For thou art the God of my strength why hast thou cast me off? why go I about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
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The Setting of the Promise
Isaiah 43:2 stands inside one of Scripture's most tender words of reassurance — God speaking to a people who had broken His law, ignored His chastening, and earned only judgment, yet hearing instead, "Fear not." The verse pledges that whatever floods or fires lie on the road, the Redeemer Himself will travel through them with His own.
"Fear Not" — Grace After Failure
The verse must be read with verse 1. Israel had every reason to dread, yet God answers their failure with redemption rather than rejection.
Hamilton SmithIsrael had not only broken the law and rebelled against Jehovah, but, when chastened, "he laid it not to heart." How low must be the moral condition of God's people when they are untouched by the discipline of the Lord! But will God, therefore, give up His people? Ah no! The coming of Christ as the perfect Servant enables God to fall back on His sovereignty and use the very evil of His people for an occasion to display His grace... On the ground of their sad history in relation to 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 Waters and the Fire
The promise is not that the people will avoid the trial, but that they will be carried through it. The waters cleanse, the fire purifies, and neither destroys.
Hamilton SmithBecause of their own failure they may have to pass through the cleansing waters and the purifying fire, but the LORD can say, "I will be with thee." If the Lord is with His people in all their trials we may be sure they will be brought "through". They may be "tried with fire," and pass through "the fiery trial" (1 Peter 1:7; 2:12) but they will neither be overwhelmed by the flood nor destroyed by the fire. Of old, in a literal sense, Israel had to face the waters of the Red Sea, and Daniel the fiery furnace, but the Son of God was with him in the furnace and brought him through the fire (Dan. 3:2).
The Reason Lies in Who God Is
The next verse anchors the promise. Israel is brought through, not because of any worth in them, but because of the character of the One who speaks.
Hamilton SmithIf Israel is brought through the trial into final blessing it is not because of any merit in Israel, but wholly on the ground of Who God is, "For", says God, "I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." Israel must endure the fire and the water, for God is "the Holy One," but they will be brought through, for God is their Saviour.
Historical Pictures of the Promise
The Old Testament already gave living illustrations of this very word — Israel passing dry-shod through the Red Sea, and the three Hebrews walking unburned in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace.
J. G. BellettLet the fire be heated again and again, it never prevails. And how at the last does Israel leave Egypt? Just as the three children afterwards left the furnace which Nebuchadnezzar had heated: in triumph; with nothing burnt but the bands which bound them. Pharaoh and the Egyptian host perish in the Red Sea, but Israel goes out under the banner of the Lord.
Comfort Carried into the New Testament
The promise reaches forward to every believer who finds himself in storm or stoning. The disciples on the lake and Stephen at his death both prove the same word.
James McBroomThey found themselves in His company outside the nation, tossed upon the waves in a storm which threatened to engulf them. Whatever the appearance no storm could harm them in His company. "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee" (Isa. 43:2).
Hamilton SmithIf Stephen is not kept from trial, he is sustained in the trial and brought through the trial. In these terrible circumstances he realises the truth of the Lord's words, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee..." Thus, with the stones falling upon him, Stephen is called to pass "through the valley of the shadow of death": but he fears no evil for the Lord is with him to support him, and glory is before him.
Summary
- Through, not around. God does not promise to spare His people the waters or the fire, but to bring them through both unharmed.
- Grace after failure. The "Fear not" comes precisely when Israel had given God every reason to abandon them; redemption rests on His sovereign grace, not their merit.
- Cleansing and purifying. The waters cleanse and the fire purifies; trial is allowed for the soul's good, never for its destruction.
- Anchored in His character. The guarantee stands on verse 3 — "I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour."
- Living proofs. The Red Sea, the fiery furnace, the storm on Galilee, and Stephen's stoning all show the same Companion present in the trial.