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.
I, I [am] Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour.
God names Himself twice over here as the only Saviour. He says it to a people surrounded by idols. That claim raises two questions. What happens to every other refuge people trust? And how does the name of Jesus fit?
The same exclusiveness that rules out rival gods rules out rival saviours. One writer traces this through the chapter. Israel's ruin and Israel's rescue come from the same hand.
It was because of Him whom they rebelled against that they were so plundered. Because of Him they will also be delivered, pardoned, and blessed. For as He, Jehovah, is the only God, so is He just as much the sole Saviour... Before that day dawns, we already know the great salvation by His grace, which is still a secret to them. By that grace alone He can righteously deal with the guilty. Christ, the cross, is the only key.
The doubled "I, I am" is not emphasis for its own sake. It belongs to a speaker with no beginning and no successor. One writer points out that a God who can speak this way about Himself can also make Himself known.
Only He could speak as He did through Isaiah: "I am He," or "I am the same; before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me" (43:10)... None but the Eternal One could speak like this. When it pleased Him to do so, He could and would reveal Himself.
Isaiah sets this claim beside the gods people carried and prayed to. The contrast is not close. An idol's whole existence runs the wrong way: it receives instead of gives.
Idols are contrasted with Jehovah, but cannot for one moment be compared with the true God. Jehovah is the Maker; an idol has to be made. Once made, it does not carry others — it has to be carried. Set in its place, it cannot move, cannot answer the cry of need, and cannot save from trouble.
Israel lived in a world of idols and had one truth to guard. One writer calls it the truth the whole Old Testament rests on.
The unity of God is the foundation truth of the Old Testament. It was the central testimony for which the Jewish people were responsible, in a world everywhere else given over to idolatry. We must add that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was that one Jehovah — His proper name in relationship with His people on earth.
The claim that leaves Israel with one Saviour opens a door to everyone else.
Israel was therefore left with Him alone for salvation. But then came a world-wide invitation: "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22). The world too is left with Him alone.
If God alone saves, then anyone who truly saves must be God. One writer sets this verse beside the angel's words about Jesus and draws the conclusion.
Many Old Testament passages addressed to Israel tie their salvation to God's own action on their behalf. They prove beyond doubt that He alone could save them... "I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no Saviour" (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?
- One God. The unity of God is the foundation truth of the Old Testament. Israel lived among idols to hold that testimony and pass it on.
- One Saviour. This is one argument, not two. Because He is the only God, He is just as much the sole Saviour.
- No rivals. An idol has to be made and carried. It cannot move, answer a cry, or save from trouble.
- One invitation. Having only one Saviour is not a narrowing but an opening. Israel has no one but Him, and neither does the world. That is why the call reaches the ends of the earth.
- One Name. If none but God can save, then Jesus, who saves His people from their sins, can be no one less than God. The cross is how He does it righteously.
It is I that have declared, and have saved, and have shewed, when there was no strange [god] among you; and ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, that I [am] God.
Isaiah 43 reads like a courtroom. God calls the nations to bring anyone who can prove their gods are real, then puts Israel on the stand as His witness. That witness rests on three things God had already done — He declared, He saved, He proclaimed — and Israel stands there to prove one point: He is God.
The verse belongs to a scene where God summons the nations to bring evidence. One writer sets the challenge and the answer side by side:
Who among the nations "can 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).
God acted while Israel still had no foreign god among them. The three verbs come first; the title "witnesses" comes after:
In reference to Israel, God can say, "I declared and saved and proclaimed." Before they turned to idols, God had already declared the past and the future for Israel. He speaks as the I AM, to Whom the future is present, so He can say "I saved." Having saved, God can say to all the world that Israel are "my witnesses … that I am God."
God set this people apart with two purposes in view. The first is the one this verse states:
God has had two great purposes in view in setting Israel apart to Himself as His special people. One was that there should be a testimony to the unity of God, and that He alone should be worshipped: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." (Deut. 6:4.)
The saving in this verse is God's own act. Other passages press the same claim, and it becomes a question about who Jesus is:
Many Old Testament passages spoken to Israel tie their salvation to God's own action for them, and they prove that He alone could save them… "I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no Saviour" (verse 11)… The name Jesus carries divine glory with it. It means Jehovah the Saviour, and these great texts make it plain 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?
