what they are in God's eye. When the forces of Sennacherib, that they might be diverted from falling upon Israel, were directed by Providence to fall upon Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, then God gave those countries for Israel, and showed how precious his people were in his sight. So some understand it.
III. The further instances God would yet give them of his care and kindness. 1. He would be present with them in their greatest difficulties and dangers (Isa 43:2): "When thou passest through the waters and the rivers, through the fire and the flame, I will be with thee, and that shall be thy security; when dangers are very imminent and threatening, thou shalt be delivered out of them." Did they, in their journey, pass through deep water? They should not perish in them: "The rivers shall not overflow thee." Should they by their persecutors be cast into a fiery furnace, for their constant adherence to their God, yet then the flame should not kindle upon them, which was fulfilled in the letter in the wonderful preservation of the three children, Dan. 3. Though they went through fire and water, which would be to them as the valley of the shadow of death, yet, while they had God with them, they need fear no evil, they should be borne up, and brought out into a wealthy place, Psa 66:12. 2. He would still, when there was occasion, make all the interests of the children of men give way to the interests of his own children: "I will give men for thee, great men, mighty men, and men of war, and people (men by wholesale) for thy life. Nations shall be sacrificed to thy welfare." All shall be cut off rather than God's Israel shall, so precious are they in his sight. The affairs of the world shall all be ordered and directed so as to be most for the good of the church, Ch2 16:9. 3. Those of them that were scattered and dispersed in other nations should all be gathered in and share in the blessings of the public, Isa 43:5-7. Some of the seed of Israel were dispersed into all countries, east, west, north, and south, or into all the parts of the country of Babylon; but those whose spirits God stirred up to go to Jerusalem should be fetched in from all parts; divine grace should reach those that lay most remote, and at the greatest distance from each other; and, when the time should come, nothing should prevent their coming together to return in a body, in answer to that prayer (Psa 106:47), Gather us from among the heathen, and in performance of that promise (Deu 30:4), If any of thine be driven to the utmost parts of heaven, thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, which we find pleaded on behalf of the children of the captivity, Neh 1:9. But who are the seed of Israel that shall be thus carefully gathered in? He tells us (Isa 43:7) they are such as God has marked for mercy; for, (1.) They are called by his name; they make profession of religion, and are distinguished from the rest of the world by their covenant-relation to God and denomination from him. (2.) They are created for his glory; the spirit of Israelites is created in them, and they are formed according to the will of God, and these shall be gathered in. Note, Those only are fit to be called by the name of God that are created by his grace for his glory; and those whom God has created and called shall be gathered in now to Christ as their head and hereafter to heaven as their home. He shall gather in his elect from the four winds. This promise points at the gathering in of the dispersed of the Gentiles, and the strangers scattered, by the gospel of Christ, who died to gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad; for the promise was to all that were afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call and create. God is with the church, and therefore let her not fear; none that belong to her shall be lost.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv1–4But now thus saith the Lord that created thee,…
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob,.... This prophecy is not concerning Cyrus, and the redemption of the Jews by him, as some have thought; nor of Sennacherib and his army, and of their deliverance from him, as Kimchi and his father interpret it; but of the Christian church, and the state of it, when Jerusalem should be destroyed, as predicted in the preceding chapter; which goes by the name of Jacob and Israel, for the first churches chiefly consisted of Jews, and both Jews and Gentiles converted are the spiritual Israel of God:
and he that formed thee, O Israel; this creation and formation are not so much to be understood of their being the creatures of God, and the work of his hands, in a natural sense; but of their new creation and regeneration; of their being the spiritual workmanship of God, created in Christ, and formed for his glory:
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fear not: for I have redeemed thee: though Jerusalem shall be destroyed, and Judea wasted, and though subject to the persecutions of wicked men in all places; yet since redeemed by Christ from sin, Satan, and the law, hell, and death, nothing is to be feared from either of them; redemption by Christ is an antidote against the fear of any enemy whatsoever:
I have called thee by thy name; with an effectual calling, which is of particular persons, and those by name, even the same that are redeemed by Christ; for whom he has redeemed by his precious blood, they are called by the grace of God to special blessings of grace, with a high, holy, and heavenly calling; and have no reason to fear anything, since they are the chosen of God; have a right to all spiritual blessings; all things work together for their good; they shall persevere to the end, and at last be brought to glory, to which they are called:
thou art mine; such as are redeemed by Christ, and called by his grace, they are his Father's gift, and his own purchase; they voluntarily give up themselves to him, under the influence of his Spirit and grace; they are his by profession and possession; they are his portion, people, sheep, and spouse; and his interest in them, and theirs in him, serve to prevent fear; such need not fear wanting anything, nor any enemy, nor perishing, or miscarrying of heaven and happiness, to which fears they are subject.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4Promises to protect and enlarge the church, ver. 1-5.…
Promises to protect and enlarge the church, ver. 1-5. God appeals to them as witnesses of his power and knowledge, ver. 6- 13. He foretells the destruction of Babylon, and a new deliverance of his people, ver. 14-21. whose sins, ver. 22-24. against God's mercies render them inexcusable, ver. 25-28.
But - Notwithstanding thy gross insensibleness, I will deal mercifully with thee. Created - That made thee his people, and that in so miraculous a manner as if he had created thee a second time. Redeemed - From the Egyptians. Called thee - By the name of God's people, which was as proper and peculiar to them, as the name of Israel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3Prediction of that blessed period when God should gather…
CHAPTER XLIII
Prediction of that blessed period when God should gather the
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posterity of Abraham, with tender care, from their several
dispersions in every quarter under heaven, and bring them
safely to their own land, 1-7.
Struck with astonishment at so clear a display of an event so
very remote, the prophet again challenges all the blinded
nations and their idols to produce an instance of such
foreknowledge, 8, 9;
and intimates that the Jews should remains (as at this day,) a
singular monument to witness the truth of the prediction, till
it should at length be fulfilled by the irresistible power of
God, 10-13.
He then returns to the nearer deliverance - that from the
captivity of Babylon, 14, 15;
with which, however, he immediately connects another
deliverance described by allusions to that from Egypt, but
represented as much more wonderful than that; a character which
will not at all apply to the deliverance from Babylon, and must
therefore be understood of the restoration from the mystical
Babylon, 16-18.
On this occasion the prophet, with peculiar elegance, and by a
very strong poetic figure, represents the tender care of God in
comforting and refreshing his people on their way through the
desert, to be so great as to make even the wild beasts haunting
those parched places so sensible of the blessing of those
copious streams then provided by him, as to join their hissing
and howling notes with one consent to praise God, 19-21.
This leads to a beautiful contrast of the ingratitude of the
Jews, and a vindication of God's dealings with regard to them,
22-28.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLIII
Verse 1. I have called thee by thy name] "קראתי בשמך karathi beshimcha. So all the versions. But it seems from the seventh verse, and from the thing itself, that we should read קראתיך בשמי karathicha bishmi, 'I have called thee by my name;' for this form of speech often occurs - the other never. For Isa 45:24, concerning Cyrus, is another matter; but when God calls Jacob Israel, he calls him by the name of God. See Ex 31:2." - Secker.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3Isa 43:1-2. But now, thus saith the Lord —…
Isa 43:1-2. But now, thus saith the Lord — But, notwithstanding thy gross insensibility under former judgments, for which I might justly send far heavier calamities upon thee, yet I will deal mercifully with thee. That created thee, O Jacob, &c. — Who made thee his people, and that in a manner as miraculous as if he had created thee a second time out of nothing; and therefore he will be gracious to his own workmanship. Fear not; for I have redeemed thee — From the Egyptians and divers other enemies; and therefore I will redeem thee again. I have called thee by thy name, &c. — The name of God’s people, which was as proper and peculiar to them as the name of Israel. Or, “I have made a particular choice of thee for my peculiar people, and singled thee out from the rest of the world, and ever since have treated thee with uncommon instances of kindness and familiarity.” When thou passest through the waters, &c. — “I will support and deliver thee when thou art in the greatest straits and difficulties. To pass through fire and water is a proverbial expression, to signify being exposed to all kinds of dangers.” Thou shalt not be burned, &c. — Though I will chastise thee for thy sins, yet I will not suffer thine enemies utterly to destroy thee.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv1–4But now - This expression shows that this chapter…
But now - This expression shows that this chapter is connected with the preceding. The sense is, “Though God has punished the nation, and showed them his displeasure Isa 42:24-25, yet now he will have mercy, and will deliver them.’
That created thee - The word ‘thee’ is used here evidently in a collective sense as denoting the Jewish people. It is used because the names ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ in the singular number are applied to the people. The word ‘created’ is used here to denote the idea that, as the special people of God, they owed their origin to him, as the universe owed its origin to his creative power. It means that, as a people, their institutions, laws, customs, and privileges, and whatever they had that was valuable, were all to be traced to him. The same word occurs in Isa 43:7, and again in Isa 43:15, ‘I am Yahweh - the Creator of Israel, your king’ (see also Isa 44:1; compare Psa 100:3).
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Fear not - This is to be understood as addressed to them when suffering the evils of the captivity of Babylon. Though they were captives, and had suffered long, yet they had nothing to fear in regard to their final extinction as a people. They should be redeemed from captivity, and restored again to the land of their fathers. The argument here is, that they were the chosen people of God; that he had organized them as his people for great and important purposes, and that those purposes must be accomplished. It would follow from that, that they must be redeemed from their captivity, and be restored again to their land.
For I have redeemed thee - The word גאל gā'al means properly “to redeem,” to ransom by means of a price, or a valuable consideration, as of captives taken in war; or to redeem a farm that was sold, by paying back the price. It is sometimes used, however, to denote deliverance from danger or bondage without specifying any price that was paid as a ransom. Thus the deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian bondage is sometimes spoken of as a redemption (Exo 6:6; Exo 15:13; compare Gen 18:16; Isa 29:22; Isa 44:23; Jer 31:11; see the note at Isa 1:27). It is not improbable, however, that wherever redemption is spoken of in the Scriptures, even in the most general manner, and as denoting deliverance from danger, oppression, or captivity, there is still retained the idea of a ransom in some form; a price paid; a valuable consideration; or something that was given in the place of that which was redeemed, and which answered the purpose of a valuable consideration, or a public reason of the deliverance. Thus, in regard to the deliverance from Egypt - Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba are mentioned as the ransom (see the note at Isa 43:3); and so in the deliverance from the captivity, Babylon was given in the place of the ransomed captives, or was destroyed in order that they might be redeemed. So in all notions of redemption; as, e. g., God destroyed the life of the great Redeemer, or caused him to be put to death, in order that his chosen people might be saved.
I have called thee by thy name - ‘To call by name’ denotes intimacy of friendship. Here it means that God had particularly designated them to be his people. His call had not been general, addressed to the nations at large, but had been addressed to them in particular. Compare Exo 31:2, where God says that he had designated ‘by name’ Bezaleel to the work of constructing the tabernacle.
Thou art mine - They were his, because he had formed them as a people, and had originated their institutions; because he had redeemed them, and because he had particularly designated them as his. The same thing may be said of his church now; and in a still more important sense, that church is his. He has organized it; he has appointed its special institutions; he has redeemed it with precious blood; and he has called his people by name, and designated them as his own.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv1–4And. Notwithstanding the sins of his people, God will…
And. Notwithstanding the sins of his people, God will deliver them, that they may be his witnesses, ver. 10. (Calmet) --- Name. As an intimate friend, (Haydock) or slave, chap. xlix. 1. (Calmet) --- God grants grace without any preceding merit. (Worthington) --- Forerius explains this mostly of the Gentile church, though it regards the converted Jews. (Houbigant)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v1Redemption or Salvation in its Entire Compass
IV.—THE FOURTH DISCOURSE
Redemption or Salvation in its Entire Compass
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Isa_43:1 to Isa_44:5
1. THE CHIEF INGREDIENTS OF REDEMPTION
Isa_43:1-8
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.
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.
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.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight,
Thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee:
Therefore will I give men for thee,
And people for thy 1life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee;
I will bring thy seed from the east,
And gather thee from the west;
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;
7 Even every one that is called by my name:
2For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him;
Yea, I have made him.
8 3Bring forth the blind people that have eyes,
And the deaf that have ears.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for recurrence of the words: Isa_43:1. –ועתה בָּרָא which occurs in reference to Israel again, Isa_43:7; Isa_43:15; Isa_65:18.—גאל–יצֹרּ see on Isa_41:14—קרא בשׁם see on Isa_41:25. Isa_43:2. בָּעַר–בָּוָה–שׁטפ, see Isa_42:25. Isa_43:3. כֹּפֶר. Isa_43:4. כַּבַד–יָקַר Niph.
Isa_43:1. On אל תירא see on Isa_40:9.—לי אתה occurs only here.
Isa_43:3. In the causal clause, אני is subject, יהוה apposition with it, אלהיך predicate. קדושׁ ישׂראל is also in apposition with אני, and מושׁיעך is predicate. This construction is demanded partly for the sake of symmetry, partly the sense requires that in the first member אלהיד be predicate. For just in the notion of divinity lies the notion of capacity to give protection and help.
Isa_43:4. מֵאֲשֶׁר, for which stands מִפְּנֵי אֲשֶׁר (Exo_19:18; Jer_44:23). occurs in this causal sense, only here. When the apodosis is formed with the Vav. cons. and the imperf., it intimates that the notion of giving is conceived of as only eventual: because thou art dear to me, so I would (if need be) give men (generally and in indefinite number) in thy stead, and nations (undetermined which and how many, in antithesis with the definite, Isa_43:3 b), for thy soul. Comp. Ewald, § 136 sq.—Thus Isa_43:4 b in relation to Isa_43:3 b contains an intensification.
Isa_43:6-7. It corresponds to the close connection between these two verses to construe Isa_43:7 formally as in apposition with Isa_43:6, whence we must reject the exposition of Hitzig and Hahn, who take כל הנקרא as a statement put first absolutely.—בראתיו וגו׳, that the participle merges into the verb. fin. happens according to the well known Heb. usus loq.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Having spoken in chapters 41, 42 of the Deliverer (in the first and second stage) and of those delivered, the Prophet now deals with the Deliverance in its entire extent. In this discourse he gives first (Isa_43:1-8) a general view by enumerating the chief ingredients of the deliverance: it rests on the divine redemptive-decree (Isa_43:1); nothing shall prevent it (Isa_43:2); no price is too great for it; for the sake of it nations even would be sacrificed, which shows the value of Israel in the Lord’s eyes (Isa_43:3-4); it is to embrace all Israel, all the scattered members to be called in from all parts of the earth (Isa_43:5-7); but finally it is attached to a subjective condition, viz., spiritual receptivity (Isa_43:8).
2. But now—thy life.
Isa_43:1-4. With “and now” the Prophet turns from the troubled pictures of the future, presented at the close of the preceding chapter, to joyful and comforting outlooks. The Lord had created and formed (Isa_44:2; Isa_44:24; Isa_45:11 (Isa_49:5); Isa_64:7), Israel, in as much as he had caused them to grow up to a nation by means of their ancestors from Adam on successively. קרא בשׁם, as in Isa_40:26; Isa_45:3-4, signifies the more exact acquaintance. By reason of the fact that the Lord Himself made Israel and from the beginning prepared him as an instrument of His purposes, He calls to the nation living in exile, not to fear, for three things are determined: that Israel shall be delivered, be called to the Lord (comp. Isa_48:12) and belong to him alone. Thus the Perfects—I have redeemed thee—I have called thee—are praeterita prophetica, and the last three clauses contain an ascending climax. Israel must not suffer itself to be deceived about this promise. It is very possible that, even after receiving it, the nation may pass through great trials—that, as it were, it must pass through waters—even there will the Lord be with it; that it must even pass through rivers (allusion to the Red Sea, Exodus 14, and the Jordan, Joshua 3)—the streams will not overflow them. Fire itself will as little hurt them. The ground for this security is the same that prompts the call fear not. Jehovah, Israel’s God, is also Israel’s protector.
In what sense does Jehovah give other nations as a ransom for Israel?Hahn understands it to mean that other nations are given to destruction as satisfaction for the injustice done Israel. But why does Jehovah give to destruction, not the nations themselves that carried Israel into exile, but other nations? According to Knobel’s idea, Cyrus is conceived as having some claim on the Jews belonging to the Babylonish kingdom. For letting them go free, satisfaction is offered to him in new conquests in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Meroe. But the Persian kingdom did not lose the Jews as subjects. Palestine belonged to it, and those returning back to it belonged to it. The relation must be more exactly defined thus: the world-power, conceived of in a sense as a bird of prey, shall have offered to it Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba to devour, as indemnity for the mildness it has used to Israel contrary to its nature. It is true Cyrus did not himself make war on Egypt. What Xenophon says on this subject he characterizes as merely hearsay (μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ εἰς Αἴγυπτον στρατεία λέγεται γενέσθαι καὶ καταστρέψασθαι Αἴγυπτον, Cyrop. VIII. 6, 20 coll. Isa_1:1; Isa_1:4). Herodotus relates that Cyrus only had a purpose of making war on Egypt (ἐπεῖ͂χε στρατηλατέειν ἐπι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, I. 153). The actual conquest of Egypt was made by Cambyses his son, who also at least attempted the conquest of Ethiopia (Herod. III. 25). It may be said of him, that in Egypt he made havoc in the brutal manner of a genuine world-power. Egypt’s being subjected to this was probably a nemesis for much that it had practised on other nations before, and especially also on Israel. According to Gen_10:6-7, Cush was the older brother of Mizraim, and Seba the oldest son of Cush. It cannot be doubted that the Prophet understood by Cush and Seba the lands that bounded Egypt on the south. By Cush, therefore, must certainly be understood African Ethiopia (Isa_11:11; Isa_18:1; Isa_20:3; Isa_37:9). Seba is Meroe, the city lying between the White and Blue Nile, which Herodotus calls the μητρόπολις τῶν τε͂ν ἄλλων Αἰθιόπων (II. 29). Comp. Stade,De vatt.Is. aeth. p. 13. Isaiah mentions the Sabeans in only one other place (Isa_45:14), and there as here after Egypt and Ethiopia. כּפֶר, properly “covering” then = כִּפוּר “expiation, ransom, indemnity,” occurs only here in Isaiah. This statement that other nations shall be offered up as satisfaction for Israel, expresses the high value that Israel has in God’s eyes, and makes plain in what a glorious sense Jehovah calls Himself Israel’s God and Redeemer. He discharges this office with such consistency and energy that, if need be, He will give such great nations as those named in Isa_43:3, as the price of their deliverance. If it be asked, why He undertakes such an office? He replies: because Israel is precious in my eyes, honorable, and I have loved thee. Love, then, is the ground that determines Jehovah to assume that protectorate. מֵאֲשֶׁר see Text, and Gram.
3. Fear not—have ears.
Isa_43:5-8. The “fear not” connects what follows with the “fear not” Isa_43:1, as a new phase of the salvation bringing future. The verses 1–4 speak of the deliverance in respect to its ground (Isa_43:1), under all circumstances (Isa_43:2), and at any price (Isa_43:3-4). In this section the particular is made prominent, that all members of the holy nation, no matter how distant nor in what direction, shall be brought back home (comp. Isa_11:11 sq.). In Isa_43:5 b and 6a the four points of the compass are severally enumerated. Give up, and keep not back manifestly involve a contrast with “none saith, Restore” Isa_42:22. This latter expression is qualified by our passage. The condition it describes is not to be forever, but only to a certain period of time. קַבֵּץ, on the ground of its use Deu_30:3-4 is the conventional expression for the return of Israel from the Exile (Isa_11:12; Isa_54:7; Mic_2:12; Jer_29:14; Eze_11:17, etc.). In the second half of Isa_43:6 a subject is addressed that we must conceive of as the combination of the four quarters of the heavens. The entire earth, then, is meant. Hence, too, the feminine, which previously already was applied to the North and South, as parts of the entire earth. In הביאי, as related to אביא Isa_43:5, there is an intensifying of the thought: not only the Lord brings, the lands themselves must co-operate in this bringing Israel back (Isa_14:2). Isa_43:7 gives the reason for the foregoing thought. All the members of the nation must be gathered for this reason, because they all bear Jehovah’s name, and were made for His honor (see Text, and Gram.). הנקרא בשׁמי is “He that is called by means of my name,” i.e., who is called a belonging of Jehovah’s (Isa_65:1). For the Temple is not itself called “Jehovah” because Jehovah’s name is named upon it (Jer_7:10); and just as little is one that is called by means of Jehovah’s name, Himself called Jehovah. Comp. the remarks on Isa_4:2 and Isa_41:25. This bearing of Jehovah’s name is, as it were, a stamp that denotes that the one so marked was called into being (ברא), formed (יצר) and finished (comp. Isa_43:1; Isa_43:21) to the honor of Jehovah. How shall such an one be destroyed, in whose preparation the Lord has so greatly concerned Himself?
Isa_43:8, is by many connected with what follows. But that would require us to construe הוֹצִיא in as imperative, which would be utterly abnormal. Beside, (and that is the chief thing), neither “bring forth, nor the designation of the nation as being blind yet having eyes find an adequate motive in the context.
Three things I think must be insisted on: 1) that our passage looks back to Isa_42:7. There it was said of the Servant of Jehovah, that He was destined to open blind eyes, and to lead (להוציא) prisoners out of prison; 2) That where three predicates, “blind, deaf, imprisoned” are joined to one and the same subject, the sense is quite different from what it would be if only one of these predicates were joined to one subject. For the former case affirms only the accumulation of every sort of suffering upon one and the same subject; whereas the latter case really concerns in some sense or other the special condition of sickness named (see on Isa_42:16). 3) It makes a great difference whether I say: “they have eyes and see not,” or “they are blind and have eyes.” For the former signifies that although they have eyes they still do not see; the latter that their blindness does not hinder them from seeing, i.e., their blindness is only relative in respect to kind, degree or time. Accordingly, I construe Isa_43:8 as concluding the first strophe of this chapter. And this conclusion is in the words of the Prophet himself, by which he intimates that the Lord, by accomplishing what is promised Isa_43:1-7, realizes at the same time what is held out Isa_42:7. The Lord delivers Israel but of its sufferings of all sorts in which it has languished like the blind in bonds of blindness, like the deaf in the prison of deafness, because this people, wretched as a blind or deaf person, still spiritually sees and hears, i.e., has turned its spiritual eye to the countenance of its God, and its spiritual ear to His word. If elsewhere Israel is reproached for not seeing with eyes that might see, and not hearing with ears that might hear (Isa_6:9-10; Mat_13:13 sq.), so here to its praise it is said that, spite of physical blindness, and deafness, or spite of all physical wretchedness figuratively represented by blindness and deafness, it will be still spiritually healthy and thereby ripe for and susceptible of deliverance. And with this is intimated also that spiritual redemption is to be an ingredient of the future, thus the redemption from sin, of which the last two strophes speak more extendedly (Isa_43:22 to Isa_44:5).
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2. THE PROMISED AND ACCOMPLISHED PROPHECY A PROOF OF DIVINITY
(Fourth application of prophecy in this sense)
Isa_43:9-13
9 4 Let all the nations be gathered together,
And let the people be assembled:
Who among them can declare this, and 5shew us former things?
Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified:
Or let 6them hear, and say, It is truth.
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 7no God formed,
Neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord;
And beside me there is no Saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved,
And I 8have shewed, when there was no strange god among you:
9Therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord,
eThat I am God.
13 Yea, 10before the day was I am he;
And there is none that 11can deliver out of my hand:
I will work, and who shall 12 let it?
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_43:9. In the succession of the verbal forms נקבצו (perf.) and יאספו (imperf.), it seems to me the meaning is, that the former would express the fact of all nations being assembled, the latter, however, the hypothetical wish, that, if any nation be wanting, it also be summoned. That such is the sense appears from the fact that כֹּל does not stand before לאמים. For it follows therefrom that to the assembled total shall be opposed only casual single individuals. Hence it seems to me unnecessary to construe נקבצו as imperative.
Isa_43:12. The clauses here are simply connected paratactically by וְ. But their more exact logical relation is as follows: הגדתי והושׁעתי is to be regarded as principal clause, to whose two members other two subordinate clauses correspond, each of whish has likewise two members. והשׁמעתי ואין בכם זר corresponds to the first member of the principal clause as an explication of it; but ואתם עדי וגו׳ corresponds to the second member as assigning the ground for it.
Isa_43:13. מִיּוֹם occurs again only Eze_48:35 as marking a time that connects with an ideal beginning. Everywhere else it leans on a real terminus a quo. The construction מִהְיוֹת יוֹם, “since days are,” i.e., ever in the past, is justified neither by usage nor the context. For one looks for something new. But the thought that Jehovah is of old is already adequately expressed Isa_43:10. One may compare מִיָּמִים (Jdg_15:1; Eze_38:8), which properly means “from days onward,” i.e., from a point of time onwards, till the entrance of which an indefinite number of days elapse. Therefore מִיּוֹם is not “from to-day on.” Else why should it not read: מִן הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה? Comp. Eze_39:22; Hag_2:15; Hag_2:18-19. But it properly means, “from a period with which ends an ideally present יוֹם, onwards.” This יוֹם is the period of deliverance indicated in what precedes.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1. In all the foregoing chapters Jehovah, as the only true God, is contrasted with the idols; and especially from chapter 41 on it is made prominent as proof of the divinity of Jehovah, that He is able to declare the remote past and the remote future and the connection of both. In the same way the Prophet here joins on to the comforting promise of Isa_43:1-8, an argument that uses the promise of redemption as a proof of the divinity of Jehovah.
2. Let all the nations—after me.
Isa_43:9-10. The Prophet institutes a grand and bold comparison. On the one side he sees all the great heathen world assembled and on the other only Israel. (See Text and Gram.). And now he lets the Lord address to the former an inquiry, whether among their tremendous multitude there is even one prophetic spirit that can prophesy as He has prophesied in Isa_43:1-8. Who among them can (will) declare this. This “who” does not refer directly to some divinity conceived of as among the crowd of people, but to some prophet, rather, thought of as organ of a divinity. But “this” can only refer to what has just been foretold Isa_43:1-8. But how can such a prophecy be looked for out of the midst of the heathen world? Were a genuine prophetic spirit in the midst of it, then, spite of all antipathy to Israel, it must still be able to see the fact and announce it beforehand just as well as Jehovah Himself. For the genuine prophet must see the facts of the future simply as they will occur in reality. But the God of Israel will also let facts of an earlier date avail. If, then, the idol-prophets can cite in their favor earlier prophecies proceeding from them, they may be allowed to do so. Former things, comp. on Isa_40:22; Isa_42:9. But in either case, he that designates an historical fact as the fulfilment of a prophecy of his, must prove that this prophecy actually proceeded from him. He must produce witnesses for this. These witnesses can, indeed, be chosen now, but may only be summoned to give their testimony at the time of the fulfilment. For only at the time named is their testimony possible and necessary. Possible, for only then can the prophecy and fulfilment be compared and the latter be seen to correspond with the former; necessary, for only at the time of the fulfilment does the necessity appear for inquiring who is the author of the prophecy in question. Let them bring forth their witnesses, therefore, refers to the time of the fulfilment; when this has followed, then they shall produce their witnesses, in order, by their declarations, to be recognized as just, i.e, as veracious and as representatives of a real divine power. יצדקו cannot possibly mean “to say the truth” (Hitzig), for at that moment, those that produce the witnesses, have no more to say. Rather it must then appear whether what they have said at an earlier time be the truth. Therefore צָדַק is here, as in Isa_43:26; Isa_45:25, simply “to be righteous.” Hence, and because אֱמֶת (comp. Isa_41:26צדיק) is the declaration of the judge and not of the witness, the subject of let them hear and say must be those before whom the witnesses appear. For this reason we translate: “let one hear and say.”
From the side of the heathen world comes no response to the challenge of Isa_43:9. It is in no condition to respond. The Lord then turns to Israel to declare that He will perform what the others are unable to perform. Ye are My witnesses, he says. By this He would say: I say it now to you in advance, in order that, when it once comes to pass, ye may testify that I foretold it. And My Servant, is taken by many as a second subject: ye and My Servant be My witnesses. But then the Servant must be a subject distinct from the people Israel. Would one understand by this the personal Servant of Jehovah, it were against this that the Servant cannot yet be present at the time of Cyrus, for Cyrus himself is in fact related to Him as prophetic type. Or would one understand by that other subject the believing nucleus of the nation, then that would need to be otherwise expressed. An expression must be chosen that would distinguish that Servant from the mass of the nation. But such a distinction is nowhere in the context, which deals primarily only with the antithesis of Israel and the heathen world. The latter is a mass of people without God, and hence without prophecy; but Israel is the people of Jehovah and the place of His revelation. For this reason precisely it is the instrument that the Lord has chosen in order also to reveal Himself to the heathen. In “and My servant,” etc., there lies, therefore, the idea that Israel as the servant of Jehovah is at the same time according to the nature of things His witness in the sense indicated above. But Jehovah demands that Israel shall become witness, not for His interest, but for Israel’s own interest. By the facts that they verify they are to draw for themselves the conclusion that Jehovah alone is the true God. The Prophet expresses this by the words: that ye may know and believe Me,etc.תדעו may either (zeugmatically) take the object of תאמנו, or it can have the absolute meaning “to acquire knowledge, sapere” (Isa_44:18; Isa_45:20; Isa_32:4). Even faith presumes a certain knowledge, for one cannot believe in that of which he knows absolutely nothing. But faith is equally the condition of a correct knowledge of divine things. For without loving self surrender to God, an understanding of His being is impossible. And then the Prophet may with equal right designate faith as the product and as the condition of knowledge. On I am He see on Isa_41:4. In there was no God formed there is of course no implied assumption that Jehovah was formed, but rather the contrary assumption underlies it, that Jehovah is the sole and only true God, a thought that is implied in I am He. If this be so, then besides Him there can only be fabricated gods, dei ficticii (comp. Isa_44:10). Had there been a god before Him it could only have been a fictitious god. But as there was no sort of god before Him, so, too, none was made before Him. And since whatever is made must have a beginning, and necessarily, too, must have an end, so must all these fictitious gods cease to be. Therefore none can survive Jehovah.
3. I, even I——let it.
Isa_43:11-13. These verses conclude the foregoing series of thoughts by recapitulating the chief particulars, and adding several important inferences. I, I am Jehovah: that such is the proper rendering appears from the fact that the Jehovah-name manifestly corresponds to the latter part of Isa_43:10, the sentiment of which is comprehended in that name. For if before the Lord there was no god, and there will be none after Him, then He is the One that was and shall be the eternally Existent, i.e., Jehovah (comp. Exo_3:14). And, because this entire part of Isaiah deals with the deliverance of Israel and the ground and consequences of it, it is added: and beside Me there is no Saviour comp. Isa_43:3; Isa_45:21, and the List). Therefore Israel must take care not to look for its salvation from any other. As מוֹשׁיע, “Saviour,” refers back to Isa_43:3, so הגדתי and השׁמעתי “I have declared——I have shewed” refer to Isa_43:9. According to the argument in Isa_43:9, prophecy and fulfilment are proof of divinity. This proof Jehovah gives. I announce, He says, and I save. The perfects present the thought apodictically as a fact accomplished. The salvation, indeed, is still future, and must be waited for. But the announcement is, in respect to time, in the past, and, as an actual deed of Jehovah’s, can now already be proved. Hence this particular is not only repeated in השׁמעתי “I have declared,” but also supported by an argumentum a non existente altero. Jehovah must have announced because no other, or strange god (זָר as in Deu_32:16; Psa_44:21; Psa_81:10), was in Israel. In this there is an assumption that there exist real, super-terrestrial powers beside Jehovah. But none of the kind have power in Israel. The idols that Israel worshipped are not reckoned, for they are to be regarded as nothing (Isa_41:23 sq.). On the logical connection of Isa_43:12 see Text and Gram. We remarked before that הושׁעתי, I have saved refers to a future deed that is to be waited for. But there is a guaranty of its fulfilment. Israel is even set up as testimony, Isa_43:10, and the Lord will and can do that to which Israel testifies, for He is God, the Strong One (אֵל comp. Isa_46:9 and the List). Thus the sense of Isa_43:12 is as follows: that I am the proclaimer of salvation follows because beside Me there was no one that could proclaim it; and that I will carry out also what I have proclaimed is guaranteed by your being in evidence and by My strength.
Isa_43:13 refers to the future following the period of the promised deliverance (see Text, and Gram.). Thus the Lord does not content Himself here with prophesying to the time of the deliverance. He goes further He gives assurance that after it has come also, He will remain the same. Therefore הוא in this place is idem (comp. Isa_41:4). Israel is redeemed. The words none delivereth from My hand cannot apply to it here, as the similar words do, indeed, Isa_42:22. Rather, after Israel’s deliverance, only the heathen are in the hand of God as objects of His judgment. Therefore these words concern them. But finally, as the end of all history, it will appear that all thoughts and counsels of God must inevitably find their accomplishment. “Sein Werk kann niemand hindern.” Comp. Isa_14:27.
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3. THE REDEMPTION AND RETURN OF ISRAEL, ESPECIALLY FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
Isa_43:14-21
14 Thus saith the Lord,
Your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;
For your sake I have sent to Babylon,
13And have brought down all their 14nobles,
And the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
The Creator of Israel, your king.
16 Thus saith the Lord,
Which15 maketh a way in the sea,
And a path in the mighty waters;
17 Which16 bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power;
They shall lie down together, they shall not rise:
They are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
18 Remember ye not the former things,
Neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, 17 I will do a new thing;
Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
18 I will even make a way in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honor me,
The19 dragons and the 20 21owls:
Because I give waters in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to my people, my chosen.
21 This people have I formed for myself;
They shall show forth my praise.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for the recurrence of the words: Isa_43:14. בְּרִיחַ–רִנָּה. Isa_43:16.נְתִיבָה–עַז. Isa_43:17. כָּבָה–דָּעַךְ. Isa_43:18. קדמניות–התבונן–ראשׁנות. Isa_43:19.–חדשׁה נהרות–ישׁימון. ver.20. תַּנִּים. comp. Isa_13:22.בָּחִיר–השׁקה. Isa_43:21. סִפֵּר–תהלה.
Isa_43:14. The context shows that שׁלחתי is the praeter. propheticum.——The following words are very difficult. The correct understanding of בריחים is of first importance. Most expositors render it “fugitives.” But who are the fugitives? According to some they are the πάμμικτος ὄχλος of the world’s emporium (Delitzsch), “the concurrent nations in the commercial city of Babylon” (Gesenius). This construction takes proper account of the וְ before כשׂדים, by distinguishing the fugitives from the Chaldeans. But why call those foreigners precisely fugitives? Why not say then גֵרִים or עֶרֶב (Jer_50:37), or the like? And do not the Chaldeans flee, too? How then could the foreigners be distinguished from the Chaldeans just by the designation “fugitives?” This objection lies even more against Delitzsch’s construction than against that of Gesenius. For according to Delitzsch כֻּלָּם is the chief notion, בריחים only an attribute joined on in the form of apposition. But then how in the world does the notion כֹּל come to designate the foreigners in distinction from the Chaldeans?——Since Jerome, many (Abenesra, Abarbanel, Castalio, Forerius, Seb. Schmidt, Umbreit, etc.) have read בְּרִיחִים=“bars,” and understood that breaking down bars is meant. Then it would be declared that the prison of the Israelites would be opened. Gesenius testifies “that the departure from the points in such a case were a small matter.” And, of course, it might easily happen, especially in the unpointed text, that barichim would be spoken instead of berichim. But in general the reading בָּרִיחִים has the evidences in its favor, and we cannot permit ourselves to depart from it needlessly. Others, as Hahn, understand the Chaldeans themselves to be meant by בריחים. But if this word and כשׂדים be object of הורדתי, then וְ before the latter is inexplicable. I therefore (on the ground of Deu_28:68, see Comment below) construe כשׂדים as acc. loci, to the question, whither? The Prophet might have written, indeed, כַּשְׂדִּֽימָה, which occurs often enough. But, influenced by Deu_28:68, he writes here כשׂדים as מִצְרַיִם is written there. באניות is used in both places with a similar construction and meaning. וְ connects, not the word, but the entire clause, as e.g., Jer_50:44.——רִנָּתָם is subject of the clause whose predicate consists in the words כשׂדים באיות רִנָּה means “shout;” mostly in a joyful sense, but it occurs, too, in regard to lamentation, especially with suffixes: Jer_14:12; Psa_106:44. To this exposition of the last member of Isa_43:14, the foregoing והורדתי forms a fitting introduction. For this הוֹרִיד takes place, according to our signification, both in the neuter and in the local sense: with the בריחים there is a going downwards not only down the Euphrates, but from their previous elevation.
Isa_43:15 is to be construed as apposition with the subject of שׁלחתי and הורדתי Isa_43:14.
Isa_43:16. It comes to substantially the same thing whether the participles נוֹתֵן and מוֹצִיא are rendered by the preterite or present. Still I prefer the former, because Isa_43:17 b and Isa_43:18 better agree with it.——מַיִם עַזִּים occurs again only Neh_9:11.
Isa_43:17. מוציא, elsewhere the Hiph., is the standing expression for leading Israel out of Egypt (comp. Exo_20:2; Deu_5:6; Deu_13:6, etc.). Here it is used of the Egyptians. It is even the Lord, that occasioned also the marching out of the Egyptian army.——רכב־וסום, which rhymes with חיל ועזוז, recalls Exo_14:9; Exo_15:1; Exo_15:19; Exo_15:21. Elsewhere it generally reads סום ורכב (Deu_20:1; Jos_11:4; 1Ki_20:1; 2Ki_6:15; Eze_39:20). The transposition in our text, which is for the sake of the rhyme, occurs again only Psa_76:7 חיל, too, occurs in the Song of Moses, Exo_15:4.——עִזּוּז “robustus, validus,” beside here, occurs only Psa_24:8 where it is paired with גִּבּוֹר——Imperf. ישׁכבו signifies the continuance, בל־יקומו (comp. Isa_26:14; on the use of בל see on Isa_26:8) is future; the perfects דָּֽעֲכוּ and כָּבוּ signify the completed fact.
Isa_43:19. חדשׁה only here in a neutral sense in the sing., beside Jer_31:22 : חדשׁות Jer_42:9; Jer_48:6. It is known that הֲלֹא is often used in the sense of an emphatic affirmative. Comp. e.g., 1Sa_20:37; 1Ki_11:41, etc. It is used very often for הִנֵּה. Not only does the LXX. very often translate it by ἰδού (Deu_3:11; Jos_1:9, etc.), but the parallel passages in Chronicles often have הִנֵּה where the Books of Kings have הֲלֹא. Comp. 1Ki_15:23 with 2Ch_16:11; 1Ki_22:46 with 2Ch_20:34, etc.
Isa_43:20. Isaiah uses only here the expression השׁדה חית. Before him, on the ground of many passages in the Pentateuch (Gen_2:19 sq.; Gen_3:1; Gen_3:14; Exo_33:11; Lev_26:22; Deu_7:22, etc.), it appears in Hosea (Hos_2:14; Hos_2:20; Hos_4:3; Hos_13:8) and Job (Job_5:23; Job_39:15; Job_40:20). Isaiah 56. we read חַיְתוֹ שָׂדַי——יענה בנות again Isa_13:21; Isa_34:13, and in Job_30:29; Mic_1:5; Jer_50:39.——כי נתתי is=“that,” or “because I have given.”
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. This third strophe corresponds to the first. As the first represents how the Lord will bring back His people into their land, from all quarters of the earth and through all possible dangers, so the present strophe represents how this restoration shall happen out of Babylon and through the wilderness lying between Chaldea and Palestine. Thus the first strophe is general in its contents; the third is specific.
2. Thus saith——your king.
Isa_43:14-15. As the first promissory strophe (Isa_43:1) began with thus saith, so this one in both its parts, the negative (Isa_43:14) and the positive (Isa_43:16). The Lord, Israel’s Holy One, Creator and King, announces that He will send, to Babylon and bring the Chaldeans down from the elevation they have scaled, and lead them back to the littleness of their original home on the lower Euphrates, to which they will set out with the cry “to Chaldea on the ships.” This is the first negative act; the opening of the prison and putting aside the prison keeper. Glorious act of deliverance! that at the same time proves the God of Israel to be the only Holy One. For your sake I have sent to Babylon, says the Lord, and indicates that the proper intent of the sending was the deliverance of Israel, though the messenger had no presentiment of performing a divine mission in the interest of Israel. Who this messenger was appears from Isa_41:2-3; Isa_41:25. It is Cyrus. We know that Isaiah foresaw a Babylonish exile of his people from 13, 14, Isa_21:9 sq; Isa_39:6-7. Especially I have sent, reminds one strongly for substance of Isa_13:2 sqq. See Text and Gram. It appears to me that we are justified by Job_26:13 and Isa_27:1 in giving בָרִיחִים the meaning “fugitives” (see Text and Gram.). Only in those passages and here does the word occur. As regards the clause, and the Chaldeans, etc., I think that here, too, the Prophet makes allusion to an older passage of Scripture, that sheds light on his meaning. That is Deu_28:68; where we read וֶֽהֱשִׁייְךָ יְהוָֹה מִצְרַיִם כָּֽאֳנִיוֹת As is known, Deuteronomy 28. contains that emphatic exhortation to obey the law of the Lord, based on promised blessings and threatened curses. It concludes with the threat that “Jehovah shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships,” to be sold there into bondage. It is worthy of notice that מִצְרַיִם must be construed as acc. localis to the question, whither? It might have read מִצְרַיְמָה, which, if not the more correct, were still the more frequent mode of expression. Now it seems to me, that the Prophet in cur text would intimate that, what the Lord threatened against Israel would be fulfilled on the Babylonians. We have showed above Isa_23:13 that the Chaldeans (in Babylonian Kaldi or Kaldaai, Schrader, p. 43) were a nation settled in very ancient time in South-Babylon and reaching to the Persian Gulf. In course of time they rose to a dominant position in Babylon itself: in fact for a considerable time the ruling dynasty belonged to their race. Moreover that lower Euphrates region abounded in swamps, and hence offered numerous hiding-places. We know this especially from the history of Merodach-Baladan, of which, at chap. 39. we gave a sketch from Francois Lenormant. [The Author’s recapitulation of points of that sketch may be omitted. Tr.] From the particulars given there, it appears that when the Chaldeans could no longer maintain themselves in Babylon, their next step would be to take refuge in ships. For them, flight into the recesses of the lower Euphrates and of the Schatt-el-arab, was at the same time a return into their proper home. Under such circumstances there was certainly sufficient motive for their raising the cry: כשׂדם כאניות=“into Chaldea on the ships.” Such was the cry when Babylon, which had only become so strong by the colossal walls of Asarhaddon and Nebuchadnezzar, but had often enough before been taken by the Assyrian kings, was no longer tenable. On this construction see Text. and Gram.
As Isa_43:14 begins with a thought that gives the reason for what follows, so it is followed also by another and similar one in Isa_43:15 as a conclusion. As an independent statement, Isa_43:15 would be superfluous and clumsy. It has sense and significance only in closest connection with Isa_43:14. Jehovah is often called Israel’s king: Isa_41:21; Isa_44:6; Isa_33:22; Isa_43:15.
3. Thus saith——as tow.
Isa_43:16-17. Now the positive part of the promise is given. To the liberated Israelites is extended what they need for the long and difficult journey home. Already in the words “to Chaldea on ships” we found the Prophet’s thoughts directed toward Egypt. This direction becomes now still more manifest. He presents the miraculous deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea as a guaranty of the promised deliverance from the Babylonish exile. The same God, he says, that prepared a way through the Red Sea, where there was too much water, will know how to make a way through the arid desert, where there is too little water. Comp. in general Isa_51:10; Isa_63:11-13; Isa_11:16.
