But now thus saith Jehovah, 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.
God speaks here to a nation that had ignored His discipline, and He opens not with a charge but with "But now." That raises two questions: how can God tell a failing people not to fear, and what does He mean by "you are mine"?
The chapter before this one leaves Israel in a bad state — not just guilty, but untouched by God's correction. That is the background against which the words "Fear not" fall.
How low God's people must have sunk when the Lord's discipline leaves them untouched! But will God, therefore, give up His people? Ah no! ... So, despite all their failure, the LORD can say to Israel, "Fear not." Judged by their sad history with God, they had everything to fear. But now God will act toward them on the ground of what He has done for them in grace.
The verse names God twice as the One who created and formed this people. One writer reads that language as God's answer to their unfaithfulness. He points back to what He Himself did.
Israel had been unfaithful to His name. That brought the LORD's anger on them, though idolatry had blinded them, so they neither understood it nor felt it. In this chapter He proclaims His faithfulness — the One who had called Israel by name and made them His own.
Another writer sets the same words against the idols the nation had chased.
Israel's God is the only God! He "created" Jacob! He "formed" the nation! And though, like her father, she "would surely deal treacherously, and from before birth was called a rebel" (Isaiah 48:8), He still "redeemed" her! Yes, He "called" her by her name; "you are Mine!" She can therefore witness not only against idols, but to the only God.
"You are mine" is a claim of ownership, and it rests on a ransom paid. One writer applies the verse to believers today and draws out what follows from it.
Even the Old Testament brings this truth out again and again: "But now thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine'" (Isaiah 43:1). ... In His wonderful grace and love, the Lord Jesus has paid our ransom price. So He has full right and title to all that we are and have. From now on we are His property. But this involves two sides — privilege and responsibility.
That same ownership is where troubled hearts find rest: "What rest it gives to our souls to remember that we are His! In sorrow, trouble, or bereavement — in the silent watches of the night — in isolation from all about us."
God does not address a crowd. He calls people one by one, and that is where the verse becomes personal. No one else can hear it for you.
Each of us must have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd. Parents cannot do this for their children. A husband cannot do it for his wife. Everyone must do it for themselves. We know the wonderful passage in Isaiah 43: "I have called you by name; you are mine" (v. 1). I hope that everyone in this room is able to say this, including the children, "The Lord Jesus has called me by His name; I am His."
Being God's own is not the end of the story. The same chapter says why He took this people for Himself.
Isaiah 43 says it plainly: "the people whom I formed for myself" … "whom I created for my glory" … "that they might declare my praise." God had already made Himself known to them as "Redeemer" (see verse 14), having brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Their Redeemer was "the Holy One of Israel," their "Creator," and their "King."
This is not an isolated comfort. The command runs through the closing chapters of Isaiah like a refrain to a people near despair.
The guilty people are bowed down under God's judgment. They are corrected and sorry for their sin, but close to despair. At the end of their time of trial they hear these words: "Comfort, comfort my people." Then we hear this word "Fear not" repeated in echo after echo. ... The entire latter portion of Isaiah has this comforting word from God as a refrain (Isaiah 41:10, 13, 14; Isaiah 43:1, 5; Isaiah 44:2; Isaiah 51:7; Isaiah 54:4).
- Made — God introduces Himself as the One who created and formed this people. His claim comes before their failure does.
- Redeemed — the ransom is paid, so He has "full right and title to all that we are and have." Belonging to Him is a fact, not a feeling.
- Named — He calls each person by name. No one belongs to Him through family, marriage, or a crowd.
- Owned — "you are Mine" carries both privilege and responsibility, and gives rest "in the silent watches of the night."
- For His praise — He formed this people for Himself, so that they would show everyone else the God who is theirs.
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.
God speaks here to a people who had failed Him and ignored His discipline, and yet His word to them is "fear not." The promise about deep water and fire is His answer to their fear, and it rests on something He says first: they belong to Him.
The promise is not a reward for a people who deserved it. It comes after a chapter where Israel ignored God's correction. The "fear not" of verse 1 grows out of that setting.
How low God's people have sunk when the Lord's discipline no longer touches them! Does God then give up His people? No! ... So, despite all their failure, the LORD can say to Israel, "Fear not." Their sad history with God gave them every reason to fear. But now God will act toward them on the basis of what He has done for them in grace. So He can say, "I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine." Their own failure may mean they have to pass through the cleansing waters and the purifying fire. But the LORD can say, "I will be with you." If the Lord is with His people in all their trials, we can be sure He brings them "through."
