The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Forty Three

Israel’s Only Saviour

1 

But now, this is what the Lord says—

    he who created you, Jacob,

    he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 

When you pass through the waters,

    I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

    they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

    you will not be burned;

    the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 

For I am the Lord your God,

    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom,

    Cush and Seba in your stead.

4 

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,

    and because I love you,

I will give people in exchange for you,

    nations in exchange for your life.

5 

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

    I will bring your children from the east

    and gather you from the west.

6 

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

Bring my sons from afar

    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

7 

everyone who is called by my name,

    whom I created for my glory,

    whom I formed and made.”

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 their gods 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 saviour.

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?”

God’s Mercy and Israel’s Unfaithfulness

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.”

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 wilderness

    and streams in the wasteland.

20 

The wild animals honor me,

    the jackals and the owls,

because I provide water in the wilderness

    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.

22 

“Yet you have not called on me, Jacob,

    you have not wearied yourselves for me, Israel.

23 

You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,

    nor honoured 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 offences.

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;

    those I sent to teach you rebelled against me.

28 

So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple;

    I consigned Jacob to destruction

    and Israel to scorn.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 43: “witnesses” (vv.10 & 12)

The LORD (Jehovah) declares “Israel” (v.1) to be “my witnesses” (v.10). This text and 44 v.8 are why the Watchtower organisation picks for themselves the title of ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’. 

Note: 

[A] the term applies to the Jewish people, so could be applied to others by extension only; 

[B] it says here “before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me”yet they say Jesus was a created ‘god’,; 

[C] it also says “apart from me (Jehovah) there is no saviour” (v11) – so what is Jesus?; 

[D] and “there is no other Rock” (44  v.8) – again, what is Jesus?

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The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 43

- Read by David Suchet -

-=-

ISAIAH Chapter 1 to 39

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8

ISAIAH Chapter 40 - 66

 - Overview 

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/_TzdEPuqgQg

STUDY - LINKS

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 1 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/XqNzGrYbFWg

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 2 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/1VLLZ_6ZjiE

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The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Forty Two

 

The servant of the Lord

1

‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

    and he will bring justice to the nations.

2 

He will not shout or cry out,

    or raise his voice in the streets.

3 

A bruised reed he will not break,

    and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

4 

    he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.’

5 

This is what God the Lord says –

the Creator of the heavens, 

who stretches them out,

    who spreads out the earth 

with all that springs from it,

    who gives breath to its people,

    and life to those who walk on it:

6 

‘I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;

    I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and will make you

    to be a covenant for the people

    and a light for the Gentiles,

7 

to open eyes that are blind,

    to free captives from prison

    and to release from the dungeon 

those who sit in darkness.

8 

‘I am the Lord; that is my name!

    I will not yield my glory to another

    or my praise to idols.

9 

See, the former things have taken place,

    and new things I declare;

before they spring into being

    I announce them to you.’

Song of praise to the Lord

10 

Sing to the Lord a new song,

    his praise from the ends of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,

    you islands, and all who live in them.

11 

Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;

    let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.

Let the people of Sela sing for joy;

    let them shout from the mountaintops.

12 

Let them give glory to the Lord

    and proclaim his praise in the islands.

13 

The Lord will march out like a champion,

    like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;

with a shout he will raise the battle cry

    and will triumph over his enemies.

14 

‘For a long time I have kept silent,

    I have been quiet and held myself back.

But now, like a woman in childbirth,

    I cry out, I gasp and pant.

15 

I will lay waste the mountains and hills

    and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn rivers into islands

    and dry up the pools.

16 

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

    along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them

    and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do;

    I will not forsake them.

17 

But those who trust in idols,

    who say to images, “You are our gods,”

    will be turned back in utter shame.

Israel blind and deaf

18 

‘Hear, you deaf;

    look, you blind, and see!

19 

Who is blind but my servant,

    and deaf like the messenger I send?

Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,

    blind like the servant of the Lord?

20 

You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;

    your ears are open, but you do not listen.’

21 

It pleased the Lord

    for the sake of his righteousness

    to make his law great and glorious.

22 

But this is a people plundered and looted,

    all of them trapped in pits

    or hidden away in prisons.

They have become plunder,

    with no one to rescue them;

they have been made loot,

    with no one to say, ‘Send them back.’

23 

Which of you will listen to this

    or pay close attention in time to come?

24 

Who handed Jacob over to become loot,

    and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the Lord,

    against whom we have sinned?

For they would not follow his ways;

    they did not obey his law.

25 

So he poured out on them his burning anger,

    the violence of war.

It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;

    it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 42: “servant” (v.1)

In this text God’s “servant” (v.1) is not the nation of Israel (see 41 v.8) but Jesus, as Matthew  makes plain (12 vv.17-21). God said he would be “my  chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him” as happened at  his baptism; “the Holy Spirit descended on him … and a voice came from heaven, ‘you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3 v.22). “I, the LORD … will make you … a light for the Gentiles” (v.6). 

He “took the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2 v.7). Jesus “came to serve, and to give his life” (Matthew 20 v.28).  

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The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 42

- Read by David Suchet -

-=-

ISAIAH Chapter 1 to 39

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8

ISAIAH Chapter 40 - 66

 - Overview 

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/_TzdEPuqgQg 

STUDY - LINKS

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 1 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/XqNzGrYbFWg

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 2 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/1VLLZ_6ZjiE

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