Have you ever gone on a journey not knowing where exactly you would end up? When Lisa and I went on our honeymoon, we left home with a general vicinity in mind, but the route and ultimate destination was to be determined. All we knew is that we loved each other, we were going together and we would enjoy the experiences together.
For the people of God in Isaiah 43, Israel was presently in captivity in Babylon, but there was a new horizon before them. God promises that his people will be released from exile through a new exodus. He was their God and He desired to show forth His glory through them in their deliverance. As glorious as the exodus from Egypt was, a new journey was before them even greater than before. All these events recorded in chapters 40–55 of Isaiah are believed to have occurred from the middle of the sixth century (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1233). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
We don't know what exactly lies before us, but we too are in captivity. Sin holds us back from everything God wants and the full delight He desires for us. He promises great and marvelous works, doing it in ways we can't even imagine. But we need to discern the path to take, with a God-centered mindset.
Isaiah 43:16-21 shows us who this God is that goes with us towards this New Horizon. For a people in captivity, God shows: 1) A New Trail (Isaiah 43:16–17), 2) A New Thought (Isaiah 43:18), 3) A New Thing (Isaiah 43: 19a), and 4) A New Tender (Isaiah 43:19b-21)
1) A New Trail (Isaiah 43:16–17)
Isaiah 43:16–17 Thus says The Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, [17] who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they will lie down, they cannot rise; they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: (ESV)
In the context of Isaiah 43, this is a prophetic prophecy which looks beyond the overthrow of present enemies to the return home for a people of God. The description is obviously related to the exodus. But it is not so much the events themselves we are invited to reflect on as it is the power, the love, and the dependability that the Lord demonstrated in those events (Oswalt, J. N. (1998). The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (p. 154). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
• In considering a way forward, we must have a true destination in mind. It does no good to merely seek to eliminate present difficulties, if we fail to figure out what we hope to gain. In essence we can gain everything we might immediately desire and not achieve any lasting godliness. In God's economy, we often must persevere through difficulties to achieve true holiness and success in His kingdom.
In verse 16, God reminds His people of what he did at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, providing them with a path through the sea and at the same time destroying the Egyptian army. The 6th century B.C. is also a time when naval power becomes a military factor. In the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, powerful Athenian and Phoenician fleets serve Egyptian and Persian interests in seeking control of the shipping lanes. Yahweh claims control of forces at sea, as well as those on land. But eventually they will all be extinguished like a wick (Watts, J. D. W. (1998). Isaiah 34–66 (Vol. 25, pp. 134–135). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.).
Please turn to Joshua 3 (p.179)
To bring assurance of the greater future deliverance He will bring through His Servant, the Lord reminded Isaiah’s readers of His deliverance of their ancestors from Egypt (Ex. 14:16, 21, 26–28; Josh. 3:13) (MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p. 1021). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.).
Joshua 3:1-17 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. 7 The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ” 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” 14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan. (ESV)
• The ark of the covenant symbolized and mediated the Lord’s presence (Ex. 25:10–22) as Christ, now through the Holy Spirit directly does.
• The Jordan’s swollen waters would have been considerably more daunting than the river at its normal 3- to 10-foot (0.9- to 3.0-m) depth and 90- to 100-foot (27- to 31-m) width. Crossing such water would be no less miraculous than crossing the Red Sea (cf. 4:23). God’s presence brings the people through the waters of death into the land, prefiguring Christ leading us to eternal life (John 11:25–26) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 398). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
In Isaiah 43 ‘Brings forth/out’, or ‘leads out’, in verse 17 is a military term, as if Yahweh had taken command of the Egyptian forces and led them to their watery grave, snuffed out like a wick (cf 42:3). He specifies that he continues to possess the same power and potential as he had then. He is the sort of God who can do things of this kind. God had revealed himself to be the Redeemer of Israel. But of course God does not change. Thus he is the eternal Redeemer. What God is now about to do is therefore consonant with the nature of his revealed Self (Knight, G. A. F. (1984). Servant theology: a commentary on the book of Isaiah 40–55 (Rev. and updated new ed., p. 67). Edinburgh; Grand Rapids: Handsel Press; W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.).