4. Remember ye——my praise. Isa_43:18-21. Although the Lord fortifies the promise about to follow by recalling His performance at the Red Sea, still, by the demand no more to remember those old events, He lets the Israelites understand that what is promised and future will be infinitely more glorious than what is past (comp. Jer_23:7). Not that He would have those mighty deeds of old sink into absolute oblivion. He means only a relative forgetting. He would only give a standard by which may be measured the glory of what is new. From this, already, we may see that the Lord by no means intends only the corporeal return from the Exile. Already introduced in Isa_43:18 as Himself speaking, the Lord announces Isa_43:19 that He is about to create a new thing.—Already, he says, it is germinating (comp. Isa_42:9); i. ., the causes that are to bring about that new thing exist already. And of course, as Isaiah must have lived to see Judah give itself into the hand of the world-power, so he saw therewith the bud of the Exile, and also of the deliverance out of it (Isa_6:11 sqq.; Isa_7:17; Isa_10:5 sqq.). But the implicit reality will also realize itself explicitly. Hence is said: ye shall certainly know it. For such is the sense of the negative question: shall ye not know it (see Text. and Gram.). In naming this new thing, the Lord does not describe it completely. He only mentions one characteristic trait. Ex ungue leonem. But this one trait from many is chosen, not only because of its inherent significance, but also, on the one hand, with reference to what was mentioned, Isa_43:16-17, by way of guaranty, and on the other, because there is present already here the thought that comes to expression, Isa_43:3. On the brink of the Red-Sea, also, it was water that seemed to prevent Israel’s deliverance. They could not walk through the deep sea. There the Lord helped Israel threatened by too much water, by making a way through the sea. In the day when “the new thing” shall come about Israel will be confronted by a dearth of water. Freed from Babylonian captivity, they will resolve to return home. But an arid desert must be traversed! Now there is too little water. “But the Lord will help as before. He will make in the desert a way (Isa_35:1-2; Isa_35:7; Isa_40:3 sq.; Isa_41:18 sq.), by furnishing it with a bounding stream of water. Comp. Isa_48:21; Isa_49:10. On אַף see on Isa_26:8. How glorious this help will be, that Israel is to enjoy by the watering of the desert, may be seen from the very beasts of the field rendering honor to God for it.—It weakens the force of this description to understand (with Hahn) the beasts to represent heathen nations. For it is something higher when the very beasts own and praise the hand of God. We must rather think of Isa_11:6 sqq., and how there, immediately after the description of the universal state of peace, the prospect of the home-return of Israel out of the Assyrian exile is presented as the antitype of the home return out of Egypt (Isa_11:11-16, where note especially Isa_43:16). And Isa_35:8-9 is also to be drawn into comparison here, where that way of return is called a holy way, and it is said that no lion shall be there, and that most ravenous of beasts shall not walk on it. This passage, compared with Isa_11:6 sqq. and our text, thus receives its complement and explanation, to the effect that wild beasts shall indeed be there, but will change their nature, and as regenerated, so to speak, will own and praise God. But by this we become aware that the Lord thinks not merely of physical water, but, as in Isa_44:3, also of spiritual water and streams of the Spirit. For these necessarily belong to the condition of peace. The physical water of the desert is thus at the same time type of the spiritual streams of water of the last time. The beasts praise God for being permitted to participate in the blessings imparted to the people of Israel. But (Isa_43:21) especially this people themselves that the Lordformed for Himself (comp. Isa_43:1; Isa_43:7; זוּ see on Isa_42:24) shall recount His praise. This signifies the acme of the new time, the time of salvation that begins with the deliverance out of the Babylonian exile. But that that acme will not be attained without backsliding on the part of the nation, and even greater manifestations of grace on the part of God, appears from the following context. [This brings us back to the main proposition of the chapter, namely, that Jehovah had not only made them what they were, but had made them for the purpose of promoting His own glory, so that any claim of merit on their part, and any apprehension of entire destruction, must be equally unfounded.”—J. A. A.].
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4. ISRAEL’S REDEMPTION FROM SIN CANNOT BE ITS OWN WORK
Isa_43:22-28
22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob;
22But thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
23 Thou hast not brought me the 23small cattle of thy burnt offerings;
Neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices.
I have not caused thee to serve with an offering,
Nor wearied thee with incense.
24 Thou hast bought me no24 sweet cane with money,
Neither hast thou 25filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices:
But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins,
Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake,
And will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together:
Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
27 Thy first father hath sinned,
And thy 26teachers have transgressed against me.
28 27Therefore I have profaned the 28princes of the sanctuary,
And29 have given Jacob to the curse,
And Israel to reproaches.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for the recurrence of the words: Isa_43:24. קָנֶה—רָוָה. Isa_43:25. מָחָה comp. Isa_44:22. Isa_43:26-28. All the terms.
Isa_43:22. וְ init. is adversative. קָרָא used of calling on God, occurs more frequently with prepositions. Still it is found elsewhere also with the accusative (Psa_14:4; Psa_17:6; Psa_88:10; Psa_91:15). Many (Maurer, Hitzig, Ewald, Hendewerk, Umbreit, Knobel, Delitzsch) construe the second clause כי יגעת וגו׳ as a conclusion: that thou shouldest have wearied thyself with me. But in that case 1) the foregoing clause should contain an inquiry; 2) the dependent clause with כִּי should relate to something future. Neither is the case.——יָגַע means “laborare, desudare, defatigatam esse.” The last in passages like Isa_40:28; Isa_57:10; Jer_45:3; Psa_6:7. Hence Hiph. “defatigare, to make weary,” (Isa_43:23-24). Hence I agree decidedly with those that translate: “for thou art weary of me.”
Isa_43:23. שֶׂה, for which there is no plural form, is collective [meaning the young of both sheep and goats, hence exactly rendered in the English Version, “small cattle.”—Tr.].—זבחיך is accus. of the means.——עָבַד is the technical term for service rendered to God in worship. Comp. Exo_10:26, and the expression עֲבֹדָה.
Isa_43:24. אַךְ. cannot be referred exclusively to the notion “with;” otherwise it must read אַךְ אֹתִי הֶֽעֱבַדְתָּ It must be referred to the entire following clause.
Isa_43:25. The double אנכי makes emphatic that the wiping out of sin is solely in God’s power. הוּא stands emphatically after אנכי. But it is not predicate as in Isa_43:10; Isa_43:13; Isa_41:4; Isa_46:4; Isa_48:12, but in apposition with the subject as in Isa_7:14. Thus the sense is: I—I such an one. In this lies a reference back to the emphatic use of הוּא twice already in this chapter.——מָחָה.is rendered by the LXX. by ἐξαλεἰΦω, as also in Psa_51:3; Psa_51:11; Psa_69:29, etc,——למעני as in Isa_37:35; Isa_48:9; Isa_48:11.
Isa_43:28. It seems to me presumptuous and needless to read וָֽאֲחַלֵּל and וָאֶתְּנָה. This were, indeed, the easier reading, but for that very reason suspicious. The more difficult reading necessitates a deeper penetration into the sense. I construe וַאֲחַלֵל and וְאֶתְּנָה as simply future, and both וְ as simply copulative.——There are likely only rhetorical reasons for using the cohortative form אתנה instead of אֶתֵּן. At least this form is very usual precisely with נתןַ. It occurs thirty times in the Old Testament, including the forms with Vav. consec. I doubt if it occurs as often with any other verbs.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. But thou——sacrifices.
Isa_43:22-24 a. In Isa_43:21 the Lord has expressed a glorious hope for the future. But he reflects here that the past history of Israel lets this hope appear unfounded. The outward return from the Exile is not sufficient to qualify Israel for that praise of God (Isa_43:21). As long as Israel is under the outward ceremonial law, it is also under the dominion of sin. The Lord Himself must first blot out the guilt of sin by an offering that only He can make, and break the power of sin by an outpouring of holy streams of the Spirit. Only a regenerated Israel will be able to do what is expected in Isa_43:21.
The following clauses do not mean that Israel has never fulfilled the duties of divine service therein mentioned, but only that they have not fulfilled them, i.e., not fully satisfied the requirements. The long period from the giving of the law to Isaiah’s time, that ought to have been a period of uninterrupted fulfilment of the law, was in fact a period of prevalent transgression of the law. Hence the Prophet can well say, Israel has not brought the Lord the gifts of divine service that they ought to have brought.
In שֶׁה, small cattle, collective, there may be an allusion to the daily morning and evening sacrifice, in which a year-old lamb must be brought (Exo_29:38 sqq.; Num_28:3 sqq.). What a perverted world, when the Lord must Himself perform the work that Israel ought to have done by their divine service!
לבנה is the fragrant gum of a tree found in Arabia, Persia, India and the eastern coast of Africa, but not definitely identified by modern botanists (see Leyer, Herz.R.-Encycl. XVII. p. 602 sq.). The Israelites used it partly as an ingredient of incense (Exo_30:34), partly as an accompaniment to the meat offering, and the shew-bread (Lev_2:1 sq., (Lev_2:15 sq.; Lev_24:7). The expression לא קנית Isa_43:24, when we compare the foregoing parallel enumerations, seems manifestly to be prompted by the assonance with קָּנֶהקָנֶה is mentioned Exo_30:23 with the addition בֹּשֶׂם as an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (Leyrer,ibid. XIV. p. 663 sq.; XIII. p. 322); according to the Rabbins (ibid. XII. p. 507) it was also an ingredient of the holy incense. It is almost universally agreed that it is the calamus (ibid. XIV. p. 664). Delitzsch says “the calamus forms no stalk, much less a reed;” but it is to be considered that it has a stem formed underneath by the leaves overlaying one another. And these leaves are, each for itself, reeds open at the sides. Hence the calamus is reckoned among reeds. Besides, not our common calamus is meant, but the Asiatic, indigenous to tropical Asia, and which is still used there in preparing fragrant oils and incense (Leyrer,ibid.). The expression: with the fat of thy sacrifices thou hast not intoxicated (Isa_34:5) me is anthropopathic. The effect of the fumes of fat on men being imputed to God. [רָוָה in the Hiph means “to drench.” In this case “to drench with fumes of fat,” i.e., be-smoke.—Tr.].
2. But thou——thy sins.
Isa_43:24-25.Having said what Israel did not do, it is now said what they have only done: Only this hast thou done, thou hast laden me, etc. An antithesis is implied that we would better express by “but thou hast (see Text and Gram.). These words declare how the Lord has hitherto borne Himself with reference to His people’s burden of guilt. He patiently submitted to the painful service of bearing this burden. These “sins” and iniquities are the “sins that are past through the forbearance of God” (Rom_3:25; comp. Isaiah 9:22). In Isa_43:25, however, the Lord says what He will do in the future:He will blot out their transgressions. He will not eternally drag Himself along with this burden; He will take it out of the world. And He says He will do it for His own sake. There is that in Himself that impels Him to this: It is love. It does not rest till it has found the ways and means of gratifying itself without trenching on justice. The Lord must have in mind here that sacrifice which did what all sacrifices of the Old Testament were unable to do. Act_3:19, and Col_2:14 seem to be founded on our passage. In the latter it appears that Paul recognized as the basis of the expression the representation of a delible writing. On “blot out” and “will not remember” comp. Psa_51:3; Psa_51:11; Psa_25:7; Psa_79:8; Jer_31:34, etc.
3. Put me——reproaches.
Isa_43:26-28. The Lord’s exceeding gracious language Isa_43:22-25 does not by any means suit the taste of Israel. The Prophet sees in spirit that Israel does not acknowledge its unrighteousness and will not accept the Lord’s proposed sacrifice (Isa_43:25). Israel is self-righteous. The Lord does not peremptorily rebuke the assertion of it. He again gives the nation an opportunity to prove it, if possible. Hence He demands an enumeration of the facts calculated to confute the Lord and to prove their assertion. הזכירני is = “remind me,” viz.: by naming the facts. On the ground of these facts there shall be justification; and if the enumeration holds good, Israel shall be just (justified). But Israel can produce nothing that will bear sifting. On the other hand (Isa_43:27) the Lord adduces facts. He confines Himself to naming capital facts, that warrant a conclusion a majori ad minus. Without doubt the first father of Israel means Abraham. For Adam is the father of the whole human race. Abraham’s conduct in reference to Pharaoh and Abimelech (Gen_12:11 sqq.; Isa_20:1 sqq.), is of itself enough to prove that he sinned. מֵלִיץ is “the spokesman, interpreter, medium” (comp. Gen_42:23; Job_33:23; 2Ch_32:31). Theocratic office-bearers are meant, who were mediums between God and the people. For this reason they are called just after princes of the sanctuary. They were, indeed, the pillars and props of the Theocracy. It was just their sins (comp. Jeremiah 22-23), because of their commanding influence, that contributed most to their own and the nation’s fall.
The debate, therefore, does not turn to the advantage of Israel. In conclusion, the Lord must pronounce the judgment: I will profane the princes of the sanctuary (comp. e.g., Jer_52:24), but Israel itself I must give up to the curse and reproaches by the heathen. (See Text and Gram.). According to the foregoing exposition, the Prophet (Isa_43:21) points to a glorious last-time of salvation that begins with deliverance from the Exile, but in such a way that, from this beginning onwards to the completion of it, there occurs a long and changeful period. In reference to this period he distinguishes four particulars: 1) that the natural, fleshly Israel, as ever, is incapable of serving the Lord and of properly proclaiming His praise; 2) that the Lord Himself will blot out Israel’s sin; 3) that Israel, in proud self-righteousness, does not accept this gracious gift of the Lord; 4) that, consequently, His worship will be profaned, i.e., done away, and the nation itself will be given up to the curse of destruction and outward reproach. When “the princes of the sanctuary” are profaned, then the sanctuary itself, the cultus of Jehovah, the Old Testament covenant in general, will be desecrated, i.e., done away and dissolved. For as Gesenius justly remarks: “foedus res sacra est, idque qui profanat etiam violat et dissolvat.” Israel rejected Christ. They accepted neither Himself, nor, after His death, the gospel of the cross. For this the old covenant was broken and the Temple destroyed, the nation dispersed into all lands. But this happened only to the fleshly Israel. There remains a remnant, an ὲκλογή, and these, according to Isa_44:3, will obtain the baptism of the Spirit, and thereby the qualification to fulfil Isa_43:21.
Footnotes:
[1]Or, person.
[2]And.
[3]He bringeth.
[4]All the nations gather together, and the peoples are to be assembled.
[5]let us hear.
[6]one
[7]Or, nothing formed of God.
[8]let hear, declared.
[9]And.
[10]thereafter I am he.
[11]delivers.
[12]Heb. turn it back.
[13]And lead them downwards as fugitives all, And “to Chaldea on the ships” is their cry.
[14]Heb. bars.
[15]that made.
[16]brought.
[17]I do.
[18]Surely I will.
[19]jackals.
[20]Or, ostriches.
[21]Heb. daughters of the owl.
[22]For.
[23]Heb. lambs, or, kids,
[24]calamus.
[25]Heb. made me drunk, or, abundantly moistened.
[26]Heb. interpreters.
[27]And I will profane.
[28]Or, holy princes.
[29]will give.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv2–4rivers . . . not overflow thee--so in passing…
rivers . . . not overflow thee--so in passing Jordan, though at its "overflow," when its "swellings" were especially dangerous (Jos 3:15; Jer 12:5).
waters . . . fire--a proverbial phrase for the extremest perils (Psa 66:12; also Psa 138:7). Literally fulfilled at the Red Sea (Exo 14:21-22), and in the case of the three youths cast into the fiery furnace for conscience' sake (Dan 3:25, Dan 3:27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv1, 31, 2. The prophet returns to his usual consolatory…
1, 2. The prophet returns to his usual consolatory tone. The first verse is inexpressibly tender; so, for the most part, is the entire chapter.
But now — Hebrew, and now. Transition words suiting the change of tone in the address.
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Jacob… Israel — Both names, for poetic variety, intended for the one chosen body of people.
Fear not — My love for thee, just now shadowed by my displeasure, returns in full power upon me. My work in calling Abraham, in multiplying Jacob, in delivering from Egypt, and in establishing in Canaan, is not to be for naught. See Dan_3:17; Dan_3:27.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–41–7. Israel, though blind and deaf (ch. Isa_42:18 ff.),…
1–7. Israel, though blind and deaf (ch. Isa_42:18 ff.), is precious in the sight of Jehovah its Creator, who is now about to shew Himself as its Redeemer.
But now] Introducing the contrast to Isa_42:25.
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that created thee … that formed thee] Three verbs which express Jehovah’s creative activity are applied in this prophecy to His special relations to Israel: “create” (Isa_43:1; Isa_43:7; Isa_43:15); “form” (Isa_43:1; Isa_43:21, Isa_44:2; Isa_44:21; Isa_44:24, Isa_45:11, Isa_49:5 (Isa_64:8); “make” (Isa_44:2, Isa_51:13, Isa_54:5).
I have redeemed thee] Rather, I redeem thee (perf. of certainty). see on ch. Isa_41:14. I have called (I call) thee by thy name] i.e. I address thee as one who is familiar and dear (Isa_45:3 f., cf. Exo_31:2); stronger than the simple “call” (Isa_42:6, Isa_49:1).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–3(1) But now . . .—The outpouring of love…
XLIII.
(1) But now . . .—The outpouring of love that follows is contrasted with the wrath of the preceding verse.
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The Lord that created thee.—The title implies something more than “the Maker of heaven and earth.” Jehovah has created Israel as specially answering, as other created things did, to an archetype in His own purpose. To “call by name” is everywhere, but pre-eminently in the East, the mark of an individualising tenderness (Joh_10:3), almost of a predestinating love that makes the name a witness of its purpose.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv1–4Vers. 1-7. A RENEWED PROMISE TO ISRAEL OF PROTECTION…
Vers. 1-7. A RENEWED PROMISE TO ISRAEL OF PROTECTION AND DELIVERANCE. Severe rebuke (Isa_42:18-25) is followed, as so often in Isaiah, (Isa_1:25-27 Isa_4:2-6 Isa_9:1-16, etc.) by comfort and consolation. Israel is assured that God has not cast him off, and promised the comfort of the Divine presence during the existing tribulation (ver. 2), and. a speedy restoration to Palestine (vers. 3-7). The scattered Israelites will be brought together from all quarters by the Divine omnipoteney.
But now. The words mark the strong contrast between the closing passage of the preceding chapter and the opening paragraph of the present one. Israel had undergone a severe punishment for his sins; he is still suffering, but now there is going to be an entire change. He is to be protected and delivered. Created thee... formed. thee redeemed thee... called thee by thy name. An ascending series of benefits. First, creation, like that of formless matter out of nought; then, formation, or putting of the formless matter into shape; thirdly, redemption, or making them all his own; lastly, calling them by their name, and so conferring on them a proud and enviable distinction. On this fourfold ground God claims Israel as his own.
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MILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-7. The love of Jehovah to Israel.
"But now." The word itself hints yearning affection. There has been a conflict between Divine love and Divine wrath, and the former has gained the victory. In fact, the wrath of Jehovah was but grieved affection. Its force is now for the time spent. He will now deliver and protect, reassemble and restore his people (Cheyne).
I IT IS THE LOVE OF A PARENT. "Thy Creator, O Jacob; he that formed thee, O Israel." Of all the works of God, confessedly the noblest is man; and if man is only known as forming nations, these too are the works of God. And Israel especially is the embodied thought of God, in her laws and institutions, her place and mission in the world. Or, if we think of Israel as gradually fashioned, by schooling and by affliction, into a "new and singular product," not less is she endeared to her Maker and Builder. We cannot but love our children; and scarcely less dear to us are the children of our brain and of our heart our schemes, our books; the house whose structure we have planned, whose arrangements have been made after ideas of our own; the flock we have overseen; the little body of disciples or friends whom we have made an organization for the diffusion of our views of life. That delight we feel in the reflected image of our mind in what is not ourself, we transfer by analogy to God.
II IT IS THE LOVE OF A REDEEMER. And this implies sacrifice, love proved by expense of some sort. The tense gives a reference to history and to prophecy past and future. No price can be too high for the ransom of Israel: other nations will be given up Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba for her. Cambyses, son of Cyrus, conquered Egypt and invaded Ethiopia. The Persian was destined to set free the chosen People; and those other peoples given into his hand as compensation are the ransom price for delivered Israel. If the "wicked are a ransom for the righteous", (Pro_21:18) if the sufferings of the evil are in some way connected with the deliverance of the good, this helps to shed a consoling light upon many a dark page of human history. But not only the suffering of the evil may be thus viewed the suffering of the good also, in the light of the great saying, "The Son of man came... to give his life a ransom for many for the greater or spiritual Israel in all ages.
III IT IS AN APPROPRIATING, SPECIALIZING, HONOURING LOVE. TO "call by name" is an expressive phrase for selection and election. So was Bezaleel the artist called in connection with the tabernacle-work; (Exo_31:2) so was Moses called by name (Exo_33:12, Exo_33:17) and designated for his work. It is to "find grace" in the eyes of God; it is to be precious and honourable in his sight. It is to be a "peculiar treasure", (Exo_19:5, Exo_19:6) a property of the Eternal art thou." We are led into the heart of the covenant-relation by these words. And every association of affection and good which has belonged in the thought of the world to the spiritual bond which knits soul to soul, may be used to illustrate Israel"s relation to her God that of child to parent, of client to patron, of confidential servant to lord, of soul to guardian spirit or angel, may be thought of in this connection. What is true of the nation must be true of its individuals; what holds good of the Church must be valid for the life of each Christian.
IV IT IS AN ALL-PROTECTING LOVE. Israel shall go through water and through fire unhurt. No stronger figure could be used for safety amidst calamity. (cf. Psa_66:12 Dan_3:17, Dan_3:27) We may think of the salvation of Israel from the waves of the Red Sea, of the three children in the furnace at Babylon, of the ever-consuming yet never-consumed bush seen by Moses. These things are parables of the indestructibility of the spiritual life in mankind, and of the perfect integrity of the empire of souls, ruled by the redeeming God. From the east and the west and the north and the south, these scattered souls are to be gathered to their home. Impossible to limit such words to any temporal reference merely. The bounds of time fade away as we listen; and there rises before us the inspiring picture of the world as one vast scene of trial, of education, of an elect people to eternity in which many sons are being brought to glory, that glory the reflection of God upon their renewed spirits. J.
MILIES BY W. CLARKSON Ver. 1. The supreme claim and the sure stay.
So far from having nothing to do with us as individual spirits, we may say that God has everything to do with us. On the one hand, he makes a very great claim upon us; and on the other hand, he holds out very great hopes to us.
I THE SUPREME CLAIM. To every human soul, as to Israel of old, God says, "Thou art mine." He requires of us that we shall consider ourselves as belonging to him; so that he may employ us in his service, may direct our will, may command our affection, may control our life. God does not claim to own us in the sense of being at liberty to act arbitrarily and capriciously towards us, but in the sense of being free to rule our souls and fashion our lives according to the dictates of righteousness and wisdom. His claim rests on his fourfold relation to us.
1. His creation of our spirits. "The Lord that created thee" (ver. 1; and see vers. 7, 15). If we could make an estimate of our comparative obligations, how much should we consider that we owed to him that brought us out of nothing into being, that made us living souls, that endowed us with all the immeasurable capacities that are enfolded in an immortal spirit? How large a claim has God upon our thoughts, our gratitude, our service, in virtue of the fact that to his creative power we owe it that we are?
2. His shaping of our life. God has "formed us." He who formed Israel by all his providential dealings with that nation from the beginning is the God who has built up our life. (see Heb_3:4) Our human relationships, our bodily health and strength, out" circumstances of comfort and joy, our mental strength and acquirements, all this is the product of that shaping hand which "forms" the destinies of men as it gives figure to the foliage, arrests the tide, or determines the courses of the stars.
3. His redemption of our soul. "I have redeemed thee." God might well claim to be Israel"s Redeemer, for he had mercifully and mightily interposed on its behalf. But with how much greater reason may he claim to be our Redeemer! How much greater is that "great salvation" by which he "saves his people from their sin," than that deliverance by which he rescued a people from political bondage or military disaster! The surpassing strength of this claim upon us is seen
(1) in that it is a redemption from the very worst spiritual evils to spiritual power and freedom; and
(2) in that it was wrought at such a priceless cost. (1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19)
4. His personal interest in every one of us. "I have called thee by thy name." The distinct and especial interest which Jehovah took in Israel has its counterpart in the individual interest he takes in each one of his children. Christ has led us to feel that he follows the course of every human spirit with a parental yearning, with a Saviour"s restorative purpose and hope. He calls us by our name. To each wandering, backsliding soul he is saying, "Return unto me." To each striving, inquiring spirit he is saying, "Be of good cheer; I will help thee." To each faithful workman he is saying, "Toil on; I will come with a recompense". (Isa_35:4)
II THE SURE STAY. "Fear not." There are many comforters who approach us and whisper these two words in our ear. Some of these are delusive, and others are imperfect and ineffectual. It may be an ill-grounded complacency, or it may be favourable surroundings, or it may be-human friendship; but the house of our hope, thus built upon the sand, may fall at any hour. If we would build our confidence upon the rock, we must rest on the promised stay of a reconciled heavenly Father, on the assured aid of an Almighty Friend, on the certain succour of a Divine Comforter. Having returned unto the living God, resting and abiding in Jesus Christ, we may go forth to any future, however threatening it may be; for One is present with us in whose company we may gladly enter the darkest shadows. And if we listen we may hear a voice, whose tones we may trust in the wildest storm, saying, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee. C.
MILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Personal relations with God.
"Thou art mine." In the East, to call a person by name is a mark of an individualizing tenderness. But so it is in all lands. Those who are in close personal relations with us we call by their Christian names; we even give them a new pet name; and they love that name, because it is a sign to them of the close connection in which they stand to us. God tried to keep this sense of personal relation ever before the people of Israel, and so to keep them assured of the living interest he had in all their concerns. Wherever they might be, and whatever might be their surroundings, this might give them perfect peace they were his. And when Jesus Christ would make a great impression on his disciples of his personal regard for them, he said, "Henceforth I call you not servants... but I have called you friends.
1. Such relations are indeed involved in the fact that we are the creatures of God. "He made us, and not we ourselves." He has the interest in us which we feel in measure in the work of our hands. He has great thoughts and purposes concerning us, and he is graciously concerned in their realization.
2. Such relations are further seen in his entering into covenant with a particular people. He drew them into a special intimacy; committed to them an unusual trust; made them depositaries, and by-and-by witnesses, of certain foundation-truths; and for generations guarded them while they guarded these truths. The closeness of relations between God and Israel is the basis of Hosea"s exquisitely tender pleadings, the dearest and nearest human relations, of husband and wife, of parent and child, being used to bring home God"s appeals (see Hosea 2., etc.). We direct attention to the practical side of this subject. If we are the Lord"s, we
I ENJOY HIS FRIENDSHIP. Illustrate from Abraham, the friend of God, El-Khalil; or from Enoch, who "walked with God." To friendship is necessary:
1. Community of sentiment. "How can two walk together except they be agreed?
2. Mutual trust. The grace unspeakable is that God should trust us. Our failure and sin is that we so half-heartedly trust him.
3. Frequent intercourse. Nothing blights friendship like separation. Keeping friendly means keeping together.
4. Jealousy of each other"s honour. Here we come short, sadly short, in our friendship with God.
II RENDER HIM SERVICE. Friends love to serve one another. In this friendship with God we should not forget that we have to take a dependent place. His is a condescending friendship, and our response to it finds best expression in loving obedience. All hardness is taken out of service when it is the expression of such near and loving relations as those unto which God has brought us. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv1–4But now thus saith the Lord that created thee,…
Isa_43:1-4
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob
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The true relation of Israel to Jehovah
The main subject of this chapter is the true relation of Israel to Jehovah, and its application in the way both of warning and encouragement.
The doctrine taught is that their segregation from the rest of men, as a peculiar people, was an act of sovereignty, independent of all merit in themselves, and not even intended for their benefit exclusively, but for the accomplishment of Gods gracious purposes respecting men in general. The inferences drawn from the fact are, that Israel would certainly escape the dangers which environed him, however imminent; and, on the other hand, that he must suffer for his unfaithfulness to God. In illustration of these truths the prophet introduces several historical allusions and specific prophecies, the most striking of the former having respect to the exodus from Egypt, and of the latter to the fall of Babylon. It is important to the just interpretation of the chapter that these parts of it should be seen in their true light and proportion as incidental illustrations, not as the main subject of the prophecy, which, as already stated, is the general relation between God and His ancient people, and His mode of dealing with them, not at one time, but at all times. (J. A. Alexander.)
The right of the Creator
1. In reviewing Providence, men do not go far enough back. The Lord Himself always takes a great sweep of time. Here is an instance in point. But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee,. . . and He that formed thee. No argument is built upon what happened an hour ago. Thus God will have us go back to creation day, to formation time, and take in all the childhood, all the youthhood, all the manhood, all the education and strife and discipline, all the attrition and all the harmony, all the week-days and all the Sabbath-days; and He would bid us watch the mystery of time, until it comes out in blossoming and fruitfulness and benediction. We should have no pain if we had the right line of review and pursued it, and comprehended it, in its continuity and entirety. There are many creations.
God is always creating life, and always forming it. There is an individual existence; there is a national organisation; there are birthdays of empires and birthdays of reform.
2. The Church must recognise its period of creation and formation. Jacob was not always a people; Israel was not always a significant name, a symbol in language; and individuals are gathered together into societies, and they are charged with the administration of the kingdom of Christ, and as such they must go back and remember their Creator, and adore their Maker, and serve their Saviour, and renew their inspiration where it was originated.
3. Right relations to God on the part of man should be realised. This appeal rises into climax, into convincing and triumphant words. I have created thee; that is the basal line--formed thee, given thee shape and relation; redeemed thee, paid for thee; called thee By thy name, like a friend or child: thou art Mine. Yet all this is in the Old Testament! Do we not fly from the Old Testament into the New, that we may have some sight of the tenderness of God? There is no need for such flight. There are tenderer words about God in the Old Testament than there are in the New.
4. This relation carries everything else along with it. After this there can be nothing but detail. When thou passest, etc. (Isa_43:2). (J. Parker, D. D.)
Guarantees
Absolute ownership. He who speaks is our Creator. He claims our attention also because He knows us. Fear is the apprehension of danger, both natural and moral. With regard to natural tear, some are more timid than others. But this is no index to the moral state of the heart. Nerves which are strong do not constitute faith; nerves which are weak do not indicate distrust in God. To remove the distrust which Israel felt, three guarantees are offered--
I. REDEMPTION. For I have redeemed thee. From whence came the idea of redemption? (Lev_25:25-34.) This is the figure used in the text and elsewhere to show that God has taken away the moral disabilities under which we had fallen through sin. The principle is not without analogy. When the golden grain is enslaved in the earth, the ray of light, the drop of water, and the warm breeze come to redeem their brother.
1. The right to redeem was vested in the next of kin, hence the necessity for the incarnation of the Son of God. The transaction was confined to the family of the brother who had waxen poor. No portion of the inheritance must ultimately go out of the family, for even if no one of the next of kin was able to redeem it, in the year of Jubilee a full restoration was made. Not only the inheritance must have remained in the family, but the redemption of it was restricted to the family, that it might ever appear of value to the members of the family as a sacred trust from God. This is the very estimate of human life which the Incarnation conveys: to redeem that life the redeemer must be one of the family. But the necessity appears, because the family of man must be impressed with the value of the inheritance which God hath given. The life of Jesus brings home to us the facts that human life is infinitely valuable, and that God has His hold upon it, although mortgaged to another. All souls are Mine. I know that my Redeemer liveth.
2. To free the possession the ransom must be paid. The sovereignty of the gift did not free the inheritance from encumbrances contracted by the possessor. Justice demanded the redemption price. In the interest of rectitude and the influence of the moral law, Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, etc. As to the nature of the ransom, St. Peter says, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ.
II. CALLED. And called thee by thy name. The reference here is either to a legal form of calling out the name of the mortgagor, with the declaration that henceforth his possession was free; or to the trumpet of the Jubilee, which was a direct call to every debtor to resume his liberty.
1. Personal salvation. When we are accosted by name the whole being is involved, with every interest concerned. God calls the sinner to repentance.
2. Personal realisation. The brother who had waxen poor knew he was free, because his name had been called that he might be assured of his freedom. The deed was handed over to him re.conveying the property into his name. Faith leads to the realising of forgiveness and peace.
III. REINSTATED. Thou art Mine. The idea is that by grace man is brought back to the peace and service of God.
1. The claim is universal. Wherever the new heart is, God claims it for His own.
2. The claim is absolute. We are no longer our own, but, having been bought with a price, we glorify God in body and mind.
3. We are now on trial, but there will be a final recognition. They shall be Mine, etc. (T. Davies, M. A.)
The Divine responsibility
1. Responsibility is not a word that can be limited to man. It must belong to those higher orders of created intelligence known to us as angels of various degrees. It must belong to the Eternal One Himself. It must be that He holds Himself responsible for the creation and its consequences. If responsibility belongs to the creature made in the image of God, it is inherited responsibility; it comes down from Him who made him.
2. Let us approach the subject cautiously. Gods revelation of Himself is intended to be a light to the mind and a joy to the heart. Everyone who knows anything of Scripture knows how gradual has been the revelation of God to the human race. Not till we reach the time of David do we get the word father as applied to Deity, and then only in a figurative sort of way. Isaiah prophesies that one of the signs of the Christian dispensation shall be that the name of God as revealed in Christ shall be the Everlasting Father. Men had known Deity as the Self-Existent God--the source of life. They had thought of Him as the God of providence, the Great Provider, who had them in His hands, and would care for them, and that is about the utmost practical view attained to in the Old Testament. In that wonderful book of Job, the epitomised life of the human race, we have the thought of an unrealised Redeemer,--but My Father and your Father, My God and your God is new Testament language, and post-resurrection speech at that.
3. This speech leads us to the thought of the Divine responsibility. It is not our invention but Gods revelation that, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. We have a right, then, to say that at least the same measure of responsibility which belongs to a father for the nourishment, education, and development of his child belongs to the great Eternal Father for us all. We are not responsible for the laws which work in our own constitutions, for we did not create those laws. We are not responsible for anything which is out of our own power. I am not responsible for the original tendency to sinfulness which was in my nature when born into this world. Nor am I responsible for being born; nor for being born where I was born; nor for having just those parents which were mine; nor for being just so high and just so heavy; nor for having the temperament and disposition with which I was born.
4. I suppose that in the generations behind us there have lived people who verily persuaded themselves that they were responsible for the sin of Adam, that they were doomed because an ancestor of generations ago was a wilful sinner. Every man inherits tendencies from past generations. When the first of men wilfully disobeyed God, he started in himself a tendency which, if not resisted, would become a habit of wrong-doing--and that habit would be propagated into the next generation, and into the next, and so on. And that is what is meant by original sin--the tendency created by generations past to wrong--stamping its impress upon mind and heart, yea, upon the physical organism. It is so in the animal world. In the past, dogs have been trained to fold sheep, and the instruction has become a habit, and the habit has created a tendency in the next generation to do the same thing, and has become fixed--a second nature, as we say. And this law runs through all creation, even into the vegetable world. Now, He who made man is responsible for the original law by which tendencies to good and evil can be propagated from sire to son. The law is not evil; it is good. But good laws are often used for bad purposes. From a reservoir of pure water pipes are laid to every house in the city. Those pipes were laid for the conveyance of pure, wholesome water for the benefit of a large population. That was the original design and intention. But suppose that city should be besieged by a barbarian army--suppose the army should surround the reservoir and poison the waters, the very pipes which were laid for the conveyance of life would be conduits for the conveyance of death. But that was not their original design. And so our guilt does not extend to Deity. He is responsible for the beneficent law, not for the sin which has been transmitted along it. The very idea of intelligence involves freedom. Either there must be freedom, or there can be no intelligence and no morality.
5. We cannot conceive of an omniscient God, without admitting that He must have foreseen that the creature He made would abuse His liberty. Does the Divine responsibility extend to making such provision as would prevent it? Clearly not. We cannot conceive how it could be made, and yet leave man a free moral agent, not a machine. The Divine responsibility extends to the providing a means whereby not simply to develop an innocent man, but to save a guilty man from the spiritual consequences of his sin. From all the consequences he cannot be saved; from the fatal consequences he can. That God did anticipate the fall from innocence of His creature, and provide for meeting man in a fallen condition, is evident from one single expression, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Redemption was no afterthought. For our own convenience, it may be necessary at times to speak of justice, and at other times of mercy. But justice and mercy in God are never represented as in antagonism. They ever go hand-in-hand, like light and heat in the sunbeams. When God opened the eyes of the great apostle he saw this truth, that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, or, as it is more correctly, superabounded, abounded over and above. In this dispensation of things a lost man has not simply to reject God as a Creator, but God as a Redeemer--God in Christ--the God who has done all and everything possible to be done to nullify the fatal results of sin.
6. You remember the complimentary word uttered respecting Abraham: I know him that he will command his children; and in every father there is lodged the right to command--the duty to command. That weak tenderness which permits disobedience to go unrebuked and unpunished, is not Divine tenderness. It is the frailty of human irresoluteness. There is nothing of that in God. (R. Thomas, D. D.)
Divine consolation
The vision of Isaiah contains a representation of the present and future state of Israel and Judah. And because some of his expressions might be interpreted as if all the twelve tribes should be utterly cast away, he frequently intersperses such consolations as this, to assure the people that if they were duly corrected and reformed by their captivity, God would bring them out of it, and raise them up again to be His Church and people.
I. To confirm them in the belief of such a restoration, He puts them in mind of SEVERAL ARGUMENTS AND REASONS to expect it.
1. He tells them that upon their repentance God had promised them such a restoration.
2. Isaiah calls upon the people to consider that this promise of salvation is made to them by that God who created Jacob and formed Israel. This, indeed, is a common topic of con solation to every pious man, that He who created him will have mercy on him, and is able, in all circumstances, to make good His promises, and preserve the work of His own hands. But it was very proper for this people, above all others, to make such inferences, because they had been in a peculiar manner created and formed of God.
3. They might conclude this from former redemptions which God had wrought for them. Fear not, for I have redeemed thee.
4. A fourth ground of Israels hope for Gods future mercies, were the gracious appellations which He had bestowed upon them. I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine. He had changed their father Jacobs name to Israel. He had named them His holy nation, His peculiar people.
5. A further argument to Israel to trust in God, were the deliverances which He had vouchsafed to some of them. When thou goest (or hast gone) through the waters, they have not overflowed thee; and through the fire, it hath not kindled upon thee.
II. The words are certainly a common topic of CONSOLATION TO ALL THE FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF GOD. So that, to find our own blessing in them, and to understand them as the voice of our own merciful Father, we have nothing else to do but to approve ourselves His obedient children; for He is no respecter of persons.
1. As God promised His people a restoration from their captivity, upon their true repentance and return to their duty, so will He rescue us from the slavery of sin and Satan, if we do in good earnest feel the oppression and misery of it, and would much rather be employed in doing Gods will, and keeping His commandments.
2. Was it an argument to Israel to trust in God, because He had created them and formed them in so special a manner as is before represented? The like consideration is equally comfortable to every member of the Church of Christ. For in Him we are born again.
3. All the redemptions which God vouchsafed to Israel are proofs to us of His infinite power and goodness, and figures of greater things which He will do for us.
4. If Gods gracious appellations of Israel assured them of His special regard for them, no less ground of rejoicing have we in the like assurance of His favour towards us.
5. In cases of extreme danger, particularly in perils of fire and water, God has shown Himself the same in the Christian u He was of old in the Jewish Church, a sufficient Helper to deliver out of such troubles. (W. Reading, M. A.)
The goodness of God to Israel
In the latter part of the preceding chapter we read of the sins, not of the obedience of Israel. After this, what might have been expected but that He would punish them still more severely, if not abandon them as incorrigible? In the text, however, He promises to magnify His mercy in doing them good. Consider--
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE HERE SPOKEN OF. It may be inferred from the names given to them in the text. They are addressed by the convertible names of Jacob, and Israel. His name Jacob was changed because he had wrestled with God for His blessing till he succeeded in obtaining it. Hence, then, we may learn the character of His spiritual children--they wrestle with God in prayer for His blessing till they prevail. But this general description of them includes several particulars. Consider--
1. What they do. They pray. And does not this at once distinguish them from thousands around them?
2. To whom are their prayers addressed? To the true God who is also their own God--the God of Israel. This also separates them from an immense number of the human race; for how many, alas, are there in the world who are totally mistaken as to the proper object of worship!
3. They pray to Him alone. There are not a few in the world who unite the worship of Jehovah with that of their own idols.
4. But what does Israel pray for? For Gods blessing. This implies that they feel their need of it, and, by consequence, that they differ essentially from all persons of a self-righteous and self-sufficient spirit.
5. How do they pray? In faith. They pray also fervently. They are not like many, cold, formal, and lifeless in prayer. They persevere, too, till they prevail. But were they always such characters? No; there was a time when they were as prayerless as others. Who, then, has made them to differ? God alone.
II. WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR THEM IN TIME PAST; or what are the steps which He has taken to make them what they are. These steps are three--
1. He has created them. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, etc. They are subjects of a creation to which all others are entire strangers. What renders this creation necessary is the corruption of our nature, which is total, since the Fall. It is a creation of good substituted for evil, a heart of flesh for a heart of stone, light for darkness, holiness for sin, faith for sense, life for death, happiness for misery. Every real Christian is the subject of it. It is ejected by the operation of the Holy Ghost. To God, therefore, belongs the whole glory of it.
2. He has redeemed them. Fear not; for I have redeemed thee.
3. He has called them by their names. I have called thee by thy name. And what does this imply?
(1) That they are made partakers of the heavenly calling, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
(2) That God well knows His people.
(3) We know that when a mar of superior rank and dignity calls an inferior by his name, he is considered to treat him with uncommon marks of kindness and familiarity, and to confer upon him a peculiar honour. Such kindness and honour, then, does God bestow upon His people. He is not ashamed to be called their God, and to allow each of them, like Abraham, to be called the friend of God.
4. This, then, is what the Lord has done for Israel His people; and He therefore calls them His, saying, Thou art Mine. Has He not the most indisputable title to their persons and services?
III. WHAT HE PROMISES TO DO FOR THEM IN TIME TO COME, When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc.
1. To pass through fire and water appears to have been a proverbial expression for passing through various kinds of dangers, trials, and afflictions.
2. But why does God suffer His people to be thus afflicted? Because they are children whom He loves.
3. And do their tribulations answer the ends which He has in view? Yes; there is not one of His afflicted ones who has not had cause to say, sooner or later, It is good for me that I have been afflicted.
4. We are not, however, to suppose that afflictions of themselves ever bear these blessed fruits. Unblest and unsanctified, they have rather a contrary tendency, and produce very different effects. And were it not for the presence of God with His people, in the water and the fire, they would be injured and destroyed by them. But they need not fear; for faithful is He that hath promised.
5. Need I remind you how this promise has been verified, or how the presence of God has been with His people in every age of the Church?
(1) Look, first, at Israel after the flesh. See their afflictions in Egypt, and know their sorrows. Behold the bush burning with fire, and yet not consumed. God is in the midst of it. Follow them in their passage out of that house of bondage. God is with them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. Observe them again during their captivity in Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the servants of the Most High God, walked in the midst of the fire, and had no hurt. They had a fourth in their company, whom even Nebuchadnezzar could not help saying was like the Son of God.
(2) Look, next, into New Testament times, and even to later ages, and you will find additional evidence of the blessed truth before us. (D. Rees.)
The exhortation and promises of God to the afflicted
I. THE AFFLICTIONS TO WHICH THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE LIABLE.
1. The text intimates that they may be great. Waters: rivers; calamities which seem as deep and overwhelming as sweeping torrents, and as likely to destroy them.
2. Their troubles may be diversified. They may be in the waters to-day and may have deliverance, but to-morrow they may be called on to walk through the fire and the flame; to endure trials which are unexpected and strange, different in their nature from any they have yet experienced, and far more severe and biter.
3. The text implies also that these afflictions are certain. It speaks of them as things of course.
II. HOW SEASONABLE AND ENCOURAGING IS THE EXHORTATION.
1. There is a fear of afflictions which is a natural, and by no means sinful, feeling; a fear which leads us to avoid them, if the will of God will allow us to avoid them, and if not, to receive them with much thoughtfulness and prayer; to be aware of the dangers with which they are invariably accompanied, and of our utter inability in ourselves to escape or overcome them.
2. But there is a fear of another kind. It springs from unbelief, and is the cause of tour, touring, despondency, and wretchedness. It is a fear which tempts us to choose sin rather than affliction; which prevents us from praising God under our trials, and from trusting to Him to bring us out of them. Such a fear is as dishonourable to God as it is disquieting to ourselves, and He who values nothing so highly as His own honour and our happiness commands us to lay it aside. It might have been supposed that such an exhortation from such a Being would have been sufficient of itself to dispel the fears of those to whom it is addressed; but a compassionate God does not leave it to its own unaided authority.
III. He supports and strengthens it by TWO MOST GRACIOUS PROMISES.
1. He promises us His own presence with us in our trials. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. His people are the objects of His special attention.
(1) We are not, however, to infer that the afflicted Christian is always aware of the companion with whom he is walking. He often imagines himself left alone in his trials.
(2) Neither are we to suppose that all the afflicted servants of the Lord have the same manifestations of His presence. Some do not need them so much as others. They have not the same temptations to withstand, nor the same burdens to bear, nor the same duties to perform. They are surrounded with more outward comforts, and consequently they less need those which are inward. Some also do not desire or seek the light of their Fathers countenance so earnestly as their brethren. They lean more on earthly friends and succours. He who is infinitely wise, always suits the nature and measure of His gracious manifestations to the necessities and, in one sense, to the characters of His people. He gives them what they need, and what they desire and seek.
2. There is the promise of preservation under all our calamities. What does preservation imply? It implies that our trials shall not injure us. Rivers are likely to overflow, and flames likely to burn, those who pass through them. Affliction is likely to injure, and would inevitably ruin us, if God were not near. It tempts us to rebel against the Divine providence and to distrust the Divine goodness; to be thankless, impatient, and repining. The mind, already weakened, perhaps, and bewildered by the pressure of adversity, is easily led to apprehend still greater troubles, and faints at the prospect. This, too, is the season when our great adversary is most to be dreaded. It is in the night that the wild beasts of the forest roar after their prey; and it is in the darkness of spiritual or temporal adversity that Satan directs against us his most violent assaults. The fact is that our spiritual interests are much more endangered by tribulation than our worldly prosperity. It is the soul which is most exposed, and which most needs preservation; and preservation is here promised to it. The Christian often enters the furnace cold-hearted, earthly-minded, and comfortless; he comes out of it peaceful, confiding, burning with love for his delivering God, and thirsting after the enjoyment of His presence.
IV. The Lord vouchsafes to add to His precious promises several reasons or ARGUMENTS TO ASSURE US OF THEIR FULFILMENT.
1. The first is drawn from the relation in which He stands to us as our Creator. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel. This language refers to our spiritual as well as to our natural existence. Here, then, is a solid ground of confidence. The Father of our spirits must be well acquainted with their infirmities and weakness. He knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are dust. Neither will He ever forsake the work of His own hands.
