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Restoration and Protection Promised

43

But now thus says the L ord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

2

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

3

For I am the L ord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.

4

Because you are precious in my sight,

and honored, and I love you,

I give people in return for you,

nations in exchange for your life.

5

Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you;

6

I will say to the north, “Give them up,”

and to the south, “Do not withhold;

bring my sons from far away

and my daughters from the end of the earth—

7

everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

 

8

Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,

who are deaf, yet have ears!

9

Let all the nations gather together,

and let the peoples assemble.

Who among them declared this,

and foretold to us the former things?

Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,

and let them hear and say, “It is true.”

10

You are my witnesses, says the L ord,

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 shall there be any after me.

11

I, I am the L ord,

and besides me there is no savior.

12

I declared and saved and proclaimed,

when there was no strange god among you;

and you are my witnesses, says the L ord.

13

I am God, and also henceforth I am He;

there is no one who can deliver from my hand;

I work and who can hinder it?

 

14

Thus says the L ord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

For your sake I will send to Babylon

and break down all the bars,

and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.

15

I am the L ord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.

16

Thus says the L ord,

who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

17

who brings out chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,

they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

18

Do not remember the former things,

or consider the things of old.

19

I am about to do 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 animals 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

so 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

Accuse me, let us go to trial;

set forth your case, so that you may be proved right.

27

Your first ancestor sinned,

and your interpreters transgressed against me.

28

Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary,

I delivered Jacob to utter destruction,

and Israel to reviling.

 


21. This people have I created for myself. The Prophet means that the Lord will necessarily do what he formerly said, because it concerns his glory to preserve the people whom he has chosen for himself; and therefore these words are intended for the consolation of the people. “Do you think that I will suffer my glory to fall to the ground? It is connected with your salvation, and therefore your salvation shall be the object of my care. In a word, know that you shall be saved, because you cannot perish, unless my glory likewise perish. Ye shall therefore survive, because I wish that you may continually proclaim my glory.”

When he says that he has created the people, let us learn that it proceeds from supernatural grace that we are the people of God; for we must remember that principle of which we have formerly spoken, that he does not now speak of the ordinary nature of men, but of spiritual regeneration, or of the adoption by which he separates the Church from the rest of the world, and that with everything that belongs to it. Let no one therefore ascribe his regeneration to himself or to any human merits; but let us acknowledge that it is entirely to the mercy of God that we owe so great a favor.

They shall declare my praise. Though it is the design of the Prophet to shew what I have said, that his people shall be saved because it concerns the glory of God, yet we also learn from it, that the end of our election is, that we may shew forth the glory of God in every possible way. (Exodus 14:4, 17, 18.) The reprobate are, indeed, the instruments of the glory of God, but it is said to shine in us in a very different manner; for “he hath chosen us,” says Paul, “that we might be holy and without blame before him through love, who predestinated us that he might adopt us to be his children through Jesus Christ, in himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he hath made us accepted through the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:4-6.) Such also is the import of the words of Peter when he says, that we were brought out of darkness into the wonderful kingdom of God, that we may declare his perfections, (1 Peter 2:9;) and likewise the words of Zacharias,

“That, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:74, 75.)

This, then, is the end of our calling, that, being consecrated to God, we may praise and honor him during our whole life.


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