Verse 3 gives the reason the promise holds, and it names God twice — as the Holy One, and as Saviour. Each name accounts for a different half of what verse 2 describes.
If Israel comes through the trial into final blessing, it is not because of any merit in Israel. It rests wholly on Who God is. "For," says God, "I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour." Israel must endure the fire and the water, because God is "the Holy One." But they will come through, because God is their Saviour.
The words "I will be with you" follow a statement of ownership. Redemption means someone paid a price to buy them back. That price creates a claim, and the claim carries both a duty and a comfort.
What then are our responsibilities as a redeemed people? First and foremost, the acknowledgement that we belong to Him who has redeemed us... In His wonderful grace and love, the Lord Jesus paid the ransom price for us. So He has full right and title to all that we are and have. From now on we belong to Him. But this involves a twofold aspect — privilege and responsibility. We have the privilege of belonging to Christ, of being His own... and therefore of being the special objects of His care, tenderness, and love... In sorrow, trouble, or grief — in the quiet hours of the night — when we are cut off from everyone around us — what deep comfort it is to lift our eyes to Him and remember that we are His.
The verse does not promise that God will drain the water or put out the fire. Writers find the same pattern elsewhere in Scripture.
The point was not so much rescue from the thing that caused the fear. It was lifting their souls above it through fellowship with Himself... The Lord's way is often to leave His people in trial and to be with them in it. Paul wanted to be rid of the thorn, but the answer came: "My grace is sufficient for you." It is a far richer mercy to have the grace and presence of Jesus in the trial than to be taken out of it. The Lord let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be thrown into the furnace. But when He did, He came down and walked with them in it.
That same account in the book of Daniel shows what the fire burned — and it was not the three men thrown into it.
What was the effect of the fire in their case? It only burnt off their bonds, and set them free. Often the Lord lets us get into the fire. Its effect is to burn off the cords that tie us up — in our case often cords we tied ourselves — and we come out free. But what have we had in the fire? A sense of the presence and company of the Lord, such as we never had before.
The chapter also looks ahead to a day when Israel will be rescued. One writer traces both their ruin and their pardon back to the same source.
They were plundered because of the One they rebelled against. And because of Him they will be delivered, pardoned, and blessed. He, the LORD, is the only God, and He is just as much the only Saviour... It is He Who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day comes, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. That is the only way He can deal with the guilty and stay just. Christ, the cross, is the only key.
- Cause. The promise is not earned. It answers a people who had ignored God's discipline, and rests on what He has done in grace, not on any merit in them.
- Claim. "I have redeemed you… you are Mine" comes first. Because He paid the price, His people become the special objects of His care.
- Through. God does not promise an easier road but a shared one. It is a richer mercy to have His presence in the trial than to be spared the trial.
- Fire. In the furnace the flames burned only the bonds. What the trial takes away is the cords; what it gives is a sense of His company never known before.
- Result. Because God is holy, His people must go through the water and the fire. Because He is Saviour, they come out the other side.
For I [am] Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
God speaks to a people who have failed Him. He does not list their faults. He names Himself instead — Lord, God, Holy One of Israel, Saviour — and points to whole nations handed over for their sake. Two questions follow. How can holiness and salvation belong to the same speaker? And how could Egypt, Cush and Seba count as a ransom?
The previous verse promised safe passage through water and fire. This verse gives the reason. One commentator finds two of God's titles at work here: one explains the trial, the other the rescue.
If God brings Israel through the trial into final blessing, it is not because of any merit in Israel. It is entirely because of Who God is. "For," says God, "I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Israel must endure the fire and the water, because God is "the Holy One." But God will bring them through, because He is their Saviour.
This title is Isaiah's great name for God. One writer counted how often it appears, and gathered what else Isaiah calls the same Person.
All through Isaiah He is called "the Holy One of Israel." This title of the Lord, who deals with His people in judgment and in mercy, appears twenty-five times in Isaiah… The phrase appears in only six other passages in the whole Old Testament. The Holy One of Israel is Jehovah. He is the Redeemer of His people… This Holy One is the Creator.
Another writer explains what that holiness says about God and evil:
The name "Holy One of Israel" implies that the God of Israel is completely separated from all evil, because His eyes are too pure to look at evil.
"Your Savior" is not just one title among many. Read with the rest of Isaiah, it rules out every rival. One writer follows that line to the name Jesus.