• When we seek God's honor, He is ultimately the one who will vanquish the foes before us. It is not a matter of a more cleaver strategy, longer hours or greater numbers. God will use a faithful, prayerful cadre to overcome the greatest foes.
Illustration: 6934 John Franklin’s Last Journey
Sir John Franklin lived an exciting life of adventure in the British Navy, which took him to many parts of the world. As a signal midshipman in the Battle of Trafalgar, he transmitted the memorable message from the flagship, “England expects every man to do his duty.” He was a devout Christian and found great strength in reading the Bible. In 1845 he was put in command of two ships to look for a passage across the polar seas. We retain the bible that he used on the voyages, which had underlined: “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:9, 10). There was also a book of devotions with a page turned down at the verse: “Fear not … When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee” (Isa. 43:1, 2) (Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 1527). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.)
2) A New Thought (Isaiah 43:18)
Isaiah 43:18 ‘Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.’ (ESV)
While people can undoubtedly take heart from what God did in the past, He is not limited by the pattern or extent of His previous intervention. The future will reveal even more surprising displays of what he can do. ‘The former things’, ‘the things of old’) do not exhaust Yahweh’s capacity for action on behalf of his own. God is predicting a new exodus, which should not be made to conform to the previous one but allowed to stand in its own right (cf. Jer. 23:7–8) (Oswalt, J. N. (1998). The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (p. 155). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
Please turn to Jeremiah 23 (p.650)
Rather than bind up, heal, protect, and feed their sheep, Judah’s leaders have destroyed and scattered them. But God will honor his covenant with David (2 Sam. 7:1–25) in bringing forth a righteous Branch (see notes on Zech. 3:8–9; 6:12) and He shall reign as king. The process to bring back Judah from exile began in 538 B.C. (Ezra 1–2) Isaiah 40–66, which foretells the return from exile, which leads to the raising up of David’s heir. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1415). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
Jeremiah 23:1-8 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” (ESV)
• The old patterns of exodus and deliverance pale in comparison to what they point to.
• In the incarnation, we see the a “branch” from the tree of David, born in Bethlehem. But as momentous as this event is, it pales in comparison to what is going to happen.
• The false shepherds contrast with Jesus the true shepherd (John 10:11, 14) and the desire for a righteous King came in the coming king, which part of the larger complex of messianic expectations, seen by the NT authors as fulfilled in Jesus (Matt. 2:2; Luke 1:32; 19:38; John 1:49). The forthcoming Messiah’s subsequent reign will be so great as to overshadow the exodus itself (cf. 16:14–15) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1415). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Therefore, in Isaiah 43:18 to Remember not the former things is not an absolute prohibition, but a rhetorical device to show that even the momentous events of the Exodus, do not limit the extent of how God can act. Deliverances of the nation in the past will pale into insignificance in comparison with the future deliverance the Lord will give His people (Isa. 42:9; 48:6; Jer. 16:14–15) (MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p. 1021). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.).
• We can wax nostalgic for a former time. We tend to gloss over the past difficulties. But we also, in the back of our mind, think that God will act the same way over this year as the last. The result is that our prayers are often too small, or worse, reduced to mere repetition. What if we actually prayed that God would do a tremendous work of deliverance? Is there a family member, neighbor, or co-worker who needs Christ? Have you been praying a long time for God to intervene? Don't pine for the past or think He cannot do even greater works for those who believe and do not loose faith.
Illustration: 3351 Mountbatten Remembers All Servants
On a visit to Toronto, Lord Louis Mountbatten promptly asked for a list of names of all waiters, drivers and others who would serve him during his stay, with notes as to each man’s war service, decorations, etc. It took some scurrying, but an aide got the information, had it typed, took it to Mountbatten. The Admiral said, “Read it to me.” The aide read it slowly while Mountbatten listened. From then on, during his entire stay, Mountbatten called by name those who served him chatting with them about their experience with easy informality. (Toronto Financial Post as recorded in Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 788). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.)
