43:1ffChapter 42 ends with God's sorrow over the spiritual decay of his people. In chapter 43, God says that despite the people’s spiritual failure, he will show them mercy, bring them back from captivity, and restore them. He would give them an outpouring of love, not wrath. Then the world would know that God alone had done this.
Life Application Study BibleIsaiahChapter 43
Isaiah 43
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1158, 1159, 1160
43Isaiah 43
1Ihave called you by name; you are mine.
2When you go through deep waters,T will be with you.When you go through rivers of difficulty,you will not drown.When you walk through the fire of oppression,you will not be burned up;the flames will not consume you.
3For I am the LORD, your God,the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;I gave Ethiopia* and Seba in your place.
4Others were given in exchange for you.I traded their lives for yoursbecause you are precious to me.You are honored, and I love you.
5“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.I will gather you and your children from east and west.
6I will say to the north and south,‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israelfrom the distant corners of the earth.
7Bring all who claim me as their God,for I have made them for my glory.It was I who created them.’”
8Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind,who have ears but are deaf.
9Gather the nations together!Assemble the peoples of the world!
Which of their idols has ever foretold such things?Which can predict what will happen tomorrow?Where are the witnesses of such predictions?Who can verify that they spoke the truth?
10“But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the LORD.“You are my servant.You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,and understand that I alone am God.There is no other God—there never has been, and there never will be.
11TL yes I,am the LORD,and there is no other Savior.
12First I predicted your rescue,then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.No foreign god has ever done this.You are witnesses that I am the only God,”says the LORD.
13“From eternity to eternity I am God.No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.No one can undo what I have done.”
The LORD’s Promise of Victory
1414This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,forcing the Babylonians* to flee in those ships they are so proud of.
15Tam the LORD, your Holy One,Israel's Creator and King.
16T am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters,making a dry path through the sea.
17Tcalled forth the mighty army of Egyptwith all its chariots and horses.I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.
18“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
19For I am about to do something new.See, Ihave already begun! Do you not see it?I will make a pathway through the wilderness.I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
20The wild animals in the fields will thank me,the jackals and owls, too,for giving them water in the desert.Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wastelandso my chosen people can be refreshed.
21[have made Israel for myself,and they will someday honor me before the whole world.
22“But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me, O Israel!
23You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.You have not honored me with sacrifices,though I have not burdened and wearied youwith requests for grain offerings and frankincense.
24You have not brought me fragrant calamusor pleased me with the fat from sacrifices.Instead, you have burdened me with your sinsand wearied me with your faults.
25“T—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sakeand will never think of them again.
26Let us review the situation together,and you can present your case to prove your innocence.
27From the very beginning, your first ancestor sinned against me;all your leaders broke my laws.
28That is why I have disgraced your priests;Ihave decreed complete destruction* for Jacoband shame for Israel.4 4 1 “But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant,
Textual footnotes
- 43:3 Hebrew Cush.
- 43:14 Or Chaideans.
- 43:28 Tne Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the LORD, either
Life Application Notes 9 notes
43:1-4God created the people of Israel, and they were special to him. God redeemed them and called them by name to be those who belong to him. God protected israel in times of trouble. We are important to God, too. If we claim to belong to God, we must never do anything that would bring shame to him.
43:2Going through rivers of difficulty will either cause you to drown or force you to grow stronger. If you go in your own strength, you are more likely to drown. If you invite the LORD to go with you, he will protect you.
43:3God gave other nations to Persia in exchange for returning the Jews to their homeland. Egypt, Ethiopia, and parts of Arabia (Seba) had attacked Persia, and the Persians defeated them.
43:5,6Isaiah was speaking primarily of Israel's return from Babylon. But there is a broader meaning: All God’s people will be regathered when Christ comes to rule in peace over the earth.
43:10,11Israel's task was to be a witness (44:8), telling the world who God is and what he had done. Believers today share the responsibility of being God's witnesses. Do people know what God is like through your words and example? They cannot see God directly, but they can see him reflected in you.
43:15-21This section pictures a new Exodus for a people once again oppressed, as the Israelites had been as slaves in Egypt before the Exodus. They would cry to God, and again he would hear and deliver them. A new Exodus would take place through a new wilderness. The past miracles were nothing compared to what God would do for his people in the future.
43:22-24A sacrifice required both giving up a valuable animal and pleading with God for forgiveness. But the people presented God with sins instead of sacrifices. Can you imagine bringing the best of your sins to God’s altar? This ironic picture shows the depths to which Israel had sunk. What do you present to God— your sins or a plea for his forgiveness?
43:25How tempting it is to remind someone of a past offense! But when God forgives our sins, he totally forgets them. We never have to fear that he will remind us of them later. Because God forgives our sins, we need to forgive others.