Isaiah · chapter 43 of 66
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Isaiah 43 declares that the Lord, who created and formed Israel, has redeemed him and called him by name, and promises to be with him in the waters and the fire. He gathers his children from the four directions, makes them his witnesses that he alone is God and Savior, and announces something new in the wilderness. It ends with forgiveness: he blots out his people's transgressions for his own sake.
Isaiah 43 continues the book of comfort with one of its tenderest pages. After presenting the Lord's servant and rebuking the people's blindness in chapter 42, the prophet proclaims that the Lord is still the creator, redeemer and forgiver of Israel. The chapter announces that God would do a new thing, a theme the New Testament relates to the work of Christ.
The chapter begins with the words: but now thus says the Lord, he who created you, he who formed you, O Israel: fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you will not be burned, and the flame will not consume you. For the Lord is their God, the Holy One of Israel, their Savior. He gives Egypt as their ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for Israel, because he is precious in his eyes and honored, and he loves him. He will bring his offspring from the east, the west, the north and the south, everyone who is called by his name, whom he created for his glory.
Then the Lord summons a courtroom: let the blind people who have eyes come out, and the deaf who have ears, and let the nations gather. Who among them declared this? You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.
The Lord announces that for the sake of his people he will send to Babylon and bring down the fugitives. Remember not the former things, he says, nor consider the things of old; behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. I give water in the wilderness to my chosen people. The people whom I formed for myself will declare my praise.
But Jacob has not called upon him nor brought him sacrifices, and has instead burdened the Lord with his sins and wearied him with his iniquities. Even so, the Lord says: I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord, who created and formed Israel, tells him not to fear because he has redeemed him and called him by name. The people's identity rests on what God did for them, not on what they are able to do.
When the people pass through the waters and the fire, the Lord will be with them, and they will not be overwhelmed or burned. The promise does not remove the dangers but guarantees his presence in the midst of them.
The Lord says he is doing a new thing, making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. God is not tied to the past and brings a way out where none could be seen.
He himself blots out his people's transgressions for his own sake and does not remember their sins. Forgiveness rests not on Israel's merit but on the Lord's grace and character.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Not to fear, because he has redeemed him, called him by name and he is his. — Isaiah 43:1
Answer: To be with him: the waters will not overwhelm him nor the fire burn him. — Isaiah 43:2
Answer: Because he loves him and he is honored in his eyes. — Isaiah 43:4
Answer: That the Lord alone is God and besides him there is no savior. — Isaiah 43:10-11
Answer: He makes a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. — Isaiah 43:19
Answer: He blots them out for his own sake and does not remember their sins. — Isaiah 43:25
Isaiah 43 begins with an identity that is not earned: you are mine, I called you by name. In a Sunday school class you can reflect on how much of our security depends on what we do and how much on the fact that God has redeemed us. Remembering this is a way to face fear, comparison and weariness.
The chapter also encourages us to look ahead. The Lord says not to dwell only on the past because he is doing a new thing. In a small group you can ask where we need God to make a way in the desert, and thank him for forgiveness that does not rest on our performance but on his grace.
Isaiah 43 joins Israel's redemption, witness and forgiveness. Chapter 44 will continue with the promise of the Spirit poured out on Jacob's descendants, the mockery of idols and the name of Cyrus as the Lord's shepherd.
The text uses poetic language to express how much the Lord values his people. Some interpreters link it with the Persian conquests, which included those territories. The central point is the Lord's love for Israel, not a literal transaction.
In its context, it refers to a new exodus: deliverance from exile and the return to the land, with a way in the wilderness. Christians see in it a foretaste of the work of Christ, who brings an even greater salvation.
It means that forgiveness springs from God's character and faithfulness, not from the people's merit. Israel had wearied the Lord with its sins, and yet he forgives. It is an early expression of the grace the New Testament centers on Christ.