18“Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the things of old.
19Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20The animals of the field, the jackals and the ostriches, shall honor me, because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.
18 “Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20 The animals of the field, the jackals and the ostriches, shall honor me, because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.
KJVKing James Version
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: 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 shew forth my praise.
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20 The beasts of the field shall honour Me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, Mine elect;
21 The people which I formed for Myself, that they might tell of My praise.
Isaiah 48:6(v19)You have heard it. Now see all this. And you, won’t you declare it? “I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which…
Isaiah 42:9(v19)Behold, the former things have happened and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up.”
2 Corinthians 5:17(v19)Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
Revelation 21:5(v19)He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
Isaiah 41:18(v19)I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the middle of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry…
Show all 59 cross-references
Isaiah 65:17(v18)“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Luke 3:4-5(v19)As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the…
Isaiah 35:6-10(v19)Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in…
2 Corinthians 3:10(v18)For most certainly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses.
Jeremiah 31:22(v19)How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman will encompass a…
1 Chronicles 16:12(v18)Remember his marvelous works that he has done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
Psalms 78:16-20(v19)He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel…
Isaiah 40:3-4(v19)The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God. Every valley…
Deuteronomy 8:2(v18)You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test…
Exodus 17:6(v19)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may…
Isaiah 46:9(v18)Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.
Jeremiah 16:14-15(v18)“Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that it will no more be said, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out…
Deuteronomy 8:15(v19)who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who…
Isaiah 48:21-22(v19)They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and…
Psalms 105:41(v19)He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.
Numbers 20:11(v19)Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.
Deuteronomy 7:18(v18)you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:
Jeremiah 23:7-8(v18)“Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that they will no more say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of…
1 Peter 2:9(vv20–21)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…
Hebrews 13:15(v21)Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his…
Psalms 102:18(v21)This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20(v21)Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were…
Luke 1:74-75(v21)to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before…
1 Corinthians 10:31(v21)Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Isaiah 61:3(v21)to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the…
Isaiah 41:17(v20)The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will…
Isaiah 60:21(v21)Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be…
Ephesians 1:5-12(v21)having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise…
Colossians 1:16(v21)For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or…
Isaiah 48:21(v20)They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and…
Ephesians 3:21(v21)to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Psalms 4:3(v21)But know that Yahweh has set apart for himself him who is godly: Yahweh will hear when I call to him.
Isaiah 49:10(v20)They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them. He will guide…
Titus 2:14(v21)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…
Isaiah 13:22(v20)Wolves will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
Isaiah 50:7(v21)For the Lord Yahweh will help me. Therefore I have not been confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I won’t…
John 4:14(v20)but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well…
Revelation 17:14(v20)These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and those who are with him…
1 Chronicles 16:13(v20)you offspring of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
Psalms 33:12(v20)Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
Psalms 104:21(v20)The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
Psalms 148:10(v20)wild animals and all livestock; small creatures and flying birds;
Proverbs 16:4(v21)Yahweh has made everything for its own end— yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isaiah 11:6-10(v20)The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf…
Isaiah 43:19(v20)Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 55:1-2(v20)“Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and…
Isaiah 65:15(v20)You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
Jeremiah 31:9(v20)They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which…
Joel 3:18(v20)It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow…
Mark 13:20(v20)Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he…
John 4:10(v20)Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would…
John 7:37-39(v20)Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who…
Revelation 21:6(v20)He said to me, “I have become the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring…
Revelation 22:17(v20)The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the…
59 distinct cross-references across this passage (60 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv19–20Meaning, that their deliverance out of Babylon should be…
Meaning, that their deliverance out of Babylon should be more famous than that from Egypt was, Jer. 23:7; Hag. 2:10; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 21:5, 7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv18–21Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither…
Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Ver. 18. Remember ye not the former things,] sc., In comparison of those things I shall now do for you by Cyrus, but especially by Christ, who is that way in the wilderness, and that running rock. {1Co 10:4 Isa 43:14}
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 vv18–21But although your former deliverance out of Egypt was…
