Isaiah 43:8-44:5 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 43:8-44:5. Let’s go!
Isaiah 43:8-15 (NIV)
8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.
9 All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares 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 will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed– I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.
13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
14 This is what the LORD says– your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”
On verses 8-15: Isaiah asks who predicted the rescuing of the Jewish exiles from Babylon (v8-9). The answer is: no one except the LORD speaking through His servant (v10). In so doing the LORD will show that He is the one true God (v10-12) and that He is sovereign (v13). God confirms that He will bring about the defeat of the Babylonians (v14) and that the real ruler over Israel is not Babylon but the LORD, “Israel’s Creator, your King” (v15).
Isaiah 43:16-21 (NIV)
16 This is what the LORD says– he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
On verses 16-21: The most famous miracle in Israel’s history was how God made a way for His people through the Red Sea in Exodus, allowing the Israelites cross over on dry land before causing those same waters to drown Egypt’s army (v16-17). But now the LORD tells His people not to dwell on this past because He is going to do a new thing (v18): instead of making a way for His people through the sea, He is going to make a way for His people through the desert (v19-21). He is going to take His people out of Babylon through the desert and back to Jerusalem.
Isaiah 43:22-28 (NIV)
22 “Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.
23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense.
24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.
25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
26 Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence.
27 Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me.
28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple, and I will consign Jacob to destruction and Israel to scorn.
On verses 22-28: After describing the amazing future work that the LORD will do in rescuing His people from exile, the LORD contrasts that work with the lack of effort His people have shown in worshiping Him (“you have not wearied yourselves for me…nor honored me with your sacrifices” v22-23. Instead “you have burdened me with your sins” v24).
According to commentator John Oswalt, in verses 22-28 Isaiah may be flashing back to Isaiah’s own present day and showing how his people’s sins in Isaiah’s day would lead to their future exile (Oswalt, John. The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2003, page 491).
God reviews His people’s past record (v6) and recounts how they have had a history of sinning against Him, beginning with their “first father” (v27) (probably Adam) and “your spokesmen” (other leaders in Israel’s history). As a result, they were given over to destruction and scorn (v28).
What can we learn from this?
– When we persist in sinning against God, the punishment we deserve is to be ousted from God’s presence, just as the people of Judah were ousted out of their land and into exile because of their sin.
– God is a merciful God “who blots out your transgressions…and remembers your sins no more” (v25). His rescuing work is not anything that we deserve, but an act of God’s mercy and grace.
– God is a reasonable God who does not discipline His people for no reason (v26-28).
Isaiah 44:1-5 (NIV)
1 “But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 This is what the LORD says– he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.
5 One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name Israel.
On verses 1-5: Here, with tenderness, the LORD speaks to the Jewish exiles in Babylon (“Jacob”, “Jeshurun”, “Israel” are all names for God’s people). He reassures them that though they may be living in a foreign land, they still belong to God (v1-2). Though they live in a dry and thirsty land, God will bring the water (v3). God promises to bless the future descendants of His people and pour out His Spirit on them so that they can flourish (“spring up like grass in a meadow” v4) and worship Him (v5).
Once and over Isaiah paints the picture of God making streams in the desert (Isaiah 32:2; 35:6; 43:19-20). He does that again here in verses 3-4. By His power at work in our lives, God can take our deserts and turn them into places of springs.
Thank You Father for Your mercy and Your ability to make a way for Your people through the desert. Therefore we proclaim that in this season, despite the challenges we face, we have everything we need in You. Come and make streams flow in the desert. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