• The reason we look to the past is to constructively engage the present and future.
3) A New Thing (Isaiah 43: 19a)
Isaiah 43:19a ‘Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?…’ (ESV)
In the events following 539 BC some Jews did return to Palestine, many did not. There was no display of divine might such as had occurred in Egypt. Indeed, the circumstances of the restored community were straitened, both economically (Hag. 1:6, 10–11) and politically. They did not achieve independence, and their small enclave round Jerusalem remained a minor outpost of the Persian Empire. The ‘new thing’ spoken of here has therefore to be conceived of more broadly than mere return from Babylon. In Yahweh’s plan that was just setting the scene for the far greater event that would ensue when the Messiah would arise from the returned community and accomplish his redemptive mission. It was this vista that was presented to Isaiah as he looked forward to the return from Babylon and beyond that to all the blessing Yahweh would bestow. The use of the Hebrew participle ‘oseh gives the idea of imminent action. Judah is going to be led back out of Babylonian exile as a new creation. It is ready to happen just like a new plant springing out of the soil, but Israel is without spiritual perception to understand its true significance. A spiritually blind and deaf people could not grasp the wonder of the new thing. Just as in the past, so God will create a wilderness path for his returning people, and he will also provide streams in the desert. While desolate areas will have to be traversed by the returnees, yet God will make provision for them, including water to meet their thirst (Harman, A. (2005). Isaiah: A Covenant to Be Kept for the Sake of the Church (p. 303). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.).
• In the new things for this year, God will not spare us difficulty but provide for us to traverse through them. If we are spiritually bind we will either avoid the difficult path to our loss or fail to rely on God to traverse it. This all means knowing what we have, who we are and how to rely on God to do His will.
Please turn to Mark 4 (p.839)
‘Behold’ refocuses the attention of the people, away from the past onto what Yahweh himself will do as he performs ‘a new thing’. ‘New things’ had already been promised in 42:9, but in the circumstances envisaged here they have become imminent. In how He brings it about, it springs forth—as a germinating herb: a beautiful image of the silent but certain gradual growth of events in God’s providence (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 479). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.).
Mark 4:26–28 26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (ESV)
• Popular expectation at the time of Jesus was that God’s kingdom would come suddenly and all at once. Jesus teaches that the messianic rule of God commences inconspicuously (v. 30–32), grows slowly but steadily in the midst of much adversity, and reaches its glorious culmination point at the second coming of Jesus (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (pp. 1900–1901). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
‘Do you/Will you not perceive/know it?’ is an exclamatory question suggesting that they should surely have anticipated that Yahweh would intervene in some unexpected and astounding manner.
• In our prayers for the coming year do not discount the words, works and witness that has already occurred. We are not starting this new year from scratch, but building on what has been sown. God has seasons of planting and seasons of harvest. There are lean years and years of abundance. If we become discouraged, coast or God forbid, recess in the work that God has called us to do then we are trampling over His provisions and the work that the Holy Spirit has been doing that presently we perhaps cannot see. Moving forward thanks God for His past provision, petitions Him for greater works that will show forth His glory and asks of us just how big our prayers and actions can be for His kingdom.
Poem: 6725 Just One Request
If there are things that we can perceive and things we immediately can't how can we go forward? One poet said it like this: “Dear Master for this coming year, Just one request I bring: I do not pray for happiness, Or any earthly thing—I do not ask to understand The way Thou leadest me, But this I ask: Teach me to do The thing that pleaseth Thee. I want to know Thy guiding voice, To walk with Thee each day. Dear Master make me swift to hear And ready to obey. And thus the year I now begin A happy year will be— If I am seeking just to do The thing that pleaseth Thee.” (Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 1486). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.)