But although your former deliverance out of Egypt was in itself a most glorious work, which you ought always to remember and consider; yet this other work of your deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus, and those blessings which shall follow upon it, and particularly that inestimable mercy of sending the Messiah, shall be so transcendent a layout, that, in comparison thereof, all your former deliverances are scarce worthy of your remembrance and consideration. Which exposition is confirmed by two parallel texts, Jer 16:14,15; 23:7,8. From all which texts laid together, it appears that this latter deliverance, compared with that out of Egypt, is not to be confined to their freedom from the Babylonish captivity, but to be extended to the consequences of it, and especially to the redemption by Christ, because otherwise that Egyptian deliverance was more glorious and wonderful in many respects than the Babylonian.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv18–21Behold, I will do a new thing,.... A wonderful…
Behold, I will do a new thing,.... A wonderful and unheard of thing, and therefore introduced with a "behold", as a note of admiration; the same with the new thing created in the earth, Jer 31:22, the incarnation of the Son of God; who took flesh of a virgin, appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was made sin and a curse for his people, in order to obtain eternal redemption for them; which blessing, though not newly thought of, resolved on, contrived, and agreed upon, that being from eternity; nor newly made known, or as to the virtue and efficacy of it, which had been from the beginning of the world, yet new as to the impetration of it by the blood and sacrifice of Christ; and may be also called "new", because excellent, it being of a spiritual nature, complete and eternal, and having so many valuable blessings in it, as justification, pardon, and eternal life:
now it shall spring forth; or bud forth as a branch, in a very short time, suddenly, and at once; one of the Messiah's names is that of the Branch; see Zac 3:8,
Read full note →
shall ye not know it? the Redeemer, and the redemption by him. It was known to them that looked for it, and to whom the Gospel is sent, and the Spirit reveals and applies it; these know the nature of it, own it to be of God, and know their interest in it, and know the author of it, in whom they have believed, by the characters given of him: and as this may have respect to the redemption of Christ, so to the conversion of the Gentiles, and to the grace of God dispensed through Christ to them; when old things passed away, and all things became new; a new covenant of grace was exhibited, a new church state set up, new ordinances appointed, and a new people called to partake of all this, on whom was a new face of things; and wonderful and excellent things were done for them, as follows:
I will even make a way in the wilderness; as there was a way made for the Israelites through the wilderness, which lay between Egypt and Canaan; and through another, which lay between Babylon and Judea; so the Lord would also make a way in the Gentile world, comparable to a wilderness for its barrenness and unfruitfulness, for the Gospel to enter into it, where it should run, and be glorified; where Christ, the way of salvation, should be made known; and where there should be a way for Christians to walk together, in the fellowship of the Gospel:
and rivers in the desert; the doctrines of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it, which should be preached and administered in the Gentile world, before like a desert; and the graces of the Spirit, which should be brought into the hearts of men by means of them; and the large communications of grace from Christ; and the discoveries of the love of God, with the blessings of it; compared to rivers for their abundance, and for the comforting, reviving, and fructifying nature of them.
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 vv18–20Remember not - Tho' your former deliverance out of…
Remember not - Tho' your former deliverance out of Egypt was glorious: yet in comparison of that inestimable mercy of sending the Messiah, all your former deliverances are scarce worthy of your remembrance and consideration.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv19–20Verse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing]…
Verse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing] At Isa 43:16, the prophet had referred to the deliverance from Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea; here he promises that the same power shall be employed in their redemption and return from the Babylonish captivity. This was to be a new prodigy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv18, 20Isa 43:18-19. Remember ye not the former things —…
Isa 43:18-19. Remember ye not the former things — But although your former deliverance out of Egypt was in itself a most glorious work, which you ought always to remember and consider; yet this other work, of your deliverance out of Babylon, and those blessings which shall follow upon it, and particularly that of sending the Messiah, shall be so transcendent a favour, that, in comparison thereof, all your former deliverances are scarcely worthy of your remembrance and consideration. See two parallel texts, Jer 16:14-15; Jer 23:5-8. From which passages laid together it appears that this latter deliverance, compared with that out of Egypt, is not to be confined to their restoration from captivity, but to be extended to the consequences thereof, and especially to the redemption of the Messiah. Indeed, otherwise the deliverance from Egypt was more glorious and wonderful, in many respects, than that out of Babylon. Behold, I will do a new thing — Such a work as was never yet done in the world. Now it shall spring forth — The Scripture often speaks of things at a great distance of time, as if they were now at hand, to make us sensible of the inconsiderableness of time and all temporal things, in comparison of God and eternal things; upon which account it is said, that a thousand years are in God’s sight but as one day. Shall ye not know it? — Certainly, you Jews shall know it by experience, and shall find I do not deceive you with vain hopes. I will make a way in the wilderness, &c. — I will give you direction and provision in the wilderness, where there is commonly no path, and where all necessaries are wanting; which, as it literally speaks of God’s conducting them through the great desert which lay between Babylon and Judea, so it is mystically meant of those spiritual blessings which God, in and through Christ, would confer upon all his people, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles, who, in prophetical language, are often compared to a wilderness.