Many Old Testament passages spoken to Israel tie their salvation to God's own action for them, and prove that He alone could save them… "I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" (Isaiah 43:3). "I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior" (verse 11)… The name Jesus carries divine glory with it; it means Jehovah the Saviour. These great texts make it clear that none but God could be the Saviour… but of Jesus the angel said, "He will save His people from their sins." Then who else could He be but God?
What does "ransom" mean here? The word has a picture inside it, and it reaches forward into the New Testament.
In the Old Testament, except in Exodus 21:30, the word is kopher, which means 'a covering.' It is related to kaphar, often translated 'atonement'… In the New Testament the word is lutron, or antilutron, from a verb meaning 'to loose, set free.' Christ gave Himself, His life, a ransom for many.
One commentator sees the price paid as judgment falling on those nations, once in the past and again in the future:
In the past, God gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba over to judgment to ransom His people from their power. In the same way, He will give the nations that have persecuted Israel over to judgment in the future. For in God's sight His people are "precious", and "honourable," and "loved" by God.
Nothing here is earned. Israel had rebelled against God, and He still names Himself their Saviour.
God reveals Himself this way despite all the rebellion of the people. Israel has been against Him; but He is for Israel. But in order to be this He must first be their Redeemer, and then the source of all the good He will produce in them… God takes away their sins. He says, "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
But how can a holy God do this and stay just? One writer points past Isaiah's own day:
They have been plundered because of the very One they rebelled against. Because of Him they will also be delivered, pardoned, and blessed. For as He, Jehovah, is the only God, so He is also the only Saviour… Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone He can deal righteously with the guilty. Christ, the cross, is the only key.
- Ground: Israel goes through fire and water because God is holy. Israel comes out the other side because God is Saviour. One Person is the reason for both.
- Name: "The Holy One of Israel" is Isaiah's great title, used twenty-five times in this book. The same One is Creator and Redeemer of the people He judges.
- Price: "Ransom" translates a word meaning a covering, tied to the language of atonement. God gave whole nations over to judgment so that His people could go free.
- Reach: Egypt, Cush and Seba are only a sample. One commentator sees the same pattern running forward to the nations that persecute Israel.
- Key: God saves rebels for His own sake. How He does that and stays righteous is answered only at the cross.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee; and I will give men for thee, and peoples for thy life.
Isaiah 43 speaks to a nation that had failed God, and yet the words are all warmth: precious, honored, loved. The verse forces one question: what makes a people worth other peoples?
The verse does not arrive after Israel has improved. William Kelly weighs what the people had been against what God now says:
Israel had been unfaithful to His name. That unfaithfulness brought the fury of Jehovah on them, though they neither understood nor felt it, since idolatry had blinded them. In this chapter He declares His own faithfulness. He is the One who had called Israel by their name and made them His own.
The verse states a price. God hands others over so that this people may live. Hamilton Smith looks back into history and forward to what is still to come:
In the past, God gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba over to judgment, to ransom His people from their power. So in the future He will give up to judgment the nations that have persecuted Israel. He does this because in God's sight His people are "precious," and "honourable," and "loved" by God. So despite all their failure, God is with them. He will gather them back to their land from the ends of the earth.
(Older translations read "honourable" where the ESV has "honored.")
So what made this people precious? A. J. Pollock answers from God's choice of Israel:
The answer is that God made choice of them in His sovereign wisdom. Deuteronomy 7-8 says the Lord did not choose them because they were more in number than any other. In fact they were the fewest. No, the only reason that God could give for His choice was that He loved them. Nothing in them drew out His love in contrast with others. The reason lay in His own nature. Here lies the solid foundation of the blessing into which the Lord brings His people.
The chapter goes on to promise a gathering from every direction. Kelly measures that against history:
Isaiah 43 dwells on Israel's relation to Jehovah. It looks not at their sins and their punishments, but at His unfailing faithfulness in sovereign grace. Clearly this still awaits fulfilment, since it goes far beyond anything given in the past... Jehovah will certainly stand by Israel, and more openly in the future than in the brightest memory of the past. He will bring their seed from the east and the west, from the north and the south (verses 5, 6). This far exceeds the return from Babylon. And not Gentiles, but Israelites only are in view here.