2. The Almighty draws another argument to enforce His exhortation, from the property which He has in His people, and the manner in which He acquired it. Fear not, He says, for I have redeemed thee, etc. We are His by creation, but He has also made us His by redemption. And what a mighty price did He pay for us! Will He then abandon that which He so much values, which cost Him so dear?
3. There is yet another reason assigned why we should cast away fear in the hour of tribulation--the covenant God has formed with His people ensures the fulfilment of His promises. I am the Lord thy God, He says, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; thus implying that He has entered into some engagement with His Israel; that He considers Himself bound to be with them in their troubles and distresses; that His own veracity, His own faithfulness, are at stake, and would be sacrificed if Israel were forsaken or injured. He thus connects His own honour with their safety. Lessons--
1. How rich in consolation is the Word ofGod!
2. How essential to our happiness is a knowledge of our interest in the Divine promises!--to appropriate them to ourselves, and rejoice in them.
3. How full of confidence and praise ought they to be, who live in the enjoyment of the Divine presence in trouble!
4. How blind to their own interest are they who reject the Gospel of Christ! (C. Bradley, M. A.)
Love abounding, love complaining, love abiding
(with Isa_43:22-24; Isa_44:21-23):--
(1) Notice that these three texts are very much alike in this respect--that they are each addressed to Gods people under the names of Jacob and Israel.
(2) These texts are like each other, again, from their overflowing with love. I do not know where the Lords love is best seen, when He declares it and tells of what He has done and is doing for His people, or when He laments over their want of love in return, or when He promises to blot out their past sin, and invites them to return to Him and enjoy His restoring grace.
I. We have in our first text, LOVE ABOUDING.
1. Notice the time when that love is declared. The first verse begins, But now, thus saith the Lord. When was that? It was the very time when He was angry with the nation by reason of their great sins (Isa_42:25). It was a time, then, of special sin, and of amazing hardness of heart. When a man begins to burn, he generally feels and cries out; he must be far gone in deadly apathy when he is touched with fire and yet lays it not to heart. It was a time of love with God, though a time of carelessness with His people.
2. The Lord shows His abounding love by the sweetness of His consolations, But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not. Fear not is a little word measured by space and letters; but it is an abyss of consolation if we remember who it is that saith it, and what a wide sweep the comfort takes. Fear hath torment, and the Lord would cast it out. You that are the people of God may be smarting, and crying, and sighing. But, oh the love of God to you. He hears your cries, and His compassions are moved towards you! Nothing touches Him like the groans of His children. There is a wonderful intensity of affection in this passage, spoken, as it is, by the great God to His people while they are under the rod which they so richly deserve.
3. The fulness of Gods love is to be seen in the way in which He dwells with evident satisfaction upon His past dealings with His people. When we love some favoured one, we like to think of all our love passages in years gone by; and the Lord so loves His people, that, even when they are under His chastening hand, He still delights to remember His former loving-kindnesses. We may forget the wonders of His grace, but He doth not forget. He created, redeemed, called. He dwells upon His possession of His people. Thou art Mine.
4. If you desire to see the overflowings of Gods love in another form, notice in the next verse how He declares what He means to do. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc. His love casts its eye upon your future. He loves you too well to make your way to heaven free from adversity and tribulation, for these things work your lasting good. But He does promise you that the deepest waters shall not overflow you, and the fiercest torrents shall not drown you, for this one all-sufficient reason, that He will be with you.
5. The overflowings of Divine love are seen in the Lords avowing Himself still to be His peoples God: I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.
6. Though one would think He might have come to a close here, the Lord adds His valuation of His people, this was so high that He says, I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Pharaoh and his firstborn were nobodies as compared with Jacobs seed. Further on in history, after Isaiahs day, the Lord moved Cyrus to set Israel flee from Babylon, and then gave to the son of Cyrus a rich return for liberating the Jews; for He made Him conqueror of Egypt and of Ethiopia and of Seba. God will give more than the whole world to save His Church, seeing He gave His only begotten Son.
7. Then the Lord adds another note of great love. He says that He has thought so much of His people that He regarded them as honourable. Since thou wast precious in My sight, etc. He publishes His love, not only by His deeds, but by express words. What a wealth of grace is here!
8. Such is the Lords love, that even in the time when they were not acting as they should, but grieving Him, He stands to His love of them, and sets the same value on them as before: 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. As if He said, What I have done I will do again. My love is unalterable.
II. Our second text is in the minor key, it is LOVE LAMENTING. But thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob (verse 22). Observe the contrast; for it runs all through, and may be seen in every sentence: I have called thee by thy name; but thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob. I have called thee Mine; but thou hast been weary of Me. I have redeemed thee with a matchless price; but thou hast bought Me no sweet cane with money.
1. Israel rendered little worship to God. May not the Lord of infinite mercy justly say to some of us, But thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob?
2. There has been little fellowship; for the Lord goes on to say, Thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel. Are we tired of our God? If not, how is it that we do not walk with Him from day to day?
3. We are moved by this passage to confess how little of spirituality has been found in the worship which we have rendered. Thou hast not honoured Me with thy sacrifices. When we have come to worship, in public and in private, we have not honoured the Lord by being intense therein. The heart has been cold, the mind wandering.
4. Again, the Lord mentions that His people have brought Him little sacrifice: Thou hast not brought Me the small cattle, etc. What small returns have we made! In the religion of Christ there is no taxation; everything is of love.
5. Once more, it is said that we have been very slack in our consideration of our God. The Lord says, I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense; but thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins; thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. The Lord is thoughtful of us, but we are not thoughtful towards Him. If the Lord did not love us very much He would not care so much about our love towards Himself. It is the plaint of love. The Lord does not need our sweet canes nor our money. But when He chides us for withholding our love-tokens, it is because He values our love, and is grieved when it grows cold.
III. Our third text exhibits LOVE ABIDING.
1. Notice, in Isa_44:21, how the Lord still calls His people by the same name: Remember these, O Jacob and Israel. Still are the names of His elect like music in the ears of God. One would have feared that He would have dropped the Israel, that honourable name, which came of prevailing prayer, since they had not called upon Him. Why call him a prevailing prince who had grown weary of his God? But no, He harps upon the double title: He loves to think of His beloved as what they were, and what His grace made them. O heir of heaven, God loves you still!
2. Notice how the Lord claims His servants: Thou art My servant: I have formed thee; thou art My servant. He has not discharged us, though He has had cause enough for so doing. This should bind us to Him. This should quicken our pace in His service.
3. Then notice how the Lord assures us in the next line: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. God cannot forget His chosen. You that have Bibles with margins will find that it is also written there, O Israel, forget not Me. The Lord longs to be remembered by us. Did not our loving Lord institute the Sacred Supper to prevent our forgetting Him?
4. Notice with delight the triumph of love, how still He pardons: I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, etc.
5. See how our text closes with the Lords own precept to be glad: Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it, etc. (Isa_44:23). Out of all dejection arise! There is more cause for gladness than for sorrow. What you have done should cause distress of heart; but what the Lord has done is cause for rapture. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Four contrasts
(with Isa_43:22-25):--There are many lights in which we can see sin; and our perception of sin very much depends upon the light in which we look at it. Sin is very terrible by the blaze of Sinai. It is an awful thing to see sin by the light of your dying day. More terrible still will it be to see it by the light of the judgment day. But of all the lights that ever fall upon sin, that which makes it like itself appear is that which falls upon it when it is set in the light of Gods countenance. To see sin by the light of Gods love, to read its awful character by the light of the Cross, is the way to see sin. I am going to speak mainly concerning Gods own people, and I want to set their sins in the light of Gods love to them. My object will be to set before you the contrast between Gods action towards His people and His peoples, usual action towards Him.
I. The first contrast lies in THE CALL.
1. I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name (Isa_43:1).
(1) God called us out of nothing. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob (Isa_43:1). Our creation is entirely due to God. An ungodly man can hardly bless God for having made him, for his end may be terrible. Blessed be God for our being, because it is followed by our well-being! Blessed be God for our first birth, because we have also experienced a second birth.
(2) Our Lord has done more than make us, for He has educated us; He has continued the fashioning of us. He that formed thee, O Israel. Israel is the formed Jacob; by Gods grace, Jacob grows into Israel. Let us think of all the sweet experiences of Gods forming and fashioning touch that we have had. Sometimes, it has been a rough stroke that was necessary for the moulding of our clay; only by affliction could we be made to assume the shape and pattern that the Lord had determined for us. At other times, it has been the touch of very soft fingers. Thy gentleness hath made me great.
(3) Think what wonderful,, dealings He has had, next, in consoling us, for the Lord goes., on to say, Fear not. Oh, how often He has cheered us up when our spirit was sinking!
(4) That is not all, for the Lord has also called us, and conversed with us, in the matter of redemption. I have redeemed thee.
(5) The Lord has given a special nomination. I have called thee by thy name.
(6) Then comes this blessed appropriation: Thou art Mine. This is the way that God talks to us.
2. Turn to the other side of the question, the neglected call on our part. Thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob (Isa_43:22). That may not mean that there has been literally no calling upon God on thy side, but it does mean that there has been too little of it. Let us put this matter to the test.
(1) What about our prayers? There is much less prayer than there ought to be.
(2) True as this is of our prayers, it is still more true of our praises.
(3) There are many, with whom God has dealt well, who do not venture to call upon Him for special help in His service. They keep plodding along the old roads, and mostly in the old ruts; but they do not dare to invoke the aid of the Lord for some novel form of service, some fresh enterprise upon which they can strike out for God.
(4) Sometimes in our trouble, we do not call upon God as we should.
II. Let us consider another contrast which is equally striking--that is, upon the matter of THE CONVERSE between the Lord and His people.
1. Notice, first, Gods side of it. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc. (Isa_43:2). Notice how God is with His people in strange places. Wherever they are, He will not leave them; He will go right through the waters with them. God also keeps close to His people in dangerous places, fatal places as they seem.
2. Now listen to your side of this matter of converse with God. But thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel (Isa_43:22).
(1) Has it not been so with regard to private prayer?
(2) With your reading of the Scriptures?
(3) Hearing the Word?
(4) Are there not some also whom God loves who get weary of their work?
III. Notice the contrast in THE SACRIFICE.
1. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, etc. (Isa_43:3).
(1) Here is God giving up everybody else for the sake of His people. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba were great nations, but God did not choose the greatest. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, etc.
(2) We may see another meaning in these words, for God has given for us His choicest gift. Christ is infinitely more precious than Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Seba, though they were lands of great abundance of wealth.
2. Now look at the other side. Thou hast not brought Me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings (Isa_43:23). I wonder how little some people really do give to God! I believe, in some cases, not as much as it costs them for the blacking of their boots. Then the Lord adds, Thou hast bought Me no sweet cane with money. Not even the smallest offering has been given to the Most High by some who profess to have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. How little is given by the most generous of us!
IV. I close with one snore contrast, which refers to THE HONOUR given by God, and the honour given to God.
1. God gives great honour to those whom He saves (Isa_43:4). I have known persons who, before their conversion, were unclean in their lives, and when they have been converted, they have joined a Christian Church, and in the society of Gods people they have become honourable. They have been taken into the fellowship of the saints just as if there had never been a fault in their lives; nobody has mentioned the past to them, it has been forgotten. This is the highest honour that God can put upon us, that He fixes His love upon us. Thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee.
2. Have you honoured God? He says, Neither hast thou honoured Me with thy sacrifices. Have you honoured God by your lives? By your confidence in Him? By your patience? By defending His truth when it has been assailed? By speaking to poor sinners about Him? Are you trying every day to honour Him? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fear not
I. A CHARGE GIVEN. Fear not. A godly fear the believer may have; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt, he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling, nor the faithfulness of his God.
II. A REASON ASSIGNED. Thou art Mine. These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh, and to them they still remain a covenant of peace, sure and steadfast for ever; yet as the relations named--Creator, Redeemer, Saviour--are not peculiar to them, but are enjoyed in the same degree by every believing heart, we may take to ourselves a share in this animating promise. The certainty of the believers hope does not depend on our holding God, but on Gods holding us; not on our faithfulness to Him, but on His faithfulness to us.
III. A PROTECTION PROMISED. This does not consist in any absence of trial and danger; the expressions rather imply their presence, many in number and various in kind. The protection promised consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour. (E. Garbett.)
I have called thee by thy name
Named and claimed
I. THE PERSON. I--thee--thou--Mine. How this sentence tingles with personality! If one person can call another person, those two persons are alike. Those two persons have a common life interest. Personality in God is substantially similar to personality in man.
II. THE NAME. Would it be an untrue fancy to suppose that we each have a name before God? When you look at your little sleeping child to-night, you will, perhaps, not only think of the name that everybody knows him by, but you will murmur over him some little special name that you have given him--you hardly know how, but that gives to you the very sense of theessence of the true life sleeping there. Remember that something just like that is in the heart of your Gods feeling for you. Science generalises, love particularises. Then, with this loving name, comes possession. There is a strange, yearning intensity in that language, Thou art Mine. The mystery and rapture of life are in that strange sense of possession which comes through love, as though the loved one had become a part of ourselves to be dissevered from us nevermore. Thou art Mine, says our God--Mine to carry, to nurture, to protect--My very own, never to part from Me for evermore.
III. THE CALL OF THE NAME. It would be very much to know that God even thought of us by our name in this personal and special way; but the text asserts that this power of God finds expression; that life is filled not only with a thought of us on the part of God, but with an expression of that thought; so that there is something vocalised, something articulate in life, which comes to us, if we can really understand that it is God calling us by this name we have.
1. The very first awakening feeling in childhood is a personal call. When you first really prayed as a little child and thought what you were doing, what a sense of individuality there was. You were yourself then, and nobody else. It was God speaking to you, and calling you by your name.
2. Then another period which comes, usually s little later, when Gods call is addressed to us, is in our first assumption of responsibility. I think some of the most solitary times a man ever has are when he has just assumed a serious responsibility. Now, in that solitude, if a man listens, he can hear his God calling to him, speaking his name right then and there. How tenderly, how warmly, how encouragingly! And the reason is, because God loves the thing that that responsibility will give you. He loves the thing that will make for you, and that is character; that is manhood.
3. Then, again, in a moment of danger, a man may hear God calling his name; because danger, like duty, particularises. Supposing we see a man in danger; we ask, Who is he? What is his name? And if the man does not realise the peril he is in, you call to him by the name that will cut through the air, and strike on his ear, and arouse his individual attention. Suppose moral danger comes and God sees the danger coming, and He calls out to you by that name He knows you by. If you could hear that call, would it not cause you to repel the evil? as though the Voice said, I remember you; you are Mine. Your name is known to Me. I am your heavenly Friend, and I call on you now to do your duty, to repel the evil.
4. He speaks our name when we are in trouble.
5. There are certain other experiences of life darker than duty or danger or sorrow. We name them by that strong, common monosyllable, sin. These moral experiences that cut into the soul within us--sin, the sting and stab of remorse, repentance, reformation--all are experiences of an arena in which God calls a man by his name. (A. J. Lyman, D. D.)
Gods claim on the soul
What a drama, what tragedy, life is! The world goes by, and, pointing to you, exclaims: That man is mine. He has been forty years in my service. He has sold his soul to me. He is mine. Not so, replies the heavenly Voice; He is Mine. I knew him as a child. I have never lost sight of him. Pleasure comes by, and claims you and says: He is mine, that young man. Dissipation comes by., and points to you with fascinating smile, and says: That young man is mine. Let his mother give him up. Let the angels forget him. He has taken my cup in his hand; he has drunk of my poison. He is mine. No, the heavenly Voice answers: Not yet; not yet. I know him, and love him. I suffered to save him, and he is Mine. Mine by right of love, and Mine by right of pain. That is the drama, that is the tragedy, that is going on! (A. J. Lyman, D. D.)
Israel called by name
To call by name includes the ideas of specific designation, public announcement, and solemn consecration to a certain work. (J. A. Alexander.)
Thou art Mine
Three little words, three little syllables; a childs motto; words that might be printed by a little hand and sent as a message of love; words that might be engraved on a signet ring: yet words the whole meaning -of which the firmament has not space enough to hold the entire development. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible1887 · Public DomainOn v1Isaiah 43-Isaiah 48
CHAPTER IX
FOUR POINTS OF A TRUE RELIGION
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Isaiah 43-Isaiah 48
WE have now surveyed the governing truths of Isa 40-48: the One God, omnipotent and righteous; the One People, His servants and witnesses to the world; the nothingness of all other gods and idols before Him; the vanity and ignorance of their diviners, compared with His power, who, because He has a purpose working through all history, and is both faithful to it and almighty to bring it to pass, can inspire His prophets to declare beforehand the facts that shall be. He has brought His people into captivity for a set time, the end of which is now near. Cyrus the Persian, already upon the horizon, and threatening Babylon, is to be their deliverer. But whomever He raises up on Israels behalf, God is always Himself their foremost champion. Not only is His word upon them, but His heart is among them. He bears the brunt of their battle, and their deliverance, political and spiritual, is His own travail and agony. Whomever else He summons on the stage, He remains the true hero of the drama.
Now, chapters 43-48 are simply the elaboration and more urgent offer of all these truths, under the sense of the rapid approach of Cyrus upon Babylon. They declare again Gods unity, omnipotence, and righteousness, they confirm His forgiveness of His people, they repeat the laughter at the idols, they give us nearer views of Cyrus, they answer the doubts that many orthodox Israelites felt about this Gentile Messiah; chapters 46 and 47 describe Babylon as if on the eve of her fall, and chapter 48, after Jehovah more urgently than ever presses upon reluctant Israel to show the results of her discipline in Babylon, closes with a call to leave the accursed city, as if the way were at last open. This call has been taken as the mark of a definite division of our prophecy. But too much must not be put upon it. It is indeed the first call to depart from Babylon; but it is not the last. And although chapter 49, and the chapters following, speak more of Zions Restoration and less of the Captivity, yet chapter 49 is closely connected with chapter 48, and we do not finally leave Babylon behind till Isa_52:12. Nevertheless, in the meantime chapter 48 will form a convenient point on which to keep our eyes.
Cyrus, when we last saw him, was upon the banks of the Halys, 546 B.C., startling Croesus and the Lydian Empire into extraordinary efforts, both of a religious and political kind, to avert his attack. He had just come from an unsuccessful attempt upon the northern frontier of Babylon, and at first it appeared as if he were to find no better fortune on the western border of Lydia. In spite of his superior numbers, the Lydian army kept the ground on which he met them in battle. But Croesus, thinking that the war was over for the season, fell back soon afterwards on Sardis, and Cyrus, following him up by forced marches, surprised him under the walls of the city, routed the famous Lydian cavalry by the novel terror of his camels, and after a siege of fourteen days sent a few soldiers to scale a side of the citadel too steep to be guarded by the defenders; and so Sardis, its king and its empire, lay at his feet. This Lydian campaign of Cyrus, which is related by Herodotus, is worth noting here for the light it throws on the character of the man, whom according to our prophecy, God chose to be His chief instrument in that generation. If his turning back from Babylonia, eight years before he was granted an easy entrance to her capital, shows how patiently Cyrus could wait upon fortune, his quick march upon Sardis is the brilliant evidence that when fortune showed the way, she found this Persian an obedient and punctual follower. The Lydian campaign forms as good an illustration as we shall find of these texts of our prophet: "He pursueth them, he passeth in safety; by a way he (almost) treads not with his feet. He cometh upon satraps as on mortar, and as the potter treadeth upon clay. {Isa_12:3} I have holden his right hand to bring down before him nations, and the loins of kings will I loosen," (poor ungirt Croesus, for instance, relaxing so foolishly after his victory!) "to open before him doors, and gates shall not be shut" (so was Sardis unready for him), "I go before thee, and will level the ridges; doors of brass I will shiver, and bolts of iron cut in sunder. And I will give to thee treasures of darkness, hidden riches of secret places." {Isa_45:1-3} Some have found in this an allusion to the immense hoards of Croesus, which fell to Cyrus with Sardis.
With Lydia, the rest of Asia Minor, including the cities of the Greeks, who held the coast of the Aegean, was bound to come into the Persians hands. But the process of subjection turned out to be a tong one. The Greeks got no help from Greece. Sparta sent to Cyrus an embassy with a threat, but the Persian laughed at it and it came to nothing. Indeed, Spartas message was only a temptation to this irresistible warrior to carry his fortunate arms into Europe. His own presence, however, was required in the East, and his lieutenants found the thorough subjection of Asia Minor a task requiring several years. It cannot have well been concluded before 540, and while it was in progress we understand why Cyrus did not again attack Babylonia. Meantime, he was occupied with lesser tribes to the north of Media.
Cyrus second campaign against Babylonia opened in 539. This time he avoided the northern wall from which he had been repulsed in 546. Attacking Babylonia from the east, he crossed the Tigris, beat the Babylonian king into Borsippa, laid siege to that fortress and marched on Babylon, which was held by the kings son, Belshazzar, Bil-sarussur. All the world knows the supreme generalship by which Cyrus is said to have captured Babylon without assaulting the walls, from whose impregnable height their defenders showered ridicule upon him; how he made himself master of Nebuchadrezzars great bason at Sepharvaim, and turned the Euphrates into it; and how, before the Babylonians had time to notice the dwindling of the waters in their midst, his soldiers waded down the river bed, and by the river gates surprised the careless citizens upon a night of festival. But recent research makes it more probable that her inhabitants themselves surrendered Babylon to Cyrus.
Now it was during the course of the events just sketched, but before their culmination in the fall of Babylon, that chapters 43-48 were composed. That, at least, is what they themselves suggest. In three passages, which deal with Cyrus or with Babylon, some of the verbs are in the past, some in the future. Those in the past tense describe the calling and full career of Cyrus or the beginning of preparations against Babylon. Those in the. future tense promise Babylons fall or Cyrus completion of the liberation of the Jews. Thus, in Isa_43:14 it is written: "For your sakes I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down as fugitives all of them, and the Chaldeans in the ships of their rejoicing." Surely these words announce that BabyIons fate was already on the way to her, but not yet arrived. Again, in the verses which deal with Cyrus himself, Isa_45:1-6, which we have partly quoted, the Persian is already "grasped by his right hand by God, and called"; but his career is not over, for God promises to do various things for him. The third passage is Isa_45:13 of the same chapter, where Jehovah says, "I have stirred him up in righteousness, and" changing to the future tense, "all his ways will I level; he shall build My city, and My captivity shall he send away." What could be more precise than the tenor of all these passages? If people would only take our prophet at his word; if with all their belief in the inspiration of the text of Scripture, they would only pay attention to its grammar, which surely, on their own theory, is also thoroughly sacred, then there would be today no question about the date of Isa 40-48. As plainly as grammar can enable it to do, this prophecy speaks of Cyrus campaign against Babylon as already begun, but of its completion as still future. Chapter 48, it is true, assumes events as still farther developed, but we will come to it afterwards.
During Cyrus preparations, then, for invading Babylonia, and in prospect of her certain fall, chapters 43-48 repeat with greater detail and impetuosity the truths, which we have already gathered from chapters 40-42.
1. And first of these comes naturally the omnipotence, righteousness, and personal urgency of Jehovah Himself. Everything is again assured by His power and purpose; everything starts from His initiative. To illustrate this we could quote from almost every verse in the chapters under consideration. "I, I Jehovah, and there is none beside Me a Saviour. I am God"-El. "Also from today on I am He. I will work, and who shall let it? I am Jehovah. I, I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions. I First, and I Last; and beside Me there is no God"-Elohim. "Is there a God," Eloah, "beside Me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any. I Jehovah, Maker of all things. I am Jehovah, and there is none else; beside Me there is no God. I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of peace and Creator of evil, I am Jehovah, Maker of all these. I am Jehovah, and there is none else, God," Elohini, "beside Me, God-Righteous," El Ssaddiq, "and a Saviour: there is none except: Me. Face Me, and be saved all ends of the earth; for I am God," El, "and there is none else. Only in Jehovah-of Me shall they say-are righteousnesses and strength. I am God," El, "and there is none else; God," Elohim, "and there is none like Me. I am He; I am First, yea, I am Last. I, I have spoken. I have declared it."
It is of advantage to gather together so many passages-and they might have been increased-from chapters 43-48. They let us see at a glance what a part the first personal pronoun plays in the Divine revelation. Beneath every religious truth is the unity of God. Behind every great movement is the personal initiative, and urgency of God. And revelation is, in its essence, not the mere publication of truths about God, but the personal presence and communication to men of God Himself. Three words are used for Deity-El, Eloah, Elohim-exhausting the Divine terminology. But besides these, there is a formula which puts the point even more sharply: "I am He." It was the habit of the Hebrew nation, and indeed of all Semitic peoples, who shared their reverent unwillingness to name the Deity, to speak of Him simply by the third personal pronoun. The Book of Job is full of instances of the habit, and it also appears in many proper names, as Eli-hu, "My God-is-He," Abi-hu, "My-Father-is-He." Renan adduces the practice as evidence that the Semites were "naturally monotheistic,"-as evidence for what was never the case! But if there was no original Semitic monotheism for this practice to prove, we may yet take the practice as evidence for the personality of the Hebrew God. The God of the prophets is not the it, which Mr. Matthew Arnold so strangely thought he had identified in their writings, and which, in philosophic language, that unsophisticated Orientals would never have understood, he so cumbrously named "a tendency not ourselves that makes for righteousness." Not anything like this is the God, who here urges His self-consciousness upon men. He says, "I am He,"-the unseen Power, who was too awful and too dark to be named, but about whom, when in their terror and ignorance His worshippers sought to describe Him, they assumed that He was a Person, and called Him, as they would have called one of themselves, by a personal pronoun. By the mouth of His prophet this vague and awful He declares Himself as I, I, I, - no mere tendency, but a living Heart and urgent Will, personal character and force of initiative, from which all tendencies move and take their direction and strength. "I am He."
History is strewn with the errors of those who have sought from God something else than Himself. All the degradation, even of the highest religions, has sprung from this, that their votaries forgot that religion was a communion with God Himself, a life in the power of His character and will, and employed it as the mere communication either of material benefits or of intellectual ideas. It has been the mistake of millions to see in revelation nothing but the telling of fortunes, the recovery of lost things, decision in quarrels, direction in war, or the bestowal of some personal favour. Such are like the person, of whom St. Luke tells us, who saw nothing in Christ but the recoverer of a bad debt: "Master, speak unto my brother that he divide the inheritance with me"; and their superstition is as far from true faith as the prodigals old heart, when he said, "Give me the portion of goods that falleth unto me," was from the other heart, when, in his poverty and woe, he cast himself utterly upon his Father: "I will arise and go to my Father." But no less a mistake do those make, who seek from God not Himself, but only intellectual information. The first Reformers did well, who brought the common soul to the personal grace of God; but many of their successors, in a controversy, whose dust obscured the sun and allowed them to see but the length of their own weapons, used Scripture chiefly as a store of proofs for separate doctrines of the faith, and forgot that God Himself was there at all. And though in these days we seek from the Bible many desirable things, such as history, philosophy, morals, formulas of assurance of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, maxims for conduct, yet all these will avail us little, until we have found behind them the living Character, the Will, the Grace, the Urgency, the Almighty Power, by trust in whom and communion with whom alone they are added unto us.
Now the deity, who claims in these chapters to be the One, Sovereign God, was the deity of a little tribe. "I am Jehovah, I Jehovah am God, I Jehovah am He." We cannot too much impress ourselves with the historical wonder of this. In a world, which contained Babylon and Egypt with their large empires, Lydia with all her wealth, and the Medes with all their force; which was already feeling the possibilities of the great Greek life, and had the Persians, the masters of the future, upon its threshold, -it was the god of none of these, but of the obscurest tribe of their bondsmen, who claimed the Divine Sovereignty for Himself; it was the pride of none of these, but the faith of the most despised and, at its heart, most mournful religion of the time, which offered an explanation of history, claimed the future, and was assured that the biggest forces of the world were working for its ends. "Thus saith Jehovah, King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah of Hosts, I First, and I Last; and beside Me there is no God. Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any."
By itself this were a cheap claim, and might have been made by any idol among them, were it not for the additional proofs by which it is supported. We may summarise these additional proofs as threefold: Laughter, Gospel, and Control of History, -three marvels in the experience of exiles. People, mournfullest and most despised, their mouths were to be filled with the laughter of truths scorn upon the idols of their conquerors. Men, most tormented by conscience and filled with the sense of sin, they were to hear the gospel of forgiveness. Nation, against whom all fact seemed to be working, their God told them, alone of all nations of the world, that He controlled for their sake the facts of today and the issues of tomorrow.
2. A burst of laughter comes very weirdly out of the Exile. But we have already seen the intellectual right to scorn which these crushed captives had. They were monotheists and their enemies were image worshippers. Monotheism, even in its rudest forms, raises men intellectually, -it is difficult to say by how many degrees. Indeed, degrees do not measure the mental difference between an idolater and him who serves with his mind, as well as with all his heart and it not for the additional proofs by which it is a difference that is absolute. Israel in captivity was conscious of this, and therefore, although the souls of those sad men were filled beyond any in the world with the heaviness of sorrow and the humility of guilt, their proud faces carried a scorn they had every right to wear, as the servants of the One God. See how this scorn breaks forth in the following passage. Its text is corrupt, and its rhythm, at this distance from the voices that utter it, is hardly perceptible; but thoroughly evident is its tone of intellectual superiority, and the scorn of it gushes forth in impetuous, unequal verse, the force of which the smoothness and dignity of our Authorised Version has unfortunately disguised.
1.
Formers of an idol are all of them waste,
And their darlings are utterly worthless!
And their confessors - they! they see not and know not
Enough to feel shame.
Who has fashioned a god, or an image has cast?
Tis to be utterly worthless.
Lo! all that depend ont are shamed,
And the gravers are less than men:
Let all of them gather and stand.
They quake and are shamed in the lump.
2.
Iron-graver-he takes a chisel,
And works with hot coals,
And with hammers he moulds;
And has done it with the arm of his strength. -
Anon hungers, and strength goes;
Drinks no water, and wearies!
3.
Wood-graver-he draws a line,
Marks it with pencil,
Makes it with planes,
And with compasses marks it.
So has made it the build of a man,
To a grace that is human-
To inhabit a house, cutting it cedars.
4.
Or one takes an ilex or oak,
And picks for himself from the trees of the wood
One has planted a pine, and the rain makes it big,
And tis there for a man to burn.
And one has taken of it, and been warmed;
Yea, kindles and bakes bread, -
Yea, works out a god, and has worshipped it!
Has made it an idol, and bows down before it!
Part of it burns he with fire,
Upon part eats flesh,
Roasts roast and is full;
Yea, warms him and saith,
"Aha, I am warm, have seen fire!"
And the rest of it-to a god he has made-to his image!
He bows to it, worships it, prays to it,
And says, "Save me, for my god art thou!"
5.
They know not and deem not!
For He hath bedaubed, past seeing, their eyes
Past thinking, their hearts.
And none takes to heart,
Neither has knowledge nor sense to say,
"Part of it burned I in fire-
Yea, have baked bread on its coals,
Do roast flesh that I eat, -
And the rest ot, to a
Disgust should I make it?
The trunk of a tree should I worship?"
Herder of ashes, a duped heart has sent him astray,
That he cannot deliver his soul. neither say,
"Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
Is not the prevailing note in these verses surprise at the mental condition of an idol-worshipper? "They see not and know not enough to feel shame. None takes it to heart, neither has knowledge nor sense to say, Part of it I have burned in fire and the rest, should I make it a god?" This intellectual confidence, breaking out into scorn, is the second great token of truth, which distinguishes the religion of this poor slave of a people.
3. The third token is its moral character. The intellectual truth of a religion would go for little, had the religion nothing to say to mans moral sense-did it not concern itself with his sins, had it no redemption for his guilt. Now, the chapters before us are full of judgment and mercy. If they have scorn for the idols, they have doom for sin, and grace for the sinner. They are no mere political manifesto for the occasion, declaring how Israel shall be liberated from Babylon. They are a gospel for sinners in all time. By this they farther accredit themselves as a universal religion.
God is omnipotent, yet He can do nothing for Israel till Israel put away their sins. Those sins, and not the peoples captivity, are the Deitys chief concern. Sin has been at the bottom of their whole adversity. This is brought out with all the versatility of conscience itself. Israel and their God have been at variance; their sin has been, what conscience feels the most, a sin against love. "Yet not upon Me hast thou called, O Jacob; how hast thou been wearied with Me, O Israel I have not made thee to slave with offerings, nor weaned thee with incense but thou hast made Me to slave with thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities". {Isa_43:22-24} So God sets their sins, where men most see the blackness of their guilt, in the face of His love. And now He challenges conscience. "Put Me in remembrance; let us come to judgment together; indict, that thou mayest be justified" (Isa_43:26). But it had been agelong and original sin. "Thy father, the first had sinned; yea, thy representative men"-literally "interpreters, mediators-had transgressed against Me. Therefore did I profane consecrated princes, and gave Jacob to the ban, and Israel to reviling" (Isa_43:27-28). The Exile itself was but an episode in a tragedy, which began far back with Israels history. And so chapter 48 repeats: "I knew that thou dost deal very treacherously, and Transgressor-from-the-womb do they call thee" (Isa_48:8). And then there comes the sad note of what might have been. "O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as the river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea" (Isa_48:18). As broad Euphrates thou shouldst have lavishly rolled, and flashed to the sun like a summer sea. But now, hear what is left. "There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked" (Isa_48:22).
Ah, it is no dusty stretch of ancient history, no; long-extinct volcano upon the far waste of Asian politics, to which we are led by the writings of the Exile. But they treat of mans perennial trouble; and conscience, that never dies, speaks through their old-fashioned letters and figures with words we feel like swords. And therefore, still, whether they be psalms or prophecies, they stand like some ancient minster in the modern world, -where, on each new soiled day, till time ends, the heavy heart of man may be helped to read itself, and lift up its guilt for mercy.
They are the confessional of the world, but they are also its gospel, and the altar where forgiveness is sealed. "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins; turn unto Me, for I have redeemed, thee. Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end." {Isa_43:25; Isa_44:21-22; Isa_45:17} Now, when we remember who the God is, who thus speaks, -not merely One who flings the word of pardon from the sublime height of His holiness, but, as we saw, speaks it from the midst of all His own passion and struggle under His peoples sins, -then with what assurance does His word come home to the heart. What honour and obligation to righteousness does the pardon of such a God put upon our hearts. One understands why Ambrose sent Augustine, after his conversion, first to these prophecies.
4. The fourth token, which these chapters offer for the religion of Jehovah, is the claim they make for it to interpret and to control history. There are two verbs, which are frequently repeated throughout the chapters, and which are given together in Isa_43:12 : "I have published and I have saved." These are the two acts by which Jehovah proves His solitary divinity over against the idols.
The "publishing," of course, is the same prediction, of which chapter 41 spoke. It is "publishing" in former times things happening now; it is "publishing" now things that are still to happen. "And who, like Me, calls out and publishes it, and sets it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come, let them publish. Tremble not, nor fear: did I not long ago cause thee to hear? and I published, and ye are My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? nay, there is no Rock; I know none". {Isa_44:7-8}
The two go together, the doing of wonderful and saving acts for His people and the publishing of them before they come to pass. Israels past is full of such acts. Chapter 43, instances the delivery from Egypt (Isa_43:16-17), but immediately proceeds (Isa_43:18-19): "Remember ye not the former things"-here our old friend rishonoth occurs again, but this time means simply "previous events"-"neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; even now it springs forth. Shall ye not know it? Yea, I will set in the wilderness a way, in the desert rivers." And of this new event of the Return, and of others which will follow from it, like the building of Jerusalem, the chapters insist over and over again, that they are the work of Jehovah, who is therefore a Saviour God. But what better proof can be given, that these saving facts are indeed His own and part of His counsel, than that He foretold them by His messengers and prophets to Israel, -of which previous "publication" His people are the witnesses. "Who among the peoples can publish thus, and let us hear predictions?-again rishonoth, "things ahead-let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, and let them hear and say, Truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah," to Israel. {Isa_43:9-10} "I have published, and I have saved, and I have shewed, and there was no strange god among you; therefore"-because Jehovah was notoriously the only God who had to do with them during all this prediction and fulfilment of prediction" ye are witnesses for Me, saith Jehovah, that I am God" (id. Isa_43:12). The meaning of all this is plain. Jehovah is God alone, because He is directly effective in history for the salvation of His people, and because He has published beforehand what He will do. The great instance of this, which the prophecy adduces, is the present movement towards the liberation of the people, of which movement Cyrus is the most conspicuous factor. Of this Isa_45:19 ff. says: "Not in a place of the land of in Secret have I spoken, darkness. I have not said to the seed of Jacob, In vanity seek ye Me. I Jehovah am a speaker of righteousness, a publisher of things that are straight. Be gathered and come in; draw together, ye survivors of the nations: they have no knowledge that carry about the log of their image, and are suppliants to a god that cannot save. Publish, and bring it here; nay, let them advise together; who made this to be heard,"-that is, "who published this, -of ancient time?" Who published this of old? I Jehovah, and there is none God beside Me: a God righteous,"-that is, consistent, true to His published word, -"and a Saviour, there is none beside Me." "Here we have joined together the same ideas as in Isa_43:12." There "I have declared and saved" is equivalent to "a God righteous and a Saviour" here. "Only in Jehovah are righteousnesses," that is, fidelity to His anciently published purposes; "and strength," that is, capacity to carry these purposes out in history. God is righteous because, according to another verse in the same prophecy, {Isa_44:26} "He confirmeth the word of His servant, and the advice of His messengers He fulfilleth."
Now the question has been asked, To what predictions does the prophecy allude as being fulfilled in those days when Cyrus was so evidently advancing to the overthrow of Babylon? Before answering this question it is well to note, that, for the most part, the prophet speaks in general terms. He gives no hint to justify that unfounded belief, to which so many think it necessary to cling, that Cyrus was actually named by a prophet of Jehovah years before he appeared. Had such a prediction existed, we can have no doubt that our prophet would now have appealed to it. No: he evidently refers only to those numerous and notorious predictions by Isaiah, and by Jeremiah, of the return of Israel from exile after a certain and fixed period. Those were now coming to pass.
But from this new day Jehovah also predicts for the days to come, and He does this very particularly, Isa_44:26, "Who is saying of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built; and of her waste places, I will raise them up. Who saith to the deep, Be dry, and thy rivers I will dry up. Who saith of Koresh, My Shepherd, and all My pleasure he shall fulfil: even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built, and the Temple shall be founded."
Thus, backward and forward, yesterday, today and for ever, Jehovahs hand is upon history. He controls it: it is the fulfilment of His ancient purpose. By predictions made long ago and fulfilled today, by the readiness to predict today what will happen tomorrow, He is surely God and God alone. Singular fact, that in that day of great empires, confident in their resources, and with the future so near their grasp, it should be the God of a little people, cut off from their history, servile and seemingly spent, who should take the big things of earth-Egypt, Ethiopia, Seba-and speak of them as counters to be given in exchange for His people; who should speak of such a people as the chief heirs of the future, the indispensable ministers of mankind. The claim has two Divine features. It is unique, and history has vindicated it. It is unique: no other religion, in that or in any other time, has so rationally explained past history or laid out the ages to come upon the lines of a purpose so definite, so rational, so beneficent-a purpose so worthy of the One God and Creator of all. And it has been vindicated: Israel returned to their own land, resumed the development of their calling, and, after the centuries came and went, fulfilled the promise that they should be the religious teachers of mankind. The long delay of this fulfilment surely but testifies the more to the Divine foresight of the promise; to the patience, which nature, as well as history, reveals to be, as much as omnipotence, a mark of Deity.
These, then, are the four points, upon which the religion of Israel offers itself. First, it is the force of the character and grace of a personal God; second, it speaks with a high intellectual confidence, whereof its scorn is here the chief mark; third, it is intensely moral, making mans sin its chief concern; and fourth, it claims the control of history, and history has justified the claim.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn vv1, 4Isa_43:1-3. But now thus saith the Lord that created…
CHEERING WORDS FOR THE AFFLICTED
Isa_43:1-3. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, &c.
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These cheering words were addressed by God to His peculiar people the Jews; but He has a peculiar people now, and all who partake of their faith and love may consider this Scripture as written for the purpose of imparting comfort and strength to their troubled hearts. It suggests four subjects for consideration: the afflictions to which the people of God are liable; the exhortation addressed to them; the promises by which it is strengthened; and the arguments by which it is enforced.
I. Compared with the miseries they have deserved, or with the weight of glory reserved for them, the afflictions of God’s people are light (H. E. I. 3703, 3704); but in other points of view, they often appear sharp and heavy. The text implies, 1, that these afflictions are certain; that they not only may come, but will come. It speaks of them as things of course (H. E. I. 47–55, 3674).
2. That they may be great; deep as rivers, dangerous as rapid torrents.
3. That they may be greatly diversified. They may be in the waters to-day, and may have deliverance, but to-morrow they may have to walk through the fire and the flame; to endure trials which are unexpected and strange, and far more severe and bitter than any they have previously experienced.
II. How suitable and encouraging is the exhortation which is here addressed to us: “Fear not.”
1. The power and greatness of Him from whom it proceeds gives to it a force which it would not otherwise possess. It comes from the only Being in the universe who can bless a sinner, or whom he has cause to fear.
2. The natural tendency of our trials is to excite fear. This fear may be innocent; it may lead us to avoid them, if God will, and if not, it will move us to circumspection and prayer. Such a fear our Saviour manifested in Gethsemane.
3. But there is a fear of another kind, and this we are here called on to lay aside: a fear which is the effect of unbelief, and the cause of murmurings, despondency, and wretchedness; a fear which tempts us to choose sin rather than affliction, which provents us from praising God under our trials, and from trusting Him to bring is out of them.
III. This exhortation God supports and strengthens by two most gracious promises.
1. He promises His own presence with us in our trials. “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee” (H. E. I. 198–202, 3677).
2. He promises us preservation under all our calamities. “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.” What does this imply? That our trials shall not injure us. In proportion as they tend to become temptations, grace will be ministered to us, and they shall not overthrow us. Nay more; the very calamities which appeared likely to destroy every spiritual grace within God’s people, to overwhelm their patience, their confidence and love, are made the very means of displaying and brightening them all (H. E. I. 204–214). By calling the suffering graces of His people into exercise, He will render them invincible. He will enable them to pass through rivers of trouble as safely as His beloved Israel passed through the Red Sea, and cause the fires of affliction to play as innocently around them as they played around His three servants in the furnace at Babylon.
IV. In the greatness of His condescension, God vouchsafes to add to His precious promises several arguments to assure us of their fulfilment.
1. The first is drawn from the relation in which He stands to us as our Creator. “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel.” He created us naturally, and has re-created His people spiritually (Isa_43:21; Eph_2:10). Here, then, is a solid ground of confidence. The Father of our spirits must be well acquainted with our infirmities and weakness (Psa_103:13-14; Isa_63:9). Neither will He ever forsake the work of His own hands. He raised us out of the ruins of the Fall, made us temples in which He delights to dwell and be worshipped; and He will never suffer the structures which He has erected at so much labour and cost to be thrown down by violence, or worn away by storms (Psa_138:8; 1Pe_4:19).
2. The Almighty draws another argument from the property which He has in His people and the manner in which He acquired it. “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” We are His by redemption also. And what a mighty price did He pay for us! He gave “Egypt for the ransom” of His ancient people, “Ethiopia and Seba for them.” But when we were to be redeemed, kingdoms and empires were too poor a ransom (Rom_8:32; Act_20:28). Hence He estimates us, not by what we are, but by what we have cost Him. Will He abandon that which cost Him so dear? (Zec_2:8).
3. The covenant which God has formed with His people ensures the fufilment of His promises. “FOR I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour;” thus implying that He has entered into some engagement with His Israel; that He considers Himself bound to be with them in their troubles and distresses; that His own veracity and faithfulness are at stake, and would be sacrificed if Israel were forsaken or injured.
REFLECTIONS.
1. How rich in consolation is the Word of God!
2. How essential to our happiness is a knowledge of our interest in the divine promises (H. E. I. 306–308).
3. How full of confidence and praise ought they to be, who live in the enjoyment of the divine presence in the hour of trouble! It is tranquillising and sweet to have a beloved friend near us when our sorrows are multiplied upon us, but what is the presence of the dearest earthly friend, when compared with the presence of a sympathising God!
4. How blind to their own interest are they who reject the gospel of Christ!—Charles Bradley: Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 266–285.
I. The most eminent piety, the most exalted privileges, form no ground of exemption from the heaviest trials.—God, by His prophet, in this chapter multiplies descriptions of the character and dignity of His people, and yet in the same breath speaks of the severe trials that await them. The people of God have had to pass through severe trials; not merely to hear about them, &c., but to endure them. Abraham (Gen_22:2). Jacob (Gen_37:32). Martha and Mary (Joh_11:1, &c.)
1. Let us not presume upon exemption from them (H. E. I. 234–236, 3361, 3674).
2. Let us not wonder if trial increases in weight and severity. This may be intimated in the text—waters, rivers; fire, flame. There is an ascent in the path of suffering, a graduated scale of sorrow. Trials are proportioned according to our strength; to our missing the improvement of former calamities; to our insensibility to chastisements (Amos 4.)
II. The supports which God furnishes are equal to the utmost emergency in which we can be placed. “I will be with thee.” Enough!
