Isaiah 43

1 Now this is what the Lord says. He created you, people of Jacob; he formed you, people of Israel. He says, "Don't be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you.

3 This is because I, the Lord, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt to pay for you, and I gave Cush and Seba to make you mine.

4 Because you are precious to me, because I give you honor and love you, I will give other people in your place; I will give other nations to save your life.

5 Don't be afraid, because I am with you. I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.

6 I will tell the north: Give my people to me. people in prison. Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from faraway places.

7 Bring to me all the people who are mine, whom I made for my glory, whom I formed and made."

8 Bring out the people who have eyes but don't see and those who have ears but don't hear.

9 All the nations gather together, and all the people come together. Which of their gods said this would happen? Which of their gods can tell what happened in the beginning? Let them bring their witnesses to prove they were right. Then others will say, "It is true."

10 The Lord says, "You are my witnesses and the servant I chose. I chose you so you would know and believe me, so you would understand that I am the true God. There was no God before me, and there will be no God after me.

11 I myself am the Lord; I am the only Savior.

12 I myself have spoken to you, saved you, and told you these things. It was not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses, and I am God," says the Lord.

13 "I have always been God. No one can save people from my power; when I do something, no one can change it."

14 This is what the Lord, who saves you, the Holy One of Israel, says: "I will send armies to Babylon for you, and I will knock down all its locked gates. The Babylonians will shout their cries of sorrow.

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King."

16 This is what the Lord says. He is the one who made a road through the sea and a path through rough waters.

17 He is the one who defeated the chariots and horses and the mighty armies. They fell together and will never rise again. They were destroyed as a flame is put out.

18 The Lord says, "Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past.

19 Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don't you see it? I will make a road in the desert and rivers in the dry land.

20 Even the wild animals will be thankful to me -- the wild dogs and owls. They will honor me when I put water in the desert and rivers in the dry land to give water to my people, the ones I chose.

21 The people I made will sing songs to praise me.

22 "People of Jacob, you have not called to me; people of Israel, you have become tired of me.

23 You have not brought me your sacrifices of sheep nor honored me with your sacrifices. I did not weigh you down with sacrifices to offer or make you tired with incense to burn.

24 So you did not buy incense for me; you did not freely bring me fat from your sacrifices. Instead you have weighed me down with your many sins; you have made me tired of your many wrongs.

25 "I, I am the One who forgives all your sins, for my sake; I will not remember your sins.

26 But you should remind me. Let's meet and decide what is right. Tell what you have done and show you are right.

27 Your first father sinned, and your leaders have turned against me.

28 So I will make your holy rulers unholy. I will bring destruction on the people of Jacob, and I will let Israel be insulted."

PREVIOUS Isaiah 42 NEXT Isaiah 44

Images for Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43 Commentary

God's unchangeable love for his people. (1-7) Apostates and idolaters addressed. (8-13) The deliverance from Babylon, and the conversion of the Gentiles. (14-21) Admonition to repent of sin. (22-28)

Verses 1-7 God's favour and good-will to his people speak abundant comfort to all believers. The new creature, wherever it is, is of God's forming. All who are redeemed with the blood of his Son, he has set apart for himself. Those that have God for them need not fear who or what can be against them. What are Egypt and Ethiopia, all their lives and treasures, compared with the blood of Christ? True believers are precious in God's sight, his delight is in them, above any people. Though they went as through fire and water, yet, while they had God with them, they need fear no evil; they should be born up, and brought out. The faithful are encouraged. They were to be assembled from every quarter. And with this pleasing object in view, the prophet again dissuades from anxious fears.

Verses 8-13 Idolaters are called to appear in defence of their idols. Those who make them, and trust in them, are like unto them. They have the shape and faculties of men; but they have not common sense. But God's people know the power of his grace, the sweetness of his comforts, the kind care of his providence, and the truth of his promise. All servants of God can give such an account of what he has wrought in them, and done for them, as may lead others to know and believe his power, truth, and love

Verses 14-21 The deliverance from Babylon is foretold, but there is reference to greater events. The redemption of sinners by Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, and the recall of the Jews, are described. All that is to be done to rescue sinners, and to bring the believer to glory, is little, compared with that wondrous work of love, the redemption of man.

Verses 22-28 Those who neglect to call upon God, are weary of him. The Master tired not the servants with his commands, but they tired him with disobedience. What were the riches of God's mercy toward them? I, even I, am he who yet blotteth out thy transgressions. This encourages us to repent, because there is forgiveness with God, and shows the freeness of Divine mercy. When God forgives, he forgets. It is not for any thing in us, but for his mercies' sake, his promise' sake; especially for his Son's sake. He is pleased to reckon it his honour. Would man justify himself before God? The attempt is desperate: our first father broke the covenant, and we all have copied his example. We have no reason to expect pardon, except we seek it by faith in Christ; and that is always attended by true repentance, and followed by newness of life, by hatred of sin, and love to God. Let us then put him in remembrance of the promises he has made to the penitent, and the satisfaction his Son has made for them. Plead these with him in wrestling for pardon; and declare these things, that thou mayest be justified freely by his grace. This is the only way, and it is a sure way to peace.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 43

Is this chapter the Lord comforts his own people, under their afflictions, with many precious promises; asserts his deity against the idols of the nations; promises deliverance from Babylon, and a greater redemption than that; one branch of which is forgiveness of sin; and closes the chapter with a prediction of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, for their iniquities. The Lord claims his interest in his people, not only on the foot of creation, but of redemption and calling, and promises them his presence in the midst of afflictions, Isa 43:1,2, puts them in mind of what he had done for them; and assures them of future layouts, as the effect of his unchangeable love to them, Isa 43:3,4 and promises the conversion of their seed and offspring in the several parts of the world, Isa 43:5-7 then challenges the Heathen nations to give such proofs of the deity of their idols as he was capable of giving of his, as his people were witnesses, taken from his eternity and immutability, as the alone Jehovah, and from his omniscience and omnipotence, Isa 43:8-13, after which the destruction of Babylon is prophesied of, and the redemption of his people out of it; which they are encouraged to believe from his being Jehovah, their Sanctifier, Creator, and King; and from what he had done formerly for them, when he brought them out of Egypt, Isa 43:14-17, and which yet was not to be mentioned or remembered, in comparison of what he would do in the world, a new thing, redemption by the Messiah, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the glory of his grace, Isa 43:18-21, the sins of omission and commission the people of God had been guilty of are mentioned, which are freely pardoned for Christ's sake, Isa 43:22-25 when the body and bulk of the Jewish nation were given up to destruction, because of their sins, Isa 43:26-28.