Many readers transfer these promises to the church. T. B. Baines argues that doing so makes God's plain words unreliable:
In these passages God, speaking under the national name Jehovah, has said three times over that He has redeemed Israel as a nation. Yet the accepted interpretation is that He has deceived Israel with false hopes. It says that when He spoke of Israel, He really meant something entirely different! Is it credible that Christians should dare to charge such deception on the One "who cannot lie"? If God could so cruelly deceive Israel, what reason have we to believe He is not equally deceiving us?
J. N. Darby traces the chapter to its goal, and to the way God deals with the guilt of the people He loves:
But now He delivers and saves them (Isaiah 43). He created them for His glory... Jehovah had formed this people for Himself. Yet the people had grown weary of their God, and had, as it were, made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony to Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner. This is what God has done through Christ.
- Ground. God speaks this love to people who had been unfaithful and blinded by idolatry. He answers their failure by declaring His own faithfulness.
- Reason. Nothing in them drew out this love. The reason lay in God's own nature. That is why the blessing built on it stands firm.
- Price. Because they are precious, honored and loved, God hands whole nations over in exchange. Their oppressors pay the price of the value He sets on His people.
- Reach. The gathering promised here outruns every past return. God brings His people home from the ends of the earth. Baines adds that "Israel" must mean Israel, or God's word to them was a deception.
- Result. The end of it all is His glory. When sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner — and He has done that through Christ.
Fear not, for I [am] with thee I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
For the second time in six verses God says "Fear not." The reason He gives is not better circumstances but His own presence. The promise that follows reaches every point of the compass. Who is it for, and when?
One writer hears this word as a note repeated through the whole second half of Isaiah, spoken to a chastened people near despair.
Last of all, the guilty people will be bowed under the judgment of God — chastened and repentant, but near despair. At the end of their time of trial they will hear these words: "Comfort, comfort My people!" Then we hear this word "Fear not" repeated and multiplied, echo after echo. Fear not, My love will comfort you, I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will be with My servant. Have I not redeemed you? Am I not with you? Fear not, I will refresh you. Fear neither shame, nor insult, nor reproach. You are Mine, and I have received you in grace. The whole last part of Isaiah has this comforting word from God as a refrain.
The comfort is remarkable because of who receives it. The chapter does not praise Israel's record; it sets God's steadiness against their failure.
Israel had been unfaithful to His name, and that brought the fury of Jehovah on them. They did not understand it and did not feel it, because idolatry had blinded them. Yet in this chapter He proclaims His faithfulness — He who had called Israel by their name and made them His own.
God gives "I am with you" as the whole answer to fear. One writer weighs that same promise where it appears elsewhere. He shows why it settles fear, and why it also moves people forward.
As we have seen, fear of their enemies stopped the people from building the Lord's house. Now comes the cure. Think how often we read in Isaiah, "Fear not; I am with you." And the Psalmist cries out, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" Nothing drives out fear like the assurance of the Lord's presence. But it is comfort and encouragement together. It reminded the people that if the Lord called them forward into danger, He Himself was among them. He would go before them to show them the way, as He had done in the wilderness.
The verse names east and west; the next verse adds north and south. One writer takes that scope as the reason the promise is still future.
Isaiah 43 is about Israel's relationship with Jehovah. It looks not at their sins and their punishments, but at His unfailing faithfulness in sovereign grace. This still awaits fulfilment, because it goes far beyond any partial fulfilment in the past... Jehovah will certainly stand by Israel, and more openly in the future than in the brightest event of the past. He will bring their offspring from the east and the west, from the north and the south (verses 5, 6). This goes far beyond the return from Babylon. Not Gentiles, but Israelites only are in view here.
Some read promises like this as transferred to the church. One writer tests that reading against the details, and the pieces do not fit.
In one of these passages God speaks of making Israel a sharp threshing tool. In another He speaks of gathering her sons and daughters from the ends of the earth. In a third He speaks of her return to Him with her transgressions forgiven. All this fits Israel's state exactly. But is the Church a sharp threshing tool? Has the Church ever been scattered to the ends of the earth? Does anyone ever speak of the Church as estranged from God and then coming back forgiven?
The gathering itself belongs to Israel. Yet one writer points to the assurances inside it as words any believer may hold onto.
Note the many declarations Jehovah makes. "I have redeemed you," "I will be with you," "I have loved you," "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. In the end Israel will have and enjoy these great blessings.