1. Enough to temper the excess of trial, and to enable us to bear up under it. The text engages that the trial shall not reach beyond a certain point: “they shall not overflow thee.” Our supports shall be in every way equal to our necessity. Mr. Cecil says: “I shall never forget the encouragement when standing by the dying bed of my mother. I asked her, ‘Do you not tremble at entering an unknown world, not knowing what you shall meet there? ‘It is no matter what I shall meet there,’ was her answer; ‘He hath said, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee’ ” (H. E. I. 198, 3677).
2. Enough to sanctify the calamities to the promotion of our highest interest (H. E. I. 215, 3696–3701).
III. The promise of support is as certain as the trial is inevitable (Num_23:19). “I will be with thee,” &c. Apprehended, this promise induces resignation, prayer, commitment to God, hope.—Samuel Thodey.
I. The character of the people to whom this promise is made. “Jacob,” “Israel.” II. What God has done for them in time past; or what are the steps which He has taken to make them what they are. He has created them; He has redeemed them; He has called them by their names. Therefore He calls them His; “Thou art mine.” III. What He promises to do for them in time to come.—Daniel Rees: Sermons, pp. 136–156.
We have here God’s redemption, calling, and adoption of His people set forth as a ground of fearlessness in danger, and of comfort in the season of greatest distress.—Charles Neat: The Protestant Preacher, vol. iii. pp. 383–390.
GROUNDS OF CONFIDENCE IN GOD
Isa_43:1-2. But now thus saith the Lord, &c.
I. Here we have four distinct grounds of confidence in God.
1. Our creation: “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel; fear not.”
2. Our redemption: “For I have redeemed thee.”
3. Our calling: “I have called thee by thy name.”
4. Our adoption: “Thou art mine.” Are not all these the very strongest grounds of confidence in God?
1. Shall we not trust in Him who created us? The ungodly indeed can derive no confidence from the consideration of God having formed them; their relation to Him renders their rebellion against Him an incalculable evil (H. E. I. 4488–4489). A man must be renewed and reconciled to God before his creation can be judged a proper ground of confidence in Him. But it should be rested on by those who have received the atonement. Is it possible that He who made you, and whose forfeited favour as your Creator has been restored to you, can ever leave you or forsake you? Shall He become the Father of your spirits, and suffer your spirits, and souls, and bodies to perish?
2. If creation is a ground of confidence in God to them who are reconciled to God and bear His image, what must redemption be? What a magnificence of love, grace, mercy, compassion, holiness, and justice do we behold in this wonderful transaction! Is it to be supposed that redeeming mercy, surmounting every obstacle to the salvation of a sinner, can suffer you, in all the helplessness of your corrupted nature, to be driven to and fro with every wind of passion, and at last to be destroyed for ever! No! if you would calculate the extent of the divine assistance offered to the people of God, you must calculate upon the scale of redemption (H. E. I. 4631–4632; P. D. 3204).
3. In calling you by His grace, God has given you a personal interest in the redemption of His Son, and in all the blessings of His salvation. The unspeakable condescension, friendship, and tenderness which God in this heavenly calling manifests are strikingly declared here: “I have called thee by thy name.” When you call each other by your proper names, you do not by this signify more familiarity, benignity, and confidence than God does in calling you by them. He speaks to you, as to Abraham His friend; when He addressed Abraham by name, He did not feel more love for him than He feels for you day by day, continually. Why should you fear, whom He calls by your names? He has thus made your redemption and all its blessings His personal concern.
4. He who has called you by your names has adopted you into His family. “Thou art mine,” my servant, my child, mine heir, the heir of mine everlasting kingdom. What can be a higher ground of confidence in God than adoption into His family, than the endearing and exalting relation of a child? What condescension and mercy in God, thus to select one of the tenderest relations in life, by which to illustrate the nature of His love to us! (Isa_49:15).
II. On these grounds God exhorts His people to display a fearless fortitude when they are exposed to trials: “Fear not.”
III. In order to render it easier for them to manifest the courage which His children may well be expected to display, He adds gracious promises which should be to them a pillar of fire, to illuminate, guide, keep, and cheer them in the wilderness, or in the deep waters, through which their passage to a better country has been marked out for them: Isa_43:2. Right on to the end, they shall have His presence and protection.—Miles Jackson: Sermons, vol. i. pp. 233–257.
Those relations of God to man which form the groundwork of the believer’s obligations, are in this passage adduced as the foundations of his confidence and peace; and this fact shows, further, that the two must stand or fall together. Men should think of this before they seek to lower the strict requirements of God’s law. We can only lower our estimate of what we ought to do for God, by first lowering our estimate of what God has done for us, and so stripping from our faith all that now raises it into heights above our reach, and depths beyond our fathoming. God is your Creator, Preserver, Saviour, King. These are the very grounds of the assured confidence of which the prophet speaks. Consider—
I. THE CHARGE GIVEN—“Fear not.” The quality of fear is described in the Scriptures under various aspects.
Thus it is spoken of sometimes as a feeling to be exercised. “Be not highminded, but fear;” and again as a thing to be avoided, “Fear not.” There is the coward’s fear, which cannot bear the very sight of danger. Such is the fear that makes a man shrink from examining into the true state of his soul before God, and that makes men hide from themselves the thought of death. There is another kind of fear, which never shows itself till the time of actual trial comes; beforehand, it is arrogant and boastful, but sinks into despondency and despair when it is put to the test. God’s people are free from both of these; they are deeply conscious alike of their danger and of the inadequacy of their own strength to meet it: but they stand fast, “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” A righteous, godly fear, the believer has; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt, he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling, nor the faithfulness of his God. The believer and the unbeliever are sharply separated in respect of the objects of their fear. The timid child and the courageous man both have fear; but the one fears a shadow: the other, that which, not to fear, would show the absence of a reasonable courage.
What things ought we to fear? Shall we fear the opposition and hatred of the world; those who can injure the body, but cannot touch the soul; pain, or sickness, or temporal misfortune? Those may do so who make this world their all, but not the believer, who recognises in them the medicines of the soul. Shall we fear the devil? Not with God on our side. Or death? Not so; for it is the gate of higher life, and introduces us to life’s crown of glory. He who fears God need know no other fear. Such fear is not a base naked terror; it becomes a wondering reverence, and loses itself in love; for He is not against His people, but for them; “Fear not, for I am with thee.” But the absence of this fear makes everything else fearful.
II. THE REASON ASSIGNED. “Thou art mine.” These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh; yet, as the relations named—Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour—are not peculiar to them, but are realised by every believing heart, every believer may take to himself his share in this animating promise; for all these relations are adduced, not as reasons for anything we are to pay to God, but as reasons for that which we are to receive from Him,—they form the ground of our confidence (Psa_119:94). The certainty of our hope does not depend on our holding God, but on God’s holding us; it is not in our power to realise His promise at all times, but we may rest on the immutability of that promise (2Ti_2:13). The believer’s hope is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” To see to what a strong rock that anchor holds, turn your thoughts to the relationship spoken of in these words, “I am thy Creator, thy Redeemer, thy Saviour;” “I have called thee by thy name,” words which imply a personal, immediate interest. All is His work; the goodness which created, the grace which has quickened, corrected, strengthened, taught, sanctified, has all come from Him!
III. THE PROTECTION PROMISED (Isa_43:2). This does not consist of any absence of trial and danger; the expressions of the text rather imply their presence, many in number, and varied in kind (Psa_69:1-2). No extraordinary interposition will preserve the child of God from those miseries “to which man is born as the sparks fly upwards.” The protection promised consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour (Psa_16:8; Heb_13:5-6).
CONCLUSION.—Contrast the condition of the believer, and of the unbeliever. Affliction is the lot of all; but while a man loses nothing, in the calculation of earthly happiness, by becoming a follower of the Saviour, in the calculation of heavenly happiness he gains all. There is more sunshine, even in this world, to the righteous than to the unrighteous. Both have to share the “ills that flesh is heir to;” but what a difference in the strength of the two to meet them! If for a moment the Christian’s heart sinks, then the promise comes back to him like a refreshing breath from above—“Fear not; for I have redeemed thee.”—Edward Garbett, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 204–222.
DIVINE CONVOY
Isa_43:2. When thou passest through the waters, &c.
I. THE PATHWAY THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE CALLED TO TREAD. Through waters and fires; used in the Scriptures as emblems of troubles and sorrows (Act_14:22).
1. Temporal troubles. You can scarcely look into the narrowest circle of your acquaintance without finding sorrows, losses, cares, broils, contentions, all the fruits of sin (H. E. I. 47–51).
2. Spiritual troubles. Consciousness of utter inability to comply with the demands of the fiery law. Satan’s suggestions and temptations.
The troubles of life are—
1. to the ungodly, judicial punishments;
2. to God’s people, fatherly corrections, or trials of their faith (1Pe_1:7; H. E. I. 66–70; 3678–3684).
II. THE UPHOLDING POWER THAT BEARS THEM ALONG. “I will be with thee.” Two views may be taken of this precious promise: there is such a thing as God being with His people, and they not knowing it; and there is such a thing as their sensible enjoyment of it.
1. God never deserts the objects of His love. But there have been many instances in which His people have had added to their trials the terrible fear that He had deserted them (Lam_3:8; Psa_77:7-9; Job_23:8-9; H. E. I. 1644–1657).
2. But to those who humbly wait upon Him, He reveals His presence with them; and in that they find all they need to sustain them, and heaven begun below.
III. THE TERMINUS WHERE THE PATHWAY OF GOD’S PEOPLE WILL END. It is a mercy that the promise is “when thou passest through,” not merely into. God’s elect pass through waters and rivers, fires and flames, but they get to the other side. And what is found there? The rest that remaineth for the people of God (H. E. I. 2792, 2793; P. D. 1784).—Joseph Irons: Grove Chapel Pulpit, vol. iv. pp. 289–299.
I. THE WATERS AND RIVERS WHICH ARE IN THE CHRISTIAN’S WAY. [1393]
[1393] In most parts of our country, ingenuity and labour have been employed to lessen the fatigues and remove the dangers of travelling. Roads are cut through woods and morasses, and over mountains; inns are established; and bridges are thrown over rivers and brooks. But in countries which are thinly inhabited, or into which the improvements of modern times have not been introduced, travelling is full of danger and of toil. The stranger, if he has not a guide, is in perpetual uncertainty, is harassed by apprehensions; and if he reach his destined place, it is not till he is almost exhausted by fatigue, and after many hair-breadth escapes. At one time, he is almost faint with hunger; at another, he is parched with thirst; at another, either benumbed with the cold, or scorched by the heat, or overpowered by the severity of the storm, before he can reach a place of shelter, or find the necessary refreshments of nature. Now, he knows not at what place he shall enter the forest, to avoid being torn by the briars and thorns, or entangled in some impenetrable thicket. Then, he hesitates whether the thick mire be not too deep for him, or the marshy ground may not sink beneath his feet. In a little while he is distressed how he shall, by the best and easiest path, ascend the steep and woody mountain; or how, in descending, he shall avoid the precipices which appear below. Again, he arrives at the banks of some deep and rapid river, or approaches some torrent descending from the mountains, and swelled by the winter floods; and how he shall descend, and where he shall pass through, and whether the waters be fordable, or the streams be not too rapid, are questions which distress his mind and fill him with anxiety and fear.
Many such impediments were in the traveller’s way; and to many such hazards was he exposed in Canaan, and especially in the countries adjacent, many of which were mountainous and waste. On this account, frequent allusions to this state of things are made by the Spirit of God in scripture, especially in describing the Christian life. The Christian is represented as a man travelling through the waste howling wilderness to Immanuel’s land.… Many a mountain of difficult duty has he to ascend, and many a steep of painful suffering has he to descend on his way to his heavenly home. Many waters of deep distress, which sometimes rush unexpectedly upon him, like torrents from the mountains, and threaten to sweep him away into destruction, has he to pass through.—Peddie.
“Waters” and “rivers” are employed metaphorically in two opposite senses. Because, in a warm climate especially, waters are so necessary to allay the thirst of man, and to cool and invigorate the body enfeebled by excessive heat, and are so calculated to beautify the landscape and to diffuse fertility, everything that is comfortable and joyous is shadowed forth by “waters,” “rivers,” “streams” (Isa_41:18). But in other places, as here, by “waters” and “rivers” we are to understand afflictions and tribulations; because waters, which are so beneficial, when in over-abundance are so noxious; and because he who has to pass through them has a difficult and hazardous task to perform, and he who is plunged into them is in imminent risk of his life.
1. The waters of affliction are numerous. The Christian in his progress towards heaven has not one river only to pass through; there are many, including the Jordan, that lie between him and that happy land (Psa_34:19; H. E. I. 3661, 3674).
2. They are often deep. Every stream is not a brook; there are rivers as well as rivulets; and all afflictions are not “light.” The stream is easily passed over in summer months, or when the sky is serene and settled, compared with what it is in the midst of winter, or when it overflows its banks in consequence of the descending torrents. When it goes well with the soul, and the Christian walks “in the light of God’s countenance,” and “in the fellowship of Christ,” and “in the comforts of the Holy Ghost,” the waters of trouble are easily forded; they seem not half so deep as at other times when the heavens above, as well as the things on earth, frown upon him. The union of many streams occasions a greater depth of water than can be found in any of them singly; and how deep must be the affliction of that saint who meets with combined distress of body and of soul (Psa_42:7; Jon_2:3).
3. They are frequently muddy. When the waters of a river are most plentiful they are usually least limpid, and the traveller who has to pass through them, besides the uneasiness which he suffers from perceiving their increased quantity, is distressed because he can neither see the bottom nor conjecture their depth. How often in times of affliction is it thus with the saints! The designs of Providence are wrapt up in obscurity. Their eye is unable to discover the reasons of the Divine controversy with them; neither can their anxious minds form any idea of that depth and severity of distress which they must yet suffer before they obtain deliverance.
4. They are in many places broad. The river is often confined by the height of its banks within a narrow channel, and whatever be the difficulty of passing through, the traveller soon reaches the further side; but at other times it spreads itself out to a great extent, and it is not till after many a weary step that he reascends to the dry land. The waters of affliction often extend over a great space (Psa_90:15; Psa_88:15). It is no small addition to trouble of any kind, when it is lengthened out. The soul is ready to faint because of its continuance; faith, patience, and hope are ready to die out (Psa_13:1-2). Indeed in no case can we see the further bank of the river of trouble. A mist hangs over it. When we enter it; we can never say how long it will be before we reascend out of it. This only we know, that when the journey of life is finished, we shall be delivered out of all tribulation, and “the days of our mourning shall be ended.”
5. They are at certain seasons exceedingly rapid. They sometimes descend upon the saint with all the rapidity of a torrent, and ere he is aware he is in the midst of great distress. As in Job’s case, the messengers of woe come running unto us at a time when all is quiet, and we looked for joy (Job_30:14; Job_30:26; Job_30:31). Even when the soul enters the stream with full warning of what it is to meet with, it is often found more rapid than was supposed, and descends with a force which it is not easy to sustain (H. E. I. 54, 55).
II. THE PASSING THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. There is no getting to heaven without passing through the waters. The heavenly land, like Canaan to Abraham when he dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, “lies beyond the flood,” and through this we must pass before we can enter in and possess it. Affliction is the portion of saints in this world. Each of them in his order seems to say with Jeremiah, “I am the man that hath seen affliction.” The Great Head of the Church Himself passed through many waters of tribulation (Isa_53:3).
2. Some saints on their way to heaven pass through more rivers of trouble than others. Travellers who set out to the same place from different parts of the country pass through tracts different in their form and scenery, and some meet with rivers which others avoid. The Lord, in wisdom and sovereignty, diversifies the lot of His people.
3. The travellers to Zion pass through the same waters at different stages of their journey. The rivers wind. Hence they are met by the travellers from different parts at earlier or later periods, at greater or less distances. Let us not take it for granted that because we have never experienced trials against which others have had to contend, therefore we shall never meet with them.
4. Through the very same waters of affliction the Christian in his journey has often more than once to pass. We ought not to imagine that, because we have been in any particular period afflicted in a certain manner, we shall no more experience that distress. The waters through which you have already passed may wind about, and you may have to pass through them yet again. Never think yourself secure against any one trial, temptation, or affliction, while you are so far from the house of your heavenly Father.
5. The Christian, in passing through the waters and the rivers, much needs a guide and helper. Without one, he could never pass through them in safety. His own wisdom, courage, and strength are utterly unable to resist the impetuosity of the torrents that assail him. His fellow-Christians need the same assistance as himself. His help can come only from Him who says here: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.”
III. THE PROMISED PRESENCE OF GOD DURING THE CHRISTIAN’S PASSAGE THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. It is the presence of God Himself which is promised. Not merely by means of instruments. The Lord has more love to His people than to leave any of them to pass through the waters with no other comforter or helper than the best of men, or even the greatest angels. Their wisdom, power, and grace are finite, limited, and insufficient for an undertaking so arduous. He has therefore promised to be with them, and this is everything.
2. It is the special presence of God which is promised to be with them. By His essential presence God fills heaven, earth, and hell, upholding and governing all things. But if the promise has any meaning or comfort in it, it is a promise of special presence; a promise of His presence as a God of grace and love. How big with comfort, help, and deliverance is our text when thus understood! In the time of trouble, we wish our friends to be near us. Yet, often their sympathy cannot remove our anguish, nor their help effect our deliverance. But when we have God with us, He can do for us all we need.
3. It is the presence of the Lord in all distresses which is here promised. Were there one river through which a saint had to pass in which he had not reason to expect the Divine presence, he would have cause to be afraid. But as His presence is intended for the consolation and salvation of His people, the promise reaches to every kind of distress.
4. It is His presence at all times which is promised. He is not like a stranger who occasionally appears for the relief of those who are struggling with the stream, and are ready to be swept away by it. No, He abides with His people (Isa_54:10; Psa_138:7).
5. The promise guarantees the presence of God with all the saints when passing through the waters. Partialities are unknown with our God. He loves all His children, and He will provide deliverance for them all. If this promise was made for any, it was for them that especially need His presence and help. The more helpless thou art in thyself, the greater is the evidence that He intended it for thee.
IV. THE HAPPY CONSEQUENCES OF GOD’S PRESENCE WITH THE SAINTS WHEN THEY PASS THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. He guides and directs them. It is His general promise to His people: “I will guide thee with mine eye;” and if there is any season in which they need Divine counsel and heavenly guidance, it is in the season of distress. But then He gives it to them as He did to Jehoshaphat (2Ch_20:12; H. E. I. 176).
2. He comforts them (H. E. I. 202; P. D. 93).
3. He sanctifies to them the waters of affliction. Since God is with him, the swelling waters purify the believer, and cannot destroy him; they fit him for heaven, and cannot prevent his progress to it. Many, besides David, instead of suffering by affliction, have come up out of the waters “like flocks of sheep which go up from the washing” (H. E. I. 116).
4. He strengthens them to pass through the waters. Cry then unto Him (Psa_20:1-2).
5. He delivers them from the waters. They cannot deliver themselves. But they are not therefore lost in the deep waters (Psa_34:6). Deliverance comes not always as soon as they desire it; but it comes in due season; it never comes too late. In the most unexpected moment, in the most unexpected manner, He appears for their deliverance; so singular is it sometimes that they can scarcely credit it (Psa_126:1-3). He does not always deliver them from every river into which they enter. He permits some one or other of them to carry them down the stream till they reach the waters of Jordan. But there they do not perish. He gives them victory over death, and by means of this deliverance sets them free from all their troubles.—James Peddie, D.D.: Discourses, pp. 395–424.
It is assumed that God’s people will pass through the waters and through the fire. These elements, so useful as friends, so terrible as enemies, represent trouble and distress. Water may be too deep to ford, the practised swimmer may be overpowered. Within the grasp of fire, injury, destruction, death are speedily accomplished. The sufferer is sometimes like one aroused from sleep in a burning house. Despair seizes him. Those who have no God, or whose faith fails to realise His sufficiency, relinquish effort and hope. The antidote is found in God’s all-sufficient promises. Here is one that assures believers of the Divine presence in trouble, and the Divine deliverance from it.
I. THE DIVINE PRESENCE IN TROUBLE. What is it in our nature that finds a relief in the presence of a friend in times of deepest sorrow? In the first burst of sorrow, the heart must be left alone. It prefers to be alone. The nearest earthly friend must not intrude on the sacredness of its grief. But the time comes when it craves for sympathy. The presence of a friend, even if no word is spoken, exerts the mysterious influence that brings relief and consolation. At suitable time and in suitable manner, there will be the sympathetic word. Perhaps the substantial aid. Whether or not, there will be the restful feeling of the weak when they depend upon the strong.
Your friend’s trouble may have been the hopeless ruin of his fortune. You could do nothing for him. But you made it in your way to call upon him. He will never forget it. He is sick; and time, to the sick, is weariness. You visited him. Dear to Paul the apostle were those friends who were not ashamed of his chain; who visited him in imprisonment and ministered to his wants. It is not merely that there is society to relieve the tedium of solitude, and divert attention from the presence of sorrow. Any one might do that. But more is wanted. A stranger, or one to whom the sufferer is personally indifferent, could not convey the mysterious influence that has help and comfort in it. The comfort comes from the consciousness that the presence is that of a friend.
Now, God is the best of friends. It is the privilege of believers to call Him friend. By faith their sins are forgiven. They are reconciled to Him. By His grace they are born again. The old enmity of their hearts is abandoned. Its place has been taken by love. Fellowship with God is the Christian’s joy. His friendship reflects glory on those who are honoured with it. It is this Friend who says, “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee.” We cannot see Him. Sight is not necessary to the conscious presence of even an earthly friend. The room may be dark, not a word may be spoken, not a sound heard; but we feel that he is there; the influence is the same as if we saw him. God’s conscious presence fills the soul with faith, hope, peace. It is the consciousness of love and sympathy. It is the invisible, secret, gentle power of His Spirit that gives calmness and strength while trouble is pressing most heavily, and while external circumstances are the most distressing. “I will be with thee” (H. E. I. 198, 3677).
II. THE DIVINE DELIVERANCE FROM TROUBLE. If the believer is called to pass through the waters, they shall not overflow him; if he is called to walk through the fire, he shall not be burned, nor shall the flames kindle upon him. Trouble may come: but he shall be brought through at the last. It may seem like a miracle. It is like saying the action of fire and water shall be so controlled that their natural result shall not follow. No difficulty, no trouble is so great that the Lord cannot effect a deliverance; in some unexpected way deliverance shall come. The day is overcast with gloomy clouds; the atmosphere is depressed; the rain comes in torrents; the wind sweeps down houses and trees before it; universal wreck seems impending; when unexpectedly the storm abates, wind and rain cease, the clouds separate, a genial warmth is diffused, the sun shines out, the storm is forgotten. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” He suffers His people to pass through fire and water, not only that He may display His power and love in their deliverance, but often, because the fire and the water lie in their way to some good exceeding what they have ever enjoyed; which, without it, could not have been reached. Sickness is sometimes the pathway to health; temporal calamity to prosperity; sorrow to established Christian character; spiritual distresses to a profounder realisation of spiritual blessings. The cross prepares for the crown. Death is the gate of life.
Oh, how many such deliverances are recorded in the sacred history! Joseph from prison. The bush burned, but was not consumed. The children of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan. Daniel from the lions’ den. The three Hebrew youths in the furnace of fire; but there was one with them “like the Son of God, and therefore upon their bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed.” Fire cannot burn, water cannot drown those whom the Lord preserves. Nothing can prevent the fulfilment of His word.
Consider the grounds on which your confidence may repose—
1. His purpose. The salvation of His people from every evil is part of His redeeming plan. Everything is subordinate to this. Hindrances have been swept away. He has spared no expense. “I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Ethiopia and Seba for thee.” He gave His Son.
2. His faithfulness. You can plead His word of promise. The truth of His nature is pledged. He will do as He has said.
3. His love. Is He not thy Father? He loves His children. His heart is set on their salvation. Will not love do all that is necessary?
4. His power. He can sweep away all material and spiritual hindrances that lie in the way. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
But there must be faith. God’s promises are made to faith. The blessing is according to faith. Let your mind rest in the promises in every time of distress, whatever its nature, assured that either He will remove it or overrule it, so that a blessing shall come through it. If there are losses, disappointments, bereavements, soul-troubles, the solemn hour of death, His presence, and His delivering power shall be the sufficient antidote.—J. Rawlinson.
God’s grace never shines so brightly as when it shines through the cloud of His people’s sins. Nor does it ever appear so glorious as when displayed in the depth of their unworthiness. When nature is at the lowest, grace is generally at the highest. When God has threatened His people for their sins, or chastened them for their follies, He then generally steps in with some revelation of His grace, or makes some precious promise. This was the case with Israel of old, whom God had visited with sore and terrible judgments; and then, instead of utterly consuming them, He comes forward and says, “When thou passest,” &c.
I. THE PILGRIM’S PAINFUL LOT. He has to pass through deep, sore, and successive trials. Persecution, temptations, conflict within. Temporal trials: losses, crosses, disappointments, and vexations. The fire tries the metal, and separates it from the dross, &c. So the believer’s trials refine him, &c.
II. THE LORD’S GRACIOUS PROMISE. “I will be with thee.” Nothing is so much needed, nothing so much prized by the believer in affliction, as the presence of God.
1. To direct thy steps, for I know all the way.
2. To strengthen thy faith, for I know how weak and feeble it is.
3. To cheer thy heart, for I know all thy sorrows.
4. To secure thy benefit, for I will surely do thee good.
5. To bring thee safely through all, and lead thee safe to glory.
CONCLUSION.—Our trials will sweeten home. Heaven will make amends for all. Whatever happens, God is still our Father, and we are His beloved children.—James Smith.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible1900 · Public DomainOn v1Isa 43:1-3
Isa 43:1-3
In this text we have
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I. A charge given—"Fear not." A righteous, godly fear the believer may have; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt—which is prone to distrust even the Almighty and disbelieve the All-true—this he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling nor the faithfulness of his God.
II. A reason assigned—"Thou art Mine." These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh, and to them they still remain a covenant of peace, sure and steadfast for ever; yet as the relations named—Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour—are not peculiar to them, but are enjoyed in the same degree by every believing heart, we may safely take to ourselves a share in this animating promise. The certainty of the believer’s hope does not depend on our holding God, but on God’s holding us, not on our faithfulness to Him, but on His faithfulness to us.
III. A protection promised. This does not consist in any absence of trial and danger; the expressions of the text rather imply their presence, many in number and various in kind. The protection promised in the text consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour. The preserving hand will never be withdrawn, and the grace of the Comforter will strengthen and cheer the soul still in its sorest times of difficulty and distress.
E. Garbett, The Soul’s Life, p. 204.
References: Isa 43:1.—R. Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 88. Isa 43:1-4.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1895.
Isa 43:2
(with Dan. 3)
The text contains
I. A pre-intimation of trouble. Although we have not in it a distinct assertion or prediction of particular trials, yet it is most clearly and strongly implied that the chosen people would have to go through them. God never deceives us. He never foresees one thing for us and tells us to expect another. He meets us, so to speak, in plainness and candour, and He says, My ways are ways of ultimate happiness, but not of proximate. Tribulation is the very cause of religion’s peculiar blessedness,—the very parent and producer of its inconceivable peace. Those who have most of the sorrow invariably taste most of the joy.
II. A promise of Divine succour and deliverance. The very same passage that intimates sorrow and leads us to expect persecution for the sake of Christ, assures us also most encouragingly of strength equal to our day, and of grace to help in every time of need. The promise assures us (1) of the Saviour’s sympathy in our trials, "I will be with thee." What Jesus promises to His chosen is not the mere succour of aid—it is the succour of a helpful sympathy. (2) Mark the kind of sympathy it is. It is not the sympathy of weakness that can only weep with us, but hath no power to give us assistance. But this is the remarkable and blessed thing in the sympathy of Christ—it is human sympathy allied to Almighty power. This sympathising Son of God is the Creator and Controller of flood and fire. There is promised to all His tried and faithful servants both succour and salvation, defence and deliverance.
R. Glover, By the Waters of Babylon, p. 133.
References: Isa 43:2.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 397; R. Glover, By the Waters of Babylon, p. 133. Isa 43:3.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1831. Isa 43:4.—Ibid., vol. xvi., No. 917, vol. xxviii., No. 1671; Isa 43:6.—Ibid., vol. xvii., No. 1007; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 296. Isa 43:10.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 52; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 229, vol. xii., p. 134; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 106; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xi., No. 644; J. Hall, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 270; J. Kennedy, Ibid., vol. i., p. 424. Isa 43:16.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 354. Isa 43:19.—T. Stephenson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 209. Isa 43:21.—J. J. West, Penny Pulpit, No. 348; Homiletic Magazine, vol. ix., p. 165.
Isa 43:22
I. The nature of this evil. To be weary of God is to desire to break the connection that exists between us and God. It is to be impatient of continued connection with Him; to be tired of calling upon Him; tired of thinking of Him; tired of trusting Him; tired of waiting for Him; tired of serving Him.
II. The nature of this weariness will appear further if you look for a moment at the forms in which it is shown. (1) This weariness is first shown by formality in Divine worship, (2) in the outward neglect of Divine requirements, (3) in not looking to God for aid and succour, (4) in the setting up of false gods.
III. What is the occasion of the manifestation of this weariness? You will generally find one of the following things—disappointed hope, the endurance of affliction, or the prosperity of the wicked.
IV. God’s dealings, God’s dispensations, may be the occasion of the springing up of this weariness, but we cannot charge it upon God. Its cause is to be found either in the absence of love or in the feebleness of love.
V. Look at the bitter fruits of this weariness. God sees it, and He cannot see it without feeling it, that would be impossible. What feeling, therefore, must spring up in the Divine nature? It cannot be joy and it cannot be complacency. What can it be but anger, what but displeasure? And displeasure does arise. God is angry and He corrects, and He corrects so as to make the chastisement answer to the sin. The man has, to a cer tain extent, withdrawn from God—God withdraws from the man. He deprives the man of whatever influences are tending to promote his peace and joy and rest. And if the heart be alive, if it be a quickened heart, this state is one/of great misery until the soul is restored to God.
VI. What is the prevention, or rather, the means of prevention? Ejecting the first hard thoughts of God, not yielding for a moment to indolence in the service of God; following Christ implicitly in the conduct of the spirit towards God; cherishing most sacredly the influences of the Holy Spirit.
VII. And when you have fallen into this evil state, what is its cure? (1) The full confession of the weariness. (2) Admission of the Divine goodness in the correction by which you are made sensible of your weariness. (3) Return to the careful observances of God’s ordinances and precepts, the obtaining of pardon, and the assurance of forgiveness.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 1st series, No. 19.
References: Isa 43:22-24.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1895. Isa 43:24.—Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 144.
Isa 43:24-25
I. Consider the ground on which Israel is reproached. Sweet cane, or calamus, is an aromatic reed which was an exotic in in Palestine, and is chiefly to be found in India. The demand for sweet cane was great, because it formed an ingredient of the incense in most countries where incense was used. It was one of the things which could not be obtained by barter. The charge is, "You do not neglect the offices of religion, but you perform them carelessly; you do not withhold your offerings, but you do not offer of your best." Bad is the best that man has to offer to God; but less than our best God will not accept.
II. When did the King eternal, immortal, invisible, serve? When was God, the Omnipotent, wearied with our iniquities? When did the Judge of the earth blot out our sins? We, enlightened by the gospel, can give an answer which Israel of old could not. We answer, "Then, when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," when God in the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate. He came to serve, and when we think of Him, the God-Man, serving under the law, is it possible for us to ask, in the spirit of a slave, How little can I render unto the Lord for all His benefits? what is the least that He demands, the minimum of duty? The great principle is this, that we never offer unto the Lord what costs us nothing, or what involves no thought or trouble. He will not accept the refuse at our hands. And this principle we are to carry out in all that relates to our moral conduct and religious life. It is applicable to our private devotions as well as to our public services. It is implied in our Lord’s injunction, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."
W. F. Hook, Parish Sermons, p. 186.
Isa 43:25
There is one thing that God always does with sin. He removes it out of His presence. God cannot dwell with sin. When He casts away the guilty soul into an unapproachable distance, and when He pardons a penitent soul and lays it upon His bosom, He is doing the same thing equally in both cases,—He is removing sin absolutely and infinitely.
I. Consider the Author of forgiveness. The expression, "I, even I," is not a very unfrequent one in Holy Scripture; but wherever it occurs—whether in reference to justice or to mercy—it is the mark of the Almighty, at that moment taking to Himself, in some special degree, some sovereign prerogative. Here, the magnificent repetition of that name, first given in the bush, was evidently intended to show one characteristic feature of God’s love. He forgives like a sovereign. All His attributes are brought to bear upon our peace. The pardoned sinner stands upon the Eternal, leans upon the Infinite, and looks out upon the unfading.
II. The nature of forgiveness. (1) As to time. Observe, the verb runs in the present tense—"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions." (2) As to degree. "Blot out." You could not read—Satan could not read—a trace where God’s obliterating hand has once passed. (3) As to continuance. In the text the present swells out into the future. He "blotteth out and will not remember."
III. The reason of forgiveness. Look back and find it in that eternal counsel, wherein, before all worlds, God gave to His dear Son a kingdom and a people. Look forward and find it in God’s will, that there shall be a multitude of washed saints around the throne of His glory, who shall be sending up praises to Him for ever and ever. Seek it in that unfathomable love in which He is the Father—the loving Father—of every creature He has made.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 279.
References: Isa 43:25.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 94; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i., No. 24, vol. xix., No. 1142, vol. xxviii., No. 1685. Isa 43:25-28.—C. Short, Expositor, 1st series, vol. ix., p. 150.
Isa 43:26
I. We cannot but remark at once on the apparent strangeness that there should be any appeal to reason or argument where the matter involved is undoubtedly the great doctrine of atonement or propitiation. A forgiveness based on a propitiation, and followed by sanctification, is what God propounds as His scheme of redemption, and such a scheme He invites us to discuss with Him in person. Let reason put forth all her shrewdness; there is no fear but that an answer will be furnished by your antagonist in this high debate. But if all the difficulties which reason can find in the way of redemption lie either in the necessities of man or the attributes of God, and if the scheme of redemption through Christ meet the first and yield the second, so that even reason herself can perceive that it satisfies every human want and compromises no Divine perfection, why should we not allow that, reason herself being judge, the gospel is in every respect precisely such a communication as is suited to the case?
II. The concluding words of the text, "Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified," seem to allow you, if you choose, to bring forward any excuse which you may have for not closing with that gracious proffer of salvation through Christ. Whilst we promise you upon the authority of revelation that God will blot out your transgressions and not remember your sins, we call on you to break away from evil habits, forsake evil ways, and attend to righteous duties. And here you think you have ground of objection. Well, urge it. It is God Himself who saith, "Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." But the answer is, that the persons to whom God will communicate additional grace are those who in obedience to His call are straining every nerve to forsake evil ways. It is not that they are able of themselves to work out a moral amendment, but it is that He intends to bestow on them the ability while they are making the effort. We may, however, take another and perhaps equally just view of the controversy, which is indicated, though not laid open, by our text. Come, all of you who think you are in any way hardly dealt with by God. Approach and plead your cause. Keep nothing back; be as minute as you will in exposing the harshness of God’s dealings, whether individually with yourselves or generally with mankind; and then, having pleaded your own cause, listen to the beautiful promise, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2299.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v1Isa 43:1. - Isa 43:7.
Isaiah
THY NAME: MY NAME
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Isa 43:1. - Isa 43:7.
Great stress is laid on names in Scripture. These two parallel and antithetic clauses bring out striking complementary relations between God and the collective Israel. But they are as applicable to each individual member of the true Israel of God.
I. What does God’s calling a man by his name imply?
1. Intimate knowledge.
Adam naming the creatures.
Christ naming His disciples.
2. Loving friendship.
Moses, ‘I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in my sight.’
3. Designation and adaptation to work.
Bezaleel- Exo 31:2; Cyrus- Isa 45:3; Servant of the Lord- Isa 49:1.
II. What does God’s calling a man by His name imply?
1. God’s possession of him. That possession by God involves God’s protection and man’s safety. He does not hold His property slackly. ‘None shall pluck them out of My Father’s hand.’
2. Kindred. The man bears the family name. He is adopted into the household. The sonship of the receiver of the new name is dimly shadowed.
3. Likeness.
The Biblical meaning of ‘name’ is ‘character manifested.’
Nomen and omen coincide.
We must bring into connection with the texts the prominence given in the Apocalypse to analogous promises.
‘I will write on him the name of My God.’ That means a fuller disclosing of God’s character, and a clear impress of that character on perfected men ‘His name shall be in their foreheads.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow1909 · Public DomainOn v1The Mission of Israel
The Mission of Israel
1-21. The dispersed Israelites shall be ransomed and restored. They are witnesses before the world that Jehovah is the true God. A second and more wonderful exodus is in store for Israel.
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22-28. This deliverance is not a return for service rendered to God, but a free gift.
1. But now] In contrast to the wrath poured upon Israel (Isa_42:24-25) God will manifest His redeeming love.
3. Egypt, etc.] The meaning is that these nations shall take the place of Israel as vassals. Jehovah is willing to give the richest lands as ransom for His people.
4. Thou hast been] RV 'and hast been.'
People] RV 'peoples.'
5, 6. Every nation where Israelites were dispersed must restore them to their home.
8. Blind, etc.] see Isa_42:18.
9f. Another judgment scene, similar to Isa_41:21.
9. The heathen are challenged to bring witnesses on behalf of their gods, that they can foretell the future.
10-13. The Israelites themselves are Jehovah's witnesses, proving in their experience that He alone is the Eternal, the Almighty, who can save and foretell the future.
14. Babylon] Here for the first time the place of exile is named. Have.. nobles] RV 'will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans.' Whose cry, etc.] RV 'in the ships of their rejoicing.' Babylonia was famous for its shipping; ships belonging to it and other cities on the Persian Gulf are referred to in the earliest Babylonian legends.
16, 17. The imagery for this second exodus is borrowed from the exodus from Egypt.
18, 19. The mighty works of the past shall be forgotten, in view of a still greater deliverance: cp. Jer_23:7, Jer_23:8.
20. Dragons.. owls] RV'jackals.. ostriches.'
22-24. Israel's service has not been such as to deserve Jehovah's interposition.
23. Small cattle] Heb. 'lambs or kids'(mg.). I have not caused, etc.] i.e. I have not laid too heavy burdens on you.
24. Sweet cane] from which anointing oil was prepared (Exo_30:23). Thou hast made me to serve, etc.] i.e. I have had to endure.
26. An invitation to produce any argument in defence of their conduct.
27, 28. Nothing can be urged; they have sinned from the beginning of their national existence; hence the calamity of the exile, which has made them an object of scorn to the world.
27. First father] Jacob: cp. Isa_43:28.
28. Profaned, etc.] i.e. treated the chief priests (cp. 1Ch_24:5) as though they were ordinary unconsecrated men. During the exile their priestly functions were in abeyance.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v1Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
redeemed
Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein1922 · Public DomainOn v1Jehovah Speaks in Comfort to His People
CHAPTER 43
Jehovah Speaks in Comfort to His People
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1. What Jehovah is and will be to Israel (Isa 43:1-7) 2. Second address to the blind and deaf people (Isa 43:8-13) 3. Jehovah deals with their enemies (Isa 43:14-17) 4. Blessed things to come: They shall show forth My praise (Isa 43:18-21) 5. Jehovah’s loving appeal and promise to remember their sins no more (Isa 43:22-28) Chapters 43-45 must be studied together. Jehovah speaks in these chapters as nowhere else in the prophetic Word. Note the many declarations Jehovah makes. “I have redeemed thee,” “I will be with thee,” “I have loved thee,” “I have made him,” “I am the LORD, I will make a way in the wilderness.” All God’s people can lay claim to these blessed words of promise and assurance. Ultimately Israel will possess and enjoy these great blessings.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v1Jehovah’s Love Protects And Gathers His People
Jehovah’s Love Protects And Gathers His People
v. 1. But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, not only in the act of creation, but in the sense of making the descendants of Jacob His own peculiar people, a distinction which has now been transferred to the spiritual Israel, the Church of God, Fear not, namely, after the stern reproofs of the last chapter and on account of the natural feeling of sinfulness and unworthiness, for I have redeemed thee, His main activity ever consisting in His ransoming His children from the power of their enemies; I have called thee by thy name, thereby expressing the relation of intimate friendship which He wanted to exist; thou art Mine, His incomparable love causing Him to regard Israel as His precious possession, which He treasures with all the power of His eternal mercy.
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v. 2. When thou passest through the waters, through great dangers, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee, as when Israel went dry-shod through the bed of Jordan, although it was the period of the annual floods, Jos 3:15; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, the most extreme perils would not be able to harm those who placed their trust in Him, the God of their salvation.
v. 3. For I am the Lord, thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior, the outstanding names of the true God in the Old Testament, the very mention of which is a guarantee of His friendship, especially that of Savior, 1Ti 1:1. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia, the southern part of Egypt, and Seba, the province of Meroe, between the White and the Blue Nile, for thee, the ungodly being given as ransom for the just, to punish them for their iniquities in opposing the true God, Pro 21:18.
v. 4. Since thou wast precious in My sight, valued most highly by the great God, thou hast been honorable, esteemed greatly in His sight, and I have loved thee, this being the climax of His kind assurances; therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life, sacrificing the ungodly in order to deliver them that are His, as stated in the previous verse. So eager is the Lord to impress the greatness of His love upon the minds of His children that he repeats His reassuring statements.
v. 5. Fear not, for I am with thee, the pronoun "I,’ being placed with special emphasis; I will bring thy seed from the East and gather thee from the West, the spiritual Israel, the Church of God, being collected from the members of all nations;
v. 6. I will say to the North, Give up, and to the South, Keep not back, the form of the admonition including a very willing yielding on the part of the distant peoples, all under the influence of the Lord’s merciful invitation. Bring My Sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth, the prophecy having in mind the sum total of the believers gained through the proclamation of His message,
v. 7. even every one that is called by My name, as an evidence of their belonging to Him in faith; for I have created him, Israel, as representing the Church of God of all times, for My glory, that the work of the Church might redound to His honor and glory; I have formed him, by a process of careful education; yea, I have made him, prepared him for the purposes of His mercy. Of the saints of the Lord, whom He has called, sanctified, and kept in the faith, not one will remain behind on the Last Day; all will enter into the joy of their Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1, 2, 4he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed…
he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel
Both clauses mean the same thing. AT: "the one who created you, O people of Israel" (See: Parallelism)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1–243:1-7 In this promise of salvation, the Lord addressed…
43:1-7 In this promise of salvation, the Lord addressed his plundered people in the first person.
43:1 the Lord who created you: The language of creation (see study note on 40:28) was now applied to God’s formation of the nation Israel. • I have ransomed you: At the Exodus, when God brought his people out of bondage. Similarly, God planned to bring his people out of exile and back into their land. Ultimately, Jesus gave his life as a ransom for all humanity (Matt 20:28; 1 Tim 2:6; Heb 9:15) • I have called you by name; you are mine: Despite having faced his wrath, the people of Israel are still God’s chosen people.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1–4 After these threatenings he promiseth deliverance to his Church,…
After these threatenings he promiseth deliverance to his Church, because he hath regenerated them, adopted them, and called them.
When thou seest dangers and conspiracies on all sides, remember this benefit and the love of thy God, and it shall encourage thee.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Isa 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that…
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.
Ver. 1. But now, thus saith the Lord.] Here the prophet comforteth those with the gospel whom he had frighted with the law, saith Oecolampadius.
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That created thee, O Jacob.] By a new creation, especially. {Isa 29:23 Eph 2:10 2Co 5:17} Magna sunt opera Dei creatoris, Dei recreatoris longe maxima. {a} The work of redemption is far beyond that of creation.
And he that formed thee, O Israel.] As the potter formeth to himself a vessel of honour, and distinguisheth it from other vile and sordid vessels; so have I dealt by thee.
I have redeemed thee.] A mercy much celebrated in this book, and for very great reason.
I have called thee by thy name.] Which was no small favour. See Exo 33:17 Psa 147:4. Some think he alludeth to his giving Jacob the name of Israel, when he had wrestled with God and prevailed.
Thou art mine.] I have adopted thee, which is no small honour. {1Jn 3:1} Meus es tu, you are mine, may very well be the new name spoken of, {Rev 2:17 Hos 2:23} better than that of sons and of daughters, {Isa 56:5} See it displayed 1Pe 2:9.
{a} Augustine.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–4 But now thus saith the Lord; but notwithstanding thy…
But now thus saith the Lord; but notwithstanding thy gross insensibleness under former judgments, for which I might justly send far heavier ones upon thee, yet I will deal mercifully with thee.
That created thee; that made, thee his people, and that in so miraculous a manner, as if he had created thee a second time out of nothing; and therefore he will be gracious to his own workmanship. I have redeemed thee from the Egyptians, and divers other enemies; and therefore I will redeem thee again.