4) A New Tender (Isaiah 43:19b-21)
Isaiah 43:19b–21‘… I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. [20] The wild beasts will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.’ (ESV)
The ‘way in the wilderness’ is a theme that Isaiah frequently employs (cf 35:6–10; 41:17–20). It is probably to be distinguished from the way prepared for Yahweh to return to his people and land (cf 40:3), and instead represents divine provision for his chosen ones to come to him. The terrain they have to traverse is pictured as ‘wilderness’ and ‘desert/wasteland’, the latter term (yəšîmôn, cf 1 Sam. 23:24) being derived from the desolate and inhospitable area to the south of Judah.
• The path that each of us have to travel to be the people that God desires us to be, in fullness of joy and holiness is a difficult and often lonely one. It will mean we often have to undertake solitary spiritual disciplines and works of rightness that we shall most likely receive no earthly reward or accolade. But it is only this hard, self-sacrificial work that produces a crop of righteousness. The broad way leads to destruction, but the narrow way to love, and hope and peace.
Through faithfulness, Isaiah records in verse 20 how God transforms the adverse environment by His extravagant provision of a path to follow in the trackless wilderness and of abundant water—the symbol of life—to sustain the weary traveller (cf 2:3). The desert and wilderness were symbols of the obstacles standing in the way of deliverance. They were the regions of darkness, and creatures who occupied them, subject as it were to the demonic power of darkness, now praise and honor the God of Jacob. ‘Jackals’ and ‘ostriches’ (cf 13:21–22; 34:13; 35:7) depict wild life in general, which is viewed as according ‘honour’ to Yahweh on account of the loving concern He exhibits towards those he is bringing back into close fellowship with Himself. God has performed a miracle of transformation. The land of death has become the land of life; desert and wilderness are now habitable and filled with water that gives life (Young, E. (1972). The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (Vol. 3, p. 157). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Please turn to Ephesians 1 (p.976)
God designates those to whom He will honor as ‘my chosen’ (cf 42:1; 45:4), those whom he sovereignly constituted his own and to whom He has extended royal privileges previously reserved for David and his successors (cf Ps. 89:3). No longer are they blind and deaf (cf 42:18–19); now they ‘will recount my praise’, telling over and over what Yahweh has done for them as those whom he had ‘formed’ for himself (cf 43:1). Therefore, Verses 20b–21 suggest that election is not only for privilege but for the praise of God (cf. Eph 1:4–6) (Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 261). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).
Eph 1:3–6 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (ESV)
• God chooses a people for Himself with the goal that they be holy and blameless before him. This goal is not optional for Christians—it is the purpose of election. Holiness here expresses moral purity, while blamelessness expresses freedom from the guilt of trespasses and sins in which the Christian formerly walked (1:7; 2:1, 5). In all of God's provisions, His God’s ultimate purpose is not redemption as such but the praise of his glorious name through redemption (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2262). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
In Isaiah 43, three deliverances are in view: from Egypt, from Babylon and, ultimately, from the dominion of sin. It is the same God who displays his power, holiness, love and commitment throughout the history of redemption. There is therefore continuity so that the new can be described in terms of the old, and hope for the future extrapolated from past divine accomplishments. Even so, the new creation is shatteringly different from the old because the manifold wisdom and ingenuity of God are not confined by the mould of his past action. Successive provisions of His grace cause renewed and deeper wonder among his people and heighten their anticipation of what will yet be bestowed by ‘him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine’ (Eph. 3:20). Therefore there will be even more ample grounds to ‘proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’ (1 Peter 2:9). (His chosen) are to recount not its own merit, but God’s praises. It is His grace and love they are to declare, not their own works and achievements. Herein is stated the purpose of election; they are to be a people that will praise their God. No better commentary upon this verse can be found than that given in 1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”( Young, E. (1972). The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (Vol. 3, p. 158). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co )
(Format note: Some base commentary from Mackay, J. L. (2009). A Study Commentary on Isaiah: Chapters 40–66 (Vol. 2, pp. 122–125). Darlington, England; Carlisle, PA: EP Books.)