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 vv18–21Remember ye not ... - So great and wonderful…
Remember ye not ... - So great and wonderful shall be God’s future interpositions in your behalf, that what he has done, great as that was, shall be comparatively forgotten.
The former things - The deliverance from Egypt, and the overthrow of his enemies there.
Read full note →
The things of old - The things that were formerly done.
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 vv19–20New. I shall work the like miracles as were…
New. I shall work the like miracles as were seen in the wilderness.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv18–21So wonderful shall be God's future interpositions in your…
So wonderful shall be God's future interpositions in your behalf, that all past ones shall be forgotten in comparison. Plainly the future restoration of Israel is the event ultimately meant. Thus the "former things" are such events as the destruction of Sennacherib and the return from Babylon. "Things of old" are events still more ancient, the deliverance from Egypt and at the Red Sea, and entry into Canaan [VITRINGA].
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 vv18–1918. Remember ye not — An exhortation not to…
18. Remember ye not — An exhortation not to “remember” the fleeing dwellers, or that event, marvellous as that was: a more marvellous one is to come.
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 vv18–2118. Great as the wonders of the exodus were…
18. Great as the wonders of the exodus were they shall be far surpassed by that which Jehovah is about to do. The verse resumes the opening clause of Isa_43:16.
Remember ye not …] Cf. Jer_16:14 f., Isa_23:7 f. It is not meant of course that the exodus shall be actually forgotten (see ch. Isa_46:9), but only that it shall no longer be the supreme instance of Jehovah’s redeeming power.
Read full note →
former things … things of old] Cf. ch. Isa_46:9. Obviously the expression “former things,” so often used of past events predicted, here includes the remote incidents of the deliverance from Egypt.
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 v18(18, 19) Remember ye not . . .—All the…
(18, 19) Remember ye not . . .—All the wonders of the great historic past of Israel were to be as nothing compared with the new manifestation of the power of Jehovah, which Isaiah sees as already dawning in the future.
Shall ye not know it?—Better, Will ye not give heed to it?
Read full note →
I will even make a way in the wilderness . . .—The literal and the spiritual senses melt into each other. The very beasts of the field shall lose their ferocity in the presence of the saints of God. For “dragons and owls,” read jackals and ostriches.
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 vv18–21Remember ye not the former things. The old deliverance…
Remember ye not the former things. The old deliverance will be as nothing compared with the new. Israel must cast its eye forwards, not backwards. Mr. Cheyne well compares Jer_23:7, Jer_23:8, and also well notes that "the chief glories of the second manifestation are spiritual." Israel in the wilderness was a stiff-necked and rebellious people, given to murmuring, licentiousness, and idolatry. Israel, returned from Babylon, will no more hanker after idols, but will have God"s Law "put in their inward parts", (Jer_32:33) and will "show forth God"s praise" (ver. 21).
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 vv19–21Behold, I will do a new thing
Isa_43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing
Read full note →
The future better than the past
How dear to the heart of the Israelites was the remembrance of the nations deliverance from Egypt and their journey to the Land of Promise! To those great events the religious teachers of the people continually turned for illustrations and proofs of Gods greatness and power and goodness and love.
From this well used and familiar store of imagery the figurative expressions of the text are derived. Dropping the figures put of sight for a moment, we may say this is a gracious promise of suitable help and supply, even under circumstances most difficult and precarious. It is intended as an encouragement to repentance and to renewed consecration to God. It is the old message that God will give to all who look to Him everything that is requisite for spiritual progress and success. In presence of every untried enterprise; on the threshold of every unknown experience; in the hearing of every Divine call, this promise floats as a banner before the soldiers eye, and rings as the sound of a trumpet rings upon the soldiers heart. (T. Stephenson.)
