Background
Chapter 42 ended with Israel in the fire, burned and still not understanding (Isa. 42:25). Chapter 43 opens with two words that change everything: “But now.” The fire is still there (verse 2), but the relationship has not changed.
The chapter continues the pattern of Isaiah 40–48, alternating between tender salvation oracles addressed to Israel (verses 1–7, 14–21) and trial scenes in which the Lord argues His case (verses 8–13, 22–28). In the first trial, Israel is called as a witness for the Lord against the nations. In the second, Israel is the defendant.
Behind the whole chapter stands the memory of the Exodus. The Lord who made a path through the sea (verse 16) is about to do something even greater. For exiles in Babylon, the question was whether that story was only history or could happen again.
The thread through the chapter
Isaiah 43 is about belonging. Its central sentence is the last line of verse 1: “I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”
Everything flows from that. Because Israel belongs to the Lord, He will be with them in the waters and the fire (verse 2). He will pay any price to get them back, even Egypt and Cush as ransom, “since thou wast precious in my sight… and I have loved thee” (verses 3–4). He will gather His sons and daughters from every direction (verses 5–7).
Belonging also means a job. In the courtroom scene, the nations are challenged to produce witnesses for their gods, and no one comes forward. So the Lord calls His own: “Ye are my witnesses… that I am he” (verse 10). The blind and deaf servant of chapter 42 is summoned to testify, not because they have seen perfectly, but because they have been saved.
Then comes a promise so big that it overshadows even the Exodus. “Remember ye not the former things… Behold, I will do a new thing” (verses 18–19): a road through the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The chapter ends with honesty. Israel has not been faithful. They wearied the Lord with their sins, and made Him, in a startling phrase, their servant (verse 24). And yet: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake” (verse 25). Belonging to the Lord doesn’t depend on Israel’s record. It depends on His.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
“Thou art mine”
But now this is what the Lord says, the One who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, 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 the rivers will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, and the flame will not burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Because you are precious in My sight and honored, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations in exchange for your life. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Don’t hold them back!’ Bring My sons from far away and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name and whom I created for My glory. I formed him; yes, I made him.”
1 But now thus saith the LORD 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.
2 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.
3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
“Ye are my witnesses”
Bring out the people who are blind though they have eyes, who are deaf though they have ears. All the nations are gathered together, and the peoples are assembled. Which of them can announce this, or tell us what happened before? Let them bring their witnesses to prove they are right, or let them listen and say, “It is true.” “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. No god was formed before Me, and there will be none after Me. I, I am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me. I announced it, I saved you, and I proclaimed it, and there was no foreign god among you. You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God. From the very beginning I am He. No one can rescue anyone from My hand. When I act, who can stop it?”
8 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, 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.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
A new thing
This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send an army against Babylon and bring down all its defenses, and the Chaldeans’ shouts of triumph will turn to cries of lament. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” This is what the Lord says, who made a road through the sea and a path through the mighty waters, who led out the chariots and horses, the army and the warriors together, and they lay down and never rose again, snuffed out like a wick: “Don’t dwell on the past. Don’t keep thinking about what happened long ago. Look, I am doing something new! It is already springing up. Don’t you see it? I will make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to My chosen people, the people I formed for Myself, who will proclaim My praise.”
14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
Israel on trial, and grace
“But you haven’t called on Me, Jacob. You have grown tired of Me, Israel. You haven’t brought Me sheep for burnt offerings or honored Me with your sacrifices. I didn’t burden you with demands for grain offerings or weary you with demands for incense. You didn’t buy Me fragrant cane with your money or satisfy Me with the fat of your sacrifices. Instead, you burdened Me with your sins; you wearied Me with your wrongdoing. I, I am the One who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Remind Me; let’s argue the case together. State your case so you may be proved right. Your first ancestor sinned, and your spokesmen rebelled against Me. So I disgraced the leaders of the sanctuary, and I handed Jacob over to destruction and Israel to ridicule.”
22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.
24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
Seeing Christ in Isaiah 43
The God who speaks in Isaiah 43 calls Himself Creator, Redeemer, Savior, and King, and says that there is no Savior besides Him (verse 11). The New Testament gives that name to Jesus (Acts 4:12), and Latter-day Saints recognize the Jehovah of Isaiah as the premortal Christ.
The chapter also sketches, in advance, the shape of His Atonement. He pays a ransom for Israel because they are precious to Him (verses 3–4), as Jesus gave His life “a ransom for many.” He is made to “serve” with Israel’s sins and wearied by their iniquities (verse 24), a picture fulfilled in the Servant who bore “the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). And He blots out transgressions “for mine own sake” (verse 25), on the strength of His own merits and mercy. The promise that He will be with His people in the waters and the fire is the promise of Immanuel, God with us.
Liken it to yourself
- The Lord says “thou art mine.” How would my week change if I really believed that?
- What waters or fires am I passing through right now? Have I looked for Him in them?
- I am called to be a witness, not because my sight is perfect, but because I have been saved. What have I seen that I could testify of?
- Is there a “former thing” I’m holding onto that keeps me from seeing the new thing the Lord is doing?
- Have I made the Lord “serve with my sins” by treating His forgiveness casually? What would it mean to receive it with gratitude?
Worth exploring next
- The Exodus in Isaiah 40–55. Trace the new-exodus theme through Isa. 40:3–5, Isa. 43:16–21, Isa. 48:20–21, Isa. 51:9–11, and Isa. 52:11–12.
- Witnesses. Compare Isa. 44:8, Acts 1:8, Mosiah 18:8–10, and the testimonies of the Three and Eight Witnesses.
- Names and covenant. Read Mosiah 5:7–12, Moro. 4:3, and Rev. 2:17.
- Ransom and atonement. Trace kōper and kippēr through Ex. 30:11–16, Lev. 16, and Mark 10:45.
- The gathering. Read Jer. 16:14–16, 1 Ne. 22:10–12, and 3 Ne. 20:29–33.
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
- Jer. 16:14–15 — A greater gathering will overshadow the Exodus.
- Acts 4:12 — No other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
- Mosiah 18:8–10 — Baptism as a covenant to stand as witnesses of God.
Sources & further reading
- Claus Westermann, Isaiah 40–66: A Commentary, Old Testament Library. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1969.
- Shalom M. Paul, Isaiah 40–66: Translation and Commentary, Eerdmans Critical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012.
- Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah, Old Testament Library. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.
- Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah, Anchor Bible, 3 vols. New York: Doubleday, 2000–2003.
- How Firm a Foundation, Hymns, no. 85.
- Russell M. Nelson, “The Gathering of Scattered Israel”, general conference, Oct. 2006.
- Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
- Chapter 16: The God of Israel and the Nations (Isaiah 36–47), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).