Israel held this trust and betrayed it. One Person fills the gap they left:
God chose Israel as a nation to keep the truth of Jehovah's Godhead and of Jehovah's law, and to testify to these great truths among other nations who worshipped idols. "You are my witnesses, says the LORD, that I am God" (Isa. 43:10, 12; Isa. 44:8). In this trust they proved themselves false witnesses, and everyone knew it. They worshipped idols openly, copying the nations around them, and they dishonoured the law. At every point where Israel failed as a witness for the truth, because of their evil heart of unbelief, their Messiah was perfect… and one of His titles which expresses His fitness is that of the Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 1:5; Rev. 3:14).
Israel's failure does not cancel their appointment. The chapter looks forward:
The Jews, with 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… for as He, Jehovah, is the only God, so He is also the only Saviour… It was God Who once, for 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 know the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone He can deal with guilty people and still be just: Christ, the cross, is the only key.
A witness reports what happened to him. That shapes how anyone speaks for God:
No sermon is as powerful as the one drawn from experience… If I speak what my soul knows, and not what I have only heard from others, I speak in power… tell it out faithfully and clearly, by lip and life, so that the blessed Saviour may get praise for the salvation He has given.
- God acted first. He declared, saved and proclaimed before He called anyone to testify. The witness rests on His record, not on human insight.
- God appointed witnesses. He set one nation apart to give one clear testimony in a world of idols: the Lord is God, and besides Him there is no Saviour.
- The witnesses failed. Israel copied the idolatry around them and proved false witnesses.
- Christ is the Faithful Witness. Where Israel broke down, the Messiah was perfect throughout, and He carries the title they forfeited.
- The testimony continues. Israel will yet know, believe and understand. Meanwhile anyone who knows God's salvation can tell it out, by lip and life.
Yea, since the day was, I [am] HE, and there is none that delivereth out of my hand I will work, and who shall hinder it?
Here God answers Israel with a statement about Himself. He existed before time, no one can take anything out of His hand, and no one can undo what He does.
One writer takes the verse phrase by phrase and shows how each part answers a different objection. Time cannot outflank God, and power cannot overrule Him.
God is the God of eternity. Before time was — "before the day" — God can say I AM; and God is omnipotent, for none can deliver out of His hand or hinder His work.
"I am He" turns on one Hebrew word: Hu. One writer counts it among the names of God.
There is another word which, though it may be used as a description, can hardly be excluded from being a name of God. Hu, Atta Hu, "you are the same," the unchangeable One (see Deut. 32:39); "I am He, the same and besides me no god." I am He, Hu, Atta Hu: Psalm 44:4; Isaiah 41:4; 43:10, 13; Jeremiah 5:12. It is in the sense of the immutable existing One, which is true of God only.
The same writer finds the word in this chapter, on God's own lips.
In Isaiah 43:10 we have Ani hu (I, He) spoken by Jehovah… the hu (He) is essential and immutable existence.
These words belong to a kind of courtroom. Another writer sets God's two calls side by side: one to the nations, one to Israel.
Among the nations who followed idols such things were unknown. God raises the challenge: Who among the nations "can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring forth THEIR WITNESSES, 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, says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen … before ME there was no God formed, and there will be none after ME. I, EVEN I, AM THE LORD; AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR" (vv. 10-11).
One writer roots this in Israel's exile. The God who sent them to Babylon is the God who will pardon and bless them.
They will yet know, believe, and understand. They have been so plundered because of Him whom they rebelled against. They will be delivered, pardoned, and blessed because of Him too. Jehovah is the only God, and just as truly the only Saviour. For Israel's sake He had sent them to Babylon and brought down their pride… Once, for their sins, God "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. For His own sake He will blot out their transgressions and justify them.
One writer finds the same name on the lips of Jesus.
Isaiah predicts what Israel will discover at His second coming: the rejected and despised One is Jehovah. "Therefore My people shall know My Name, therefore they shall know that I am He" (52:6). The words "I am He" (Ani Hu) are a divine Name. Our Lord used it when He said "I am" to the woman at the well, and again to the group in the garden of Gethsemane.
One writer links this verse to Jesus' words in John 10:
John 10:28-30. — Compare Deut. 32:39, Isa. 43:13. Hengstenberg: "Jesus assumes to Himself the possession of the power which belongs to Jehovah."
- Before — "before the day," God can say I AM; He is the God of eternity, and to Him the future is already present.
- Because — the Hebrew Hu is a name, not just a description: the unchangeable, self-existing One, true of God alone.
- Beside — God dares the nations to bring their witnesses. Israel is His witness that beside Him there is no Saviour.
- Beyond — the God who sent Israel to Babylon is the God who pardons them. No hand can take from Him, and no power can undo His work.
- Borrowed — Jesus takes this name for Himself, and with it the power that belongs to Jehovah.