One writer applies it to a faithful remnant still to come, pairing it with words of faith from Psalm 23:
How precious to His faithful remnant will be the promise of the Great Shepherd in Isaiah 43:5, "Fear not, for I am with you." It is addressed to them — and in a general way to us all — in answer to the words of faith in Psalm 23, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me."
- Refrain — "Fear not" echoes through the whole second half of Isaiah, spoken to a chastened people near despair.
- Ground — the reason is His presence, not better circumstances. Nothing drives out fear like knowing the Lord is there.
- Grace — God speaks it after their unfaithfulness, so what shines is His faithfulness, not their record.
- Reach — east, west, north, south: a gathering far bigger than the return from Babylon, and still to come.
- Claim — the regathering is Israel's; the promises inside it — redeemed, loved, kept — belong to all God's people.
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth,
God speaks here to the points of the compass as if they were jailers, ordering them to hand back what they hold. Who are these scattered sons and daughters, and what does their return mean for readers today?
God gives the order to the regions holding His people, not to the exiles themselves. The reason for the gathering lies in how He values them.
In the past, God gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba over to judgment to ransom God's people from their power. So in the future, He will give up to judgment the nations that have persecuted Israel. He does this because, in God's sight, His people are "precious," and "honourable," and "loved" by God. So, despite all their failure, God is with them, and will gather them back to their land from the ends of the earth. They bear God's name, and He created them for His glory. So in bringing Israel into final blessing, God is acting for the glory of His great name.
The Hebrew words behind "south" also show how Israel pictured the map.
Two other words are yamin and teman. They mean 'the right hand.' Translators render them 'south' because the Israelites pictured themselves facing East when they spoke of the points of the compass.
"From the end of the earth" is not poetic exaggeration. No one today can point to where Israel's scattered tribes went. Some have claimed to find them in a modern nation, and one writer answers that from this promise.
Again, you can see that He gathers His people Israel from all nations. So I think the idea that the British nation is the ten tribes is foreign to Scripture. I think this expression, "out of all nations," should at once dispel the illusion. The truth is that no one knows where they are, except God Himself, and when the time comes, He will find them, and bring them, in His own way.
Some read every promise like this one as a picture of the church instead of the nation. One writer tests that reading against the words themselves.
But again, in one of these passages God speaks of making Israel a sharp threshing instrument. In another He speaks of gathering her sons and daughters from the ends of the earth. In the third He speaks of her return to Him with her transgressions forgiven. All this exactly fits Israel's state. But is the Church a sharp threshing instrument? Has the Church ever been scattered to the ends of the earth? Or does Scripture ever speak of the Church as estranged from God and coming back forgiven?
The next verse gives the reason: God calls them by His name and created them for His glory. That same reason explains His pardon, and the way He deals with sin through Christ.
But now He delivers and saves them (Isa. 43). He created them for His glory... The Lord had formed this people for Himself. But the people had grown weary of their God, and had, as it were, made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony of Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner! This is what God has done through Christ.
Paul borrows the phrase "sons and daughters" from this verse. He joins it with lines from other Old Testament passages when he writes to Christians.
Here again the Holy Spirit led the apostle to borrow words from various parts of the Old Testament. The passages include Isaiah 52:11, Ezekiel 20:34, 2 Samuel 7:8, 14, and Isaiah 43:6... Here He says, "I will receive you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me." It is our new relationship in positive blessing, and it assumes God has given us the divine nature.
Paul's version adds a name for God that Isaiah did not use.
"Lord" and "Almighty" are the two Old Testament names of God. He was "Almighty" to Abraham, and "Lord" to Israel; and now He says "Father" to you, and you are My sons and daughters.
- Claimed. God calls them His sons and His daughters. The gathering rests on His claim, not on their record.
- Commanded. The order goes to north and south, not to the exiles; God tells the nations holding them to let them go.
- Found. Where no one knows the scattered tribes, God knows, and He will bring them back in His own way.
- Glory. He gathers them for His own name and glory. The same grace runs through the gospel: God puts away the sin instead of the sinner, through Christ.
- Father. Paul borrows the phrase for believers and adds a name Isaiah did not use: God receives them as Father.
every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory I have formed him, yea, I have made him.
This verse closes God's promise to gather His scattered people. It tells us why He will do it: they belong to Him, and He made them for His own glory. Three words stack up in one line — created, formed, made — and each one presses the same claim.
