LESSON 14
THE LORD’S FAITHFULNESS TO ISRAEL
ISAIAH CHAPTER 43
The Prophet Isaiah in chapter 42 has just covered the tragic plight of Israel and given assurance of unchanging love for the nation. As our study opens in chapter 43, Jehovah sees Israel’s restoration both in the near future and far future as if it had already taken place. For those who take and give all future blessings that God gave Israel and try to give them to the Church, is known in our day as, “Replacement Theology,” Isaiah has a clear message. Paul in Romans 11:1 agrees with Isaiah when he asks, “Hath God cast away His people?” The answer is very clear and dogmatic, “God forbid.” The point is that as Israel suffered in Babylon, God would soon deliver them using Cryus as an instrument. God is going to deliver Israel in the future using the Messiah, and the final chapters of Isaiah make this clear. Notice God created them and told them to fear not because they “Were precious in His eyes.” In giving this promise, He reminds them He delivered them out of Egypt. The Exodus out of Egypt is an important part of Jewish history, and today the deliverance from Babylon is added to this history of deliverance. As we view God’s promise of future deliverance, it is rooted in the fact God was and is with His people. This answers the mystery of the survival of the Jewish nation and the Jewish people even in our day. Isaiah 42:7 makes it clear that Israel was created for the glory of God and their survival is not due to their own merit but to God’s purpose for them.
In spite of their blindness and deafness, Israel is God’s witness against idols and those who worship other gods. Israel as a nation stands as proof that God exists until the day in which you and I live. Frederick the Great asked Marquis D’argens, “Can you give me one single irrefutable proof of God?” The Marquis replied, “Yes, your majesty, the Jews.” Look at today’s map with the small nation of Israel surrounded by Arab nations, and the truth of this statement becomes even clearer. The individual servant of the Lord, the Messiah, is the absolute obedient messenger of God who will do all that is promised.
The fact that Babylon will soon fall and Israel will be restored is the theme of Isaiah 43:14-21. Here the fact that God is about to perform a new miracle even more wonderful than deliverance from Egypt is prophesied. The “Chaldeans” is the poetic and archaic name of the Babylonians. This will all result in Israel glorifying God, which is their high and glorious calling. In Isaiah 43:22-28, the nation of Israel is identified as a blind servant who is robbed and spoiled because it turned away from God and has turned to idols. In I Thessalonians 1:9, Paul reveals the truth that a true child of God is seen as “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” Again, we are reminded, “Thy first father sinned” referring to Abraham who was referred to as a “Friend of God,” but he was not without sin. The point being made in Isaiah 40:27,28 is that Israel’s suffering and tragedy is self-imposed, which is the result of continued disobedience to God. When God forgives and restores His people, He wants them to forget the failures of the past, witness for Him in the present, and claim His promises for the future.