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By thy name; by the name of God’s people, which was as proper and peculiar to them as the name of Israel.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 This chapter has a plain connexion with the close…
This chapter has a plain connexion with the close of the foregoing chapter, but a very surprising one. It was there said that Jacob and Israel would not walk in God's ways, and that when he corrected them for their disobedience they were stubborn and laid it not to heart; and now one would think it should have followed that God would utterly abandon and destroy them; but no, the next words are, But now, fear not, O Jacob! O Israel! I have redeemed thee, and thou art mine. Though many among them were untractable and incorrigible, yet God would continue his love and care for his people, and the body of that nation should still be reserved for mercy. God's goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom 5:20), and mercy rejoices against judgment, as having prevailed and carried the day, Jam 2:13. Now the sun, breaking out thus of a sudden from behind a thick and dark cloud, shines the brighter, and with a pleasing surprise. The expressions of God's favour and good-will to his people here are very high, and speak abundance of comfort to all the spiritual seed of upright Jacob and praying Israel; for to us is this gospel preached as well as unto those that were captives in Babylon, Heb 4:2. Here we have,
I. The grounds of God's care and concern for his people and the interests of his church and kingdom among men. Jacob and Israel, though in a sinful miserable condition, shall be looked after; for, 1. They are God's workmanship, created by him unto good works, Eph 2:10. He has created them and formed them, not only given them a being, but this being, formed them into a people, constituted their government, and incorporated them by the charter of his covenant. The new creature, wherever it is, is of God's forming, and he will not forsake the work of his own hands. 2. They are the people of his purchase: he has redeemed them. Out of the land of Egypt he first redeemed them, and out of many another bondage, in his love, and in his pity (Isa 63:9); much more will he take care of those who are redeemed with the blood of his Son. 3. They are his peculiar people, whom he has distinguished from others, and set apart for himself: he has called them by name, as those he has a particular intimacy with and concern for, and they are his, are appropriated to him and he has a special interest in them. 4. He is their God in covenant (Isa 43:3): I am the Lord thy God, worshipped by thee and engaged by promise to thee, the Holy One of Israel, the God of Israel; for the true God is a holy one, and holiness becomes his house. And upon all these accounts he might justly say, Fear not (Isa 43:1), and again Isa 43:5, Fear not. Those that have God for them need not fear who or what can be against them.
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II. The former instances of this care. 1. God has purchased them dearly: I gave Egypt for thy ransom; for Egypt was quite laid waste by one plague after another, all their first-born were slain and all their men of war drowned; and all this to force a way for Israel's deliverance from them. Egypt shall be sacrificed rather than Israel shall continue in slavery, when the time has come for their release. The Ethiopians had invaded them in Asa's time; but they shall be destroyed rather than Israel shall be disturbed. And if this was reckoned so great a thing, to give Egypt for their ransom, what reason have we to admire God's love to us in giving his own Son to be a ransom for us! Jo1 4:10. What are Ethiopia and Seba, all their lives and all their treasures, compared with the blood of Christ? 2. He had prized them accordingly, and they were very dear to him (Isa 43:4): Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honourable. Note, True believers are precious in God's sight; they are his jewels, his peculiar treasure (Exo 19:5); he loves them, his delight is in them, above any people. His church is his vineyard. And this makes God's people truly honourable, and their name great; for men are really what they are in God's eye. When the forces of Sennacherib, that they might be diverted from falling upon Israel, were directed by Providence to fall upon Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, then God gave those countries for Israel, and showed how precious his people were in his sight. So some understand it.
III. The further instances God would yet give them of his care and kindness. 1. He would be present with them in their greatest difficulties and dangers (Isa 43:2): "When thou passest through the waters and the rivers, through the fire and the flame, I will be with thee, and that shall be thy security; when dangers are very imminent and threatening, thou shalt be delivered out of them." Did they, in their journey, pass through deep water? They should not perish in them: "The rivers shall not overflow thee." Should they by their persecutors be cast into a fiery furnace, for their constant adherence to their God, yet then the flame should not kindle upon them, which was fulfilled in the letter in the wonderful preservation of the three children, Dan. 3. Though they went through fire and water, which would be to them as the valley of the shadow of death, yet, while they had God with them, they need fear no evil, they should be borne up, and brought out into a wealthy place, Psa 66:12. 2. He would still, when there was occasion, make all the interests of the children of men give way to the interests of his own children: "I will give men for thee, great men, mighty men, and men of war, and people (men by wholesale) for thy life. Nations shall be sacrificed to thy welfare." All shall be cut off rather than God's Israel shall, so precious are they in his sight. The affairs of the world shall all be ordered and directed so as to be most for the good of the church, Ch2 16:9. 3. Those of them that were scattered and dispersed in other nations should all be gathered in and share in the blessings of the public, Isa 43:5-7. Some of the seed of Israel were dispersed into all countries, east, west, north, and south, or into all the parts of the country of Babylon; but those whose spirits God stirred up to go to Jerusalem should be fetched in from all parts; divine grace should reach those that lay most remote, and at the greatest distance from each other; and, when the time should come, nothing should prevent their coming together to return in a body, in answer to that prayer (Psa 106:47), Gather us from among the heathen, and in performance of that promise (Deu 30:4), If any of thine be driven to the utmost parts of heaven, thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, which we find pleaded on behalf of the children of the captivity, Neh 1:9. But who are the seed of Israel that shall be thus carefully gathered in? He tells us (Isa 43:7) they are such as God has marked for mercy; for, (1.) They are called by his name; they make profession of religion, and are distinguished from the rest of the world by their covenant-relation to God and denomination from him. (2.) They are created for his glory; the spirit of Israelites is created in them, and they are formed according to the will of God, and these shall be gathered in. Note, Those only are fit to be called by the name of God that are created by his grace for his glory; and those whom God has created and called shall be gathered in now to Christ as their head and hereafter to heaven as their home. He shall gather in his elect from the four winds. This promise points at the gathering in of the dispersed of the Gentiles, and the strangers scattered, by the gospel of Christ, who died to gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad; for the promise was to all that were afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call and create. God is with the church, and therefore let her not fear; none that belong to her shall be lost.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 But now thus saith the Lord that created thee,…
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob,.... This prophecy is not concerning Cyrus, and the redemption of the Jews by him, as some have thought; nor of Sennacherib and his army, and of their deliverance from him, as Kimchi and his father interpret it; but of the Christian church, and the state of it, when Jerusalem should be destroyed, as predicted in the preceding chapter; which goes by the name of Jacob and Israel, for the first churches chiefly consisted of Jews, and both Jews and Gentiles converted are the spiritual Israel of God:
and he that formed thee, O Israel; this creation and formation are not so much to be understood of their being the creatures of God, and the work of his hands, in a natural sense; but of their new creation and regeneration; of their being the spiritual workmanship of God, created in Christ, and formed for his glory:
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fear not: for I have redeemed thee: though Jerusalem shall be destroyed, and Judea wasted, and though subject to the persecutions of wicked men in all places; yet since redeemed by Christ from sin, Satan, and the law, hell, and death, nothing is to be feared from either of them; redemption by Christ is an antidote against the fear of any enemy whatsoever:
I have called thee by thy name; with an effectual calling, which is of particular persons, and those by name, even the same that are redeemed by Christ; for whom he has redeemed by his precious blood, they are called by the grace of God to special blessings of grace, with a high, holy, and heavenly calling; and have no reason to fear anything, since they are the chosen of God; have a right to all spiritual blessings; all things work together for their good; they shall persevere to the end, and at last be brought to glory, to which they are called:
thou art mine; such as are redeemed by Christ, and called by his grace, they are his Father's gift, and his own purchase; they voluntarily give up themselves to him, under the influence of his Spirit and grace; they are his by profession and possession; they are his portion, people, sheep, and spouse; and his interest in them, and theirs in him, serve to prevent fear; such need not fear wanting anything, nor any enemy, nor perishing, or miscarrying of heaven and happiness, to which fears they are subject.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 Promises to protect and enlarge the church, ver. 1-5.…
Promises to protect and enlarge the church, ver. 1-5. God appeals to them as witnesses of his power and knowledge, ver. 6- 13. He foretells the destruction of Babylon, and a new deliverance of his people, ver. 14-21. whose sins, ver. 22-24. against God's mercies render them inexcusable, ver. 25-28.
But - Notwithstanding thy gross insensibleness, I will deal mercifully with thee. Created - That made thee his people, and that in so miraculous a manner as if he had created thee a second time. Redeemed - From the Egyptians. Called thee - By the name of God's people, which was as proper and peculiar to them, as the name of Israel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 Prediction of that blessed period when God should gather…
CHAPTER XLIII
Prediction of that blessed period when God should gather the
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posterity of Abraham, with tender care, from their several
dispersions in every quarter under heaven, and bring them
safely to their own land, 1-7.
Struck with astonishment at so clear a display of an event so
very remote, the prophet again challenges all the blinded
nations and their idols to produce an instance of such
foreknowledge, 8, 9;
and intimates that the Jews should remains (as at this day,) a
singular monument to witness the truth of the prediction, till
it should at length be fulfilled by the irresistible power of
God, 10-13.
He then returns to the nearer deliverance - that from the
captivity of Babylon, 14, 15;
with which, however, he immediately connects another
deliverance described by allusions to that from Egypt, but
represented as much more wonderful than that; a character which
will not at all apply to the deliverance from Babylon, and must
therefore be understood of the restoration from the mystical
Babylon, 16-18.
On this occasion the prophet, with peculiar elegance, and by a
very strong poetic figure, represents the tender care of God in
comforting and refreshing his people on their way through the
desert, to be so great as to make even the wild beasts haunting
those parched places so sensible of the blessing of those
copious streams then provided by him, as to join their hissing
and howling notes with one consent to praise God, 19-21.
This leads to a beautiful contrast of the ingratitude of the
Jews, and a vindication of God's dealings with regard to them,
22-28.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLIII
Verse 1. I have called thee by thy name] "קראתי בשמך karathi beshimcha. So all the versions. But it seems from the seventh verse, and from the thing itself, that we should read קראתיך בשמי karathicha bishmi, 'I have called thee by my name;' for this form of speech often occurs - the other never. For Isa 45:24, concerning Cyrus, is another matter; but when God calls Jacob Israel, he calls him by the name of God. See Ex 31:2." - Secker.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 Isa 43:1-2. But now, thus saith the Lord —…
Isa 43:1-2. But now, thus saith the Lord — But, notwithstanding thy gross insensibility under former judgments, for which I might justly send far heavier calamities upon thee, yet I will deal mercifully with thee. That created thee, O Jacob, &c. — Who made thee his people, and that in a manner as miraculous as if he had created thee a second time out of nothing; and therefore he will be gracious to his own workmanship. Fear not; for I have redeemed thee — From the Egyptians and divers other enemies; and therefore I will redeem thee again. I have called thee by thy name, &c. — The name of God’s people, which was as proper and peculiar to them as the name of Israel. Or, “I have made a particular choice of thee for my peculiar people, and singled thee out from the rest of the world, and ever since have treated thee with uncommon instances of kindness and familiarity.” When thou passest through the waters, &c. — “I will support and deliver thee when thou art in the greatest straits and difficulties. To pass through fire and water is a proverbial expression, to signify being exposed to all kinds of dangers.” Thou shalt not be burned, &c. — Though I will chastise thee for thy sins, yet I will not suffer thine enemies utterly to destroy thee.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–4 But now - This expression shows that this chapter…
But now - This expression shows that this chapter is connected with the preceding. The sense is, “Though God has punished the nation, and showed them his displeasure Isa 42:24-25, yet now he will have mercy, and will deliver them.’
That created thee - The word ‘thee’ is used here evidently in a collective sense as denoting the Jewish people. It is used because the names ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ in the singular number are applied to the people. The word ‘created’ is used here to denote the idea that, as the special people of God, they owed their origin to him, as the universe owed its origin to his creative power. It means that, as a people, their institutions, laws, customs, and privileges, and whatever they had that was valuable, were all to be traced to him. The same word occurs in Isa 43:7, and again in Isa 43:15, ‘I am Yahweh - the Creator of Israel, your king’ (see also Isa 44:1; compare Psa 100:3).
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Fear not - This is to be understood as addressed to them when suffering the evils of the captivity of Babylon. Though they were captives, and had suffered long, yet they had nothing to fear in regard to their final extinction as a people. They should be redeemed from captivity, and restored again to the land of their fathers. The argument here is, that they were the chosen people of God; that he had organized them as his people for great and important purposes, and that those purposes must be accomplished. It would follow from that, that they must be redeemed from their captivity, and be restored again to their land.
For I have redeemed thee - The word גאל gā'al means properly “to redeem,” to ransom by means of a price, or a valuable consideration, as of captives taken in war; or to redeem a farm that was sold, by paying back the price. It is sometimes used, however, to denote deliverance from danger or bondage without specifying any price that was paid as a ransom. Thus the deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian bondage is sometimes spoken of as a redemption (Exo 6:6; Exo 15:13; compare Gen 18:16; Isa 29:22; Isa 44:23; Jer 31:11; see the note at Isa 1:27). It is not improbable, however, that wherever redemption is spoken of in the Scriptures, even in the most general manner, and as denoting deliverance from danger, oppression, or captivity, there is still retained the idea of a ransom in some form; a price paid; a valuable consideration; or something that was given in the place of that which was redeemed, and which answered the purpose of a valuable consideration, or a public reason of the deliverance. Thus, in regard to the deliverance from Egypt - Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba are mentioned as the ransom (see the note at Isa 43:3); and so in the deliverance from the captivity, Babylon was given in the place of the ransomed captives, or was destroyed in order that they might be redeemed. So in all notions of redemption; as, e. g., God destroyed the life of the great Redeemer, or caused him to be put to death, in order that his chosen people might be saved.
I have called thee by thy name - ‘To call by name’ denotes intimacy of friendship. Here it means that God had particularly designated them to be his people. His call had not been general, addressed to the nations at large, but had been addressed to them in particular. Compare Exo 31:2, where God says that he had designated ‘by name’ Bezaleel to the work of constructing the tabernacle.
Thou art mine - They were his, because he had formed them as a people, and had originated their institutions; because he had redeemed them, and because he had particularly designated them as his. The same thing may be said of his church now; and in a still more important sense, that church is his. He has organized it; he has appointed its special institutions; he has redeemed it with precious blood; and he has called his people by name, and designated them as his own.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1–4 And. Notwithstanding the sins of his people, God will…
And. Notwithstanding the sins of his people, God will deliver them, that they may be his witnesses, ver. 10. (Calmet) --- Name. As an intimate friend, (Haydock) or slave, chap. xlix. 1. (Calmet) --- God grants grace without any preceding merit. (Worthington) --- Forerius explains this mostly of the Gentile church, though it regards the converted Jews. (Houbigant)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Redemption or Salvation in its Entire Compass
IV.—THE FOURTH DISCOURSE
Redemption or Salvation in its Entire Compass
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Isa_43:1 to Isa_44:5
1. THE CHIEF INGREDIENTS OF REDEMPTION
Isa_43:1-8
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.
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.
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.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight,
Thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee:
Therefore will I give men for thee,
And people for thy 1life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee;
I will bring thy seed from the east,
And gather thee from the west;
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;
7 Even every one that is called by my name:
2For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him;
Yea, I have made him.
8 3Bring forth the blind people that have eyes,
And the deaf that have ears.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for recurrence of the words: Isa_43:1. –ועתה בָּרָא which occurs in reference to Israel again, Isa_43:7; Isa_43:15; Isa_65:18.—גאל–יצֹרּ see on Isa_41:14—קרא בשׁם see on Isa_41:25. Isa_43:2. בָּעַר–בָּוָה–שׁטפ, see Isa_42:25. Isa_43:3. כֹּפֶר. Isa_43:4. כַּבַד–יָקַר Niph.
Isa_43:1. On אל תירא see on Isa_40:9.—לי אתה occurs only here.
Isa_43:3. In the causal clause, אני is subject, יהוה apposition with it, אלהיך predicate. קדושׁ ישׂראל is also in apposition with אני, and מושׁיעך is predicate. This construction is demanded partly for the sake of symmetry, partly the sense requires that in the first member אלהיד be predicate. For just in the notion of divinity lies the notion of capacity to give protection and help.
Isa_43:4. מֵאֲשֶׁר, for which stands מִפְּנֵי אֲשֶׁר (Exo_19:18; Jer_44:23). occurs in this causal sense, only here. When the apodosis is formed with the Vav. cons. and the imperf., it intimates that the notion of giving is conceived of as only eventual: because thou art dear to me, so I would (if need be) give men (generally and in indefinite number) in thy stead, and nations (undetermined which and how many, in antithesis with the definite, Isa_43:3 b), for thy soul. Comp. Ewald, § 136 sq.—Thus Isa_43:4 b in relation to Isa_43:3 b contains an intensification.
Isa_43:6-7. It corresponds to the close connection between these two verses to construe Isa_43:7 formally as in apposition with Isa_43:6, whence we must reject the exposition of Hitzig and Hahn, who take כל הנקרא as a statement put first absolutely.—בראתיו וגו׳, that the participle merges into the verb. fin. happens according to the well known Heb. usus loq.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Having spoken in chapters 41, 42 of the Deliverer (in the first and second stage) and of those delivered, the Prophet now deals with the Deliverance in its entire extent. In this discourse he gives first (Isa_43:1-8) a general view by enumerating the chief ingredients of the deliverance: it rests on the divine redemptive-decree (Isa_43:1); nothing shall prevent it (Isa_43:2); no price is too great for it; for the sake of it nations even would be sacrificed, which shows the value of Israel in the Lord’s eyes (Isa_43:3-4); it is to embrace all Israel, all the scattered members to be called in from all parts of the earth (Isa_43:5-7); but finally it is attached to a subjective condition, viz., spiritual receptivity (Isa_43:8).
2. But now—thy life.
Isa_43:1-4. With “and now” the Prophet turns from the troubled pictures of the future, presented at the close of the preceding chapter, to joyful and comforting outlooks. The Lord had created and formed (Isa_44:2; Isa_44:24; Isa_45:11 (Isa_49:5); Isa_64:7), Israel, in as much as he had caused them to grow up to a nation by means of their ancestors from Adam on successively. קרא בשׁם, as in Isa_40:26; Isa_45:3-4, signifies the more exact acquaintance. By reason of the fact that the Lord Himself made Israel and from the beginning prepared him as an instrument of His purposes, He calls to the nation living in exile, not to fear, for three things are determined: that Israel shall be delivered, be called to the Lord (comp. Isa_48:12) and belong to him alone. Thus the Perfects—I have redeemed thee—I have called thee—are praeterita prophetica, and the last three clauses contain an ascending climax. Israel must not suffer itself to be deceived about this promise. It is very possible that, even after receiving it, the nation may pass through great trials—that, as it were, it must pass through waters—even there will the Lord be with it; that it must even pass through rivers (allusion to the Red Sea, Exodus 14, and the Jordan, Joshua 3)—the streams will not overflow them. Fire itself will as little hurt them. The ground for this security is the same that prompts the call fear not. Jehovah, Israel’s God, is also Israel’s protector.
In what sense does Jehovah give other nations as a ransom for Israel?Hahn understands it to mean that other nations are given to destruction as satisfaction for the injustice done Israel. But why does Jehovah give to destruction, not the nations themselves that carried Israel into exile, but other nations? According to Knobel’s idea, Cyrus is conceived as having some claim on the Jews belonging to the Babylonish kingdom. For letting them go free, satisfaction is offered to him in new conquests in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Meroe. But the Persian kingdom did not lose the Jews as subjects. Palestine belonged to it, and those returning back to it belonged to it. The relation must be more exactly defined thus: the world-power, conceived of in a sense as a bird of prey, shall have offered to it Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba to devour, as indemnity for the mildness it has used to Israel contrary to its nature. It is true Cyrus did not himself make war on Egypt. What Xenophon says on this subject he characterizes as merely hearsay (μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ εἰς Αἴγυπτον στρατεία λέγεται γενέσθαι καὶ καταστρέψασθαι Αἴγυπτον, Cyrop. VIII. 6, 20 coll. Isa_1:1; Isa_1:4). Herodotus relates that Cyrus only had a purpose of making war on Egypt (ἐπεῖ͂χε στρατηλατέειν ἐπι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, I. 153). The actual conquest of Egypt was made by Cambyses his son, who also at least attempted the conquest of Ethiopia (Herod. III. 25). It may be said of him, that in Egypt he made havoc in the brutal manner of a genuine world-power. Egypt’s being subjected to this was probably a nemesis for much that it had practised on other nations before, and especially also on Israel. According to Gen_10:6-7, Cush was the older brother of Mizraim, and Seba the oldest son of Cush. It cannot be doubted that the Prophet understood by Cush and Seba the lands that bounded Egypt on the south. By Cush, therefore, must certainly be understood African Ethiopia (Isa_11:11; Isa_18:1; Isa_20:3; Isa_37:9). Seba is Meroe, the city lying between the White and Blue Nile, which Herodotus calls the μητρόπολις τῶν τε͂ν ἄλλων Αἰθιόπων (II. 29). Comp. Stade,De vatt.Is. aeth. p. 13. Isaiah mentions the Sabeans in only one other place (Isa_45:14), and there as here after Egypt and Ethiopia. כּפֶר, properly “covering” then = כִּפוּר “expiation, ransom, indemnity,” occurs only here in Isaiah. This statement that other nations shall be offered up as satisfaction for Israel, expresses the high value that Israel has in God’s eyes, and makes plain in what a glorious sense Jehovah calls Himself Israel’s God and Redeemer. He discharges this office with such consistency and energy that, if need be, He will give such great nations as those named in Isa_43:3, as the price of their deliverance. If it be asked, why He undertakes such an office? He replies: because Israel is precious in my eyes, honorable, and I have loved thee. Love, then, is the ground that determines Jehovah to assume that protectorate. מֵאֲשֶׁר see Text, and Gram.
3. Fear not—have ears.
Isa_43:5-8. The “fear not” connects what follows with the “fear not” Isa_43:1, as a new phase of the salvation bringing future. The verses 1–4 speak of the deliverance in respect to its ground (Isa_43:1), under all circumstances (Isa_43:2), and at any price (Isa_43:3-4). In this section the particular is made prominent, that all members of the holy nation, no matter how distant nor in what direction, shall be brought back home (comp. Isa_11:11 sq.). In Isa_43:5 b and 6a the four points of the compass are severally enumerated. Give up, and keep not back manifestly involve a contrast with “none saith, Restore” Isa_42:22. This latter expression is qualified by our passage. The condition it describes is not to be forever, but only to a certain period of time. קַבֵּץ, on the ground of its use Deu_30:3-4 is the conventional expression for the return of Israel from the Exile (Isa_11:12; Isa_54:7; Mic_2:12; Jer_29:14; Eze_11:17, etc.). In the second half of Isa_43:6 a subject is addressed that we must conceive of as the combination of the four quarters of the heavens. The entire earth, then, is meant. Hence, too, the feminine, which previously already was applied to the North and South, as parts of the entire earth. In הביאי, as related to אביא Isa_43:5, there is an intensifying of the thought: not only the Lord brings, the lands themselves must co-operate in this bringing Israel back (Isa_14:2). Isa_43:7 gives the reason for the foregoing thought. All the members of the nation must be gathered for this reason, because they all bear Jehovah’s name, and were made for His honor (see Text, and Gram.). הנקרא בשׁמי is “He that is called by means of my name,” i.e., who is called a belonging of Jehovah’s (Isa_65:1). For the Temple is not itself called “Jehovah” because Jehovah’s name is named upon it (Jer_7:10); and just as little is one that is called by means of Jehovah’s name, Himself called Jehovah. Comp. the remarks on Isa_4:2 and Isa_41:25. This bearing of Jehovah’s name is, as it were, a stamp that denotes that the one so marked was called into being (ברא), formed (יצר) and finished (comp. Isa_43:1; Isa_43:21) to the honor of Jehovah. How shall such an one be destroyed, in whose preparation the Lord has so greatly concerned Himself?
Isa_43:8, is by many connected with what follows. But that would require us to construe הוֹצִיא in as imperative, which would be utterly abnormal. Beside, (and that is the chief thing), neither “bring forth, nor the designation of the nation as being blind yet having eyes find an adequate motive in the context.
Three things I think must be insisted on: 1) that our passage looks back to Isa_42:7. There it was said of the Servant of Jehovah, that He was destined to open blind eyes, and to lead (להוציא) prisoners out of prison; 2) That where three predicates, “blind, deaf, imprisoned” are joined to one and the same subject, the sense is quite different from what it would be if only one of these predicates were joined to one subject. For the former case affirms only the accumulation of every sort of suffering upon one and the same subject; whereas the latter case really concerns in some sense or other the special condition of sickness named (see on Isa_42:16). 3) It makes a great difference whether I say: “they have eyes and see not,” or “they are blind and have eyes.” For the former signifies that although they have eyes they still do not see; the latter that their blindness does not hinder them from seeing, i.e., their blindness is only relative in respect to kind, degree or time. Accordingly, I construe Isa_43:8 as concluding the first strophe of this chapter. And this conclusion is in the words of the Prophet himself, by which he intimates that the Lord, by accomplishing what is promised Isa_43:1-7, realizes at the same time what is held out Isa_42:7. The Lord delivers Israel but of its sufferings of all sorts in which it has languished like the blind in bonds of blindness, like the deaf in the prison of deafness, because this people, wretched as a blind or deaf person, still spiritually sees and hears, i.e., has turned its spiritual eye to the countenance of its God, and its spiritual ear to His word. If elsewhere Israel is reproached for not seeing with eyes that might see, and not hearing with ears that might hear (Isa_6:9-10; Mat_13:13 sq.), so here to its praise it is said that, spite of physical blindness, and deafness, or spite of all physical wretchedness figuratively represented by blindness and deafness, it will be still spiritually healthy and thereby ripe for and susceptible of deliverance. And with this is intimated also that spiritual redemption is to be an ingredient of the future, thus the redemption from sin, of which the last two strophes speak more extendedly (Isa_43:22 to Isa_44:5).
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2. THE PROMISED AND ACCOMPLISHED PROPHECY A PROOF OF DIVINITY
(Fourth application of prophecy in this sense)
Isa_43:9-13
9 4 Let all the nations be gathered together,
And let the people be assembled:
Who among them can declare this, and 5shew us former things?
Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified:
Or let 6them hear, and say, It is truth.
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 7no God formed,
Neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord;
And beside me there is no Saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved,
And I 8have shewed, when there was no strange god among you:
9Therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord,
eThat I am God.
13 Yea, 10before the day was I am he;
And there is none that 11can deliver out of my hand:
I will work, and who shall 12 let it?
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_43:9. In the succession of the verbal forms נקבצו (perf.) and יאספו (imperf.), it seems to me the meaning is, that the former would express the fact of all nations being assembled, the latter, however, the hypothetical wish, that, if any nation be wanting, it also be summoned. That such is the sense appears from the fact that כֹּל does not stand before לאמים. For it follows therefrom that to the assembled total shall be opposed only casual single individuals. Hence it seems to me unnecessary to construe נקבצו as imperative.
Isa_43:12. The clauses here are simply connected paratactically by וְ. But their more exact logical relation is as follows: הגדתי והושׁעתי is to be regarded as principal clause, to whose two members other two subordinate clauses correspond, each of whish has likewise two members. והשׁמעתי ואין בכם זר corresponds to the first member of the principal clause as an explication of it; but ואתם עדי וגו׳ corresponds to the second member as assigning the ground for it.
Isa_43:13. מִיּוֹם occurs again only Eze_48:35 as marking a time that connects with an ideal beginning. Everywhere else it leans on a real terminus a quo. The construction מִהְיוֹת יוֹם, “since days are,” i.e., ever in the past, is justified neither by usage nor the context. For one looks for something new. But the thought that Jehovah is of old is already adequately expressed Isa_43:10. One may compare מִיָּמִים (Jdg_15:1; Eze_38:8), which properly means “from days onward,” i.e., from a point of time onwards, till the entrance of which an indefinite number of days elapse. Therefore מִיּוֹם is not “from to-day on.” Else why should it not read: מִן הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה? Comp. Eze_39:22; Hag_2:15; Hag_2:18-19. But it properly means, “from a period with which ends an ideally present יוֹם, onwards.” This יוֹם is the period of deliverance indicated in what precedes.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1. In all the foregoing chapters Jehovah, as the only true God, is contrasted with the idols; and especially from chapter 41 on it is made prominent as proof of the divinity of Jehovah, that He is able to declare the remote past and the remote future and the connection of both. In the same way the Prophet here joins on to the comforting promise of Isa_43:1-8, an argument that uses the promise of redemption as a proof of the divinity of Jehovah.
2. Let all the nations—after me.
Isa_43:9-10. The Prophet institutes a grand and bold comparison. On the one side he sees all the great heathen world assembled and on the other only Israel. (See Text and Gram.). And now he lets the Lord address to the former an inquiry, whether among their tremendous multitude there is even one prophetic spirit that can prophesy as He has prophesied in Isa_43:1-8. Who among them can (will) declare this. This “who” does not refer directly to some divinity conceived of as among the crowd of people, but to some prophet, rather, thought of as organ of a divinity. But “this” can only refer to what has just been foretold Isa_43:1-8. But how can such a prophecy be looked for out of the midst of the heathen world? Were a genuine prophetic spirit in the midst of it, then, spite of all antipathy to Israel, it must still be able to see the fact and announce it beforehand just as well as Jehovah Himself. For the genuine prophet must see the facts of the future simply as they will occur in reality. But the God of Israel will also let facts of an earlier date avail. If, then, the idol-prophets can cite in their favor earlier prophecies proceeding from them, they may be allowed to do so. Former things, comp. on Isa_40:22; Isa_42:9. But in either case, he that designates an historical fact as the fulfilment of a prophecy of his, must prove that this prophecy actually proceeded from him. He must produce witnesses for this. These witnesses can, indeed, be chosen now, but may only be summoned to give their testimony at the time of the fulfilment. For only at the time named is their testimony possible and necessary. Possible, for only then can the prophecy and fulfilment be compared and the latter be seen to correspond with the former; necessary, for only at the time of the fulfilment does the necessity appear for inquiring who is the author of the prophecy in question. Let them bring forth their witnesses, therefore, refers to the time of the fulfilment; when this has followed, then they shall produce their witnesses, in order, by their declarations, to be recognized as just, i.e, as veracious and as representatives of a real divine power. יצדקו cannot possibly mean “to say the truth” (Hitzig), for at that moment, those that produce the witnesses, have no more to say. Rather it must then appear whether what they have said at an earlier time be the truth. Therefore צָדַק is here, as in Isa_43:26; Isa_45:25, simply “to be righteous.” Hence, and because אֱמֶת (comp. Isa_41:26צדיק) is the declaration of the judge and not of the witness, the subject of let them hear and say must be those before whom the witnesses appear. For this reason we translate: “let one hear and say.”
From the side of the heathen world comes no response to the challenge of Isa_43:9. It is in no condition to respond. The Lord then turns to Israel to declare that He will perform what the others are unable to perform. Ye are My witnesses, he says. By this He would say: I say it now to you in advance, in order that, when it once comes to pass, ye may testify that I foretold it. And My Servant, is taken by many as a second subject: ye and My Servant be My witnesses. But then the Servant must be a subject distinct from the people Israel. Would one understand by this the personal Servant of Jehovah, it were against this that the Servant cannot yet be present at the time of Cyrus, for Cyrus himself is in fact related to Him as prophetic type. Or would one understand by that other subject the believing nucleus of the nation, then that would need to be otherwise expressed. An expression must be chosen that would distinguish that Servant from the mass of the nation. But such a distinction is nowhere in the context, which deals primarily only with the antithesis of Israel and the heathen world. The latter is a mass of people without God, and hence without prophecy; but Israel is the people of Jehovah and the place of His revelation. For this reason precisely it is the instrument that the Lord has chosen in order also to reveal Himself to the heathen. In “and My servant,” etc., there lies, therefore, the idea that Israel as the servant of Jehovah is at the same time according to the nature of things His witness in the sense indicated above. But Jehovah demands that Israel shall become witness, not for His interest, but for Israel’s own interest. By the facts that they verify they are to draw for themselves the conclusion that Jehovah alone is the true God. The Prophet expresses this by the words: that ye may know and believe Me,etc.תדעו may either (zeugmatically) take the object of תאמנו, or it can have the absolute meaning “to acquire knowledge, sapere” (Isa_44:18; Isa_45:20; Isa_32:4). Even faith presumes a certain knowledge, for one cannot believe in that of which he knows absolutely nothing. But faith is equally the condition of a correct knowledge of divine things. For without loving self surrender to God, an understanding of His being is impossible. And then the Prophet may with equal right designate faith as the product and as the condition of knowledge. On I am He see on Isa_41:4. In there was no God formed there is of course no implied assumption that Jehovah was formed, but rather the contrary assumption underlies it, that Jehovah is the sole and only true God, a thought that is implied in I am He. If this be so, then besides Him there can only be fabricated gods, dei ficticii (comp. Isa_44:10). Had there been a god before Him it could only have been a fictitious god. But as there was no sort of god before Him, so, too, none was made before Him. And since whatever is made must have a beginning, and necessarily, too, must have an end, so must all these fictitious gods cease to be. Therefore none can survive Jehovah.
3. I, even I——let it.
Isa_43:11-13. These verses conclude the foregoing series of thoughts by recapitulating the chief particulars, and adding several important inferences. I, I am Jehovah: that such is the proper rendering appears from the fact that the Jehovah-name manifestly corresponds to the latter part of Isa_43:10, the sentiment of which is comprehended in that name. For if before the Lord there was no god, and there will be none after Him, then He is the One that was and shall be the eternally Existent, i.e., Jehovah (comp. Exo_3:14). And, because this entire part of Isaiah deals with the deliverance of Israel and the ground and consequences of it, it is added: and beside Me there is no Saviour comp. Isa_43:3; Isa_45:21, and the List). Therefore Israel must take care not to look for its salvation from any other. As מוֹשׁיע, “Saviour,” refers back to Isa_43:3, so הגדתי and השׁמעתי “I have declared——I have shewed” refer to Isa_43:9. According to the argument in Isa_43:9, prophecy and fulfilment are proof of divinity. This proof Jehovah gives. I announce, He says, and I save. The perfects present the thought apodictically as a fact accomplished. The salvation, indeed, is still future, and must be waited for. But the announcement is, in respect to time, in the past, and, as an actual deed of Jehovah’s, can now already be proved. Hence this particular is not only repeated in השׁמעתי “I have declared,” but also supported by an argumentum a non existente altero. Jehovah must have announced because no other, or strange god (זָר as in Deu_32:16; Psa_44:21; Psa_81:10), was in Israel. In this there is an assumption that there exist real, super-terrestrial powers beside Jehovah. But none of the kind have power in Israel. The idols that Israel worshipped are not reckoned, for they are to be regarded as nothing (Isa_41:23 sq.). On the logical connection of Isa_43:12 see Text and Gram. We remarked before that הושׁעתי, I have saved refers to a future deed that is to be waited for. But there is a guaranty of its fulfilment. Israel is even set up as testimony, Isa_43:10, and the Lord will and can do that to which Israel testifies, for He is God, the Strong One (אֵל comp. Isa_46:9 and the List). Thus the sense of Isa_43:12 is as follows: that I am the proclaimer of salvation follows because beside Me there was no one that could proclaim it; and that I will carry out also what I have proclaimed is guaranteed by your being in evidence and by My strength.
Isa_43:13 refers to the future following the period of the promised deliverance (see Text, and Gram.). Thus the Lord does not content Himself here with prophesying to the time of the deliverance. He goes further He gives assurance that after it has come also, He will remain the same. Therefore הוא in this place is idem (comp. Isa_41:4). Israel is redeemed. The words none delivereth from My hand cannot apply to it here, as the similar words do, indeed, Isa_42:22. Rather, after Israel’s deliverance, only the heathen are in the hand of God as objects of His judgment. Therefore these words concern them. But finally, as the end of all history, it will appear that all thoughts and counsels of God must inevitably find their accomplishment. “Sein Werk kann niemand hindern.” Comp. Isa_14:27.
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3. THE REDEMPTION AND RETURN OF ISRAEL, ESPECIALLY FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
Isa_43:14-21
14 Thus saith the Lord,
Your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;
For your sake I have sent to Babylon,
13And have brought down all their 14nobles,
And the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
The Creator of Israel, your king.
16 Thus saith the Lord,
Which15 maketh a way in the sea,
And a path in the mighty waters;
17 Which16 bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power;
They shall lie down together, they shall not rise:
They are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
18 Remember ye not the former things,
Neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, 17 I will do a new thing;
Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
18 I will even make a way in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honor me,
The19 dragons and the 20 21owls:
Because I give waters in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to my people, my chosen.
21 This people have I formed for myself;
They shall show forth my praise.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for the recurrence of the words: Isa_43:14. בְּרִיחַ–רִנָּה. Isa_43:16.נְתִיבָה–עַז. Isa_43:17. כָּבָה–דָּעַךְ. Isa_43:18. קדמניות–התבונן–ראשׁנות. Isa_43:19.–חדשׁה נהרות–ישׁימון. ver.20. תַּנִּים. comp. Isa_13:22.בָּחִיר–השׁקה. Isa_43:21. סִפֵּר–תהלה.
Isa_43:14. The context shows that שׁלחתי is the praeter. propheticum.——The following words are very difficult. The correct understanding of בריחים is of first importance. Most expositors render it “fugitives.” But who are the fugitives? According to some they are the πάμμικτος ὄχλος of the world’s emporium (Delitzsch), “the concurrent nations in the commercial city of Babylon” (Gesenius). This construction takes proper account of the וְ before כשׂדים, by distinguishing the fugitives from the Chaldeans. But why call those foreigners precisely fugitives? Why not say then גֵרִים or עֶרֶב (Jer_50:37), or the like? And do not the Chaldeans flee, too? How then could the foreigners be distinguished from the Chaldeans just by the designation “fugitives?” This objection lies even more against Delitzsch’s construction than against that of Gesenius. For according to Delitzsch כֻּלָּם is the chief notion, בריחים only an attribute joined on in the form of apposition. But then how in the world does the notion כֹּל come to designate the foreigners in distinction from the Chaldeans?——Since Jerome, many (Abenesra, Abarbanel, Castalio, Forerius, Seb. Schmidt, Umbreit, etc.) have read בְּרִיחִים=“bars,” and understood that breaking down bars is meant. Then it would be declared that the prison of the Israelites would be opened. Gesenius testifies “that the departure from the points in such a case were a small matter.” And, of course, it might easily happen, especially in the unpointed text, that barichim would be spoken instead of berichim. But in general the reading בָּרִיחִים has the evidences in its favor, and we cannot permit ourselves to depart from it needlessly. Others, as Hahn, understand the Chaldeans themselves to be meant by בריחים. But if this word and כשׂדים be object of הורדתי, then וְ before the latter is inexplicable. I therefore (on the ground of Deu_28:68, see Comment below) construe כשׂדים as acc. loci, to the question, whither? The Prophet might have written, indeed, כַּשְׂדִּֽימָה, which occurs often enough. But, influenced by Deu_28:68, he writes here כשׂדים as מִצְרַיִם is written there. באניות is used in both places with a similar construction and meaning. וְ connects, not the word, but the entire clause, as e.g., Jer_50:44.——רִנָּתָם is subject of the clause whose predicate consists in the words כשׂדים באיות רִנָּה means “shout;” mostly in a joyful sense, but it occurs, too, in regard to lamentation, especially with suffixes: Jer_14:12; Psa_106:44. To this exposition of the last member of Isa_43:14, the foregoing והורדתי forms a fitting introduction. For this הוֹרִיד takes place, according to our signification, both in the neuter and in the local sense: with the בריחים there is a going downwards not only down the Euphrates, but from their previous elevation.
Isa_43:15 is to be construed as apposition with the subject of שׁלחתי and הורדתי Isa_43:14.
Isa_43:16. It comes to substantially the same thing whether the participles נוֹתֵן and מוֹצִיא are rendered by the preterite or present. Still I prefer the former, because Isa_43:17 b and Isa_43:18 better agree with it.——מַיִם עַזִּים occurs again only Neh_9:11.
Isa_43:17. מוציא, elsewhere the Hiph., is the standing expression for leading Israel out of Egypt (comp. Exo_20:2; Deu_5:6; Deu_13:6, etc.). Here it is used of the Egyptians. It is even the Lord, that occasioned also the marching out of the Egyptian army.——רכב־וסום, which rhymes with חיל ועזוז, recalls Exo_14:9; Exo_15:1; Exo_15:19; Exo_15:21. Elsewhere it generally reads סום ורכב (Deu_20:1; Jos_11:4; 1Ki_20:1; 2Ki_6:15; Eze_39:20). The transposition in our text, which is for the sake of the rhyme, occurs again only Psa_76:7 חיל, too, occurs in the Song of Moses, Exo_15:4.——עִזּוּז “robustus, validus,” beside here, occurs only Psa_24:8 where it is paired with גִּבּוֹר——Imperf. ישׁכבו signifies the continuance, בל־יקומו (comp. Isa_26:14; on the use of בל see on Isa_26:8) is future; the perfects דָּֽעֲכוּ and כָּבוּ signify the completed fact.
Isa_43:19. חדשׁה only here in a neutral sense in the sing., beside Jer_31:22 : חדשׁות Jer_42:9; Jer_48:6. It is known that הֲלֹא is often used in the sense of an emphatic affirmative. Comp. e.g., 1Sa_20:37; 1Ki_11:41, etc. It is used very often for הִנֵּה. Not only does the LXX. very often translate it by ἰδού (Deu_3:11; Jos_1:9, etc.), but the parallel passages in Chronicles often have הִנֵּה where the Books of Kings have הֲלֹא. Comp. 1Ki_15:23 with 2Ch_16:11; 1Ki_22:46 with 2Ch_20:34, etc.
Isa_43:20. Isaiah uses only here the expression השׁדה חית. Before him, on the ground of many passages in the Pentateuch (Gen_2:19 sq.; Gen_3:1; Gen_3:14; Exo_33:11; Lev_26:22; Deu_7:22, etc.), it appears in Hosea (Hos_2:14; Hos_2:20; Hos_4:3; Hos_13:8) and Job (Job_5:23; Job_39:15; Job_40:20). Isaiah 56. we read חַיְתוֹ שָׂדַי——יענה בנות again Isa_13:21; Isa_34:13, and in Job_30:29; Mic_1:5; Jer_50:39.——כי נתתי is=“that,” or “because I have given.”
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. This third strophe corresponds to the first. As the first represents how the Lord will bring back His people into their land, from all quarters of the earth and through all possible dangers, so the present strophe represents how this restoration shall happen out of Babylon and through the wilderness lying between Chaldea and Palestine. Thus the first strophe is general in its contents; the third is specific.
2. Thus saith——your king.
Isa_43:14-15. As the first promissory strophe (Isa_43:1) began with thus saith, so this one in both its parts, the negative (Isa_43:14) and the positive (Isa_43:16). The Lord, Israel’s Holy One, Creator and King, announces that He will send, to Babylon and bring the Chaldeans down from the elevation they have scaled, and lead them back to the littleness of their original home on the lower Euphrates, to which they will set out with the cry “to Chaldea on the ships.” This is the first negative act; the opening of the prison and putting aside the prison keeper. Glorious act of deliverance! that at the same time proves the God of Israel to be the only Holy One. For your sake I have sent to Babylon, says the Lord, and indicates that the proper intent of the sending was the deliverance of Israel, though the messenger had no presentiment of performing a divine mission in the interest of Israel. Who this messenger was appears from Isa_41:2-3; Isa_41:25. It is Cyrus. We know that Isaiah foresaw a Babylonish exile of his people from 13, 14, Isa_21:9 sq; Isa_39:6-7. Especially I have sent, reminds one strongly for substance of Isa_13:2 sqq. See Text and Gram. It appears to me that we are justified by Job_26:13 and Isa_27:1 in giving בָרִיחִים the meaning “fugitives” (see Text and Gram.). Only in those passages and here does the word occur. As regards the clause, and the Chaldeans, etc., I think that here, too, the Prophet makes allusion to an older passage of Scripture, that sheds light on his meaning. That is Deu_28:68; where we read וֶֽהֱשִׁייְךָ יְהוָֹה מִצְרַיִם כָּֽאֳנִיוֹת As is known, Deuteronomy 28. contains that emphatic exhortation to obey the law of the Lord, based on promised blessings and threatened curses. It concludes with the threat that “Jehovah shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships,” to be sold there into bondage. It is worthy of notice that מִצְרַיִם must be construed as acc. localis to the question, whither? It might have read מִצְרַיְמָה, which, if not the more correct, were still the more frequent mode of expression. Now it seems to me, that the Prophet in cur text would intimate that, what the Lord threatened against Israel would be fulfilled on the Babylonians. We have showed above Isa_23:13 that the Chaldeans (in Babylonian Kaldi or Kaldaai, Schrader, p. 43) were a nation settled in very ancient time in South-Babylon and reaching to the Persian Gulf. In course of time they rose to a dominant position in Babylon itself: in fact for a considerable time the ruling dynasty belonged to their race. Moreover that lower Euphrates region abounded in swamps, and hence offered numerous hiding-places. We know this especially from the history of Merodach-Baladan, of which, at chap. 39. we gave a sketch from Francois Lenormant. [The Author’s recapitulation of points of that sketch may be omitted. Tr.] From the particulars given there, it appears that when the Chaldeans could no longer maintain themselves in Babylon, their next step would be to take refuge in ships. For them, flight into the recesses of the lower Euphrates and of the Schatt-el-arab, was at the same time a return into their proper home. Under such circumstances there was certainly sufficient motive for their raising the cry: כשׂדם כאניות=“into Chaldea on the ships.” Such was the cry when Babylon, which had only become so strong by the colossal walls of Asarhaddon and Nebuchadnezzar, but had often enough before been taken by the Assyrian kings, was no longer tenable. On this construction see Text. and Gram.
