Isaiah 43:1-7

4. CALL, CHAPTER 43
a. TO BE A POSSESSION

TEXT: Isaiah 43:1-7

1

But now thus saith Jehovah 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 Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead.

4

Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of 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 end of the earth;

7

every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yea, whom I have made.

QUERIES

a.

Why remind Israel she belongs to God?

b.

When will Israel walk through waters?

c.

When will the great gathering take place?

PARAPHRASE

And now, in light of the foregoing, Jehovah says, I am your Creator and your Former, O Israel, so you need have no fear. I have redeemed you in the past and will do so in the future. You are mine; I have special claim on you. You did not even name yourselfI did. You were singled out by Me for a special purpose. So, when you have to pass through dangerous waters and flooded rivers you need not fear they will overcome you; when you have to walk through fires of your oppressors you will not be burnedyou will not even be touched by the flames. You know who I Am, I Am Jehovah, Covenant God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I have paid a high price for you giving up whole continents like Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba as a ransom for you. Ever since the time you became My precious possession I have honored you and loved you dearly. And on account of My love for you I will continue to exchange the lives of other peoples to keep you as My special people. Do not be afraid of your enemies, for I, Your Covenant-God, Am with you always. Even if you are scattered all over the world, I promise to gather my sons and daughters from the east, west, north and south. Yes, every one who will surrender to be called by My name, I will have produced as a new creation, will have shaped him and perfected and completed him for My glory.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 43:1-4 REDEMPTION: This chapter forms the climactic statement of God's Purpose for Israel's servanthoodto be God's Called. This chapter also forms the conclusion to the preceding discussion of the interrelation of national Israelcovenant Israelto the Messiah. This whole section of Salvation Through God's Servant (Chapter s 40-53), is a kaleidoscopic view of the correlation of Israel and the Messiah. Israel was called for the messianic purpose, but she sinned. God must chasten her to purify her. After her purification she will be redeemed and from her will come the Messiah and His kingdom in which only the regenerated shall dwell.

Two words are used in verse one to emphasize Jehovah's claim upon Israel; bara, create and yatzar, form, shape, are the distinctive Hebrew words showing God's unique relationship to Israel. She is His possession by right of His having brought her into existence and having molded her into what He wants her to be. The Hebrew word for redeemed is goael and a derivative of the same word is sometimes translated kinsman (cf. Ruth 3:2, etc.). Israel is kin to God by creation and redemption. Israel is God's child, His son, His bride (cf. Ezekiel 16:1 f; Hosea 11:1 f; Isaiah 49:14-18; Isaiah 62:1 f, etc.). Israel is God's precious possession. The placing of the two names of verse one are interesting. Yaakoov, Jacob, means defraud, circumvent, crooked, deceitful, while Yisrael, Israel, means prevail, prince or ruler of God, or perhaps, God will rule. Israel is the name God gave Jacob after Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord and prevailed. Hosea appeals to the spineless, compromising Israel of his day to take again the character of its forefather who was so singleminded about striving for the spiritual birthright (cf. Hosea 12:2-6). So, Israel was what God named this nation because He redeemed it or purchased it, not only through the change made in Jacob's character, but also throughout her history. This is what God calls Israelmine!

Not only has God redeemed Israel, He will continue to do so. He will protect her. When she is forced to go through waters (probably when being taken captive, for there were hardly any bridges over rivers then) God will keep her from being swept away. When they were forced to walk through fire, God would not allow the flame to consume them. A literal fulfillment of protection from fire is recorded in the event with the three Hebrew men (Daniel 3:1-30) in the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. The point is Israel need not fear extinction for God is powerful and mighty to save from any thing. God could even save them from lions (Daniel), hangmen (Esther) and their own countrymen (Jeremiah).

Jehovah, Creator of all mankind, is jealous enough for Israel, His precious servant, called to glorify His name in all the earth, He is willing to give up other nations and peoples as a substitutionary ransom to keep Israel. God is ready to sacrifice practically the whole African continent (as was then known, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba) if need be to keep Israel free to fulfill her messianic destiny. Some think this is a prediction that God is willing to, and did, assign Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba to Persia as compensation for their letting Israel return to Palestine by the edict of Cyrus (cf. 2 Chronicles 36; Ezra 1). Egypt and Ethiopia did submit to the Persian yoke in the days of Cambyses (cir. 527-526 B.C.), about 10 years after the return of the exiled Jews to Palestine.

From the time the promise was given to Jacob (Genesis 28:14), Israel became precious to Jehovah. From that time on God placed the interests of Israel above those of other peoples. Young says, Perhaps the general thought is simply that in choosing Israel God passed by other nations and thus they were sacrificed (i.e., were the ransom price) in its place. The point, of course, is not that Israel of itself merits this evaluation of preciousness; the point is God's grace. Paul makes this matter clear in Romans, Chapter s 9-10-11. Israel's preciousness consists solely in God's sovereign choice of her to be His servant. The same is true of the new Israel, the church. The church is precious not because of the merit of the human beings in her membership but because of God's sovereign redemption by grace to the church in the unique work of Christ, offered through belief and obedience of the Gospel. The preciousness of the church is shown in that God was willing to offer His monogenes, only, unique Son as a ransom.

Isaiah 43:5-7 REGENERATION: The captivity, which was certain to come, was symbolic of the estrangement between Israel and God. Israel willfully and deliberately separated themselves from His holiness (cf. Isaiah 30:1-14, etc.). The separation was not God's choosing. However, in order to demonstrate vividly Israel's need for God's holy fellowship, God delivered her to captivity. But Israel is not to fear. Because a remnant has believed the prophets and remain true to Jehovah, He will bring them back from all over the earth to their land again and to their appointment with destiny. That return from the exile, however, is only a first step. The meaning of these verses is by no means restricted to the return from the captivity. As Young says, In a far deeper sense it is addressed to all those who are afar off, who can be brought to the true Mount Zion only by the gracious working of the Lord. The reference is to the spiritual gathering of lost sinners in Jesus Christ. The seed refers to the spiritual descendants of Jacob. There are plenty of references in Isaiah to demonstrate this principle (cf. comments on Isaiah 19:16-25, etc.).

Verse seven indicates that God is referring to His spiritual people and not just physical Israel, when it says every one that is called by my name. Jesus made plain who God's sons were in John 8. Not all descended from Israel belong to Israel (cf. Romans 9:6; Romans 2:25-29; Galatians 6:13-16, etc.). Anyone who does not come to God through Jesus Christ is not called by God's name. The arrangement of the words, created, formed, and made, seem to be in an ascending scale depicting the work of God in the redemption of those called by His name. First there is the new creation (the initial new birth, becoming a Christian), then the shaping or molding of that life into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another and last the perfecting or consummating work of glorifying the child of God. Isaiah is talking about a regeneration. He is depicting the bringing from an Israel that was one only in name, to Israel that is one in truth!

QUIZ

1.

In how many ways did Israel belong to God?

2.

What is significant about the arrangement of the names Jacob and Israel?

3.

When did some Israelites literally experience salvation from fire?

4.

How did God ransom Israel by using other nations and peoples?

5.

What makes the new Israel, the church, so precious to God?

6.

What evidence is there that Isaiah 43:5-7 probably refer to messianic times?