E H 1-. Israel created and called.
J r -1. "Fear not".
s 2. Preservation.
K t 3-. Yahaveh. Israel's Savior.
u -3. Ransom.
K t 4-. Yahaveh. Israel's Lover.
u -4. Ransom.
J r 5-. "Fear not".
s -5-7-. Restoration.
H -7. Israel called and created.603-588 B.C.
Isaiah 43)
1 But now thus says the LORD (Yahaveh) that created you (this is another Yahaveh Title = Yahaveh Boraaka = Yahaveh your Creator), “O Jacob, and your Former, O Israel, (see Gen. 32:28; 43:6; 45:26,28. See 42:24)
“Fear not (cp. v.5): for I have redeemed you (see Ex. 6:6), I have called you by your name; you are Mine.
2 Should you pass (the habitual sense of ki with the future. See Deut. 31:6,8) through waters, I will be with you; and through rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall flame pass over you. (Refers especially to 1st and 2nd tribulation. 1st tribulation - water,rivers - Satan's flood of lies - See Rev.17:15. 2nd tribulation - fire,flame - of God - no need to fear, He is only mad at his enemies. A general promise of future deliverance put by Fig., for troubles of any ad all kinds.)
3 For I the Lord Am your God (note the 3 titles. He is Israel's God by covenant [note the others in the next clause]), the Holy (Set Apart) One of Israel (in contrast with false gods. See 1:4, and Ps. 71:22), your Savior:
I gave Egypt for your atonement price, Ethiopia and Seba for you. (= Egypt...Nubia [Cush], and Ethiopia. These were given to Persia as ransom-money [as it were] for the release of Israel by Persia through the successors of Cyrus [see Xenophon, Cyr.viii.6,20; and Herod.i.153;iii.25]. In the time of Isaiah these three were united under one dynasty)
4 Ever since you became precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you:
therefore will I give a man for you (could this be Christ? Heb. ’adăm), and peoples for your soul.
5 Fear not: for I am with you:
I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you 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;’ (This contemplates a wider and greater deliverance than that from Babylon, even from "the ends of the earth")
7 Even every one that is called by My name: (i.e. Christian)
for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
8 Bring forth a blind People that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. (i.e. Israel.
I.e. Blinded to the ways of the world. See 6:10; 42:19,20. Jer. 5:21. Ezek. 12:2. Matt. 13:14. Acts 28:26,27)
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled: who among you can declare this, and show us former things? (foretold of things) let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, ‘It is truth.’
F v 10-. Yahaveh's witnesses.
w -10-12-. The only God.
v -12-. Yahaveh's witnesses.
w -12,13. The only God.10 You all are My witnesses,” is the Lord's oracle, and My servant (i.e. Israel) whom I have chosen: (see 1:29)
that you all may know (i.e. be taught) and believe Me, and understand that I Am He [Who is]: before me there was no GOD (El) formed, neither shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, Am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have foretold, when there was no strange god among you: (see Deut.32:12,16)
therefore ye are my witnesses,
says the Lord, that I am GOD.
13 Yes, before the day was I Am He; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand: I will work, and who shall avert it?” (See Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13; 2:1,4,6. Who has the authority to permit God to do His work? Who has the power to prohibit God from doing His work? The answer is no one in heaven or on earth.)
14 Thus says the Lord, your Kinsman-Redeemer (see Ex.6:6), the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon (= Confusion. First occ. of this name in Isaiah), and have brought down all of them in flight, and the Chaldeans, the ships which sound with loud outcries. (Cp. Lam.2:19. Num.24:24. The enemy is as nothing.)
15 I Am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 Thus says the Lord, which makes a way in the sea (see Ex.14:16,21,22. Ps.77:19), and a path in the mighty waters;
17 Which brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; “they shall lie down together (or, at once), they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick. (Tow is what is left of a wick after it has burned. It is ash. Tow has no real substance. Neither does the enemy.)
18 Remember you all not the former things (see 44:21), neither consider the things of old. (Do you remember the Books of Moses? Do you remember how God delivered His children out of Egypt with a mighty hand? Do you remember those words always came to pass? It is your Father. He also tells us of future things.)
19 Behold, I will do a new thing (the future deliverance of Israel will be with greater marvels than at Exodus); now it shall spring forth; shall you all not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness (He will take care of you there. See Rev. 12), and rivers in the desert. (The water of truth is going to flow. Why thirst?)
20 The beast of the field shall honor Me, the dragons and the owls (He takes care of the unclean beasts why not you!?): because I give waters in the wilderness (see Ex. 17:6. Num. 20:11), and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My People, My chosen. (On a spiritual level, God also provides water. If you are ever having trouble understanding a Scripture, ask for His help. He will help you understand. Seek truth.)
21 This People have I formed for Myself (for Israel [as Birks puts it] "is the keystone of the whole arc of promise". See 44:7); they shall show forth My praise. (Honor Him)
22 But you have not called upon Me (Fig., put for all that has to do with, as developed in vv.23,24 worship), O Jacob (natural seed); but you have been weary of me, O Israel. (Spiritual. You can't expect God's help, if you never ask for it.)
23 You have not brought Me (&c. These verses are quite opposed to the alleged indifference of the prophets to the Divine ritual) the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored Me with your sacrifices (i.e. your love. He is not going to force you to do anything). I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense.
24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices (God wanted all the fat. It is not good for you to eat): but (note the solemn antithesis) you have made Me to serve with your sins (fig., put for the judicial consequences of their sin), you have wearied Me with your iniquities. (Unfortunately, many today do not have time for God. God is ready to forgive their sins; however, they never ask Him for forgiveness.)
25 I, even I, Am He that blots out your rebellions for My own sake (He does not go out of Himself for the reason which flows from grace), and will not remember your sins. (He remembers our infirmities, which man forgets, Ps. 103.14, but will forget our sins, He will blot them out, which man remembers)
26 Put Me in remembrance (of His promises): let us plead together (talk to Him): recount [your works] (or, sins), that you may be justified. (Be made right. I want you to absorb every last word in this verse. God wants you to remind Him of His promises. Why? He wants to know whether you are familiar with His promises, or not. He wants you to reason with Him, so that He can justify, or cleanse, you.)
27 Thy first father has sinned (i.e. Jacob, as stated in the next verse. Cp. Deut. 26:5. Ezek. 16:3,45), and your teachers have transgressed against Me. (because they change things. See Hos.2:14-23)
28 Therefore I have profaned the priests of the sanctuary (whose great duty it was to "teach" the people the Law and Word of God. See Deut.17:11; 33:10), and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches. (including the whole Nation: the subject of this prophecy concerning Yahaveh's "servant")