As Isa_43:14 begins with a thought that gives the reason for what follows, so it is followed also by another and similar one in Isa_43:15 as a conclusion. As an independent statement, Isa_43:15 would be superfluous and clumsy. It has sense and significance only in closest connection with Isa_43:14. Jehovah is often called Israel’s king: Isa_41:21; Isa_44:6; Isa_33:22; Isa_43:15.
3. Thus saith——as tow.
Isa_43:16-17. Now the positive part of the promise is given. To the liberated Israelites is extended what they need for the long and difficult journey home. Already in the words “to Chaldea on ships” we found the Prophet’s thoughts directed toward Egypt. This direction becomes now still more manifest. He presents the miraculous deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea as a guaranty of the promised deliverance from the Babylonish exile. The same God, he says, that prepared a way through the Red Sea, where there was too much water, will know how to make a way through the arid desert, where there is too little water. Comp. in general Isa_51:10; Isa_63:11-13; Isa_11:16.
4. Remember ye——my praise. Isa_43:18-21. Although the Lord fortifies the promise about to follow by recalling His performance at the Red Sea, still, by the demand no more to remember those old events, He lets the Israelites understand that what is promised and future will be infinitely more glorious than what is past (comp. Jer_23:7). Not that He would have those mighty deeds of old sink into absolute oblivion. He means only a relative forgetting. He would only give a standard by which may be measured the glory of what is new. From this, already, we may see that the Lord by no means intends only the corporeal return from the Exile. Already introduced in Isa_43:18 as Himself speaking, the Lord announces Isa_43:19 that He is about to create a new thing.—Already, he says, it is germinating (comp. Isa_42:9); i. ., the causes that are to bring about that new thing exist already. And of course, as Isaiah must have lived to see Judah give itself into the hand of the world-power, so he saw therewith the bud of the Exile, and also of the deliverance out of it (Isa_6:11 sqq.; Isa_7:17; Isa_10:5 sqq.). But the implicit reality will also realize itself explicitly. Hence is said: ye shall certainly know it. For such is the sense of the negative question: shall ye not know it (see Text. and Gram.). In naming this new thing, the Lord does not describe it completely. He only mentions one characteristic trait. Ex ungue leonem. But this one trait from many is chosen, not only because of its inherent significance, but also, on the one hand, with reference to what was mentioned, Isa_43:16-17, by way of guaranty, and on the other, because there is present already here the thought that comes to expression, Isa_43:3. On the brink of the Red-Sea, also, it was water that seemed to prevent Israel’s deliverance. They could not walk through the deep sea. There the Lord helped Israel threatened by too much water, by making a way through the sea. In the day when “the new thing” shall come about Israel will be confronted by a dearth of water. Freed from Babylonian captivity, they will resolve to return home. But an arid desert must be traversed! Now there is too little water. “But the Lord will help as before. He will make in the desert a way (Isa_35:1-2; Isa_35:7; Isa_40:3 sq.; Isa_41:18 sq.), by furnishing it with a bounding stream of water. Comp. Isa_48:21; Isa_49:10. On אַף see on Isa_26:8. How glorious this help will be, that Israel is to enjoy by the watering of the desert, may be seen from the very beasts of the field rendering honor to God for it.—It weakens the force of this description to understand (with Hahn) the beasts to represent heathen nations. For it is something higher when the very beasts own and praise the hand of God. We must rather think of Isa_11:6 sqq., and how there, immediately after the description of the universal state of peace, the prospect of the home-return of Israel out of the Assyrian exile is presented as the antitype of the home return out of Egypt (Isa_11:11-16, where note especially Isa_43:16). And Isa_35:8-9 is also to be drawn into comparison here, where that way of return is called a holy way, and it is said that no lion shall be there, and that most ravenous of beasts shall not walk on it. This passage, compared with Isa_11:6 sqq. and our text, thus receives its complement and explanation, to the effect that wild beasts shall indeed be there, but will change their nature, and as regenerated, so to speak, will own and praise God. But by this we become aware that the Lord thinks not merely of physical water, but, as in Isa_44:3, also of spiritual water and streams of the Spirit. For these necessarily belong to the condition of peace. The physical water of the desert is thus at the same time type of the spiritual streams of water of the last time. The beasts praise God for being permitted to participate in the blessings imparted to the people of Israel. But (Isa_43:21) especially this people themselves that the Lordformed for Himself (comp. Isa_43:1; Isa_43:7; זוּ see on Isa_42:24) shall recount His praise. This signifies the acme of the new time, the time of salvation that begins with the deliverance out of the Babylonian exile. But that that acme will not be attained without backsliding on the part of the nation, and even greater manifestations of grace on the part of God, appears from the following context. [This brings us back to the main proposition of the chapter, namely, that Jehovah had not only made them what they were, but had made them for the purpose of promoting His own glory, so that any claim of merit on their part, and any apprehension of entire destruction, must be equally unfounded.”—J. A. A.].
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4. ISRAEL’S REDEMPTION FROM SIN CANNOT BE ITS OWN WORK
Isa_43:22-28
22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob;
22But thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
23 Thou hast not brought me the 23small cattle of thy burnt offerings;
Neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices.
I have not caused thee to serve with an offering,
Nor wearied thee with incense.
24 Thou hast bought me no24 sweet cane with money,
Neither hast thou 25filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices:
But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins,
Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake,
And will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together:
Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
27 Thy first father hath sinned,
And thy 26teachers have transgressed against me.
28 27Therefore I have profaned the 28princes of the sanctuary,
And29 have given Jacob to the curse,
And Israel to reproaches.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for the recurrence of the words: Isa_43:24. קָנֶה—רָוָה. Isa_43:25. מָחָה comp. Isa_44:22. Isa_43:26-28. All the terms.
Isa_43:22. וְ init. is adversative. קָרָא used of calling on God, occurs more frequently with prepositions. Still it is found elsewhere also with the accusative (Psa_14:4; Psa_17:6; Psa_88:10; Psa_91:15). Many (Maurer, Hitzig, Ewald, Hendewerk, Umbreit, Knobel, Delitzsch) construe the second clause כי יגעת וגו׳ as a conclusion: that thou shouldest have wearied thyself with me. But in that case 1) the foregoing clause should contain an inquiry; 2) the dependent clause with כִּי should relate to something future. Neither is the case.——יָגַע means “laborare, desudare, defatigatam esse.” The last in passages like Isa_40:28; Isa_57:10; Jer_45:3; Psa_6:7. Hence Hiph. “defatigare, to make weary,” (Isa_43:23-24). Hence I agree decidedly with those that translate: “for thou art weary of me.”
Isa_43:23. שֶׂה, for which there is no plural form, is collective [meaning the young of both sheep and goats, hence exactly rendered in the English Version, “small cattle.”—Tr.].—זבחיך is accus. of the means.——עָבַד is the technical term for service rendered to God in worship. Comp. Exo_10:26, and the expression עֲבֹדָה.
Isa_43:24. אַךְ. cannot be referred exclusively to the notion “with;” otherwise it must read אַךְ אֹתִי הֶֽעֱבַדְתָּ It must be referred to the entire following clause.
Isa_43:25. The double אנכי makes emphatic that the wiping out of sin is solely in God’s power. הוּא stands emphatically after אנכי. But it is not predicate as in Isa_43:10; Isa_43:13; Isa_41:4; Isa_46:4; Isa_48:12, but in apposition with the subject as in Isa_7:14. Thus the sense is: I—I such an one. In this lies a reference back to the emphatic use of הוּא twice already in this chapter.——מָחָה.is rendered by the LXX. by ἐξαλεἰΦω, as also in Psa_51:3; Psa_51:11; Psa_69:29, etc,——למעני as in Isa_37:35; Isa_48:9; Isa_48:11.
Isa_43:28. It seems to me presumptuous and needless to read וָֽאֲחַלֵּל and וָאֶתְּנָה. This were, indeed, the easier reading, but for that very reason suspicious. The more difficult reading necessitates a deeper penetration into the sense. I construe וַאֲחַלֵל and וְאֶתְּנָה as simply future, and both וְ as simply copulative.——There are likely only rhetorical reasons for using the cohortative form אתנה instead of אֶתֵּן. At least this form is very usual precisely with נתןַ. It occurs thirty times in the Old Testament, including the forms with Vav. consec. I doubt if it occurs as often with any other verbs.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. But thou——sacrifices.
Isa_43:22-24 a. In Isa_43:21 the Lord has expressed a glorious hope for the future. But he reflects here that the past history of Israel lets this hope appear unfounded. The outward return from the Exile is not sufficient to qualify Israel for that praise of God (Isa_43:21). As long as Israel is under the outward ceremonial law, it is also under the dominion of sin. The Lord Himself must first blot out the guilt of sin by an offering that only He can make, and break the power of sin by an outpouring of holy streams of the Spirit. Only a regenerated Israel will be able to do what is expected in Isa_43:21.
The following clauses do not mean that Israel has never fulfilled the duties of divine service therein mentioned, but only that they have not fulfilled them, i.e., not fully satisfied the requirements. The long period from the giving of the law to Isaiah’s time, that ought to have been a period of uninterrupted fulfilment of the law, was in fact a period of prevalent transgression of the law. Hence the Prophet can well say, Israel has not brought the Lord the gifts of divine service that they ought to have brought.
In שֶׁה, small cattle, collective, there may be an allusion to the daily morning and evening sacrifice, in which a year-old lamb must be brought (Exo_29:38 sqq.; Num_28:3 sqq.). What a perverted world, when the Lord must Himself perform the work that Israel ought to have done by their divine service!
לבנה is the fragrant gum of a tree found in Arabia, Persia, India and the eastern coast of Africa, but not definitely identified by modern botanists (see Leyer, Herz.R.-Encycl. XVII. p. 602 sq.). The Israelites used it partly as an ingredient of incense (Exo_30:34), partly as an accompaniment to the meat offering, and the shew-bread (Lev_2:1 sq., (Lev_2:15 sq.; Lev_24:7). The expression לא קנית Isa_43:24, when we compare the foregoing parallel enumerations, seems manifestly to be prompted by the assonance with קָּנֶהקָנֶה is mentioned Exo_30:23 with the addition בֹּשֶׂם as an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (Leyrer,ibid. XIV. p. 663 sq.; XIII. p. 322); according to the Rabbins (ibid. XII. p. 507) it was also an ingredient of the holy incense. It is almost universally agreed that it is the calamus (ibid. XIV. p. 664). Delitzsch says “the calamus forms no stalk, much less a reed;” but it is to be considered that it has a stem formed underneath by the leaves overlaying one another. And these leaves are, each for itself, reeds open at the sides. Hence the calamus is reckoned among reeds. Besides, not our common calamus is meant, but the Asiatic, indigenous to tropical Asia, and which is still used there in preparing fragrant oils and incense (Leyrer,ibid.). The expression: with the fat of thy sacrifices thou hast not intoxicated (Isa_34:5) me is anthropopathic. The effect of the fumes of fat on men being imputed to God. [רָוָה in the Hiph means “to drench.” In this case “to drench with fumes of fat,” i.e., be-smoke.—Tr.].
2. But thou——thy sins.
Isa_43:24-25.Having said what Israel did not do, it is now said what they have only done: Only this hast thou done, thou hast laden me, etc. An antithesis is implied that we would better express by “but thou hast (see Text and Gram.). These words declare how the Lord has hitherto borne Himself with reference to His people’s burden of guilt. He patiently submitted to the painful service of bearing this burden. These “sins” and iniquities are the “sins that are past through the forbearance of God” (Rom_3:25; comp. Isaiah 9:22). In Isa_43:25, however, the Lord says what He will do in the future:He will blot out their transgressions. He will not eternally drag Himself along with this burden; He will take it out of the world. And He says He will do it for His own sake. There is that in Himself that impels Him to this: It is love. It does not rest till it has found the ways and means of gratifying itself without trenching on justice. The Lord must have in mind here that sacrifice which did what all sacrifices of the Old Testament were unable to do. Act_3:19, and Col_2:14 seem to be founded on our passage. In the latter it appears that Paul recognized as the basis of the expression the representation of a delible writing. On “blot out” and “will not remember” comp. Psa_51:3; Psa_51:11; Psa_25:7; Psa_79:8; Jer_31:34, etc.
3. Put me——reproaches.
Isa_43:26-28. The Lord’s exceeding gracious language Isa_43:22-25 does not by any means suit the taste of Israel. The Prophet sees in spirit that Israel does not acknowledge its unrighteousness and will not accept the Lord’s proposed sacrifice (Isa_43:25). Israel is self-righteous. The Lord does not peremptorily rebuke the assertion of it. He again gives the nation an opportunity to prove it, if possible. Hence He demands an enumeration of the facts calculated to confute the Lord and to prove their assertion. הזכירני is = “remind me,” viz.: by naming the facts. On the ground of these facts there shall be justification; and if the enumeration holds good, Israel shall be just (justified). But Israel can produce nothing that will bear sifting. On the other hand (Isa_43:27) the Lord adduces facts. He confines Himself to naming capital facts, that warrant a conclusion a majori ad minus. Without doubt the first father of Israel means Abraham. For Adam is the father of the whole human race. Abraham’s conduct in reference to Pharaoh and Abimelech (Gen_12:11 sqq.; Isa_20:1 sqq.), is of itself enough to prove that he sinned. מֵלִיץ is “the spokesman, interpreter, medium” (comp. Gen_42:23; Job_33:23; 2Ch_32:31). Theocratic office-bearers are meant, who were mediums between God and the people. For this reason they are called just after princes of the sanctuary. They were, indeed, the pillars and props of the Theocracy. It was just their sins (comp. Jeremiah 22-23), because of their commanding influence, that contributed most to their own and the nation’s fall.
The debate, therefore, does not turn to the advantage of Israel. In conclusion, the Lord must pronounce the judgment: I will profane the princes of the sanctuary (comp. e.g., Jer_52:24), but Israel itself I must give up to the curse and reproaches by the heathen. (See Text and Gram.). According to the foregoing exposition, the Prophet (Isa_43:21) points to a glorious last-time of salvation that begins with deliverance from the Exile, but in such a way that, from this beginning onwards to the completion of it, there occurs a long and changeful period. In reference to this period he distinguishes four particulars: 1) that the natural, fleshly Israel, as ever, is incapable of serving the Lord and of properly proclaiming His praise; 2) that the Lord Himself will blot out Israel’s sin; 3) that Israel, in proud self-righteousness, does not accept this gracious gift of the Lord; 4) that, consequently, His worship will be profaned, i.e., done away, and the nation itself will be given up to the curse of destruction and outward reproach. When “the princes of the sanctuary” are profaned, then the sanctuary itself, the cultus of Jehovah, the Old Testament covenant in general, will be desecrated, i.e., done away and dissolved. For as Gesenius justly remarks: “foedus res sacra est, idque qui profanat etiam violat et dissolvat.” Israel rejected Christ. They accepted neither Himself, nor, after His death, the gospel of the cross. For this the old covenant was broken and the Temple destroyed, the nation dispersed into all lands. But this happened only to the fleshly Israel. There remains a remnant, an ὲκλογή, and these, according to Isa_44:3, will obtain the baptism of the Spirit, and thereby the qualification to fulfil Isa_43:21.
Footnotes:
[1]Or, person.
[2]And.
[3]He bringeth.
[4]All the nations gather together, and the peoples are to be assembled.
[5]let us hear.
[6]one
[7]Or, nothing formed of God.
[8]let hear, declared.
[9]And.
[10]thereafter I am he.
[11]delivers.
[12]Heb. turn it back.
[13]And lead them downwards as fugitives all, And “to Chaldea on the ships” is their cry.
[14]Heb. bars.
[15]that made.
[16]brought.
[17]I do.
[18]Surely I will.
[19]jackals.
[20]Or, ostriches.
[21]Heb. daughters of the owl.
[22]For.
[23]Heb. lambs, or, kids,
[24]calamus.
[25]Heb. made me drunk, or, abundantly moistened.
[26]Heb. interpreters.
[27]And I will profane.
[28]Or, holy princes.
[29]will give.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–4 rivers . . . not overflow thee--so in passing…
rivers . . . not overflow thee--so in passing Jordan, though at its "overflow," when its "swellings" were especially dangerous (Jos 3:15; Jer 12:5).
waters . . . fire--a proverbial phrase for the extremest perils (Psa 66:12; also Psa 138:7). Literally fulfilled at the Red Sea (Exo 14:21-22), and in the case of the three youths cast into the fiery furnace for conscience' sake (Dan 3:25, Dan 3:27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 1, 2. The prophet returns to his usual consolatory…
1, 2. The prophet returns to his usual consolatory tone. The first verse is inexpressibly tender; so, for the most part, is the entire chapter.
But now — Hebrew, and now. Transition words suiting the change of tone in the address.
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Jacob… Israel — Both names, for poetic variety, intended for the one chosen body of people.
Fear not — My love for thee, just now shadowed by my displeasure, returns in full power upon me. My work in calling Abraham, in multiplying Jacob, in delivering from Egypt, and in establishing in Canaan, is not to be for naught. See Dan_3:17; Dan_3:27.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 1–7. Israel, though blind and deaf (ch. Isa_42:18 ff.),…
1–7. Israel, though blind and deaf (ch. Isa_42:18 ff.), is precious in the sight of Jehovah its Creator, who is now about to shew Himself as its Redeemer.
But now] Introducing the contrast to Isa_42:25.
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that created thee … that formed thee] Three verbs which express Jehovah’s creative activity are applied in this prophecy to His special relations to Israel: “create” (Isa_43:1; Isa_43:7; Isa_43:15); “form” (Isa_43:1; Isa_43:21, Isa_44:2; Isa_44:21; Isa_44:24, Isa_45:11, Isa_49:5 (Isa_64:8); “make” (Isa_44:2, Isa_51:13, Isa_54:5).
I have redeemed thee] Rather, I redeem thee (perf. of certainty). see on ch. Isa_41:14. I have called (I call) thee by thy name] i.e. I address thee as one who is familiar and dear (Isa_45:3 f., cf. Exo_31:2); stronger than the simple “call” (Isa_42:6, Isa_49:1).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–3 (1) But now . . .—The outpouring of love…
XLIII.
(1) But now . . .—The outpouring of love that follows is contrasted with the wrath of the preceding verse.
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The Lord that created thee.—The title implies something more than “the Maker of heaven and earth.” Jehovah has created Israel as specially answering, as other created things did, to an archetype in His own purpose. To “call by name” is everywhere, but pre-eminently in the East, the mark of an individualising tenderness (Joh_10:3), almost of a predestinating love that makes the name a witness of its purpose.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Vers. 1-7. A RENEWED PROMISE TO ISRAEL OF PROTECTION…
Vers. 1-7. A RENEWED PROMISE TO ISRAEL OF PROTECTION AND DELIVERANCE. Severe rebuke (Isa_42:18-25) is followed, as so often in Isaiah, (Isa_1:25-27 Isa_4:2-6 Isa_9:1-16, etc.) by comfort and consolation. Israel is assured that God has not cast him off, and promised the comfort of the Divine presence during the existing tribulation (ver. 2), and. a speedy restoration to Palestine (vers. 3-7). The scattered Israelites will be brought together from all quarters by the Divine omnipoteney.
But now. The words mark the strong contrast between the closing passage of the preceding chapter and the opening paragraph of the present one. Israel had undergone a severe punishment for his sins; he is still suffering, but now there is going to be an entire change. He is to be protected and delivered. Created thee... formed. thee redeemed thee... called thee by thy name. An ascending series of benefits. First, creation, like that of formless matter out of nought; then, formation, or putting of the formless matter into shape; thirdly, redemption, or making them all his own; lastly, calling them by their name, and so conferring on them a proud and enviable distinction. On this fourfold ground God claims Israel as his own.
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MILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-7. The love of Jehovah to Israel.
"But now." The word itself hints yearning affection. There has been a conflict between Divine love and Divine wrath, and the former has gained the victory. In fact, the wrath of Jehovah was but grieved affection. Its force is now for the time spent. He will now deliver and protect, reassemble and restore his people (Cheyne).
I IT IS THE LOVE OF A PARENT. "Thy Creator, O Jacob; he that formed thee, O Israel." Of all the works of God, confessedly the noblest is man; and if man is only known as forming nations, these too are the works of God. And Israel especially is the embodied thought of God, in her laws and institutions, her place and mission in the world. Or, if we think of Israel as gradually fashioned, by schooling and by affliction, into a "new and singular product," not less is she endeared to her Maker and Builder. We cannot but love our children; and scarcely less dear to us are the children of our brain and of our heart our schemes, our books; the house whose structure we have planned, whose arrangements have been made after ideas of our own; the flock we have overseen; the little body of disciples or friends whom we have made an organization for the diffusion of our views of life. That delight we feel in the reflected image of our mind in what is not ourself, we transfer by analogy to God.
II IT IS THE LOVE OF A REDEEMER. And this implies sacrifice, love proved by expense of some sort. The tense gives a reference to history and to prophecy past and future. No price can be too high for the ransom of Israel: other nations will be given up Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba for her. Cambyses, son of Cyrus, conquered Egypt and invaded Ethiopia. The Persian was destined to set free the chosen People; and those other peoples given into his hand as compensation are the ransom price for delivered Israel. If the "wicked are a ransom for the righteous", (Pro_21:18) if the sufferings of the evil are in some way connected with the deliverance of the good, this helps to shed a consoling light upon many a dark page of human history. But not only the suffering of the evil may be thus viewed the suffering of the good also, in the light of the great saying, "The Son of man came... to give his life a ransom for many for the greater or spiritual Israel in all ages.
III IT IS AN APPROPRIATING, SPECIALIZING, HONOURING LOVE. TO "call by name" is an expressive phrase for selection and election. So was Bezaleel the artist called in connection with the tabernacle-work; (Exo_31:2) so was Moses called by name (Exo_33:12, Exo_33:17) and designated for his work. It is to "find grace" in the eyes of God; it is to be precious and honourable in his sight. It is to be a "peculiar treasure", (Exo_19:5, Exo_19:6) a property of the Eternal art thou." We are led into the heart of the covenant-relation by these words. And every association of affection and good which has belonged in the thought of the world to the spiritual bond which knits soul to soul, may be used to illustrate Israel"s relation to her God that of child to parent, of client to patron, of confidential servant to lord, of soul to guardian spirit or angel, may be thought of in this connection. What is true of the nation must be true of its individuals; what holds good of the Church must be valid for the life of each Christian.
IV IT IS AN ALL-PROTECTING LOVE. Israel shall go through water and through fire unhurt. No stronger figure could be used for safety amidst calamity. (cf. Psa_66:12 Dan_3:17, Dan_3:27) We may think of the salvation of Israel from the waves of the Red Sea, of the three children in the furnace at Babylon, of the ever-consuming yet never-consumed bush seen by Moses. These things are parables of the indestructibility of the spiritual life in mankind, and of the perfect integrity of the empire of souls, ruled by the redeeming God. From the east and the west and the north and the south, these scattered souls are to be gathered to their home. Impossible to limit such words to any temporal reference merely. The bounds of time fade away as we listen; and there rises before us the inspiring picture of the world as one vast scene of trial, of education, of an elect people to eternity in which many sons are being brought to glory, that glory the reflection of God upon their renewed spirits. J.
MILIES BY W. CLARKSON Ver. 1. The supreme claim and the sure stay.
So far from having nothing to do with us as individual spirits, we may say that God has everything to do with us. On the one hand, he makes a very great claim upon us; and on the other hand, he holds out very great hopes to us.
I THE SUPREME CLAIM. To every human soul, as to Israel of old, God says, "Thou art mine." He requires of us that we shall consider ourselves as belonging to him; so that he may employ us in his service, may direct our will, may command our affection, may control our life. God does not claim to own us in the sense of being at liberty to act arbitrarily and capriciously towards us, but in the sense of being free to rule our souls and fashion our lives according to the dictates of righteousness and wisdom. His claim rests on his fourfold relation to us.
1. His creation of our spirits. "The Lord that created thee" (ver. 1; and see vers. 7, 15). If we could make an estimate of our comparative obligations, how much should we consider that we owed to him that brought us out of nothing into being, that made us living souls, that endowed us with all the immeasurable capacities that are enfolded in an immortal spirit? How large a claim has God upon our thoughts, our gratitude, our service, in virtue of the fact that to his creative power we owe it that we are?
2. His shaping of our life. God has "formed us." He who formed Israel by all his providential dealings with that nation from the beginning is the God who has built up our life. (see Heb_3:4) Our human relationships, our bodily health and strength, out" circumstances of comfort and joy, our mental strength and acquirements, all this is the product of that shaping hand which "forms" the destinies of men as it gives figure to the foliage, arrests the tide, or determines the courses of the stars.
3. His redemption of our soul. "I have redeemed thee." God might well claim to be Israel"s Redeemer, for he had mercifully and mightily interposed on its behalf. But with how much greater reason may he claim to be our Redeemer! How much greater is that "great salvation" by which he "saves his people from their sin," than that deliverance by which he rescued a people from political bondage or military disaster! The surpassing strength of this claim upon us is seen
(1) in that it is a redemption from the very worst spiritual evils to spiritual power and freedom; and
(2) in that it was wrought at such a priceless cost. (1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19)
4. His personal interest in every one of us. "I have called thee by thy name." The distinct and especial interest which Jehovah took in Israel has its counterpart in the individual interest he takes in each one of his children. Christ has led us to feel that he follows the course of every human spirit with a parental yearning, with a Saviour"s restorative purpose and hope. He calls us by our name. To each wandering, backsliding soul he is saying, "Return unto me." To each striving, inquiring spirit he is saying, "Be of good cheer; I will help thee." To each faithful workman he is saying, "Toil on; I will come with a recompense". (Isa_35:4)
II THE SURE STAY. "Fear not." There are many comforters who approach us and whisper these two words in our ear. Some of these are delusive, and others are imperfect and ineffectual. It may be an ill-grounded complacency, or it may be favourable surroundings, or it may be-human friendship; but the house of our hope, thus built upon the sand, may fall at any hour. If we would build our confidence upon the rock, we must rest on the promised stay of a reconciled heavenly Father, on the assured aid of an Almighty Friend, on the certain succour of a Divine Comforter. Having returned unto the living God, resting and abiding in Jesus Christ, we may go forth to any future, however threatening it may be; for One is present with us in whose company we may gladly enter the darkest shadows. And if we listen we may hear a voice, whose tones we may trust in the wildest storm, saying, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee. C.
MILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Personal relations with God.
"Thou art mine." In the East, to call a person by name is a mark of an individualizing tenderness. But so it is in all lands. Those who are in close personal relations with us we call by their Christian names; we even give them a new pet name; and they love that name, because it is a sign to them of the close connection in which they stand to us. God tried to keep this sense of personal relation ever before the people of Israel, and so to keep them assured of the living interest he had in all their concerns. Wherever they might be, and whatever might be their surroundings, this might give them perfect peace they were his. And when Jesus Christ would make a great impression on his disciples of his personal regard for them, he said, "Henceforth I call you not servants... but I have called you friends.
1. Such relations are indeed involved in the fact that we are the creatures of God. "He made us, and not we ourselves." He has the interest in us which we feel in measure in the work of our hands. He has great thoughts and purposes concerning us, and he is graciously concerned in their realization.
2. Such relations are further seen in his entering into covenant with a particular people. He drew them into a special intimacy; committed to them an unusual trust; made them depositaries, and by-and-by witnesses, of certain foundation-truths; and for generations guarded them while they guarded these truths. The closeness of relations between God and Israel is the basis of Hosea"s exquisitely tender pleadings, the dearest and nearest human relations, of husband and wife, of parent and child, being used to bring home God"s appeals (see Hosea 2., etc.). We direct attention to the practical side of this subject. If we are the Lord"s, we
I ENJOY HIS FRIENDSHIP. Illustrate from Abraham, the friend of God, El-Khalil; or from Enoch, who "walked with God." To friendship is necessary:
1. Community of sentiment. "How can two walk together except they be agreed?
2. Mutual trust. The grace unspeakable is that God should trust us. Our failure and sin is that we so half-heartedly trust him.
3. Frequent intercourse. Nothing blights friendship like separation. Keeping friendly means keeping together.
4. Jealousy of each other"s honour. Here we come short, sadly short, in our friendship with God.
II RENDER HIM SERVICE. Friends love to serve one another. In this friendship with God we should not forget that we have to take a dependent place. His is a condescending friendship, and our response to it finds best expression in loving obedience. All hardness is taken out of service when it is the expression of such near and loving relations as those unto which God has brought us. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1–4 But now thus saith the Lord that created thee,…
Isa_43:1-4
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob
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The true relation of Israel to Jehovah
The main subject of this chapter is the true relation of Israel to Jehovah, and its application in the way both of warning and encouragement.
The doctrine taught is that their segregation from the rest of men, as a peculiar people, was an act of sovereignty, independent of all merit in themselves, and not even intended for their benefit exclusively, but for the accomplishment of Gods gracious purposes respecting men in general. The inferences drawn from the fact are, that Israel would certainly escape the dangers which environed him, however imminent; and, on the other hand, that he must suffer for his unfaithfulness to God. In illustration of these truths the prophet introduces several historical allusions and specific prophecies, the most striking of the former having respect to the exodus from Egypt, and of the latter to the fall of Babylon. It is important to the just interpretation of the chapter that these parts of it should be seen in their true light and proportion as incidental illustrations, not as the main subject of the prophecy, which, as already stated, is the general relation between God and His ancient people, and His mode of dealing with them, not at one time, but at all times. (J. A. Alexander.)
The right of the Creator
1. In reviewing Providence, men do not go far enough back. The Lord Himself always takes a great sweep of time. Here is an instance in point. But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee,. . . and He that formed thee. No argument is built upon what happened an hour ago. Thus God will have us go back to creation day, to formation time, and take in all the childhood, all the youthhood, all the manhood, all the education and strife and discipline, all the attrition and all the harmony, all the week-days and all the Sabbath-days; and He would bid us watch the mystery of time, until it comes out in blossoming and fruitfulness and benediction. We should have no pain if we had the right line of review and pursued it, and comprehended it, in its continuity and entirety. There are many creations.
God is always creating life, and always forming it. There is an individual existence; there is a national organisation; there are birthdays of empires and birthdays of reform.
2. The Church must recognise its period of creation and formation. Jacob was not always a people; Israel was not always a significant name, a symbol in language; and individuals are gathered together into societies, and they are charged with the administration of the kingdom of Christ, and as such they must go back and remember their Creator, and adore their Maker, and serve their Saviour, and renew their inspiration where it was originated.
3. Right relations to God on the part of man should be realised. This appeal rises into climax, into convincing and triumphant words. I have created thee; that is the basal line--formed thee, given thee shape and relation; redeemed thee, paid for thee; called thee By thy name, like a friend or child: thou art Mine. Yet all this is in the Old Testament! Do we not fly from the Old Testament into the New, that we may have some sight of the tenderness of God? There is no need for such flight. There are tenderer words about God in the Old Testament than there are in the New.
4. This relation carries everything else along with it. After this there can be nothing but detail. When thou passest, etc. (Isa_43:2). (J. Parker, D. D.)
Guarantees
Absolute ownership. He who speaks is our Creator. He claims our attention also because He knows us. Fear is the apprehension of danger, both natural and moral. With regard to natural tear, some are more timid than others. But this is no index to the moral state of the heart. Nerves which are strong do not constitute faith; nerves which are weak do not indicate distrust in God. To remove the distrust which Israel felt, three guarantees are offered--
I. REDEMPTION. For I have redeemed thee. From whence came the idea of redemption? (Lev_25:25-34.) This is the figure used in the text and elsewhere to show that God has taken away the moral disabilities under which we had fallen through sin. The principle is not without analogy. When the golden grain is enslaved in the earth, the ray of light, the drop of water, and the warm breeze come to redeem their brother.
1. The right to redeem was vested in the next of kin, hence the necessity for the incarnation of the Son of God. The transaction was confined to the family of the brother who had waxen poor. No portion of the inheritance must ultimately go out of the family, for even if no one of the next of kin was able to redeem it, in the year of Jubilee a full restoration was made. Not only the inheritance must have remained in the family, but the redemption of it was restricted to the family, that it might ever appear of value to the members of the family as a sacred trust from God. This is the very estimate of human life which the Incarnation conveys: to redeem that life the redeemer must be one of the family. But the necessity appears, because the family of man must be impressed with the value of the inheritance which God hath given. The life of Jesus brings home to us the facts that human life is infinitely valuable, and that God has His hold upon it, although mortgaged to another. All souls are Mine. I know that my Redeemer liveth.
2. To free the possession the ransom must be paid. The sovereignty of the gift did not free the inheritance from encumbrances contracted by the possessor. Justice demanded the redemption price. In the interest of rectitude and the influence of the moral law, Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, etc. As to the nature of the ransom, St. Peter says, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ.
II. CALLED. And called thee by thy name. The reference here is either to a legal form of calling out the name of the mortgagor, with the declaration that henceforth his possession was free; or to the trumpet of the Jubilee, which was a direct call to every debtor to resume his liberty.
1. Personal salvation. When we are accosted by name the whole being is involved, with every interest concerned. God calls the sinner to repentance.
2. Personal realisation. The brother who had waxen poor knew he was free, because his name had been called that he might be assured of his freedom. The deed was handed over to him re.conveying the property into his name. Faith leads to the realising of forgiveness and peace.
III. REINSTATED. Thou art Mine. The idea is that by grace man is brought back to the peace and service of God.
1. The claim is universal. Wherever the new heart is, God claims it for His own.
2. The claim is absolute. We are no longer our own, but, having been bought with a price, we glorify God in body and mind.
3. We are now on trial, but there will be a final recognition. They shall be Mine, etc. (T. Davies, M. A.)
The Divine responsibility
1. Responsibility is not a word that can be limited to man. It must belong to those higher orders of created intelligence known to us as angels of various degrees. It must belong to the Eternal One Himself. It must be that He holds Himself responsible for the creation and its consequences. If responsibility belongs to the creature made in the image of God, it is inherited responsibility; it comes down from Him who made him.
2. Let us approach the subject cautiously. Gods revelation of Himself is intended to be a light to the mind and a joy to the heart. Everyone who knows anything of Scripture knows how gradual has been the revelation of God to the human race. Not till we reach the time of David do we get the word father as applied to Deity, and then only in a figurative sort of way. Isaiah prophesies that one of the signs of the Christian dispensation shall be that the name of God as revealed in Christ shall be the Everlasting Father. Men had known Deity as the Self-Existent God--the source of life. They had thought of Him as the God of providence, the Great Provider, who had them in His hands, and would care for them, and that is about the utmost practical view attained to in the Old Testament. In that wonderful book of Job, the epitomised life of the human race, we have the thought of an unrealised Redeemer,--but My Father and your Father, My God and your God is new Testament language, and post-resurrection speech at that.
3. This speech leads us to the thought of the Divine responsibility. It is not our invention but Gods revelation that, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. We have a right, then, to say that at least the same measure of responsibility which belongs to a father for the nourishment, education, and development of his child belongs to the great Eternal Father for us all. We are not responsible for the laws which work in our own constitutions, for we did not create those laws. We are not responsible for anything which is out of our own power. I am not responsible for the original tendency to sinfulness which was in my nature when born into this world. Nor am I responsible for being born; nor for being born where I was born; nor for having just those parents which were mine; nor for being just so high and just so heavy; nor for having the temperament and disposition with which I was born.
4. I suppose that in the generations behind us there have lived people who verily persuaded themselves that they were responsible for the sin of Adam, that they were doomed because an ancestor of generations ago was a wilful sinner. Every man inherits tendencies from past generations. When the first of men wilfully disobeyed God, he started in himself a tendency which, if not resisted, would become a habit of wrong-doing--and that habit would be propagated into the next generation, and into the next, and so on. And that is what is meant by original sin--the tendency created by generations past to wrong--stamping its impress upon mind and heart, yea, upon the physical organism. It is so in the animal world. In the past, dogs have been trained to fold sheep, and the instruction has become a habit, and the habit has created a tendency in the next generation to do the same thing, and has become fixed--a second nature, as we say. And this law runs through all creation, even into the vegetable world. Now, He who made man is responsible for the original law by which tendencies to good and evil can be propagated from sire to son. The law is not evil; it is good. But good laws are often used for bad purposes. From a reservoir of pure water pipes are laid to every house in the city. Those pipes were laid for the conveyance of pure, wholesome water for the benefit of a large population. That was the original design and intention. But suppose that city should be besieged by a barbarian army--suppose the army should surround the reservoir and poison the waters, the very pipes which were laid for the conveyance of life would be conduits for the conveyance of death. But that was not their original design. And so our guilt does not extend to Deity. He is responsible for the beneficent law, not for the sin which has been transmitted along it. The very idea of intelligence involves freedom. Either there must be freedom, or there can be no intelligence and no morality.
5. We cannot conceive of an omniscient God, without admitting that He must have foreseen that the creature He made would abuse His liberty. Does the Divine responsibility extend to making such provision as would prevent it? Clearly not. We cannot conceive how it could be made, and yet leave man a free moral agent, not a machine. The Divine responsibility extends to the providing a means whereby not simply to develop an innocent man, but to save a guilty man from the spiritual consequences of his sin. From all the consequences he cannot be saved; from the fatal consequences he can. That God did anticipate the fall from innocence of His creature, and provide for meeting man in a fallen condition, is evident from one single expression, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Redemption was no afterthought. For our own convenience, it may be necessary at times to speak of justice, and at other times of mercy. But justice and mercy in God are never represented as in antagonism. They ever go hand-in-hand, like light and heat in the sunbeams. When God opened the eyes of the great apostle he saw this truth, that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, or, as it is more correctly, superabounded, abounded over and above. In this dispensation of things a lost man has not simply to reject God as a Creator, but God as a Redeemer--God in Christ--the God who has done all and everything possible to be done to nullify the fatal results of sin.
6. You remember the complimentary word uttered respecting Abraham: I know him that he will command his children; and in every father there is lodged the right to command--the duty to command. That weak tenderness which permits disobedience to go unrebuked and unpunished, is not Divine tenderness. It is the frailty of human irresoluteness. There is nothing of that in God. (R. Thomas, D. D.)
Divine consolation
The vision of Isaiah contains a representation of the present and future state of Israel and Judah. And because some of his expressions might be interpreted as if all the twelve tribes should be utterly cast away, he frequently intersperses such consolations as this, to assure the people that if they were duly corrected and reformed by their captivity, God would bring them out of it, and raise them up again to be His Church and people.
I. To confirm them in the belief of such a restoration, He puts them in mind of SEVERAL ARGUMENTS AND REASONS to expect it.
1. He tells them that upon their repentance God had promised them such a restoration.
2. Isaiah calls upon the people to consider that this promise of salvation is made to them by that God who created Jacob and formed Israel. This, indeed, is a common topic of con solation to every pious man, that He who created him will have mercy on him, and is able, in all circumstances, to make good His promises, and preserve the work of His own hands. But it was very proper for this people, above all others, to make such inferences, because they had been in a peculiar manner created and formed of God.
3. They might conclude this from former redemptions which God had wrought for them. Fear not, for I have redeemed thee.
4. A fourth ground of Israels hope for Gods future mercies, were the gracious appellations which He had bestowed upon them. I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine. He had changed their father Jacobs name to Israel. He had named them His holy nation, His peculiar people.
5. A further argument to Israel to trust in God, were the deliverances which He had vouchsafed to some of them. When thou goest (or hast gone) through the waters, they have not overflowed thee; and through the fire, it hath not kindled upon thee.
II. The words are certainly a common topic of CONSOLATION TO ALL THE FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF GOD. So that, to find our own blessing in them, and to understand them as the voice of our own merciful Father, we have nothing else to do but to approve ourselves His obedient children; for He is no respecter of persons.
1. As God promised His people a restoration from their captivity, upon their true repentance and return to their duty, so will He rescue us from the slavery of sin and Satan, if we do in good earnest feel the oppression and misery of it, and would much rather be employed in doing Gods will, and keeping His commandments.
2. Was it an argument to Israel to trust in God, because He had created them and formed them in so special a manner as is before represented? The like consideration is equally comfortable to every member of the Church of Christ. For in Him we are born again.
3. All the redemptions which God vouchsafed to Israel are proofs to us of His infinite power and goodness, and figures of greater things which He will do for us.
4. If Gods gracious appellations of Israel assured them of His special regard for them, no less ground of rejoicing have we in the like assurance of His favour towards us.
5. In cases of extreme danger, particularly in perils of fire and water, God has shown Himself the same in the Christian u He was of old in the Jewish Church, a sufficient Helper to deliver out of such troubles. (W. Reading, M. A.)
The goodness of God to Israel
In the latter part of the preceding chapter we read of the sins, not of the obedience of Israel. After this, what might have been expected but that He would punish them still more severely, if not abandon them as incorrigible? In the text, however, He promises to magnify His mercy in doing them good. Consider--
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE HERE SPOKEN OF. It may be inferred from the names given to them in the text. They are addressed by the convertible names of Jacob, and Israel. His name Jacob was changed because he had wrestled with God for His blessing till he succeeded in obtaining it. Hence, then, we may learn the character of His spiritual children--they wrestle with God in prayer for His blessing till they prevail. But this general description of them includes several particulars. Consider--
1. What they do. They pray. And does not this at once distinguish them from thousands around them?
2. To whom are their prayers addressed? To the true God who is also their own God--the God of Israel. This also separates them from an immense number of the human race; for how many, alas, are there in the world who are totally mistaken as to the proper object of worship!
3. They pray to Him alone. There are not a few in the world who unite the worship of Jehovah with that of their own idols.
4. But what does Israel pray for? For Gods blessing. This implies that they feel their need of it, and, by consequence, that they differ essentially from all persons of a self-righteous and self-sufficient spirit.
5. How do they pray? In faith. They pray also fervently. They are not like many, cold, formal, and lifeless in prayer. They persevere, too, till they prevail. But were they always such characters? No; there was a time when they were as prayerless as others. Who, then, has made them to differ? God alone.
II. WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR THEM IN TIME PAST; or what are the steps which He has taken to make them what they are. These steps are three--
1. He has created them. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, etc. They are subjects of a creation to which all others are entire strangers. What renders this creation necessary is the corruption of our nature, which is total, since the Fall. It is a creation of good substituted for evil, a heart of flesh for a heart of stone, light for darkness, holiness for sin, faith for sense, life for death, happiness for misery. Every real Christian is the subject of it. It is ejected by the operation of the Holy Ghost. To God, therefore, belongs the whole glory of it.
2. He has redeemed them. Fear not; for I have redeemed thee.
3. He has called them by their names. I have called thee by thy name. And what does this imply?
(1) That they are made partakers of the heavenly calling, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
(2) That God well knows His people.
(3) We know that when a mar of superior rank and dignity calls an inferior by his name, he is considered to treat him with uncommon marks of kindness and familiarity, and to confer upon him a peculiar honour. Such kindness and honour, then, does God bestow upon His people. He is not ashamed to be called their God, and to allow each of them, like Abraham, to be called the friend of God.
4. This, then, is what the Lord has done for Israel His people; and He therefore calls them His, saying, Thou art Mine. Has He not the most indisputable title to their persons and services?
III. WHAT HE PROMISES TO DO FOR THEM IN TIME TO COME, When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc.
1. To pass through fire and water appears to have been a proverbial expression for passing through various kinds of dangers, trials, and afflictions.
2. But why does God suffer His people to be thus afflicted? Because they are children whom He loves.
3. And do their tribulations answer the ends which He has in view? Yes; there is not one of His afflicted ones who has not had cause to say, sooner or later, It is good for me that I have been afflicted.
4. We are not, however, to suppose that afflictions of themselves ever bear these blessed fruits. Unblest and unsanctified, they have rather a contrary tendency, and produce very different effects. And were it not for the presence of God with His people, in the water and the fire, they would be injured and destroyed by them. But they need not fear; for faithful is He that hath promised.
5. Need I remind you how this promise has been verified, or how the presence of God has been with His people in every age of the Church?
(1) Look, first, at Israel after the flesh. See their afflictions in Egypt, and know their sorrows. Behold the bush burning with fire, and yet not consumed. God is in the midst of it. Follow them in their passage out of that house of bondage. God is with them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. Observe them again during their captivity in Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the servants of the Most High God, walked in the midst of the fire, and had no hurt. They had a fourth in their company, whom even Nebuchadnezzar could not help saying was like the Son of God.
(2) Look, next, into New Testament times, and even to later ages, and you will find additional evidence of the blessed truth before us. (D. Rees.)
The exhortation and promises of God to the afflicted
I. THE AFFLICTIONS TO WHICH THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE LIABLE.
1. The text intimates that they may be great. Waters: rivers; calamities which seem as deep and overwhelming as sweeping torrents, and as likely to destroy them.
2. Their troubles may be diversified. They may be in the waters to-day and may have deliverance, but to-morrow they may be called on to walk through the fire and the flame; to endure trials which are unexpected and strange, different in their nature from any they have yet experienced, and far more severe and biter.
3. The text implies also that these afflictions are certain. It speaks of them as things of course.
II. HOW SEASONABLE AND ENCOURAGING IS THE EXHORTATION.
1. There is a fear of afflictions which is a natural, and by no means sinful, feeling; a fear which leads us to avoid them, if the will of God will allow us to avoid them, and if not, to receive them with much thoughtfulness and prayer; to be aware of the dangers with which they are invariably accompanied, and of our utter inability in ourselves to escape or overcome them.