A new thing
1. This messenger of God proclaims, and he may be regarded as in this respect representing all Gods messengers of grace to the world, Look not on the former things--listen not now, in these moments of penitence and prayer, to those threatening voices which tell of an inexorable law of repetition, of the relentless working out of a foregone conclusion and appointed destiny--old things may pass away, all things may become new. Behold, I will do a new thing!
2. This new thing, in the instance before us, is compared with the opening of a path in the wilderness, and the supply of rivers of waters in the desert. The pathless wilderness of the future is before us--no foot has trodden it,--it is beset by unknown difficulties and unseen perils; but even their God will make a way, a road upon which His people shall travel in security and with unerring certainty to their appointed destination. And although the heat of the sun may beat fiercely down upon that path, drying up every particle of moisture and consuming all pleasant vegetation, so that it may seem most unlikely that life can be sustained in the journey across such an arid waste, God can and will provide all that is needed; and rivers of water, an abundant and continuous supply, shall be found there. Preparation and guidance! These are the ideas involved in the promise to make a path. Difficulty, peril, privation! These are the thoughts which associate themselves with the desert and the wilderness. (T. Stephenson.)
The new thing
This doing a new thing is the very achievement which many voices of high authority are assuring us, just now, is impossible with God. The power that carries on the universe, they tell us, never does a new thing. What seems to us the new is only the old revealing itself in an unexpected way. Continuity is the law that governs all things. It is the language of those whose symbol of deity is an interrogation mark, or the sign for an unknown quantity, or a fetter, as they may happen to prefer. It is a phase of thought by no means modern, although sometimes imagined to be such. It never found more telling expression anywhere than at the lips of one who flourished a thousand years before Christ, more or less, and who put it thus: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? I suggest that we take up the ancient challenge. I will mention some of the ways in which Christ may be said to have broken in upon the monotony and uniformity of human life and thought with something new. He brought us--
I. A NEW LIKENESS OF GOD.
II. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
III. A NEW HOPE. (W. R. Huntington, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn vv19, 21Isa_43:19. Behold, I will do a new thing, &c.
THE FUTURE BETTER THAN THE PAST
Isa_43:19. Behold, I will do a new thing, &c.
Read full note →
God’s messages to Israel are steeped in imagery supplied by their past experiences. From this familiar store the figurative expressions of the text are derived; it holds out a challenge to faith, a rebuke to unbelief.
I. The emphasis of the promise lies in God’s promise to do a NEW thing—i.e., something unprecedented. Israel was cautioned not to make the past the measure of the future (cf. Isa_43:18-19). They were often exhorted to seek help and consolation in remembering their past; but this is a caution against a way of looking at the past which works injury—against a brooding on it that spoils the future. Self-consciousness comes with increasing years; we are apt to exclaim, “The thing which hath been is that which shall be;” “The child is father of the man,” points to the conclusion of a wide induction. Philosophy tells us that this unreadiness to believe that the future can be better than the past is but a proof of growing wisdom; and we are often inclined to say, “our theories of the Christian life have always been far in advance of our attainments; but shortcomings have brought down our expectations.” It is one of the severest penalties of unfaithfulness, that hope for the future is slain.
Often men are not troubled much about the loss of hope, but even these know what it is to have a dark void where there should be a light shining more and more.
One of the hardest tasks of the Hebrew prophets was that of renewing in the people the impulses of hope; and so this representative messenger of God proclaims, “Remember not the former things,” old things may pass away, all things may become new.
II. This new thing is compared with the opening of a path in the wilderness, and the supply of rivers in the desert. Before each one there is a pathless wilderness, beset by difficulties and perils; but even there God will make a way for His people, and sustain their life. Preparation and guidance, difficulty, peril, privation! These are thoughts which associate themselves with the desert and the wilderness. For every Christian, God is preparing a way through unknown experiences. Of each man it may be said—
“He was the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”
But God prepares the way; He preserves the traveller; He connects the present, the future, and the past Each day shall be, in some respects, different from all past days; and when the heart turns faint at new demands made upon it, He breathes new life into it with the promise, “Behold, I will do a new thing!” The voice of apprehension cries, “How shall freshness and vigour be maintained within me?” God says, “I will supply rivers in the desert;” not simply sufficiency, but abundance. To-morrow may be a barren prospect; but God is with us; we are near to the Fountain of Life. We often speak of our lack of spiritual life and vigour as though it were a perplexing problem. Is it so, when we do not, will not, drink? There is a “law of the life” of the spirit as well as of the body. Our hearts are like seeds wrapped round so that moisture and air are excluded; such seeds may be planted, but they will not grow. Nor will our hearts wrapped round by prayerlessness, selfishness, indolence, and forgetfulness. Take away these wrappings, lay them aside for ever!
