Three Things Necessary for Our Salvation – Isaiah 42:18-43:28
42 (18) Hear, you deaf! Look, you blind, and see! (19) Who other than my servant is blind? And who is as deaf as the messenger I send? Who is as blind as the one who is in fellowship with me? And who is as blind as Jehovah’s servant? (20) You have seen many things, but you have not paid attention. His ears are open, but he does not hear.
(21) (It pleased Jehovah, for the sake of his righteousness, to make his law great and glorious.) (22) But this is a people who have been robbed and plundered—all of them are trapped in caves or hidden away in prisons. They have become a prey, and there is none to rescue them. They have become a spoil, and there is no one to demand, Give them back! (23) Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen and give heed for the time to come? (24) Who handed Jacob over to be a spoil, and who gave Israel over to the robbers? Was it not Jehovah?—the one against whom we have sinned, the one in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient to his law. (25) Therefore, he poured out upon him his burning anger and the violence of battle. It enveloped him in flames, but still he did not comprehend; it burned him, but he still did not take it to heart.
43 But now, this is what Jehovah says—the one who created you, O Jacob, the one who formed you, O Israel. Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by your 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) because I am Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom; I have given Ethiopia and Seba in your place. (4) Because you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, therefore I will provide other men in your place and other peoples 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, and whom I have created for my glory; everyone whom I have formed, everyone whom I have made.
(8) Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes; and the people who are deaf, even though they have ears. (9) Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Which of their idols can make such a declaration? Or who among them can show us former events they foretold that have come to pass? Let them produce their witnesses to prove they were right. And let the witnesses hear the claim and testify, It is true.
(10) You are my witnesses, declares Jehovah, you are my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know the truth and believe me, so that you may understand that I am the one. There was no god formed before me, neither shall there be any god after me. (11) I, I am Jehovah; and there is no Savior besides me. (12) I have proclaimed and I have saved and I have revealed—and there was no foreign god among you who could do so. Therefore, you are my witnesses, declares Jehovah, that I am God. (13) Indeed, since the beginning of time I am; and there is no one who can deliver anything out of my hand. I will act, and who can hinder it?
(14) This is what Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says, For your sake I will send to Babylon and I will throw them out like fugitives. All the Chaldeans will flee in the very ships in which they took pride. (15) I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. (16) This is what Jehovah says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, (17) he who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and the mighty man (they all lie down together, they shall never rise again; they have been extinguished, snuffed out like a wick), (18) Do not recall the former things; and do not ponder upon the things of the past. (19) Look! I am going to do something new. Now it springs up—will you not experience it? I will make a roadway in the wilderness, and cause rivers to flow in the desert. (20) The wild beasts will glorify me, the jackals and the owls, because I will provide waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert; so that my people, my chosen ones, may drink—(21) the people whom I have formed for myself, so that they may proclaim my praise.
(22) But you have not called upon me, O Jacob; on the contrary, you have grown tired of me, O Israel. (23) You have not brought me sheep from your flocks for burnt offerings; nor have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you by requiring excessive grain offerings, nor wearied you with excessive demands for incense. (24) You have not bought me any fragrant calamus with your money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices. On the contrary, you have burdened me with your sins; you have made me weary with your iniquities.
(25) I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins. (26) Review the past with me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be justified. (27) Your first forefather sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me. (28) Therefore, I made the princes of the sanctuary profane; I consigned Jacob to the covenantal curse, and made Israel an object of scorn.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