2. But there is a fear of another kind. It springs from unbelief, and is the cause of tour, touring, despondency, and wretchedness. It is a fear which tempts us to choose sin rather than affliction; which prevents us from praising God under our trials, and from trusting to Him to bring us out of them. Such a fear is as dishonourable to God as it is disquieting to ourselves, and He who values nothing so highly as His own honour and our happiness commands us to lay it aside. It might have been supposed that such an exhortation from such a Being would have been sufficient of itself to dispel the fears of those to whom it is addressed; but a compassionate God does not leave it to its own unaided authority.
III. He supports and strengthens it by TWO MOST GRACIOUS PROMISES.
1. He promises us His own presence with us in our trials. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. His people are the objects of His special attention.
(1) We are not, however, to infer that the afflicted Christian is always aware of the companion with whom he is walking. He often imagines himself left alone in his trials.
(2) Neither are we to suppose that all the afflicted servants of the Lord have the same manifestations of His presence. Some do not need them so much as others. They have not the same temptations to withstand, nor the same burdens to bear, nor the same duties to perform. They are surrounded with more outward comforts, and consequently they less need those which are inward. Some also do not desire or seek the light of their Fathers countenance so earnestly as their brethren. They lean more on earthly friends and succours. He who is infinitely wise, always suits the nature and measure of His gracious manifestations to the necessities and, in one sense, to the characters of His people. He gives them what they need, and what they desire and seek.
2. There is the promise of preservation under all our calamities. What does preservation imply? It implies that our trials shall not injure us. Rivers are likely to overflow, and flames likely to burn, those who pass through them. Affliction is likely to injure, and would inevitably ruin us, if God were not near. It tempts us to rebel against the Divine providence and to distrust the Divine goodness; to be thankless, impatient, and repining. The mind, already weakened, perhaps, and bewildered by the pressure of adversity, is easily led to apprehend still greater troubles, and faints at the prospect. This, too, is the season when our great adversary is most to be dreaded. It is in the night that the wild beasts of the forest roar after their prey; and it is in the darkness of spiritual or temporal adversity that Satan directs against us his most violent assaults. The fact is that our spiritual interests are much more endangered by tribulation than our worldly prosperity. It is the soul which is most exposed, and which most needs preservation; and preservation is here promised to it. The Christian often enters the furnace cold-hearted, earthly-minded, and comfortless; he comes out of it peaceful, confiding, burning with love for his delivering God, and thirsting after the enjoyment of His presence.
IV. The Lord vouchsafes to add to His precious promises several reasons or ARGUMENTS TO ASSURE US OF THEIR FULFILMENT.
1. The first is drawn from the relation in which He stands to us as our Creator. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel. This language refers to our spiritual as well as to our natural existence. Here, then, is a solid ground of confidence. The Father of our spirits must be well acquainted with their infirmities and weakness. He knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are dust. Neither will He ever forsake the work of His own hands.
2. The Almighty draws another argument to enforce His exhortation, from the property which He has in His people, and the manner in which He acquired it. Fear not, He says, for I have redeemed thee, etc. We are His by creation, but He has also made us His by redemption. And what a mighty price did He pay for us! Will He then abandon that which He so much values, which cost Him so dear?
3. There is yet another reason assigned why we should cast away fear in the hour of tribulation--the covenant God has formed with His people ensures the fulfilment of His promises. I am the Lord thy God, He says, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; thus implying that He has entered into some engagement with His Israel; that He considers Himself bound to be with them in their troubles and distresses; that His own veracity, His own faithfulness, are at stake, and would be sacrificed if Israel were forsaken or injured. He thus connects His own honour with their safety. Lessons--
1. How rich in consolation is the Word ofGod!
2. How essential to our happiness is a knowledge of our interest in the Divine promises!--to appropriate them to ourselves, and rejoice in them.
3. How full of confidence and praise ought they to be, who live in the enjoyment of the Divine presence in trouble!
4. How blind to their own interest are they who reject the Gospel of Christ! (C. Bradley, M. A.)
Love abounding, love complaining, love abiding
(with Isa_43:22-24; Isa_44:21-23):--
(1) Notice that these three texts are very much alike in this respect--that they are each addressed to Gods people under the names of Jacob and Israel.
(2) These texts are like each other, again, from their overflowing with love. I do not know where the Lords love is best seen, when He declares it and tells of what He has done and is doing for His people, or when He laments over their want of love in return, or when He promises to blot out their past sin, and invites them to return to Him and enjoy His restoring grace.
I. We have in our first text, LOVE ABOUDING.
1. Notice the time when that love is declared. The first verse begins, But now, thus saith the Lord. When was that? It was the very time when He was angry with the nation by reason of their great sins (Isa_42:25). It was a time, then, of special sin, and of amazing hardness of heart. When a man begins to burn, he generally feels and cries out; he must be far gone in deadly apathy when he is touched with fire and yet lays it not to heart. It was a time of love with God, though a time of carelessness with His people.
2. The Lord shows His abounding love by the sweetness of His consolations, But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not. Fear not is a little word measured by space and letters; but it is an abyss of consolation if we remember who it is that saith it, and what a wide sweep the comfort takes. Fear hath torment, and the Lord would cast it out. You that are the people of God may be smarting, and crying, and sighing. But, oh the love of God to you. He hears your cries, and His compassions are moved towards you! Nothing touches Him like the groans of His children. There is a wonderful intensity of affection in this passage, spoken, as it is, by the great God to His people while they are under the rod which they so richly deserve.
3. The fulness of Gods love is to be seen in the way in which He dwells with evident satisfaction upon His past dealings with His people. When we love some favoured one, we like to think of all our love passages in years gone by; and the Lord so loves His people, that, even when they are under His chastening hand, He still delights to remember His former loving-kindnesses. We may forget the wonders of His grace, but He doth not forget. He created, redeemed, called. He dwells upon His possession of His people. Thou art Mine.
4. If you desire to see the overflowings of Gods love in another form, notice in the next verse how He declares what He means to do. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc. His love casts its eye upon your future. He loves you too well to make your way to heaven free from adversity and tribulation, for these things work your lasting good. But He does promise you that the deepest waters shall not overflow you, and the fiercest torrents shall not drown you, for this one all-sufficient reason, that He will be with you.
5. The overflowings of Divine love are seen in the Lords avowing Himself still to be His peoples God: I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.
6. Though one would think He might have come to a close here, the Lord adds His valuation of His people, this was so high that He says, I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Pharaoh and his firstborn were nobodies as compared with Jacobs seed. Further on in history, after Isaiahs day, the Lord moved Cyrus to set Israel flee from Babylon, and then gave to the son of Cyrus a rich return for liberating the Jews; for He made Him conqueror of Egypt and of Ethiopia and of Seba. God will give more than the whole world to save His Church, seeing He gave His only begotten Son.
7. Then the Lord adds another note of great love. He says that He has thought so much of His people that He regarded them as honourable. Since thou wast precious in My sight, etc. He publishes His love, not only by His deeds, but by express words. What a wealth of grace is here!
8. Such is the Lords love, that even in the time when they were not acting as they should, but grieving Him, He stands to His love of them, and sets the same value on them as before: 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. As if He said, What I have done I will do again. My love is unalterable.
II. Our second text is in the minor key, it is LOVE LAMENTING. But thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob (verse 22). Observe the contrast; for it runs all through, and may be seen in every sentence: I have called thee by thy name; but thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob. I have called thee Mine; but thou hast been weary of Me. I have redeemed thee with a matchless price; but thou hast bought Me no sweet cane with money.
1. Israel rendered little worship to God. May not the Lord of infinite mercy justly say to some of us, But thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob?
2. There has been little fellowship; for the Lord goes on to say, Thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel. Are we tired of our God? If not, how is it that we do not walk with Him from day to day?
3. We are moved by this passage to confess how little of spirituality has been found in the worship which we have rendered. Thou hast not honoured Me with thy sacrifices. When we have come to worship, in public and in private, we have not honoured the Lord by being intense therein. The heart has been cold, the mind wandering.
4. Again, the Lord mentions that His people have brought Him little sacrifice: Thou hast not brought Me the small cattle, etc. What small returns have we made! In the religion of Christ there is no taxation; everything is of love.
5. Once more, it is said that we have been very slack in our consideration of our God. The Lord says, I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense; but thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins; thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. The Lord is thoughtful of us, but we are not thoughtful towards Him. If the Lord did not love us very much He would not care so much about our love towards Himself. It is the plaint of love. The Lord does not need our sweet canes nor our money. But when He chides us for withholding our love-tokens, it is because He values our love, and is grieved when it grows cold.
III. Our third text exhibits LOVE ABIDING.
1. Notice, in Isa_44:21, how the Lord still calls His people by the same name: Remember these, O Jacob and Israel. Still are the names of His elect like music in the ears of God. One would have feared that He would have dropped the Israel, that honourable name, which came of prevailing prayer, since they had not called upon Him. Why call him a prevailing prince who had grown weary of his God? But no, He harps upon the double title: He loves to think of His beloved as what they were, and what His grace made them. O heir of heaven, God loves you still!
2. Notice how the Lord claims His servants: Thou art My servant: I have formed thee; thou art My servant. He has not discharged us, though He has had cause enough for so doing. This should bind us to Him. This should quicken our pace in His service.
3. Then notice how the Lord assures us in the next line: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. God cannot forget His chosen. You that have Bibles with margins will find that it is also written there, O Israel, forget not Me. The Lord longs to be remembered by us. Did not our loving Lord institute the Sacred Supper to prevent our forgetting Him?
4. Notice with delight the triumph of love, how still He pardons: I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, etc.
5. See how our text closes with the Lords own precept to be glad: Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it, etc. (Isa_44:23). Out of all dejection arise! There is more cause for gladness than for sorrow. What you have done should cause distress of heart; but what the Lord has done is cause for rapture. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Four contrasts
(with Isa_43:22-25):--There are many lights in which we can see sin; and our perception of sin very much depends upon the light in which we look at it. Sin is very terrible by the blaze of Sinai. It is an awful thing to see sin by the light of your dying day. More terrible still will it be to see it by the light of the judgment day. But of all the lights that ever fall upon sin, that which makes it like itself appear is that which falls upon it when it is set in the light of Gods countenance. To see sin by the light of Gods love, to read its awful character by the light of the Cross, is the way to see sin. I am going to speak mainly concerning Gods own people, and I want to set their sins in the light of Gods love to them. My object will be to set before you the contrast between Gods action towards His people and His peoples, usual action towards Him.
I. The first contrast lies in THE CALL.
1. I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name (Isa_43:1).
(1) God called us out of nothing. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob (Isa_43:1). Our creation is entirely due to God. An ungodly man can hardly bless God for having made him, for his end may be terrible. Blessed be God for our being, because it is followed by our well-being! Blessed be God for our first birth, because we have also experienced a second birth.
(2) Our Lord has done more than make us, for He has educated us; He has continued the fashioning of us. He that formed thee, O Israel. Israel is the formed Jacob; by Gods grace, Jacob grows into Israel. Let us think of all the sweet experiences of Gods forming and fashioning touch that we have had. Sometimes, it has been a rough stroke that was necessary for the moulding of our clay; only by affliction could we be made to assume the shape and pattern that the Lord had determined for us. At other times, it has been the touch of very soft fingers. Thy gentleness hath made me great.
(3) Think what wonderful,, dealings He has had, next, in consoling us, for the Lord goes., on to say, Fear not. Oh, how often He has cheered us up when our spirit was sinking!
(4) That is not all, for the Lord has also called us, and conversed with us, in the matter of redemption. I have redeemed thee.
(5) The Lord has given a special nomination. I have called thee by thy name.
(6) Then comes this blessed appropriation: Thou art Mine. This is the way that God talks to us.
2. Turn to the other side of the question, the neglected call on our part. Thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob (Isa_43:22). That may not mean that there has been literally no calling upon God on thy side, but it does mean that there has been too little of it. Let us put this matter to the test.
(1) What about our prayers? There is much less prayer than there ought to be.
(2) True as this is of our prayers, it is still more true of our praises.
(3) There are many, with whom God has dealt well, who do not venture to call upon Him for special help in His service. They keep plodding along the old roads, and mostly in the old ruts; but they do not dare to invoke the aid of the Lord for some novel form of service, some fresh enterprise upon which they can strike out for God.
(4) Sometimes in our trouble, we do not call upon God as we should.
II. Let us consider another contrast which is equally striking--that is, upon the matter of THE CONVERSE between the Lord and His people.
1. Notice, first, Gods side of it. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, etc. (Isa_43:2). Notice how God is with His people in strange places. Wherever they are, He will not leave them; He will go right through the waters with them. God also keeps close to His people in dangerous places, fatal places as they seem.
2. Now listen to your side of this matter of converse with God. But thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel (Isa_43:22).
(1) Has it not been so with regard to private prayer?
(2) With your reading of the Scriptures?
(3) Hearing the Word?
(4) Are there not some also whom God loves who get weary of their work?
III. Notice the contrast in THE SACRIFICE.
1. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, etc. (Isa_43:3).
(1) Here is God giving up everybody else for the sake of His people. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba were great nations, but God did not choose the greatest. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, etc.
(2) We may see another meaning in these words, for God has given for us His choicest gift. Christ is infinitely more precious than Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Seba, though they were lands of great abundance of wealth.
2. Now look at the other side. Thou hast not brought Me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings (Isa_43:23). I wonder how little some people really do give to God! I believe, in some cases, not as much as it costs them for the blacking of their boots. Then the Lord adds, Thou hast bought Me no sweet cane with money. Not even the smallest offering has been given to the Most High by some who profess to have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. How little is given by the most generous of us!
IV. I close with one snore contrast, which refers to THE HONOUR given by God, and the honour given to God.
1. God gives great honour to those whom He saves (Isa_43:4). I have known persons who, before their conversion, were unclean in their lives, and when they have been converted, they have joined a Christian Church, and in the society of Gods people they have become honourable. They have been taken into the fellowship of the saints just as if there had never been a fault in their lives; nobody has mentioned the past to them, it has been forgotten. This is the highest honour that God can put upon us, that He fixes His love upon us. Thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee.
2. Have you honoured God? He says, Neither hast thou honoured Me with thy sacrifices. Have you honoured God by your lives? By your confidence in Him? By your patience? By defending His truth when it has been assailed? By speaking to poor sinners about Him? Are you trying every day to honour Him? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fear not
I. A CHARGE GIVEN. Fear not. A godly fear the believer may have; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt, he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling, nor the faithfulness of his God.
II. A REASON ASSIGNED. Thou art Mine. These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh, and to them they still remain a covenant of peace, sure and steadfast for ever; yet as the relations named--Creator, Redeemer, Saviour--are not peculiar to them, but are enjoyed in the same degree by every believing heart, we may take to ourselves a share in this animating promise. The certainty of the believers hope does not depend on our holding God, but on Gods holding us; not on our faithfulness to Him, but on His faithfulness to us.
III. A PROTECTION PROMISED. This does not consist in any absence of trial and danger; the expressions rather imply their presence, many in number and various in kind. The protection promised consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour. (E. Garbett.)
I have called thee by thy name
Named and claimed
I. THE PERSON. I--thee--thou--Mine. How this sentence tingles with personality! If one person can call another person, those two persons are alike. Those two persons have a common life interest. Personality in God is substantially similar to personality in man.
II. THE NAME. Would it be an untrue fancy to suppose that we each have a name before God? When you look at your little sleeping child to-night, you will, perhaps, not only think of the name that everybody knows him by, but you will murmur over him some little special name that you have given him--you hardly know how, but that gives to you the very sense of theessence of the true life sleeping there. Remember that something just like that is in the heart of your Gods feeling for you. Science generalises, love particularises. Then, with this loving name, comes possession. There is a strange, yearning intensity in that language, Thou art Mine. The mystery and rapture of life are in that strange sense of possession which comes through love, as though the loved one had become a part of ourselves to be dissevered from us nevermore. Thou art Mine, says our God--Mine to carry, to nurture, to protect--My very own, never to part from Me for evermore.
III. THE CALL OF THE NAME. It would be very much to know that God even thought of us by our name in this personal and special way; but the text asserts that this power of God finds expression; that life is filled not only with a thought of us on the part of God, but with an expression of that thought; so that there is something vocalised, something articulate in life, which comes to us, if we can really understand that it is God calling us by this name we have.
1. The very first awakening feeling in childhood is a personal call. When you first really prayed as a little child and thought what you were doing, what a sense of individuality there was. You were yourself then, and nobody else. It was God speaking to you, and calling you by your name.
2. Then another period which comes, usually s little later, when Gods call is addressed to us, is in our first assumption of responsibility. I think some of the most solitary times a man ever has are when he has just assumed a serious responsibility. Now, in that solitude, if a man listens, he can hear his God calling to him, speaking his name right then and there. How tenderly, how warmly, how encouragingly! And the reason is, because God loves the thing that that responsibility will give you. He loves the thing that will make for you, and that is character; that is manhood.
3. Then, again, in a moment of danger, a man may hear God calling his name; because danger, like duty, particularises. Supposing we see a man in danger; we ask, Who is he? What is his name? And if the man does not realise the peril he is in, you call to him by the name that will cut through the air, and strike on his ear, and arouse his individual attention. Suppose moral danger comes and God sees the danger coming, and He calls out to you by that name He knows you by. If you could hear that call, would it not cause you to repel the evil? as though the Voice said, I remember you; you are Mine. Your name is known to Me. I am your heavenly Friend, and I call on you now to do your duty, to repel the evil.
4. He speaks our name when we are in trouble.
5. There are certain other experiences of life darker than duty or danger or sorrow. We name them by that strong, common monosyllable, sin. These moral experiences that cut into the soul within us--sin, the sting and stab of remorse, repentance, reformation--all are experiences of an arena in which God calls a man by his name. (A. J. Lyman, D. D.)
Gods claim on the soul
What a drama, what tragedy, life is! The world goes by, and, pointing to you, exclaims: That man is mine. He has been forty years in my service. He has sold his soul to me. He is mine. Not so, replies the heavenly Voice; He is Mine. I knew him as a child. I have never lost sight of him. Pleasure comes by, and claims you and says: He is mine, that young man. Dissipation comes by., and points to you with fascinating smile, and says: That young man is mine. Let his mother give him up. Let the angels forget him. He has taken my cup in his hand; he has drunk of my poison. He is mine. No, the heavenly Voice answers: Not yet; not yet. I know him, and love him. I suffered to save him, and he is Mine. Mine by right of love, and Mine by right of pain. That is the drama, that is the tragedy, that is going on! (A. J. Lyman, D. D.)
Israel called by name
To call by name includes the ideas of specific designation, public announcement, and solemn consecration to a certain work. (J. A. Alexander.)
Thou art Mine
Three little words, three little syllables; a childs motto; words that might be printed by a little hand and sent as a message of love; words that might be engraved on a signet ring: yet words the whole meaning -of which the firmament has not space enough to hold the entire development. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Isaiah 43-Isaiah 48
CHAPTER IX
FOUR POINTS OF A TRUE RELIGION
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Isaiah 43-Isaiah 48
WE have now surveyed the governing truths of Isa 40-48: the One God, omnipotent and righteous; the One People, His servants and witnesses to the world; the nothingness of all other gods and idols before Him; the vanity and ignorance of their diviners, compared with His power, who, because He has a purpose working through all history, and is both faithful to it and almighty to bring it to pass, can inspire His prophets to declare beforehand the facts that shall be. He has brought His people into captivity for a set time, the end of which is now near. Cyrus the Persian, already upon the horizon, and threatening Babylon, is to be their deliverer. But whomever He raises up on Israels behalf, God is always Himself their foremost champion. Not only is His word upon them, but His heart is among them. He bears the brunt of their battle, and their deliverance, political and spiritual, is His own travail and agony. Whomever else He summons on the stage, He remains the true hero of the drama.
Now, chapters 43-48 are simply the elaboration and more urgent offer of all these truths, under the sense of the rapid approach of Cyrus upon Babylon. They declare again Gods unity, omnipotence, and righteousness, they confirm His forgiveness of His people, they repeat the laughter at the idols, they give us nearer views of Cyrus, they answer the doubts that many orthodox Israelites felt about this Gentile Messiah; chapters 46 and 47 describe Babylon as if on the eve of her fall, and chapter 48, after Jehovah more urgently than ever presses upon reluctant Israel to show the results of her discipline in Babylon, closes with a call to leave the accursed city, as if the way were at last open. This call has been taken as the mark of a definite division of our prophecy. But too much must not be put upon it. It is indeed the first call to depart from Babylon; but it is not the last. And although chapter 49, and the chapters following, speak more of Zions Restoration and less of the Captivity, yet chapter 49 is closely connected with chapter 48, and we do not finally leave Babylon behind till Isa_52:12. Nevertheless, in the meantime chapter 48 will form a convenient point on which to keep our eyes.
Cyrus, when we last saw him, was upon the banks of the Halys, 546 B.C., startling Croesus and the Lydian Empire into extraordinary efforts, both of a religious and political kind, to avert his attack. He had just come from an unsuccessful attempt upon the northern frontier of Babylon, and at first it appeared as if he were to find no better fortune on the western border of Lydia. In spite of his superior numbers, the Lydian army kept the ground on which he met them in battle. But Croesus, thinking that the war was over for the season, fell back soon afterwards on Sardis, and Cyrus, following him up by forced marches, surprised him under the walls of the city, routed the famous Lydian cavalry by the novel terror of his camels, and after a siege of fourteen days sent a few soldiers to scale a side of the citadel too steep to be guarded by the defenders; and so Sardis, its king and its empire, lay at his feet. This Lydian campaign of Cyrus, which is related by Herodotus, is worth noting here for the light it throws on the character of the man, whom according to our prophecy, God chose to be His chief instrument in that generation. If his turning back from Babylonia, eight years before he was granted an easy entrance to her capital, shows how patiently Cyrus could wait upon fortune, his quick march upon Sardis is the brilliant evidence that when fortune showed the way, she found this Persian an obedient and punctual follower. The Lydian campaign forms as good an illustration as we shall find of these texts of our prophet: "He pursueth them, he passeth in safety; by a way he (almost) treads not with his feet. He cometh upon satraps as on mortar, and as the potter treadeth upon clay. {Isa_12:3} I have holden his right hand to bring down before him nations, and the loins of kings will I loosen," (poor ungirt Croesus, for instance, relaxing so foolishly after his victory!) "to open before him doors, and gates shall not be shut" (so was Sardis unready for him), "I go before thee, and will level the ridges; doors of brass I will shiver, and bolts of iron cut in sunder. And I will give to thee treasures of darkness, hidden riches of secret places." {Isa_45:1-3} Some have found in this an allusion to the immense hoards of Croesus, which fell to Cyrus with Sardis.
With Lydia, the rest of Asia Minor, including the cities of the Greeks, who held the coast of the Aegean, was bound to come into the Persians hands. But the process of subjection turned out to be a tong one. The Greeks got no help from Greece. Sparta sent to Cyrus an embassy with a threat, but the Persian laughed at it and it came to nothing. Indeed, Spartas message was only a temptation to this irresistible warrior to carry his fortunate arms into Europe. His own presence, however, was required in the East, and his lieutenants found the thorough subjection of Asia Minor a task requiring several years. It cannot have well been concluded before 540, and while it was in progress we understand why Cyrus did not again attack Babylonia. Meantime, he was occupied with lesser tribes to the north of Media.
Cyrus second campaign against Babylonia opened in 539. This time he avoided the northern wall from which he had been repulsed in 546. Attacking Babylonia from the east, he crossed the Tigris, beat the Babylonian king into Borsippa, laid siege to that fortress and marched on Babylon, which was held by the kings son, Belshazzar, Bil-sarussur. All the world knows the supreme generalship by which Cyrus is said to have captured Babylon without assaulting the walls, from whose impregnable height their defenders showered ridicule upon him; how he made himself master of Nebuchadrezzars great bason at Sepharvaim, and turned the Euphrates into it; and how, before the Babylonians had time to notice the dwindling of the waters in their midst, his soldiers waded down the river bed, and by the river gates surprised the careless citizens upon a night of festival. But recent research makes it more probable that her inhabitants themselves surrendered Babylon to Cyrus.
Now it was during the course of the events just sketched, but before their culmination in the fall of Babylon, that chapters 43-48 were composed. That, at least, is what they themselves suggest. In three passages, which deal with Cyrus or with Babylon, some of the verbs are in the past, some in the future. Those in the past tense describe the calling and full career of Cyrus or the beginning of preparations against Babylon. Those in the. future tense promise Babylons fall or Cyrus completion of the liberation of the Jews. Thus, in Isa_43:14 it is written: "For your sakes I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down as fugitives all of them, and the Chaldeans in the ships of their rejoicing." Surely these words announce that BabyIons fate was already on the way to her, but not yet arrived. Again, in the verses which deal with Cyrus himself, Isa_45:1-6, which we have partly quoted, the Persian is already "grasped by his right hand by God, and called"; but his career is not over, for God promises to do various things for him. The third passage is Isa_45:13 of the same chapter, where Jehovah says, "I have stirred him up in righteousness, and" changing to the future tense, "all his ways will I level; he shall build My city, and My captivity shall he send away." What could be more precise than the tenor of all these passages? If people would only take our prophet at his word; if with all their belief in the inspiration of the text of Scripture, they would only pay attention to its grammar, which surely, on their own theory, is also thoroughly sacred, then there would be today no question about the date of Isa 40-48. As plainly as grammar can enable it to do, this prophecy speaks of Cyrus campaign against Babylon as already begun, but of its completion as still future. Chapter 48, it is true, assumes events as still farther developed, but we will come to it afterwards.
During Cyrus preparations, then, for invading Babylonia, and in prospect of her certain fall, chapters 43-48 repeat with greater detail and impetuosity the truths, which we have already gathered from chapters 40-42.
1. And first of these comes naturally the omnipotence, righteousness, and personal urgency of Jehovah Himself. Everything is again assured by His power and purpose; everything starts from His initiative. To illustrate this we could quote from almost every verse in the chapters under consideration. "I, I Jehovah, and there is none beside Me a Saviour. I am God"-El. "Also from today on I am He. I will work, and who shall let it? I am Jehovah. I, I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions. I First, and I Last; and beside Me there is no God"-Elohim. "Is there a God," Eloah, "beside Me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any. I Jehovah, Maker of all things. I am Jehovah, and there is none else; beside Me there is no God. I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of peace and Creator of evil, I am Jehovah, Maker of all these. I am Jehovah, and there is none else, God," Elohini, "beside Me, God-Righteous," El Ssaddiq, "and a Saviour: there is none except: Me. Face Me, and be saved all ends of the earth; for I am God," El, "and there is none else. Only in Jehovah-of Me shall they say-are righteousnesses and strength. I am God," El, "and there is none else; God," Elohim, "and there is none like Me. I am He; I am First, yea, I am Last. I, I have spoken. I have declared it."
It is of advantage to gather together so many passages-and they might have been increased-from chapters 43-48. They let us see at a glance what a part the first personal pronoun plays in the Divine revelation. Beneath every religious truth is the unity of God. Behind every great movement is the personal initiative, and urgency of God. And revelation is, in its essence, not the mere publication of truths about God, but the personal presence and communication to men of God Himself. Three words are used for Deity-El, Eloah, Elohim-exhausting the Divine terminology. But besides these, there is a formula which puts the point even more sharply: "I am He." It was the habit of the Hebrew nation, and indeed of all Semitic peoples, who shared their reverent unwillingness to name the Deity, to speak of Him simply by the third personal pronoun. The Book of Job is full of instances of the habit, and it also appears in many proper names, as Eli-hu, "My God-is-He," Abi-hu, "My-Father-is-He." Renan adduces the practice as evidence that the Semites were "naturally monotheistic,"-as evidence for what was never the case! But if there was no original Semitic monotheism for this practice to prove, we may yet take the practice as evidence for the personality of the Hebrew God. The God of the prophets is not the it, which Mr. Matthew Arnold so strangely thought he had identified in their writings, and which, in philosophic language, that unsophisticated Orientals would never have understood, he so cumbrously named "a tendency not ourselves that makes for righteousness." Not anything like this is the God, who here urges His self-consciousness upon men. He says, "I am He,"-the unseen Power, who was too awful and too dark to be named, but about whom, when in their terror and ignorance His worshippers sought to describe Him, they assumed that He was a Person, and called Him, as they would have called one of themselves, by a personal pronoun. By the mouth of His prophet this vague and awful He declares Himself as I, I, I, - no mere tendency, but a living Heart and urgent Will, personal character and force of initiative, from which all tendencies move and take their direction and strength. "I am He."
History is strewn with the errors of those who have sought from God something else than Himself. All the degradation, even of the highest religions, has sprung from this, that their votaries forgot that religion was a communion with God Himself, a life in the power of His character and will, and employed it as the mere communication either of material benefits or of intellectual ideas. It has been the mistake of millions to see in revelation nothing but the telling of fortunes, the recovery of lost things, decision in quarrels, direction in war, or the bestowal of some personal favour. Such are like the person, of whom St. Luke tells us, who saw nothing in Christ but the recoverer of a bad debt: "Master, speak unto my brother that he divide the inheritance with me"; and their superstition is as far from true faith as the prodigals old heart, when he said, "Give me the portion of goods that falleth unto me," was from the other heart, when, in his poverty and woe, he cast himself utterly upon his Father: "I will arise and go to my Father." But no less a mistake do those make, who seek from God not Himself, but only intellectual information. The first Reformers did well, who brought the common soul to the personal grace of God; but many of their successors, in a controversy, whose dust obscured the sun and allowed them to see but the length of their own weapons, used Scripture chiefly as a store of proofs for separate doctrines of the faith, and forgot that God Himself was there at all. And though in these days we seek from the Bible many desirable things, such as history, philosophy, morals, formulas of assurance of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, maxims for conduct, yet all these will avail us little, until we have found behind them the living Character, the Will, the Grace, the Urgency, the Almighty Power, by trust in whom and communion with whom alone they are added unto us.
Now the deity, who claims in these chapters to be the One, Sovereign God, was the deity of a little tribe. "I am Jehovah, I Jehovah am God, I Jehovah am He." We cannot too much impress ourselves with the historical wonder of this. In a world, which contained Babylon and Egypt with their large empires, Lydia with all her wealth, and the Medes with all their force; which was already feeling the possibilities of the great Greek life, and had the Persians, the masters of the future, upon its threshold, -it was the god of none of these, but of the obscurest tribe of their bondsmen, who claimed the Divine Sovereignty for Himself; it was the pride of none of these, but the faith of the most despised and, at its heart, most mournful religion of the time, which offered an explanation of history, claimed the future, and was assured that the biggest forces of the world were working for its ends. "Thus saith Jehovah, King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah of Hosts, I First, and I Last; and beside Me there is no God. Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any."
By itself this were a cheap claim, and might have been made by any idol among them, were it not for the additional proofs by which it is supported. We may summarise these additional proofs as threefold: Laughter, Gospel, and Control of History, -three marvels in the experience of exiles. People, mournfullest and most despised, their mouths were to be filled with the laughter of truths scorn upon the idols of their conquerors. Men, most tormented by conscience and filled with the sense of sin, they were to hear the gospel of forgiveness. Nation, against whom all fact seemed to be working, their God told them, alone of all nations of the world, that He controlled for their sake the facts of today and the issues of tomorrow.
2. A burst of laughter comes very weirdly out of the Exile. But we have already seen the intellectual right to scorn which these crushed captives had. They were monotheists and their enemies were image worshippers. Monotheism, even in its rudest forms, raises men intellectually, -it is difficult to say by how many degrees. Indeed, degrees do not measure the mental difference between an idolater and him who serves with his mind, as well as with all his heart and it not for the additional proofs by which it is a difference that is absolute. Israel in captivity was conscious of this, and therefore, although the souls of those sad men were filled beyond any in the world with the heaviness of sorrow and the humility of guilt, their proud faces carried a scorn they had every right to wear, as the servants of the One God. See how this scorn breaks forth in the following passage. Its text is corrupt, and its rhythm, at this distance from the voices that utter it, is hardly perceptible; but thoroughly evident is its tone of intellectual superiority, and the scorn of it gushes forth in impetuous, unequal verse, the force of which the smoothness and dignity of our Authorised Version has unfortunately disguised.
1.
Formers of an idol are all of them waste,
And their darlings are utterly worthless!
And their confessors - they! they see not and know not
Enough to feel shame.
Who has fashioned a god, or an image has cast?
Tis to be utterly worthless.
Lo! all that depend ont are shamed,
And the gravers are less than men:
Let all of them gather and stand.
They quake and are shamed in the lump.
2.
Iron-graver-he takes a chisel,
And works with hot coals,
And with hammers he moulds;
And has done it with the arm of his strength. -
Anon hungers, and strength goes;
Drinks no water, and wearies!
3.
Wood-graver-he draws a line,
Marks it with pencil,
Makes it with planes,
And with compasses marks it.
So has made it the build of a man,
To a grace that is human-
To inhabit a house, cutting it cedars.
4.
Or one takes an ilex or oak,
And picks for himself from the trees of the wood
One has planted a pine, and the rain makes it big,
And tis there for a man to burn.
And one has taken of it, and been warmed;
Yea, kindles and bakes bread, -
Yea, works out a god, and has worshipped it!
Has made it an idol, and bows down before it!
Part of it burns he with fire,
Upon part eats flesh,
Roasts roast and is full;
Yea, warms him and saith,
"Aha, I am warm, have seen fire!"
And the rest of it-to a god he has made-to his image!
He bows to it, worships it, prays to it,
And says, "Save me, for my god art thou!"
5.
They know not and deem not!
For He hath bedaubed, past seeing, their eyes
Past thinking, their hearts.
And none takes to heart,
Neither has knowledge nor sense to say,
"Part of it burned I in fire-
Yea, have baked bread on its coals,
Do roast flesh that I eat, -
And the rest ot, to a
Disgust should I make it?
The trunk of a tree should I worship?"
Herder of ashes, a duped heart has sent him astray,
That he cannot deliver his soul. neither say,
"Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
Is not the prevailing note in these verses surprise at the mental condition of an idol-worshipper? "They see not and know not enough to feel shame. None takes it to heart, neither has knowledge nor sense to say, Part of it I have burned in fire and the rest, should I make it a god?" This intellectual confidence, breaking out into scorn, is the second great token of truth, which distinguishes the religion of this poor slave of a people.
3. The third token is its moral character. The intellectual truth of a religion would go for little, had the religion nothing to say to mans moral sense-did it not concern itself with his sins, had it no redemption for his guilt. Now, the chapters before us are full of judgment and mercy. If they have scorn for the idols, they have doom for sin, and grace for the sinner. They are no mere political manifesto for the occasion, declaring how Israel shall be liberated from Babylon. They are a gospel for sinners in all time. By this they farther accredit themselves as a universal religion.
God is omnipotent, yet He can do nothing for Israel till Israel put away their sins. Those sins, and not the peoples captivity, are the Deitys chief concern. Sin has been at the bottom of their whole adversity. This is brought out with all the versatility of conscience itself. Israel and their God have been at variance; their sin has been, what conscience feels the most, a sin against love. "Yet not upon Me hast thou called, O Jacob; how hast thou been wearied with Me, O Israel I have not made thee to slave with offerings, nor weaned thee with incense but thou hast made Me to slave with thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities". {Isa_43:22-24} So God sets their sins, where men most see the blackness of their guilt, in the face of His love. And now He challenges conscience. "Put Me in remembrance; let us come to judgment together; indict, that thou mayest be justified" (Isa_43:26). But it had been agelong and original sin. "Thy father, the first had sinned; yea, thy representative men"-literally "interpreters, mediators-had transgressed against Me. Therefore did I profane consecrated princes, and gave Jacob to the ban, and Israel to reviling" (Isa_43:27-28). The Exile itself was but an episode in a tragedy, which began far back with Israels history. And so chapter 48 repeats: "I knew that thou dost deal very treacherously, and Transgressor-from-the-womb do they call thee" (Isa_48:8). And then there comes the sad note of what might have been. "O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as the river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea" (Isa_48:18). As broad Euphrates thou shouldst have lavishly rolled, and flashed to the sun like a summer sea. But now, hear what is left. "There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked" (Isa_48:22).
Ah, it is no dusty stretch of ancient history, no; long-extinct volcano upon the far waste of Asian politics, to which we are led by the writings of the Exile. But they treat of mans perennial trouble; and conscience, that never dies, speaks through their old-fashioned letters and figures with words we feel like swords. And therefore, still, whether they be psalms or prophecies, they stand like some ancient minster in the modern world, -where, on each new soiled day, till time ends, the heavy heart of man may be helped to read itself, and lift up its guilt for mercy.
They are the confessional of the world, but they are also its gospel, and the altar where forgiveness is sealed. "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins; turn unto Me, for I have redeemed, thee. Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end." {Isa_43:25; Isa_44:21-22; Isa_45:17} Now, when we remember who the God is, who thus speaks, -not merely One who flings the word of pardon from the sublime height of His holiness, but, as we saw, speaks it from the midst of all His own passion and struggle under His peoples sins, -then with what assurance does His word come home to the heart. What honour and obligation to righteousness does the pardon of such a God put upon our hearts. One understands why Ambrose sent Augustine, after his conversion, first to these prophecies.
4. The fourth token, which these chapters offer for the religion of Jehovah, is the claim they make for it to interpret and to control history. There are two verbs, which are frequently repeated throughout the chapters, and which are given together in Isa_43:12 : "I have published and I have saved." These are the two acts by which Jehovah proves His solitary divinity over against the idols.
The "publishing," of course, is the same prediction, of which chapter 41 spoke. It is "publishing" in former times things happening now; it is "publishing" now things that are still to happen. "And who, like Me, calls out and publishes it, and sets it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come, let them publish. Tremble not, nor fear: did I not long ago cause thee to hear? and I published, and ye are My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? nay, there is no Rock; I know none". {Isa_44:7-8}
The two go together, the doing of wonderful and saving acts for His people and the publishing of them before they come to pass. Israels past is full of such acts. Chapter 43, instances the delivery from Egypt (Isa_43:16-17), but immediately proceeds (Isa_43:18-19): "Remember ye not the former things"-here our old friend rishonoth occurs again, but this time means simply "previous events"-"neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; even now it springs forth. Shall ye not know it? Yea, I will set in the wilderness a way, in the desert rivers." And of this new event of the Return, and of others which will follow from it, like the building of Jerusalem, the chapters insist over and over again, that they are the work of Jehovah, who is therefore a Saviour God. But what better proof can be given, that these saving facts are indeed His own and part of His counsel, than that He foretold them by His messengers and prophets to Israel, -of which previous "publication" His people are the witnesses. "Who among the peoples can publish thus, and let us hear predictions?-again rishonoth, "things ahead-let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, and let them hear and say, Truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah," to Israel. {Isa_43:9-10} "I have published, and I have saved, and I have shewed, and there was no strange god among you; therefore"-because Jehovah was notoriously the only God who had to do with them during all this prediction and fulfilment of prediction" ye are witnesses for Me, saith Jehovah, that I am God" (id. Isa_43:12). The meaning of all this is plain. Jehovah is God alone, because He is directly effective in history for the salvation of His people, and because He has published beforehand what He will do. The great instance of this, which the prophecy adduces, is the present movement towards the liberation of the people, of which movement Cyrus is the most conspicuous factor. Of this Isa_45:19 ff. says: "Not in a place of the land of in Secret have I spoken, darkness. I have not said to the seed of Jacob, In vanity seek ye Me. I Jehovah am a speaker of righteousness, a publisher of things that are straight. Be gathered and come in; draw together, ye survivors of the nations: they have no knowledge that carry about the log of their image, and are suppliants to a god that cannot save. Publish, and bring it here; nay, let them advise together; who made this to be heard,"-that is, "who published this, -of ancient time?" Who published this of old? I Jehovah, and there is none God beside Me: a God righteous,"-that is, consistent, true to His published word, -"and a Saviour, there is none beside Me." "Here we have joined together the same ideas as in Isa_43:12." There "I have declared and saved" is equivalent to "a God righteous and a Saviour" here. "Only in Jehovah are righteousnesses," that is, fidelity to His anciently published purposes; "and strength," that is, capacity to carry these purposes out in history. God is righteous because, according to another verse in the same prophecy, {Isa_44:26} "He confirmeth the word of His servant, and the advice of His messengers He fulfilleth."
Now the question has been asked, To what predictions does the prophecy allude as being fulfilled in those days when Cyrus was so evidently advancing to the overthrow of Babylon? Before answering this question it is well to note, that, for the most part, the prophet speaks in general terms. He gives no hint to justify that unfounded belief, to which so many think it necessary to cling, that Cyrus was actually named by a prophet of Jehovah years before he appeared. Had such a prediction existed, we can have no doubt that our prophet would now have appealed to it. No: he evidently refers only to those numerous and notorious predictions by Isaiah, and by Jeremiah, of the return of Israel from exile after a certain and fixed period. Those were now coming to pass.
But from this new day Jehovah also predicts for the days to come, and He does this very particularly, Isa_44:26, "Who is saying of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built; and of her waste places, I will raise them up. Who saith to the deep, Be dry, and thy rivers I will dry up. Who saith of Koresh, My Shepherd, and all My pleasure he shall fulfil: even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built, and the Temple shall be founded."
Thus, backward and forward, yesterday, today and for ever, Jehovahs hand is upon history. He controls it: it is the fulfilment of His ancient purpose. By predictions made long ago and fulfilled today, by the readiness to predict today what will happen tomorrow, He is surely God and God alone. Singular fact, that in that day of great empires, confident in their resources, and with the future so near their grasp, it should be the God of a little people, cut off from their history, servile and seemingly spent, who should take the big things of earth-Egypt, Ethiopia, Seba-and speak of them as counters to be given in exchange for His people; who should speak of such a people as the chief heirs of the future, the indispensable ministers of mankind. The claim has two Divine features. It is unique, and history has vindicated it. It is unique: no other religion, in that or in any other time, has so rationally explained past history or laid out the ages to come upon the lines of a purpose so definite, so rational, so beneficent-a purpose so worthy of the One God and Creator of all. And it has been vindicated: Israel returned to their own land, resumed the development of their calling, and, after the centuries came and went, fulfilled the promise that they should be the religious teachers of mankind. The long delay of this fulfilment surely but testifies the more to the Divine foresight of the promise; to the patience, which nature, as well as history, reveals to be, as much as omnipotence, a mark of Deity.
These, then, are the four points, upon which the religion of Israel offers itself. First, it is the force of the character and grace of a personal God; second, it speaks with a high intellectual confidence, whereof its scorn is here the chief mark; third, it is intensely moral, making mans sin its chief concern; and fourth, it claims the control of history, and history has justified the claim.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Isa_43:1-3. But now thus saith the Lord that created…
CHEERING WORDS FOR THE AFFLICTED
Isa_43:1-3. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, &c.
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These cheering words were addressed by God to His peculiar people the Jews; but He has a peculiar people now, and all who partake of their faith and love may consider this Scripture as written for the purpose of imparting comfort and strength to their troubled hearts. It suggests four subjects for consideration: the afflictions to which the people of God are liable; the exhortation addressed to them; the promises by which it is strengthened; and the arguments by which it is enforced.
I. Compared with the miseries they have deserved, or with the weight of glory reserved for them, the afflictions of God’s people are light (H. E. I. 3703, 3704); but in other points of view, they often appear sharp and heavy. The text implies, 1, that these afflictions are certain; that they not only may come, but will come. It speaks of them as things of course (H. E. I. 47–55, 3674).
2. That they may be great; deep as rivers, dangerous as rapid torrents.
3. That they may be greatly diversified. They may be in the waters to-day, and may have deliverance, but to-morrow they may have to walk through the fire and the flame; to endure trials which are unexpected and strange, and far more severe and bitter than any they have previously experienced.
II. How suitable and encouraging is the exhortation which is here addressed to us: “Fear not.”
1. The power and greatness of Him from whom it proceeds gives to it a force which it would not otherwise possess. It comes from the only Being in the universe who can bless a sinner, or whom he has cause to fear.
2. The natural tendency of our trials is to excite fear. This fear may be innocent; it may lead us to avoid them, if God will, and if not, it will move us to circumspection and prayer. Such a fear our Saviour manifested in Gethsemane.
3. But there is a fear of another kind, and this we are here called on to lay aside: a fear which is the effect of unbelief, and the cause of murmurings, despondency, and wretchedness; a fear which tempts us to choose sin rather than affliction, which provents us from praising God under our trials, and from trusting Him to bring is out of them.
III. This exhortation God supports and strengthens by two most gracious promises.
1. He promises His own presence with us in our trials. “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee” (H. E. I. 198–202, 3677).
2. He promises us preservation under all our calamities. “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.” What does this imply? That our trials shall not injure us. In proportion as they tend to become temptations, grace will be ministered to us, and they shall not overthrow us. Nay more; the very calamities which appeared likely to destroy every spiritual grace within God’s people, to overwhelm their patience, their confidence and love, are made the very means of displaying and brightening them all (H. E. I. 204–214). By calling the suffering graces of His people into exercise, He will render them invincible. He will enable them to pass through rivers of trouble as safely as His beloved Israel passed through the Red Sea, and cause the fires of affliction to play as innocently around them as they played around His three servants in the furnace at Babylon.
IV. In the greatness of His condescension, God vouchsafes to add to His precious promises several arguments to assure us of their fulfilment.
1. The first is drawn from the relation in which He stands to us as our Creator. “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel.” He created us naturally, and has re-created His people spiritually (Isa_43:21; Eph_2:10). Here, then, is a solid ground of confidence. The Father of our spirits must be well acquainted with our infirmities and weakness (Psa_103:13-14; Isa_63:9). Neither will He ever forsake the work of His own hands. He raised us out of the ruins of the Fall, made us temples in which He delights to dwell and be worshipped; and He will never suffer the structures which He has erected at so much labour and cost to be thrown down by violence, or worn away by storms (Psa_138:8; 1Pe_4:19).