Rebuke has gone before, so the opening tone is a surprise. One writer weighs what we would expect here against what the chapter actually gives:
We might have expected Isaiah 43 to contain more warnings and judgments. Instead it opens on a note of grace… In the face of their evil, God falls back on His original purpose and His redeeming work. The people were looking for redemption by power, and that is the main theme here, as the following verses show. But soon the far deeper work of the suffering Servant comes before us — redemption by blood.
The three words are not just repetition. Hebrew uses three different words, and one writer, explaining them elsewhere, sets out what each adds:
"Create" (bara), if we are to distinguish the words, refers to the efficient cause; "make" (asah) points to the formal cause; and they have another word (yatsar), which brings in the material.
So the claim covers everything: who brought them into being, what shape they took, what went into them. All of it is God's work. None of it is theirs.
To be "called by My name" is to be owned. These are the very people who had failed Him. God's answer to their sin is to keep them, not discard them:
But now He delivers and saves them (Isa. 43). He created them for His glory… Jehovah had formed this people for Himself, and the people had grown weary of their God; and, as it were, had made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony to Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner. This is what God has done through Christ.
God's glory is the reason given, and this chapter ties it to the titles God takes. One writer links His making of the people to His redeeming of them:
In perfect agreement with that, we find in Isaiah 43 the words, "I formed this people for myself." … "whom I created for my glory."… "They will proclaim my praise." God had already made Himself known to them as "Redeemer" (see verse 14). He had brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Their Redeemer was "the Holy One of Israel," their "Creator," and their "King."
God's purpose for them is not finished yet. The same writer shows where the chapter is heading:
The whole chapter is marked by two things. First, God declares what He will do in His sovereign mercy for His poor blind and deaf people, whom He had set up to be His witnesses to the other nations. He will bring down their foes… and He will deal with their sins, as indicated in verse 25. This chapter does not reveal how He will do this in righteousness. But the result will be that this people, whom He had formed for Himself, will in the end proclaim His praise, as verse 21 says.
What God says here of a nation is true of man as a whole. God made man to answer Him — and sin silenced that answer:
God created man for His glory, like a well-tuned instrument. Man was made to answer the touch of His infinite goodness with intelligent and joyful thanksgiving. But the devil spoiled God's handiwork. He put distrust of God into the heart of man. The chord was lost and the music died out. When God came into the garden, no songs of praise met Him. Adam — a fallen man, a sinner against God — cowered away in silent fear from the One who loved him and had lost him.
- Grace first. We expect more warnings. God opens instead with His original purpose and His redeeming work.
- Made, wholly. Created, formed and made cover cause, substance and shape. Nothing about them is self-made.
- Named, therefore kept. They bear His name, so they are His. When the sin became unbearable, He put away the sin instead of the sinner. This is what God has done through Christ.
- For His glory. The purpose is His own glory, held by the One who is at once their Redeemer, Creator and King.
- Ending in praise. The people He formed for Himself will at last proclaim His praise. That is the answer man was created to give, lost in the garden and given back by grace.
Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
God calls a witness to the stand — and the witness He calls is a people who cannot see or hear. The command follows His promise to gather His people from every direction, and it raises one question: what use is a blind, deaf witness?
The ones called forward are Israel, the nation that had every advantage and used none of it. One writer states the charge:
God gave them a separate and favoured position as a nation. So the prophet describes them as the "people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears" (Isa. 43:8). They completely failed to use the privileges and opportunities God gave them.
William Kelly names the cause, and then the surprising fact standing beside it:
The Jews, by their love of idols, were the blind people who had eyes and the deaf who had ears. Yet they alone of all nations were Jehovah's witness and His servant. They will yet know, believe, and understand.
The words sound like a contradiction. They had eyes; what failed was their sight. Darby looks at the chapter just before this one:
At the end of the chapter Israel are the deaf and blind. As Jehovah's earthly people they were perfect in privilege, but sadly — blind. Self-will and disobedience had darkened their eyes. But grace will intervene and save them from the ends of the earth (Isa. 43), though they are the blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears.
Verse 8 opens a scene. God brings Israel out, and in the next verse He calls the nations together too. Each side must produce its evidence. Hamilton Smith explains why God stages it this way:
God has already foretold that He will step in for Israel. Now He appeals to the nations, so that His ways with Israel may bring them to acknowledge the true God. Israel had seen the glory of Jehovah with their own eyes and had heard His law. Yet they turned blindly to idols and were deaf to the warnings of the prophets. Still, in their restoration they will become a witness to the one true God.