Note further, that this Divine promise pledges God to supply that which is a natural source of verdure, gladness, beauty. This is only one of many instances, in which we are taught that God’s will is not only to preserve, but also to adorn our life (Isa_35:1). The young should surely listen to this voice. For them all life is emphatically new; their experiences shall not, indeed, be unparalleled in the history of men, but to them they shall be a new thing from God. Christ declares Himself to be the Giver of “living water;” life, and light, and beauty go before Him; He speaks the word which cannot fail: “Behold, I make all things new!”—Thomas Stephenson: Christian World Pulpit, vol. v. pp. 209–210.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv18, 20General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
Read full note →
Do not think about these former things, nor consider the things of long ago.
These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize that they are not to worry about what happened in the past. (See: Parallelism)
Look
This word is used to draw attention to the important information that follows. AT: "Listen" or "Pay attention"
do you not perceive it?
Yahweh uses a question to teach the people of Israel. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "surely you have noticed it." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv18, 2143:18 God did not want the Israelites to forget…
43:18 God did not want the Israelites to forget the exodus from Egypt. However, they needed to look forward in faith to the spectacular event that was about to occur rather than dwelling on the past.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv19–20 Meaning, that their deliverance out of Babylon should be…
Meaning, that their deliverance out of Babylon should be more famous than that from Egypt was, Jer. 23:7; Hag. 2:10; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 21:5, 7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–21 Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither…
Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Ver. 18. Remember ye not the former things,] sc., In comparison of those things I shall now do for you by Cyrus, but especially by Christ, who is that way in the wilderness, and that running rock. {1Co 10:4 Isa 43:14}
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 vv18–21 But although your former deliverance out of Egypt was…
But although your former deliverance out of Egypt was in itself a most glorious work, which you ought always to remember and consider; yet this other work of your deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus, and those blessings which shall follow upon it, and particularly that inestimable mercy of sending the Messiah, shall be so transcendent a layout, that, in comparison thereof, all your former deliverances are scarce worthy of your remembrance and consideration. Which exposition is confirmed by two parallel texts, Jer 16:14,15; 23:7,8. From all which texts laid together, it appears that this latter deliverance, compared with that out of Egypt, is not to be confined to their freedom from the Babylonish captivity, but to be extended to the consequences of it, and especially to the redemption by Christ, because otherwise that Egyptian deliverance was more glorious and wonderful in many respects than the Babylonian.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–21 Behold, I will do a new thing,.... A wonderful…
Behold, I will do a new thing,.... A wonderful and unheard of thing, and therefore introduced with a "behold", as a note of admiration; the same with the new thing created in the earth, Jer 31:22, the incarnation of the Son of God; who took flesh of a virgin, appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was made sin and a curse for his people, in order to obtain eternal redemption for them; which blessing, though not newly thought of, resolved on, contrived, and agreed upon, that being from eternity; nor newly made known, or as to the virtue and efficacy of it, which had been from the beginning of the world, yet new as to the impetration of it by the blood and sacrifice of Christ; and may be also called "new", because excellent, it being of a spiritual nature, complete and eternal, and having so many valuable blessings in it, as justification, pardon, and eternal life:
now it shall spring forth; or bud forth as a branch, in a very short time, suddenly, and at once; one of the Messiah's names is that of the Branch; see Zac 3:8,
Read full note →
shall ye not know it? the Redeemer, and the redemption by him. It was known to them that looked for it, and to whom the Gospel is sent, and the Spirit reveals and applies it; these know the nature of it, own it to be of God, and know their interest in it, and know the author of it, in whom they have believed, by the characters given of him: and as this may have respect to the redemption of Christ, so to the conversion of the Gentiles, and to the grace of God dispensed through Christ to them; when old things passed away, and all things became new; a new covenant of grace was exhibited, a new church state set up, new ordinances appointed, and a new people called to partake of all this, on whom was a new face of things; and wonderful and excellent things were done for them, as follows:
I will even make a way in the wilderness; as there was a way made for the Israelites through the wilderness, which lay between Egypt and Canaan; and through another, which lay between Babylon and Judea; so the Lord would also make a way in the Gentile world, comparable to a wilderness for its barrenness and unfruitfulness, for the Gospel to enter into it, where it should run, and be glorified; where Christ, the way of salvation, should be made known; and where there should be a way for Christians to walk together, in the fellowship of the Gospel:
and rivers in the desert; the doctrines of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it, which should be preached and administered in the Gentile world, before like a desert; and the graces of the Spirit, which should be brought into the hearts of men by means of them; and the large communications of grace from Christ; and the discoveries of the love of God, with the blessings of it; compared to rivers for their abundance, and for the comforting, reviving, and fructifying nature of them.