2. The Almighty draws another argument from the property which He has in His people and the manner in which He acquired it. “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” We are His by redemption also. And what a mighty price did He pay for us! He gave “Egypt for the ransom” of His ancient people, “Ethiopia and Seba for them.” But when we were to be redeemed, kingdoms and empires were too poor a ransom (Rom_8:32; Act_20:28). Hence He estimates us, not by what we are, but by what we have cost Him. Will He abandon that which cost Him so dear? (Zec_2:8).
3. The covenant which God has formed with His people ensures the fufilment of His promises. “FOR I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour;” thus implying that He has entered into some engagement with His Israel; that He considers Himself bound to be with them in their troubles and distresses; that His own veracity and faithfulness are at stake, and would be sacrificed if Israel were forsaken or injured.
REFLECTIONS.
1. How rich in consolation is the Word of God!
2. How essential to our happiness is a knowledge of our interest in the divine promises (H. E. I. 306–308).
3. How full of confidence and praise ought they to be, who live in the enjoyment of the divine presence in the hour of trouble! It is tranquillising and sweet to have a beloved friend near us when our sorrows are multiplied upon us, but what is the presence of the dearest earthly friend, when compared with the presence of a sympathising God!
4. How blind to their own interest are they who reject the gospel of Christ!—Charles Bradley: Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 266–285.
I. The most eminent piety, the most exalted privileges, form no ground of exemption from the heaviest trials.—God, by His prophet, in this chapter multiplies descriptions of the character and dignity of His people, and yet in the same breath speaks of the severe trials that await them. The people of God have had to pass through severe trials; not merely to hear about them, &c., but to endure them. Abraham (Gen_22:2). Jacob (Gen_37:32). Martha and Mary (Joh_11:1, &c.)
1. Let us not presume upon exemption from them (H. E. I. 234–236, 3361, 3674).
2. Let us not wonder if trial increases in weight and severity. This may be intimated in the text—waters, rivers; fire, flame. There is an ascent in the path of suffering, a graduated scale of sorrow. Trials are proportioned according to our strength; to our missing the improvement of former calamities; to our insensibility to chastisements (Amos 4.)
II. The supports which God furnishes are equal to the utmost emergency in which we can be placed. “I will be with thee.” Enough!
1. Enough to temper the excess of trial, and to enable us to bear up under it. The text engages that the trial shall not reach beyond a certain point: “they shall not overflow thee.” Our supports shall be in every way equal to our necessity. Mr. Cecil says: “I shall never forget the encouragement when standing by the dying bed of my mother. I asked her, ‘Do you not tremble at entering an unknown world, not knowing what you shall meet there? ‘It is no matter what I shall meet there,’ was her answer; ‘He hath said, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee’ ” (H. E. I. 198, 3677).
2. Enough to sanctify the calamities to the promotion of our highest interest (H. E. I. 215, 3696–3701).
III. The promise of support is as certain as the trial is inevitable (Num_23:19). “I will be with thee,” &c. Apprehended, this promise induces resignation, prayer, commitment to God, hope.—Samuel Thodey.
I. The character of the people to whom this promise is made. “Jacob,” “Israel.” II. What God has done for them in time past; or what are the steps which He has taken to make them what they are. He has created them; He has redeemed them; He has called them by their names. Therefore He calls them His; “Thou art mine.” III. What He promises to do for them in time to come.—Daniel Rees: Sermons, pp. 136–156.
We have here God’s redemption, calling, and adoption of His people set forth as a ground of fearlessness in danger, and of comfort in the season of greatest distress.—Charles Neat: The Protestant Preacher, vol. iii. pp. 383–390.
GROUNDS OF CONFIDENCE IN GOD
Isa_43:1-2. But now thus saith the Lord, &c.
I. Here we have four distinct grounds of confidence in God.
1. Our creation: “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel; fear not.”
2. Our redemption: “For I have redeemed thee.”
3. Our calling: “I have called thee by thy name.”
4. Our adoption: “Thou art mine.” Are not all these the very strongest grounds of confidence in God?
1. Shall we not trust in Him who created us? The ungodly indeed can derive no confidence from the consideration of God having formed them; their relation to Him renders their rebellion against Him an incalculable evil (H. E. I. 4488–4489). A man must be renewed and reconciled to God before his creation can be judged a proper ground of confidence in Him. But it should be rested on by those who have received the atonement. Is it possible that He who made you, and whose forfeited favour as your Creator has been restored to you, can ever leave you or forsake you? Shall He become the Father of your spirits, and suffer your spirits, and souls, and bodies to perish?
2. If creation is a ground of confidence in God to them who are reconciled to God and bear His image, what must redemption be? What a magnificence of love, grace, mercy, compassion, holiness, and justice do we behold in this wonderful transaction! Is it to be supposed that redeeming mercy, surmounting every obstacle to the salvation of a sinner, can suffer you, in all the helplessness of your corrupted nature, to be driven to and fro with every wind of passion, and at last to be destroyed for ever! No! if you would calculate the extent of the divine assistance offered to the people of God, you must calculate upon the scale of redemption (H. E. I. 4631–4632; P. D. 3204).
3. In calling you by His grace, God has given you a personal interest in the redemption of His Son, and in all the blessings of His salvation. The unspeakable condescension, friendship, and tenderness which God in this heavenly calling manifests are strikingly declared here: “I have called thee by thy name.” When you call each other by your proper names, you do not by this signify more familiarity, benignity, and confidence than God does in calling you by them. He speaks to you, as to Abraham His friend; when He addressed Abraham by name, He did not feel more love for him than He feels for you day by day, continually. Why should you fear, whom He calls by your names? He has thus made your redemption and all its blessings His personal concern.
4. He who has called you by your names has adopted you into His family. “Thou art mine,” my servant, my child, mine heir, the heir of mine everlasting kingdom. What can be a higher ground of confidence in God than adoption into His family, than the endearing and exalting relation of a child? What condescension and mercy in God, thus to select one of the tenderest relations in life, by which to illustrate the nature of His love to us! (Isa_49:15).
II. On these grounds God exhorts His people to display a fearless fortitude when they are exposed to trials: “Fear not.”
III. In order to render it easier for them to manifest the courage which His children may well be expected to display, He adds gracious promises which should be to them a pillar of fire, to illuminate, guide, keep, and cheer them in the wilderness, or in the deep waters, through which their passage to a better country has been marked out for them: Isa_43:2. Right on to the end, they shall have His presence and protection.—Miles Jackson: Sermons, vol. i. pp. 233–257.
Those relations of God to man which form the groundwork of the believer’s obligations, are in this passage adduced as the foundations of his confidence and peace; and this fact shows, further, that the two must stand or fall together. Men should think of this before they seek to lower the strict requirements of God’s law. We can only lower our estimate of what we ought to do for God, by first lowering our estimate of what God has done for us, and so stripping from our faith all that now raises it into heights above our reach, and depths beyond our fathoming. God is your Creator, Preserver, Saviour, King. These are the very grounds of the assured confidence of which the prophet speaks. Consider—
I. THE CHARGE GIVEN—“Fear not.” The quality of fear is described in the Scriptures under various aspects.
Thus it is spoken of sometimes as a feeling to be exercised. “Be not highminded, but fear;” and again as a thing to be avoided, “Fear not.” There is the coward’s fear, which cannot bear the very sight of danger. Such is the fear that makes a man shrink from examining into the true state of his soul before God, and that makes men hide from themselves the thought of death. There is another kind of fear, which never shows itself till the time of actual trial comes; beforehand, it is arrogant and boastful, but sinks into despondency and despair when it is put to the test. God’s people are free from both of these; they are deeply conscious alike of their danger and of the inadequacy of their own strength to meet it: but they stand fast, “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” A righteous, godly fear, the believer has; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt, he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling, nor the faithfulness of his God. The believer and the unbeliever are sharply separated in respect of the objects of their fear. The timid child and the courageous man both have fear; but the one fears a shadow: the other, that which, not to fear, would show the absence of a reasonable courage.
What things ought we to fear? Shall we fear the opposition and hatred of the world; those who can injure the body, but cannot touch the soul; pain, or sickness, or temporal misfortune? Those may do so who make this world their all, but not the believer, who recognises in them the medicines of the soul. Shall we fear the devil? Not with God on our side. Or death? Not so; for it is the gate of higher life, and introduces us to life’s crown of glory. He who fears God need know no other fear. Such fear is not a base naked terror; it becomes a wondering reverence, and loses itself in love; for He is not against His people, but for them; “Fear not, for I am with thee.” But the absence of this fear makes everything else fearful.
II. THE REASON ASSIGNED. “Thou art mine.” These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh; yet, as the relations named—Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour—are not peculiar to them, but are realised by every believing heart, every believer may take to himself his share in this animating promise; for all these relations are adduced, not as reasons for anything we are to pay to God, but as reasons for that which we are to receive from Him,—they form the ground of our confidence (Psa_119:94). The certainty of our hope does not depend on our holding God, but on God’s holding us; it is not in our power to realise His promise at all times, but we may rest on the immutability of that promise (2Ti_2:13). The believer’s hope is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” To see to what a strong rock that anchor holds, turn your thoughts to the relationship spoken of in these words, “I am thy Creator, thy Redeemer, thy Saviour;” “I have called thee by thy name,” words which imply a personal, immediate interest. All is His work; the goodness which created, the grace which has quickened, corrected, strengthened, taught, sanctified, has all come from Him!
III. THE PROTECTION PROMISED (Isa_43:2). This does not consist of any absence of trial and danger; the expressions of the text rather imply their presence, many in number, and varied in kind (Psa_69:1-2). No extraordinary interposition will preserve the child of God from those miseries “to which man is born as the sparks fly upwards.” The protection promised consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour (Psa_16:8; Heb_13:5-6).
CONCLUSION.—Contrast the condition of the believer, and of the unbeliever. Affliction is the lot of all; but while a man loses nothing, in the calculation of earthly happiness, by becoming a follower of the Saviour, in the calculation of heavenly happiness he gains all. There is more sunshine, even in this world, to the righteous than to the unrighteous. Both have to share the “ills that flesh is heir to;” but what a difference in the strength of the two to meet them! If for a moment the Christian’s heart sinks, then the promise comes back to him like a refreshing breath from above—“Fear not; for I have redeemed thee.”—Edward Garbett, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 204–222.
DIVINE CONVOY
Isa_43:2. When thou passest through the waters, &c.
I. THE PATHWAY THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE CALLED TO TREAD. Through waters and fires; used in the Scriptures as emblems of troubles and sorrows (Act_14:22).
1. Temporal troubles. You can scarcely look into the narrowest circle of your acquaintance without finding sorrows, losses, cares, broils, contentions, all the fruits of sin (H. E. I. 47–51).
2. Spiritual troubles. Consciousness of utter inability to comply with the demands of the fiery law. Satan’s suggestions and temptations.
The troubles of life are—
1. to the ungodly, judicial punishments;
2. to God’s people, fatherly corrections, or trials of their faith (1Pe_1:7; H. E. I. 66–70; 3678–3684).
II. THE UPHOLDING POWER THAT BEARS THEM ALONG. “I will be with thee.” Two views may be taken of this precious promise: there is such a thing as God being with His people, and they not knowing it; and there is such a thing as their sensible enjoyment of it.
1. God never deserts the objects of His love. But there have been many instances in which His people have had added to their trials the terrible fear that He had deserted them (Lam_3:8; Psa_77:7-9; Job_23:8-9; H. E. I. 1644–1657).
2. But to those who humbly wait upon Him, He reveals His presence with them; and in that they find all they need to sustain them, and heaven begun below.
III. THE TERMINUS WHERE THE PATHWAY OF GOD’S PEOPLE WILL END. It is a mercy that the promise is “when thou passest through,” not merely into. God’s elect pass through waters and rivers, fires and flames, but they get to the other side. And what is found there? The rest that remaineth for the people of God (H. E. I. 2792, 2793; P. D. 1784).—Joseph Irons: Grove Chapel Pulpit, vol. iv. pp. 289–299.
I. THE WATERS AND RIVERS WHICH ARE IN THE CHRISTIAN’S WAY. [1393]
[1393] In most parts of our country, ingenuity and labour have been employed to lessen the fatigues and remove the dangers of travelling. Roads are cut through woods and morasses, and over mountains; inns are established; and bridges are thrown over rivers and brooks. But in countries which are thinly inhabited, or into which the improvements of modern times have not been introduced, travelling is full of danger and of toil. The stranger, if he has not a guide, is in perpetual uncertainty, is harassed by apprehensions; and if he reach his destined place, it is not till he is almost exhausted by fatigue, and after many hair-breadth escapes. At one time, he is almost faint with hunger; at another, he is parched with thirst; at another, either benumbed with the cold, or scorched by the heat, or overpowered by the severity of the storm, before he can reach a place of shelter, or find the necessary refreshments of nature. Now, he knows not at what place he shall enter the forest, to avoid being torn by the briars and thorns, or entangled in some impenetrable thicket. Then, he hesitates whether the thick mire be not too deep for him, or the marshy ground may not sink beneath his feet. In a little while he is distressed how he shall, by the best and easiest path, ascend the steep and woody mountain; or how, in descending, he shall avoid the precipices which appear below. Again, he arrives at the banks of some deep and rapid river, or approaches some torrent descending from the mountains, and swelled by the winter floods; and how he shall descend, and where he shall pass through, and whether the waters be fordable, or the streams be not too rapid, are questions which distress his mind and fill him with anxiety and fear.
Many such impediments were in the traveller’s way; and to many such hazards was he exposed in Canaan, and especially in the countries adjacent, many of which were mountainous and waste. On this account, frequent allusions to this state of things are made by the Spirit of God in scripture, especially in describing the Christian life. The Christian is represented as a man travelling through the waste howling wilderness to Immanuel’s land.… Many a mountain of difficult duty has he to ascend, and many a steep of painful suffering has he to descend on his way to his heavenly home. Many waters of deep distress, which sometimes rush unexpectedly upon him, like torrents from the mountains, and threaten to sweep him away into destruction, has he to pass through.—Peddie.
“Waters” and “rivers” are employed metaphorically in two opposite senses. Because, in a warm climate especially, waters are so necessary to allay the thirst of man, and to cool and invigorate the body enfeebled by excessive heat, and are so calculated to beautify the landscape and to diffuse fertility, everything that is comfortable and joyous is shadowed forth by “waters,” “rivers,” “streams” (Isa_41:18). But in other places, as here, by “waters” and “rivers” we are to understand afflictions and tribulations; because waters, which are so beneficial, when in over-abundance are so noxious; and because he who has to pass through them has a difficult and hazardous task to perform, and he who is plunged into them is in imminent risk of his life.
1. The waters of affliction are numerous. The Christian in his progress towards heaven has not one river only to pass through; there are many, including the Jordan, that lie between him and that happy land (Psa_34:19; H. E. I. 3661, 3674).
2. They are often deep. Every stream is not a brook; there are rivers as well as rivulets; and all afflictions are not “light.” The stream is easily passed over in summer months, or when the sky is serene and settled, compared with what it is in the midst of winter, or when it overflows its banks in consequence of the descending torrents. When it goes well with the soul, and the Christian walks “in the light of God’s countenance,” and “in the fellowship of Christ,” and “in the comforts of the Holy Ghost,” the waters of trouble are easily forded; they seem not half so deep as at other times when the heavens above, as well as the things on earth, frown upon him. The union of many streams occasions a greater depth of water than can be found in any of them singly; and how deep must be the affliction of that saint who meets with combined distress of body and of soul (Psa_42:7; Jon_2:3).
3. They are frequently muddy. When the waters of a river are most plentiful they are usually least limpid, and the traveller who has to pass through them, besides the uneasiness which he suffers from perceiving their increased quantity, is distressed because he can neither see the bottom nor conjecture their depth. How often in times of affliction is it thus with the saints! The designs of Providence are wrapt up in obscurity. Their eye is unable to discover the reasons of the Divine controversy with them; neither can their anxious minds form any idea of that depth and severity of distress which they must yet suffer before they obtain deliverance.
4. They are in many places broad. The river is often confined by the height of its banks within a narrow channel, and whatever be the difficulty of passing through, the traveller soon reaches the further side; but at other times it spreads itself out to a great extent, and it is not till after many a weary step that he reascends to the dry land. The waters of affliction often extend over a great space (Psa_90:15; Psa_88:15). It is no small addition to trouble of any kind, when it is lengthened out. The soul is ready to faint because of its continuance; faith, patience, and hope are ready to die out (Psa_13:1-2). Indeed in no case can we see the further bank of the river of trouble. A mist hangs over it. When we enter it; we can never say how long it will be before we reascend out of it. This only we know, that when the journey of life is finished, we shall be delivered out of all tribulation, and “the days of our mourning shall be ended.”
5. They are at certain seasons exceedingly rapid. They sometimes descend upon the saint with all the rapidity of a torrent, and ere he is aware he is in the midst of great distress. As in Job’s case, the messengers of woe come running unto us at a time when all is quiet, and we looked for joy (Job_30:14; Job_30:26; Job_30:31). Even when the soul enters the stream with full warning of what it is to meet with, it is often found more rapid than was supposed, and descends with a force which it is not easy to sustain (H. E. I. 54, 55).
II. THE PASSING THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. There is no getting to heaven without passing through the waters. The heavenly land, like Canaan to Abraham when he dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, “lies beyond the flood,” and through this we must pass before we can enter in and possess it. Affliction is the portion of saints in this world. Each of them in his order seems to say with Jeremiah, “I am the man that hath seen affliction.” The Great Head of the Church Himself passed through many waters of tribulation (Isa_53:3).
2. Some saints on their way to heaven pass through more rivers of trouble than others. Travellers who set out to the same place from different parts of the country pass through tracts different in their form and scenery, and some meet with rivers which others avoid. The Lord, in wisdom and sovereignty, diversifies the lot of His people.
3. The travellers to Zion pass through the same waters at different stages of their journey. The rivers wind. Hence they are met by the travellers from different parts at earlier or later periods, at greater or less distances. Let us not take it for granted that because we have never experienced trials against which others have had to contend, therefore we shall never meet with them.
4. Through the very same waters of affliction the Christian in his journey has often more than once to pass. We ought not to imagine that, because we have been in any particular period afflicted in a certain manner, we shall no more experience that distress. The waters through which you have already passed may wind about, and you may have to pass through them yet again. Never think yourself secure against any one trial, temptation, or affliction, while you are so far from the house of your heavenly Father.
5. The Christian, in passing through the waters and the rivers, much needs a guide and helper. Without one, he could never pass through them in safety. His own wisdom, courage, and strength are utterly unable to resist the impetuosity of the torrents that assail him. His fellow-Christians need the same assistance as himself. His help can come only from Him who says here: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.”
III. THE PROMISED PRESENCE OF GOD DURING THE CHRISTIAN’S PASSAGE THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. It is the presence of God Himself which is promised. Not merely by means of instruments. The Lord has more love to His people than to leave any of them to pass through the waters with no other comforter or helper than the best of men, or even the greatest angels. Their wisdom, power, and grace are finite, limited, and insufficient for an undertaking so arduous. He has therefore promised to be with them, and this is everything.
2. It is the special presence of God which is promised to be with them. By His essential presence God fills heaven, earth, and hell, upholding and governing all things. But if the promise has any meaning or comfort in it, it is a promise of special presence; a promise of His presence as a God of grace and love. How big with comfort, help, and deliverance is our text when thus understood! In the time of trouble, we wish our friends to be near us. Yet, often their sympathy cannot remove our anguish, nor their help effect our deliverance. But when we have God with us, He can do for us all we need.
3. It is the presence of the Lord in all distresses which is here promised. Were there one river through which a saint had to pass in which he had not reason to expect the Divine presence, he would have cause to be afraid. But as His presence is intended for the consolation and salvation of His people, the promise reaches to every kind of distress.
4. It is His presence at all times which is promised. He is not like a stranger who occasionally appears for the relief of those who are struggling with the stream, and are ready to be swept away by it. No, He abides with His people (Isa_54:10; Psa_138:7).
5. The promise guarantees the presence of God with all the saints when passing through the waters. Partialities are unknown with our God. He loves all His children, and He will provide deliverance for them all. If this promise was made for any, it was for them that especially need His presence and help. The more helpless thou art in thyself, the greater is the evidence that He intended it for thee.
IV. THE HAPPY CONSEQUENCES OF GOD’S PRESENCE WITH THE SAINTS WHEN THEY PASS THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. He guides and directs them. It is His general promise to His people: “I will guide thee with mine eye;” and if there is any season in which they need Divine counsel and heavenly guidance, it is in the season of distress. But then He gives it to them as He did to Jehoshaphat (2Ch_20:12; H. E. I. 176).
2. He comforts them (H. E. I. 202; P. D. 93).
3. He sanctifies to them the waters of affliction. Since God is with him, the swelling waters purify the believer, and cannot destroy him; they fit him for heaven, and cannot prevent his progress to it. Many, besides David, instead of suffering by affliction, have come up out of the waters “like flocks of sheep which go up from the washing” (H. E. I. 116).
4. He strengthens them to pass through the waters. Cry then unto Him (Psa_20:1-2).
5. He delivers them from the waters. They cannot deliver themselves. But they are not therefore lost in the deep waters (Psa_34:6). Deliverance comes not always as soon as they desire it; but it comes in due season; it never comes too late. In the most unexpected moment, in the most unexpected manner, He appears for their deliverance; so singular is it sometimes that they can scarcely credit it (Psa_126:1-3). He does not always deliver them from every river into which they enter. He permits some one or other of them to carry them down the stream till they reach the waters of Jordan. But there they do not perish. He gives them victory over death, and by means of this deliverance sets them free from all their troubles.—James Peddie, D.D.: Discourses, pp. 395–424.
It is assumed that God’s people will pass through the waters and through the fire. These elements, so useful as friends, so terrible as enemies, represent trouble and distress. Water may be too deep to ford, the practised swimmer may be overpowered. Within the grasp of fire, injury, destruction, death are speedily accomplished. The sufferer is sometimes like one aroused from sleep in a burning house. Despair seizes him. Those who have no God, or whose faith fails to realise His sufficiency, relinquish effort and hope. The antidote is found in God’s all-sufficient promises. Here is one that assures believers of the Divine presence in trouble, and the Divine deliverance from it.
I. THE DIVINE PRESENCE IN TROUBLE. What is it in our nature that finds a relief in the presence of a friend in times of deepest sorrow? In the first burst of sorrow, the heart must be left alone. It prefers to be alone. The nearest earthly friend must not intrude on the sacredness of its grief. But the time comes when it craves for sympathy. The presence of a friend, even if no word is spoken, exerts the mysterious influence that brings relief and consolation. At suitable time and in suitable manner, there will be the sympathetic word. Perhaps the substantial aid. Whether or not, there will be the restful feeling of the weak when they depend upon the strong.
Your friend’s trouble may have been the hopeless ruin of his fortune. You could do nothing for him. But you made it in your way to call upon him. He will never forget it. He is sick; and time, to the sick, is weariness. You visited him. Dear to Paul the apostle were those friends who were not ashamed of his chain; who visited him in imprisonment and ministered to his wants. It is not merely that there is society to relieve the tedium of solitude, and divert attention from the presence of sorrow. Any one might do that. But more is wanted. A stranger, or one to whom the sufferer is personally indifferent, could not convey the mysterious influence that has help and comfort in it. The comfort comes from the consciousness that the presence is that of a friend.
Now, God is the best of friends. It is the privilege of believers to call Him friend. By faith their sins are forgiven. They are reconciled to Him. By His grace they are born again. The old enmity of their hearts is abandoned. Its place has been taken by love. Fellowship with God is the Christian’s joy. His friendship reflects glory on those who are honoured with it. It is this Friend who says, “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee.” We cannot see Him. Sight is not necessary to the conscious presence of even an earthly friend. The room may be dark, not a word may be spoken, not a sound heard; but we feel that he is there; the influence is the same as if we saw him. God’s conscious presence fills the soul with faith, hope, peace. It is the consciousness of love and sympathy. It is the invisible, secret, gentle power of His Spirit that gives calmness and strength while trouble is pressing most heavily, and while external circumstances are the most distressing. “I will be with thee” (H. E. I. 198, 3677).
II. THE DIVINE DELIVERANCE FROM TROUBLE. If the believer is called to pass through the waters, they shall not overflow him; if he is called to walk through the fire, he shall not be burned, nor shall the flames kindle upon him. Trouble may come: but he shall be brought through at the last. It may seem like a miracle. It is like saying the action of fire and water shall be so controlled that their natural result shall not follow. No difficulty, no trouble is so great that the Lord cannot effect a deliverance; in some unexpected way deliverance shall come. The day is overcast with gloomy clouds; the atmosphere is depressed; the rain comes in torrents; the wind sweeps down houses and trees before it; universal wreck seems impending; when unexpectedly the storm abates, wind and rain cease, the clouds separate, a genial warmth is diffused, the sun shines out, the storm is forgotten. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” He suffers His people to pass through fire and water, not only that He may display His power and love in their deliverance, but often, because the fire and the water lie in their way to some good exceeding what they have ever enjoyed; which, without it, could not have been reached. Sickness is sometimes the pathway to health; temporal calamity to prosperity; sorrow to established Christian character; spiritual distresses to a profounder realisation of spiritual blessings. The cross prepares for the crown. Death is the gate of life.
Oh, how many such deliverances are recorded in the sacred history! Joseph from prison. The bush burned, but was not consumed. The children of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan. Daniel from the lions’ den. The three Hebrew youths in the furnace of fire; but there was one with them “like the Son of God, and therefore upon their bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed.” Fire cannot burn, water cannot drown those whom the Lord preserves. Nothing can prevent the fulfilment of His word.
Consider the grounds on which your confidence may repose—
1. His purpose. The salvation of His people from every evil is part of His redeeming plan. Everything is subordinate to this. Hindrances have been swept away. He has spared no expense. “I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Ethiopia and Seba for thee.” He gave His Son.
2. His faithfulness. You can plead His word of promise. The truth of His nature is pledged. He will do as He has said.
3. His love. Is He not thy Father? He loves His children. His heart is set on their salvation. Will not love do all that is necessary?
4. His power. He can sweep away all material and spiritual hindrances that lie in the way. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
But there must be faith. God’s promises are made to faith. The blessing is according to faith. Let your mind rest in the promises in every time of distress, whatever its nature, assured that either He will remove it or overrule it, so that a blessing shall come through it. If there are losses, disappointments, bereavements, soul-troubles, the solemn hour of death, His presence, and His delivering power shall be the sufficient antidote.—J. Rawlinson.
God’s grace never shines so brightly as when it shines through the cloud of His people’s sins. Nor does it ever appear so glorious as when displayed in the depth of their unworthiness. When nature is at the lowest, grace is generally at the highest. When God has threatened His people for their sins, or chastened them for their follies, He then generally steps in with some revelation of His grace, or makes some precious promise. This was the case with Israel of old, whom God had visited with sore and terrible judgments; and then, instead of utterly consuming them, He comes forward and says, “When thou passest,” &c.
I. THE PILGRIM’S PAINFUL LOT. He has to pass through deep, sore, and successive trials. Persecution, temptations, conflict within. Temporal trials: losses, crosses, disappointments, and vexations. The fire tries the metal, and separates it from the dross, &c. So the believer’s trials refine him, &c.
II. THE LORD’S GRACIOUS PROMISE. “I will be with thee.” Nothing is so much needed, nothing so much prized by the believer in affliction, as the presence of God.
1. To direct thy steps, for I know all the way.
2. To strengthen thy faith, for I know how weak and feeble it is.
3. To cheer thy heart, for I know all thy sorrows.
4. To secure thy benefit, for I will surely do thee good.
5. To bring thee safely through all, and lead thee safe to glory.
CONCLUSION.—Our trials will sweeten home. Heaven will make amends for all. Whatever happens, God is still our Father, and we are His beloved children.—James Smith.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Isa 43:1-3
Isa 43:1-3
In this text we have
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I. A charge given—"Fear not." A righteous, godly fear the believer may have; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt—which is prone to distrust even the Almighty and disbelieve the All-true—this he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling nor the faithfulness of his God.
II. A reason assigned—"Thou art Mine." These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh, and to them they still remain a covenant of peace, sure and steadfast for ever; yet as the relations named—Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour—are not peculiar to them, but are enjoyed in the same degree by every believing heart, we may safely take to ourselves a share in this animating promise. The certainty of the believer’s hope does not depend on our holding God, but on God’s holding us, not on our faithfulness to Him, but on His faithfulness to us.
III. A protection promised. This does not consist in any absence of trial and danger; the expressions of the text rather imply their presence, many in number and various in kind. The protection promised in the text consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour. The preserving hand will never be withdrawn, and the grace of the Comforter will strengthen and cheer the soul still in its sorest times of difficulty and distress.
E. Garbett, The Soul’s Life, p. 204.
References: Isa 43:1.—R. Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 88. Isa 43:1-4.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1895.
Isa 43:2
(with Dan. 3)
The text contains
I. A pre-intimation of trouble. Although we have not in it a distinct assertion or prediction of particular trials, yet it is most clearly and strongly implied that the chosen people would have to go through them. God never deceives us. He never foresees one thing for us and tells us to expect another. He meets us, so to speak, in plainness and candour, and He says, My ways are ways of ultimate happiness, but not of proximate. Tribulation is the very cause of religion’s peculiar blessedness,—the very parent and producer of its inconceivable peace. Those who have most of the sorrow invariably taste most of the joy.
II. A promise of Divine succour and deliverance. The very same passage that intimates sorrow and leads us to expect persecution for the sake of Christ, assures us also most encouragingly of strength equal to our day, and of grace to help in every time of need. The promise assures us (1) of the Saviour’s sympathy in our trials, "I will be with thee." What Jesus promises to His chosen is not the mere succour of aid—it is the succour of a helpful sympathy. (2) Mark the kind of sympathy it is. It is not the sympathy of weakness that can only weep with us, but hath no power to give us assistance. But this is the remarkable and blessed thing in the sympathy of Christ—it is human sympathy allied to Almighty power. This sympathising Son of God is the Creator and Controller of flood and fire. There is promised to all His tried and faithful servants both succour and salvation, defence and deliverance.
R. Glover, By the Waters of Babylon, p. 133.
References: Isa 43:2.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 397; R. Glover, By the Waters of Babylon, p. 133. Isa 43:3.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1831. Isa 43:4.—Ibid., vol. xvi., No. 917, vol. xxviii., No. 1671; Isa 43:6.—Ibid., vol. xvii., No. 1007; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 296. Isa 43:10.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 52; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 229, vol. xii., p. 134; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 106; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xi., No. 644; J. Hall, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 270; J. Kennedy, Ibid., vol. i., p. 424. Isa 43:16.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 354. Isa 43:19.—T. Stephenson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 209. Isa 43:21.—J. J. West, Penny Pulpit, No. 348; Homiletic Magazine, vol. ix., p. 165.
Isa 43:22
I. The nature of this evil. To be weary of God is to desire to break the connection that exists between us and God. It is to be impatient of continued connection with Him; to be tired of calling upon Him; tired of thinking of Him; tired of trusting Him; tired of waiting for Him; tired of serving Him.
II. The nature of this weariness will appear further if you look for a moment at the forms in which it is shown. (1) This weariness is first shown by formality in Divine worship, (2) in the outward neglect of Divine requirements, (3) in not looking to God for aid and succour, (4) in the setting up of false gods.
III. What is the occasion of the manifestation of this weariness? You will generally find one of the following things—disappointed hope, the endurance of affliction, or the prosperity of the wicked.
IV. God’s dealings, God’s dispensations, may be the occasion of the springing up of this weariness, but we cannot charge it upon God. Its cause is to be found either in the absence of love or in the feebleness of love.
V. Look at the bitter fruits of this weariness. God sees it, and He cannot see it without feeling it, that would be impossible. What feeling, therefore, must spring up in the Divine nature? It cannot be joy and it cannot be complacency. What can it be but anger, what but displeasure? And displeasure does arise. God is angry and He corrects, and He corrects so as to make the chastisement answer to the sin. The man has, to a cer tain extent, withdrawn from God—God withdraws from the man. He deprives the man of whatever influences are tending to promote his peace and joy and rest. And if the heart be alive, if it be a quickened heart, this state is one/of great misery until the soul is restored to God.
VI. What is the prevention, or rather, the means of prevention? Ejecting the first hard thoughts of God, not yielding for a moment to indolence in the service of God; following Christ implicitly in the conduct of the spirit towards God; cherishing most sacredly the influences of the Holy Spirit.
VII. And when you have fallen into this evil state, what is its cure? (1) The full confession of the weariness. (2) Admission of the Divine goodness in the correction by which you are made sensible of your weariness. (3) Return to the careful observances of God’s ordinances and precepts, the obtaining of pardon, and the assurance of forgiveness.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 1st series, No. 19.
References: Isa 43:22-24.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1895. Isa 43:24.—Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 144.
Isa 43:24-25
I. Consider the ground on which Israel is reproached. Sweet cane, or calamus, is an aromatic reed which was an exotic in in Palestine, and is chiefly to be found in India. The demand for sweet cane was great, because it formed an ingredient of the incense in most countries where incense was used. It was one of the things which could not be obtained by barter. The charge is, "You do not neglect the offices of religion, but you perform them carelessly; you do not withhold your offerings, but you do not offer of your best." Bad is the best that man has to offer to God; but less than our best God will not accept.
II. When did the King eternal, immortal, invisible, serve? When was God, the Omnipotent, wearied with our iniquities? When did the Judge of the earth blot out our sins? We, enlightened by the gospel, can give an answer which Israel of old could not. We answer, "Then, when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," when God in the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate. He came to serve, and when we think of Him, the God-Man, serving under the law, is it possible for us to ask, in the spirit of a slave, How little can I render unto the Lord for all His benefits? what is the least that He demands, the minimum of duty? The great principle is this, that we never offer unto the Lord what costs us nothing, or what involves no thought or trouble. He will not accept the refuse at our hands. And this principle we are to carry out in all that relates to our moral conduct and religious life. It is applicable to our private devotions as well as to our public services. It is implied in our Lord’s injunction, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."
W. F. Hook, Parish Sermons, p. 186.
Isa 43:25
There is one thing that God always does with sin. He removes it out of His presence. God cannot dwell with sin. When He casts away the guilty soul into an unapproachable distance, and when He pardons a penitent soul and lays it upon His bosom, He is doing the same thing equally in both cases,—He is removing sin absolutely and infinitely.
I. Consider the Author of forgiveness. The expression, "I, even I," is not a very unfrequent one in Holy Scripture; but wherever it occurs—whether in reference to justice or to mercy—it is the mark of the Almighty, at that moment taking to Himself, in some special degree, some sovereign prerogative. Here, the magnificent repetition of that name, first given in the bush, was evidently intended to show one characteristic feature of God’s love. He forgives like a sovereign. All His attributes are brought to bear upon our peace. The pardoned sinner stands upon the Eternal, leans upon the Infinite, and looks out upon the unfading.
II. The nature of forgiveness. (1) As to time. Observe, the verb runs in the present tense—"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions." (2) As to degree. "Blot out." You could not read—Satan could not read—a trace where God’s obliterating hand has once passed. (3) As to continuance. In the text the present swells out into the future. He "blotteth out and will not remember."
III. The reason of forgiveness. Look back and find it in that eternal counsel, wherein, before all worlds, God gave to His dear Son a kingdom and a people. Look forward and find it in God’s will, that there shall be a multitude of washed saints around the throne of His glory, who shall be sending up praises to Him for ever and ever. Seek it in that unfathomable love in which He is the Father—the loving Father—of every creature He has made.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 279.
References: Isa 43:25.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 94; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i., No. 24, vol. xix., No. 1142, vol. xxviii., No. 1685. Isa 43:25-28.—C. Short, Expositor, 1st series, vol. ix., p. 150.
Isa 43:26
I. We cannot but remark at once on the apparent strangeness that there should be any appeal to reason or argument where the matter involved is undoubtedly the great doctrine of atonement or propitiation. A forgiveness based on a propitiation, and followed by sanctification, is what God propounds as His scheme of redemption, and such a scheme He invites us to discuss with Him in person. Let reason put forth all her shrewdness; there is no fear but that an answer will be furnished by your antagonist in this high debate. But if all the difficulties which reason can find in the way of redemption lie either in the necessities of man or the attributes of God, and if the scheme of redemption through Christ meet the first and yield the second, so that even reason herself can perceive that it satisfies every human want and compromises no Divine perfection, why should we not allow that, reason herself being judge, the gospel is in every respect precisely such a communication as is suited to the case?
II. The concluding words of the text, "Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified," seem to allow you, if you choose, to bring forward any excuse which you may have for not closing with that gracious proffer of salvation through Christ. Whilst we promise you upon the authority of revelation that God will blot out your transgressions and not remember your sins, we call on you to break away from evil habits, forsake evil ways, and attend to righteous duties. And here you think you have ground of objection. Well, urge it. It is God Himself who saith, "Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." But the answer is, that the persons to whom God will communicate additional grace are those who in obedience to His call are straining every nerve to forsake evil ways. It is not that they are able of themselves to work out a moral amendment, but it is that He intends to bestow on them the ability while they are making the effort. We may, however, take another and perhaps equally just view of the controversy, which is indicated, though not laid open, by our text. Come, all of you who think you are in any way hardly dealt with by God. Approach and plead your cause. Keep nothing back; be as minute as you will in exposing the harshness of God’s dealings, whether individually with yourselves or generally with mankind; and then, having pleaded your own cause, listen to the beautiful promise, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2299.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v1 Isa 43:1. - Isa 43:7.
Isaiah
THY NAME: MY NAME
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Isa 43:1. - Isa 43:7.
Great stress is laid on names in Scripture. These two parallel and antithetic clauses bring out striking complementary relations between God and the collective Israel. But they are as applicable to each individual member of the true Israel of God.
I. What does God’s calling a man by his name imply?
1. Intimate knowledge.
Adam naming the creatures.
Christ naming His disciples.
2. Loving friendship.
Moses, ‘I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in my sight.’
3. Designation and adaptation to work.
Bezaleel- Exo 31:2; Cyrus- Isa 45:3; Servant of the Lord- Isa 49:1.
II. What does God’s calling a man by His name imply?
1. God’s possession of him. That possession by God involves God’s protection and man’s safety. He does not hold His property slackly. ‘None shall pluck them out of My Father’s hand.’
2. Kindred. The man bears the family name. He is adopted into the household. The sonship of the receiver of the new name is dimly shadowed.
3. Likeness.
The Biblical meaning of ‘name’ is ‘character manifested.’
Nomen and omen coincide.
We must bring into connection with the texts the prominence given in the Apocalypse to analogous promises.
‘I will write on him the name of My God.’ That means a fuller disclosing of God’s character, and a clear impress of that character on perfected men ‘His name shall be in their foreheads.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Mission of Israel
The Mission of Israel
1-21. The dispersed Israelites shall be ransomed and restored. They are witnesses before the world that Jehovah is the true God. A second and more wonderful exodus is in store for Israel.
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22-28. This deliverance is not a return for service rendered to God, but a free gift.
1. But now] In contrast to the wrath poured upon Israel (Isa_42:24-25) God will manifest His redeeming love.
3. Egypt, etc.] The meaning is that these nations shall take the place of Israel as vassals. Jehovah is willing to give the richest lands as ransom for His people.
4. Thou hast been] RV 'and hast been.'
People] RV 'peoples.'
5, 6. Every nation where Israelites were dispersed must restore them to their home.
8. Blind, etc.] see Isa_42:18.
9f. Another judgment scene, similar to Isa_41:21.
9. The heathen are challenged to bring witnesses on behalf of their gods, that they can foretell the future.
10-13. The Israelites themselves are Jehovah's witnesses, proving in their experience that He alone is the Eternal, the Almighty, who can save and foretell the future.
14. Babylon] Here for the first time the place of exile is named. Have.. nobles] RV 'will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans.' Whose cry, etc.] RV 'in the ships of their rejoicing.' Babylonia was famous for its shipping; ships belonging to it and other cities on the Persian Gulf are referred to in the earliest Babylonian legends.
16, 17. The imagery for this second exodus is borrowed from the exodus from Egypt.
18, 19. The mighty works of the past shall be forgotten, in view of a still greater deliverance: cp. Jer_23:7, Jer_23:8.
20. Dragons.. owls] RV'jackals.. ostriches.'
22-24. Israel's service has not been such as to deserve Jehovah's interposition.
23. Small cattle] Heb. 'lambs or kids'(mg.). I have not caused, etc.] i.e. I have not laid too heavy burdens on you.
24. Sweet cane] from which anointing oil was prepared (Exo_30:23). Thou hast made me to serve, etc.] i.e. I have had to endure.
26. An invitation to produce any argument in defence of their conduct.
27, 28. Nothing can be urged; they have sinned from the beginning of their national existence; hence the calamity of the exile, which has made them an object of scorn to the world.
27. First father] Jacob: cp. Isa_43:28.
28. Profaned, etc.] i.e. treated the chief priests (cp. 1Ch_24:5) as though they were ordinary unconsecrated men. During the exile their priestly functions were in abeyance.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
redeemed
Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Jehovah Speaks in Comfort to His People
CHAPTER 43
Jehovah Speaks in Comfort to His People
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1. What Jehovah is and will be to Israel (Isa 43:1-7) 2. Second address to the blind and deaf people (Isa 43:8-13) 3. Jehovah deals with their enemies (Isa 43:14-17) 4. Blessed things to come: They shall show forth My praise (Isa 43:18-21) 5. Jehovah’s loving appeal and promise to remember their sins no more (Isa 43:22-28) Chapters 43-45 must be studied together. Jehovah speaks in these chapters as nowhere else in the prophetic Word. Note the many declarations Jehovah makes. “I have redeemed thee,” “I will be with thee,” “I have loved thee,” “I have made him,” “I am the LORD, I will make a way in the wilderness.” All God’s people can lay claim to these blessed words of promise and assurance. Ultimately Israel will possess and enjoy these great blessings.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Jehovah’s Love Protects And Gathers His People
Jehovah’s Love Protects And Gathers His People
v. 1. But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, not only in the act of creation, but in the sense of making the descendants of Jacob His own peculiar people, a distinction which has now been transferred to the spiritual Israel, the Church of God, Fear not, namely, after the stern reproofs of the last chapter and on account of the natural feeling of sinfulness and unworthiness, for I have redeemed thee, His main activity ever consisting in His ransoming His children from the power of their enemies; I have called thee by thy name, thereby expressing the relation of intimate friendship which He wanted to exist; thou art Mine, His incomparable love causing Him to regard Israel as His precious possession, which He treasures with all the power of His eternal mercy.
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v. 2. When thou passest through the waters, through great dangers, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee, as when Israel went dry-shod through the bed of Jordan, although it was the period of the annual floods, Jos 3:15; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, the most extreme perils would not be able to harm those who placed their trust in Him, the God of their salvation.
v. 3. For I am the Lord, thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior, the outstanding names of the true God in the Old Testament, the very mention of which is a guarantee of His friendship, especially that of Savior, 1Ti 1:1. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia, the southern part of Egypt, and Seba, the province of Meroe, between the White and the Blue Nile, for thee, the ungodly being given as ransom for the just, to punish them for their iniquities in opposing the true God, Pro 21:18.
v. 4. Since thou wast precious in My sight, valued most highly by the great God, thou hast been honorable, esteemed greatly in His sight, and I have loved thee, this being the climax of His kind assurances; therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life, sacrificing the ungodly in order to deliver them that are His, as stated in the previous verse. So eager is the Lord to impress the greatness of His love upon the minds of His children that he repeats His reassuring statements.
v. 5. Fear not, for I am with thee, the pronoun "I,’ being placed with special emphasis; I will bring thy seed from the East and gather thee from the West, the spiritual Israel, the Church of God, being collected from the members of all nations;
v. 6. I will say to the North, Give up, and to the South, Keep not back, the form of the admonition including a very willing yielding on the part of the distant peoples, all under the influence of the Lord’s merciful invitation. Bring My Sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth, the prophecy having in mind the sum total of the believers gained through the proclamation of His message,
v. 7. even every one that is called by My name, as an evidence of their belonging to Him in faith; for I have created him, Israel, as representing the Church of God of all times, for My glory, that the work of the Church might redound to His honor and glory; I have formed him, by a process of careful education; yea, I have made him, prepared him for the purposes of His mercy. Of the saints of the Lord, whom He has called, sanctified, and kept in the faith, not one will remain behind on the Last Day; all will enter into the joy of their Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 4 he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed…
he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel
Both clauses mean the same thing. AT: "the one who created you, O people of Israel" (See: Parallelism)
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translationWords
Yahweh
create
Jacob
Israel
fear
redeem
call
name
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–2 43:1-7 In this promise of salvation, the Lord addressed…
43:1-7 In this promise of salvation, the Lord addressed his plundered people in the first person.
43:1 the Lord who created you: The language of creation (see study note on 40:28) was now applied to God’s formation of the nation Israel. • I have ransomed you: At the Exodus, when God brought his people out of bondage. Similarly, God planned to bring his people out of exile and back into their land. Ultimately, Jesus gave his life as a ransom for all humanity (Matt 20:28; 1 Tim 2:6; Heb 9:15) • I have called you by name; you are mine: Despite having faced his wrath, the people of Israel are still God’s chosen people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.