The nations get their turn, and they fail the test:
The nations may gather and meet in conferences, trying to govern the world. But they cannot declare the former things, and even less the things to come. Let them hear and confess that this is the truth.
The order matters. God does not wait for His people to open their eyes before He speaks kindly to them. The chapter opens with grace, well before it exposes their blindness. F. B. Hole notes the turn:
We might have expected that Isaiah 43 would contain further warnings and judgments. Instead it opens on a note of grace… Faced with their evil, God falls back on His original purpose and His redeeming work.
Darby draws out what this grace shows about God's way with sin:
Jehovah had formed this people for Himself, but the people had grown weary of their God. They had, in effect, made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony to Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner. This is what God has done through Christ.
The blind witness does not stay blind. H J Vine ties the cure to a person:
But once they are brought into contact with Christ the personal Servant, their eyes will be opened. Then the works of God will be displayed in the nation for all to see, as they were in the one blind man of John 9: "that the works of God might be displayed in him"… Israel's eyes will be opened, and they will know the Lord and believe. So they will be His fitted witnesses (Isa. 43:10) against idolatry, and witnesses of the one true God, beside whom there is no other.
There is a warning inside this comfort. Israel's blindness came in two stages:
This blinding is a judgment from God — He Himself gave them sightless eyes and ears that do not hear. But why? It is not a random judgment. Matthew 13:13-15 shows that Israel's willful blindness came before the blindness God imposed.
- Called. God summons His own people as witnesses — the ones with eyes and ears, the ones given every privilege.
- Blind. Their failure was not lack of light but love of idols. Self-will and disobedience darkened eyes that could see.
- Kept. Even blind, they remain the only nation He named as His witness and servant. He says they will yet know, believe and understand.
- Pardoned. Grace opens the chapter before the failure is named. God puts away the sin instead of the sinner, and He has done this through Christ.
- Opened. Christ the Servant opens their eyes. Only then do the blind witnesses become fitted witnesses to the one true God, beside whom there is no other.
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled who among them declareth this, or causeth us to hear former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, [It is] truth.
Isaiah 43 opens with God's promise to redeem and gather His people. Then the scene turns into a courtroom. God calls in every nation and asks one question: who among them can explain what is coming, or bring a witness who can prove their case?
God tells the nations what He plans to do with Israel. They gather and confer to run the world, yet they cannot produce what He can.
All the nations are warned to pay attention to God's declaration about the future of Israel. They may gather and meet in conferences, trying to govern the world. But they cannot show the former things, still less the things to come. Let them hear and confess that this is the truth.
The test is not power or numbers. It is knowing what has not yet happened.
Nothing proves divine intelligence more clearly than telling the future. This is the main challenge the Old Testament makes to the false gods. No wonder it left them speechless, even though they had once claimed so loudly to speak messages from the gods. While it was only a matter of puzzling those who asked, they could deceive with answers that could be taken two ways. But Isaiah, in the sharpest and severest style, shows that they are utterly powerless to reveal the future.
The nations are told to bring witnesses who can prove their case right. God then names the witness on His own side.
Among the nations who followed idols such things were unknown, and God raises the challenge: Who among the nations "declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring THEIR WITNESSES to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true" (Isa. 43:9). But to Israel He says, "You are MY WITNESSES, declares the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen … Before ME no god was formed, nor shall there be any after ME. I, I AM THE LORD, AND BESIDES ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR" (vv. 10-11).
The witness God calls is not an outsider. It is the people who had seen His glory and then turned away.
God has foretold His sovereign intervention on behalf of Israel. Now He appeals to the nations, so that His ways with Israel may bring them to acknowledge the true God. Israel had seen the glory of Jehovah with their own eyes and had heard His law. Yet they turned blindly to idols and were deaf to the warnings of the prophets. Still, when God restores them they will become a witness to the one true God.
The very thing that blinded them was their love of idols. Even so, no other nation took their place.
Because they loved idols, the Jews were the blind people who had eyes and the deaf who had ears. Yet of all the nations they alone were Jehovah's witness and His servant. They will yet know, believe, and understand.
Israel's failure as a witness had consequences. One writer traces their long scattering back to it, and places a second testimony beside theirs.
Ever since God called Abraham, he and his descendants, the nation that came from him, have been God's chosen witnesses that there is only one God, and that Jehovah is He. Israel, as we saw, failed completely in this testimony. So the Gentile nations conquered them, and their long captivity and scattering followed. The Church's testimony, as we have also seen, is of another kind. It is a testimony to the perfect grace in which she stands, and to the finished redemption in which that grace has been shown to her.