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 vv18–20 Remember not - Tho' your former deliverance out of…
Remember not - Tho' your former deliverance out of Egypt was glorious: yet in comparison of that inestimable mercy of sending the Messiah, all your former deliverances are scarce worthy of your remembrance and consideration.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv19–20 Verse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing]…
Verse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing] At Isa 43:16, the prophet had referred to the deliverance from Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea; here he promises that the same power shall be employed in their redemption and return from the Babylonish captivity. This was to be a new prodigy.
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 vv18, 20 Isa 43:18-19. Remember ye not the former things —…
Isa 43:18-19. Remember ye not the former things — But although your former deliverance out of Egypt was in itself a most glorious work, which you ought always to remember and consider; yet this other work, of your deliverance out of Babylon, and those blessings which shall follow upon it, and particularly that of sending the Messiah, shall be so transcendent a favour, that, in comparison thereof, all your former deliverances are scarcely worthy of your remembrance and consideration. See two parallel texts, Jer 16:14-15; Jer 23:5-8. From which passages laid together it appears that this latter deliverance, compared with that out of Egypt, is not to be confined to their restoration from captivity, but to be extended to the consequences thereof, and especially to the redemption of the Messiah. Indeed, otherwise the deliverance from Egypt was more glorious and wonderful, in many respects, than that out of Babylon. Behold, I will do a new thing — Such a work as was never yet done in the world. Now it shall spring forth — The Scripture often speaks of things at a great distance of time, as if they were now at hand, to make us sensible of the inconsiderableness of time and all temporal things, in comparison of God and eternal things; upon which account it is said, that a thousand years are in God’s sight but as one day. Shall ye not know it? — Certainly, you Jews shall know it by experience, and shall find I do not deceive you with vain hopes. I will make a way in the wilderness, &c. — I will give you direction and provision in the wilderness, where there is commonly no path, and where all necessaries are wanting; which, as it literally speaks of God’s conducting them through the great desert which lay between Babylon and Judea, so it is mystically meant of those spiritual blessings which God, in and through Christ, would confer upon all his people, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles, who, in prophetical language, are often compared to a wilderness.
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 vv18–21 Remember ye not ... - So great and wonderful…
Remember ye not ... - So great and wonderful shall be God’s future interpositions in your behalf, that what he has done, great as that was, shall be comparatively forgotten.
The former things - The deliverance from Egypt, and the overthrow of his enemies there.
Read full note →
The things of old - The things that were formerly done.
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 vv19–20 New. I shall work the like miracles as were…
New. I shall work the like miracles as were seen in the wilderness.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv18–21 So wonderful shall be God's future interpositions in your…
So wonderful shall be God's future interpositions in your behalf, that all past ones shall be forgotten in comparison. Plainly the future restoration of Israel is the event ultimately meant. Thus the "former things" are such events as the destruction of Sennacherib and the return from Babylon. "Things of old" are events still more ancient, the deliverance from Egypt and at the Red Sea, and entry into Canaan [VITRINGA].
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 vv18–19 18. Remember ye not — An exhortation not to…
18. Remember ye not — An exhortation not to “remember” the fleeing dwellers, or that event, marvellous as that was: a more marvellous one is to come.
