TAWG - March 19, 2025 - Isaiah 43:1-28
March 19, 2025

Isaiah 43:1-28

43:1-7 | Redemption is a very personal act by a God who calls His redeemed nation by name. The redeemed belong to Him: You are Mine. Waters… rivers… fire... represent all the obstacles Israel would encounter on her homeward journey, similar to what the people experienced at the first Exodus (Ex. 14:21-22). Now in a new Exodus, God would once again deliver His people Israel from bondage to an oppressive, foreign nation through His presence with her (Deut. 31:6; Ps. 66:12).

43:5-6 | God’s presence brings assurance and calms the fears of His people in the midst of troubles and distress. The reference to the compass points demonstrates the extent to which God goes to gather His exiled people.

43:8-10 | The setting of this scene is a courtroom. God summons the nation of Israel – the spiritually blind and deaf who refuse to acknowledge that He is speaking to them. He will then summon the nations and challenge them to predict what He will do. No nation or idol can know the Lord’s ways, but God will save Israel from its condition to become His servant. Israel itself will be His witness, proving that God has acted to save His people.

43:14-15 | Isaiah promised the exiles that God – the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel… the Creator… your King – would defeat Babylon. This accumulation of titles was intended to reinforce the extent of God’s power to His people. He would be utterly faithful to His covenant and His chosen ones.

43:25 | Israel had to be reminded again that their gracious God repeatedly forgives and forgets sin, not because His people deserve it but because He chose to, for the sake of accomplishing His plan of redemption (44:2; Ezek. 36:22).