The verse asks for witnesses who can be proved right. But how can a guilty witness be put right at all? One writer answers by looking beyond Isaiah's day.
It was God Who once, because of their sins, "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. It is He Who, for His own sake, will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone can He deal with the guilty and remain righteous. Christ, the cross, is the only key.
- Summons. God calls every nation into one assembly. Their conferences and councils cannot answer the one question He asks.
- Test. God's proof that He is God is knowledge of the future. The idols fall silent. They can give vague answers, but they cannot say what is coming.
- Witness. God tells the nations to produce witnesses who can prove their case. They produce none. He names Israel as His.
- Failure. Israel was chosen to testify that there is one God alone. Israel failed, and a long scattering followed. Another testimony now stands: the Church's witness to grace and finished redemption.
- Verdict. The blind and deaf witness will yet know, believe and understand. God blots out their transgressions for His own sake, and the cross is the only key to how He can do it and stay righteous.
Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I [am] HE before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
These chapters read like a courtroom: God calls the nations to bring proof for their gods, and no one answers. He then turns to one small people, names them His witnesses, and tells them what they are to know about Him.
These words answer a challenge. God had asked the nations who follow idols to produce anyone who could explain the past or foretell the future. Their side of the court stayed silent.
Among the nations who followed idols such things were unknown, and God raises the challenge: Who among the nations "can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forward THEIR WITNESSES, so that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth" (Isa. 43:9). But to Israel He says, "You are MY WITNESSES, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen … before ME no god was formed, nor shall there be any after ME. I, EVEN I, AM THE LORD; AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR" (vv. 10-11).
The people called to testify look like the least likely choice. God's own description of them is blunt.
The Jews, by their love of idols, were the blind people who had eyes and the deaf who had ears. Yet they alone of all the nations were Jehovah's witness and His servant. They will yet know, believe, and understand.
Their record and their future point in opposite directions.
Israel had seen the glory of Jehovah with their own eyes and had heard His law. Yet they turned to idols and shut their ears to the warnings of the prophets. Still, when God restores them, they will become a witness to the one true God.
Israel was given one truth to hold, in a world that believed the opposite everywhere else.
The unity of God is the foundation truth of the Old Testament. It was the central testimony the Jewish people were responsible for, in a world that everywhere else had given itself to idols.
The choice of one nation was deliberate, and it was not made for their sake alone.
God had to choose some nation, and in this He was both sovereign and wise. He chose the Jews. He formed them for Himself, so that they would be His witnesses and would declare His praise (Isaiah 43:10, 21).
The verse names three things before it names any task: know, believe, understand.
Israel is the standing witness to the world that God is the one God. Men "may know and believe" that God is the eternal One – none before Him, and no one after – the "I AM," and the only Saviour.
The short phrase at the centre of the verse is a title, and it appears first in Deuteronomy.
He is first named this way in Deuteronomy 32:39. "See now," He says, "that I, even I am the Same, and there is no god with Me … I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever!" Jesus says, I am "the living One" … "I am He" should read "I am the Same," meaning the self-existing One.
Israel broke the trust. The nation appointed to testify became the example of false testimony, and their Messiah stands in contrast.
God selected Israel as a nation to hold the truth of Jehovah's Godhead and of Jehovah's law, and to testify to these great truths among other nations who worshipped idols. In this trust they proved themselves false witnesses. They copied their neighbours and worshipped idols, and they dishonoured the law. Where Israel failed as a witness for the truth, because of their evil heart of unbelief, their Messiah was perfect throughout … one of His titles that shows He is fit for it is the Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 1:5; Rev. 3:14).
Yet Israel's failure is not the last word.
Whoever else may have let the light of the testimony go out, it has never gone out for God, and it never will. "You are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen."
- Chosen — God chose one nation and formed them for Himself, to be His witnesses and to declare His praise.
- Know — the witness starts inside. Know, believe and understand that He is the eternal One, with none before Him and none after.
- Declare — the truth entrusted to them was the unity of God, the one testimony they owed a world given over to idols.
- Failed — they copied their neighbours and worshipped idols, so they proved false witnesses. Where they failed, their Messiah was perfect: the Faithful and True Witness.
- Restored — blind and deaf when called, they will yet know, believe and understand. For God, the light of this testimony has never gone out.