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 vv18–21 18. Great as the wonders of the exodus were…
18. Great as the wonders of the exodus were they shall be far surpassed by that which Jehovah is about to do. The verse resumes the opening clause of Isa_43:16.
Remember ye not …] Cf. Jer_16:14 f., Isa_23:7 f. It is not meant of course that the exodus shall be actually forgotten (see ch. Isa_46:9), but only that it shall no longer be the supreme instance of Jehovah’s redeeming power.
Read full note →
former things … things of old] Cf. ch. Isa_46:9. Obviously the expression “former things,” so often used of past events predicted, here includes the remote incidents of the deliverance from Egypt.
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 v18 (18, 19) Remember ye not . . .—All the…
(18, 19) Remember ye not . . .—All the wonders of the great historic past of Israel were to be as nothing compared with the new manifestation of the power of Jehovah, which Isaiah sees as already dawning in the future.
Shall ye not know it?—Better, Will ye not give heed to it?
Read full note →
I will even make a way in the wilderness . . .—The literal and the spiritual senses melt into each other. The very beasts of the field shall lose their ferocity in the presence of the saints of God. For “dragons and owls,” read jackals and ostriches.
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 vv18–21 Remember ye not the former things. The old deliverance…
Remember ye not the former things. The old deliverance will be as nothing compared with the new. Israel must cast its eye forwards, not backwards. Mr. Cheyne well compares Jer_23:7, Jer_23:8, and also well notes that "the chief glories of the second manifestation are spiritual." Israel in the wilderness was a stiff-necked and rebellious people, given to murmuring, licentiousness, and idolatry. Israel, returned from Babylon, will no more hanker after idols, but will have God"s Law "put in their inward parts", (Jer_32:33) and will "show forth God"s praise" (ver. 21).
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 vv19–21 Behold, I will do a new thing
Isa_43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing
Read full note →
The future better than the past
How dear to the heart of the Israelites was the remembrance of the nations deliverance from Egypt and their journey to the Land of Promise! To those great events the religious teachers of the people continually turned for illustrations and proofs of Gods greatness and power and goodness and love.
From this well used and familiar store of imagery the figurative expressions of the text are derived. Dropping the figures put of sight for a moment, we may say this is a gracious promise of suitable help and supply, even under circumstances most difficult and precarious. It is intended as an encouragement to repentance and to renewed consecration to God. It is the old message that God will give to all who look to Him everything that is requisite for spiritual progress and success. In presence of every untried enterprise; on the threshold of every unknown experience; in the hearing of every Divine call, this promise floats as a banner before the soldiers eye, and rings as the sound of a trumpet rings upon the soldiers heart. (T. Stephenson.)
A new thing
1. This messenger of God proclaims, and he may be regarded as in this respect representing all Gods messengers of grace to the world, Look not on the former things--listen not now, in these moments of penitence and prayer, to those threatening voices which tell of an inexorable law of repetition, of the relentless working out of a foregone conclusion and appointed destiny--old things may pass away, all things may become new. Behold, I will do a new thing!
2. This new thing, in the instance before us, is compared with the opening of a path in the wilderness, and the supply of rivers of waters in the desert. The pathless wilderness of the future is before us--no foot has trodden it,--it is beset by unknown difficulties and unseen perils; but even their God will make a way, a road upon which His people shall travel in security and with unerring certainty to their appointed destination. And although the heat of the sun may beat fiercely down upon that path, drying up every particle of moisture and consuming all pleasant vegetation, so that it may seem most unlikely that life can be sustained in the journey across such an arid waste, God can and will provide all that is needed; and rivers of water, an abundant and continuous supply, shall be found there. Preparation and guidance! These are the ideas involved in the promise to make a path. Difficulty, peril, privation! These are the thoughts which associate themselves with the desert and the wilderness. (T. Stephenson.)
The new thing
This doing a new thing is the very achievement which many voices of high authority are assuring us, just now, is impossible with God. The power that carries on the universe, they tell us, never does a new thing. What seems to us the new is only the old revealing itself in an unexpected way. Continuity is the law that governs all things. It is the language of those whose symbol of deity is an interrogation mark, or the sign for an unknown quantity, or a fetter, as they may happen to prefer. It is a phase of thought by no means modern, although sometimes imagined to be such. It never found more telling expression anywhere than at the lips of one who flourished a thousand years before Christ, more or less, and who put it thus: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? I suggest that we take up the ancient challenge. I will mention some of the ways in which Christ may be said to have broken in upon the monotony and uniformity of human life and thought with something new. He brought us--
I. A NEW LIKENESS OF GOD.
II. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
III. A NEW HOPE. (W. R. Huntington, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv19, 21 Isa_43:19. Behold, I will do a new thing, &c.
