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.