Creator — Blog — KEN D. MILLER

14 Thus says the Lord,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I send to Babylon
    and bring them all down as fugitives,
    even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    the Creator of Israel, your King.”

16 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 lie down, they cannot rise,
    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 “Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me,
    the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21     the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.

22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
    but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
    or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
    or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
    you have wearied me with your iniquities.

25 “I, I am he
    who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
    and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 Your first father sinned,
    and your mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
    and deliver Jacob to utter destruction
    and Israel to reviling. – Isaiah 43:14-28 ESV

The people of Judah were plagued by near-sightedness. They couldn’t see things that were far away. So, they tended to live in the here-and-now, focusing their sights on the circumstances right in front of them. When God had broken the news to King Hezekiah that the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem would eventually fall to the Babylonians, the king had responded positively, because he realized it would happen long after he was gone.

“This message you have given me from the Lord is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.” – Isaiah 39:8 NLT

For Hezekiah, the threat of Babylonian invasion was out of sight, out of mind. He didn’t care, as long as his immediate circumstances remained unchanged. As the psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 ESV). He does care about our current condition and willingly steps into our circumstances, providing help and hope. But there are times when it may appear that He is nowhere to be found or that He is indifferent to our pain and suffering. Our prayers seem to go unanswered and our pleas for help appear to land on deaf ears.

But God is always at work. He operates behind the scenes in ways we cannot see or comprehend. He never sleeps. He never gets distracted. He never loses interest or finds Himself surprised by the conditions surrounding our lives. He has a plan and He is always working that plan to perfect. And He confirmed that reality through the prophet Jeremiah.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

And God’s plans include the present and the future. They are all-encompassing, reaching far into the distant past and well into eternity. And in this chapter, God is attempting to convince the people of Judah that He has a preferred future in store for them. But they are going to have to look beyond the immediate conditions in which they find themselves and trust God for their future redemption.

The Babylonians were coming. They would destroy the city of Jerusalem and demolish the temple of God. They would take captive thousands of the citizens of Judah. But God declares that He will one day do to Babylon what He did to Egypt. The day was coming when He would turn the tables and “send an army against Babylon, forcing the Babylonians to flee in those ships they are so proud of” (Isaiah 43:14 NLT). And just in case the people of Judah can’t fathom that happening, God reminds them what He did in Egypt when He provided the Israelites with passage through the Red Sea on dry ground, and then destroyed the army of Egypt in the waters.

“I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.” – Isaiah 43:15 NLT

But then, God tells them to forget all about that, because it was ancient history. They needed to prepare themselves for what God was about to do in their day.

“For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” – Isaiah 43:19 NLT

The truth was, they couldn’t see it. They were oblivious to it. God was revealing aspects of His future plans for the nation of Judah and they had no way of knowing that any of this was going to happen. But that seems to be the point of this passage. God knows things we don’t know know. He sees things that are imperceptible to our human eyes. He has plans in store for us of which we are unaware. But while they were blind to God’s future plans, they should have trusted Him. Two times in this chapter God describes Himself as their creator.

“But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel.” – Isaiah 43:1 ESV

“I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.” – Isiah 43:15 ESV

He made them and He had plans for them. And those plans included their future redemption.

“For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” – Isaiah 43:3 ESV

“I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.” – Isaiah 43:7 ESV

“Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” – Isaiah 43:14 ESV

He was their creator, Savior, and redeemer. He had made them for a reason and had redeemed them out of slavery in Egypt because He had a purpose for them. His entire relationship with them had been marked by repeated acts of salvation and redemption. And He was not yet done. There was more to come and it would be like nothing they had ever seen before. Just as God had made a pathway through the Red Sea so the people of Israel could cross over on dry ground and escape their captivity in Egypt, He would one day create a pathway through the wilderness, allowing the people of Judah to return from their captivity in Babylon. And He reveals why He will do this new thing.

“I have made Israel for myself,
and they will someday honor me before the whole world.” – Isaiah 43:21 NLT

This is another one of those passages that has a now-not-yet aspect to it. The people of Judah would eventually return from their captivity in Babylon. The Persian king, Cyrus, would issue a decree making possible the return of a remnant of the people to the land of Judah. But notice was verse 21 says. God declares that the day is coming when the people of Judah will honor Him before the whole world. This is a statement describing their future obedience and unwavering faithfulness to God. That has not yet happened. But it will. The prophet Jeremiah describes this coming day.

“For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Jeremiah 30:3 NLT

And Jeremiah goes on to record some significant aspects of God’s promise regarding this future day.

“I will establish them as a nation before me,
    and I will punish anyone who hurts them.
They will have their own ruler again,
    and he will come from their own people.
I will invite him to approach me,” says the Lord,
    “for who would dare to come unless invited?
You will be my people,
    and I will be your God.” – Jeremiah 30:20-22 NLT

Ever since their return from captivity in Babylon, the Jews have had no king. To this day, Israel, while a nation, has no king. But the day is coming when God will place His own Son on the throne of David and He will rule from the city of Jerusalem over the entire world. And as Isaiah records, in that day, God promises to do for the people of Israel and Judah something truly remarkable.

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
and will never think of them again.” – Isaiah 43:25 NLT

And as God makes clear in the closing verses of this chapter. this will be in spite of them, not because of them. He will forgive them, not because they deserve it, but because He is a covenant-keeping God who will fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He will do a new thing.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.