THE FUTURE BETTER THAN THE PAST
Isa_43:19. Behold, I will do a new thing, &c.
Read full note →
God’s messages to Israel are steeped in imagery supplied by their past experiences. From this familiar store the figurative expressions of the text are derived; it holds out a challenge to faith, a rebuke to unbelief.
I. The emphasis of the promise lies in God’s promise to do a NEW thing—i.e., something unprecedented. Israel was cautioned not to make the past the measure of the future (cf. Isa_43:18-19). They were often exhorted to seek help and consolation in remembering their past; but this is a caution against a way of looking at the past which works injury—against a brooding on it that spoils the future. Self-consciousness comes with increasing years; we are apt to exclaim, “The thing which hath been is that which shall be;” “The child is father of the man,” points to the conclusion of a wide induction. Philosophy tells us that this unreadiness to believe that the future can be better than the past is but a proof of growing wisdom; and we are often inclined to say, “our theories of the Christian life have always been far in advance of our attainments; but shortcomings have brought down our expectations.” It is one of the severest penalties of unfaithfulness, that hope for the future is slain.
Often men are not troubled much about the loss of hope, but even these know what it is to have a dark void where there should be a light shining more and more.
One of the hardest tasks of the Hebrew prophets was that of renewing in the people the impulses of hope; and so this representative messenger of God proclaims, “Remember not the former things,” old things may pass away, all things may become new.
II. This new thing is compared with the opening of a path in the wilderness, and the supply of rivers in the desert. Before each one there is a pathless wilderness, beset by difficulties and perils; but even there God will make a way for His people, and sustain their life. Preparation and guidance, difficulty, peril, privation! These are thoughts which associate themselves with the desert and the wilderness. For every Christian, God is preparing a way through unknown experiences. Of each man it may be said—
“He was the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”
But God prepares the way; He preserves the traveller; He connects the present, the future, and the past Each day shall be, in some respects, different from all past days; and when the heart turns faint at new demands made upon it, He breathes new life into it with the promise, “Behold, I will do a new thing!” The voice of apprehension cries, “How shall freshness and vigour be maintained within me?” God says, “I will supply rivers in the desert;” not simply sufficiency, but abundance. To-morrow may be a barren prospect; but God is with us; we are near to the Fountain of Life. We often speak of our lack of spiritual life and vigour as though it were a perplexing problem. Is it so, when we do not, will not, drink? There is a “law of the life” of the spirit as well as of the body. Our hearts are like seeds wrapped round so that moisture and air are excluded; such seeds may be planted, but they will not grow. Nor will our hearts wrapped round by prayerlessness, selfishness, indolence, and forgetfulness. Take away these wrappings, lay them aside for ever!
Note further, that this Divine promise pledges God to supply that which is a natural source of verdure, gladness, beauty. This is only one of many instances, in which we are taught that God’s will is not only to preserve, but also to adorn our life (Isa_35:1). The young should surely listen to this voice. For them all life is emphatically new; their experiences shall not, indeed, be unparalleled in the history of men, but to them they shall be a new thing from God. Christ declares Himself to be the Giver of “living water;” life, and light, and beauty go before Him; He speaks the word which cannot fail: “Behold, I make all things new!”—Thomas Stephenson: Christian World Pulpit, vol. v. pp. 209–210.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 20 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
Read full note →
Do not think about these former things, nor consider the things of long ago.
These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize that they are not to worry about what happened in the past. (See: Parallelism)
Look
This word is used to draw attention to the important information that follows. AT: "Listen" or "Pay attention"
do you not perceive it?
Yahweh uses a question to teach the people of Israel. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "surely you have noticed it." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
desert
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 vv18, 21 43:18 God did not want the Israelites to forget…
43:18 God did not want the Israelites to forget the exodus from Egypt. However, they needed to look forward in faith to the spectacular event that was about to occur rather than dwelling on the past.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.