Notes on Isaiah 43:18, 19

Commentaries

Reformation era

He promises not only to deliver them out of Babylon, but to conduct them safely and comfortably to their own land (v. 19, 20): I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert; for, it seems, the way from Babylon to Canaan, as well as from Egypt, lay through a desert land, which, while the returning captives passed through, God would provide for them, that their camp should be both well victualled and under a good conduct. The same power that made a way in the sea (v. 16) can make a way in the wilderness, and will force its passage through the greatest difficulties. And he that made dry land in the waters can produce waters in the dryest land, in such abundance as not only to give drink to his people, his chosen, but to the beasts of the field, also the dragons and the ostriches, who are therefore said to honour God for it; it is such a sensible refreshment, and yields them so much satisfaction, that, if they were capable of doing it, they would praise God for it, and shame man, who is made capable of praising his benefactor and does not. Now, 1. This looks back to what God did for Israel when he led them through the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan, and fetched water out of a rock to follow them; what God did for them formerly he would do again, for he is still the same. And, though we do not find that the miracle was repeated in their return out of Babylon, yet the mercy was, in the common course of Providence, for which it became them to be no less thankful to God. 2. It looks forward, not only to all the instances of God’s care of the Jewish church in the latter ages of it, between their return from Babylon and the coming of Christ, but to the grace of the gospel, especially as it is manifested to the Gentile world, by which a way is opened in the wilderness and rivers in the desert; the world, which lay like a desert, in ignorance and unfruitfulness, was blessed with divine direction and divine comforts, and, in order to both, with a plentiful effusion of the Spirit. The sinners of the Gentiles, who had been as the beasts of the field, running wild, fierce as the dragons, stupid as the owls or ostriches, shall be brought to honour God for the extent of his grace to his chosen among them.

VI. He traces up all these promised blessings to their great original, the purposes and designs of his own glory (v. 21): This people have I formed for myself, and therefore I do all this for them, that they may show forth my praise. Note, 1. The church is of God’s forming, and so are all the living members of it. The new heaven, the new earth, the new man, are the work of God’s hand, and are no more, no better, than he makes them; they are fashioned according to his will. 2. He forms it for himself. He that is the first cause is the highest end both of the first and of the new creation. The Lord has made all things for himself, his Israel especially, to be to him for a people, and for a name, and for a praise; and no otherwise can they be for him, or serviceable to him, than as his grace is glorified in them, Jer. 13:11; Eph. 1:6, 12, 14. 3. It is therefore our duty to show forth his praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to his service. As he formed us, so he feeds us, and keeps us, and leads us, and all for himself; for every instance therefore of his goodness we must praise him, else we answer not the end of the beings and blessings we have.

Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1159.

2. Modern Era 1700-1959

God’s messages to Israel are steeped in imagery supplied by their past experiences. From this familiar store the figurative expressions of the text are derived; it holds out a challenge to faith, a rebuke to unbelief.

I. The emphasis of the promise lies in God’s promise to do a NEW thing—i.e., something unprecedented. Israel was cautioned not to make the past the measure of the future (cf. vers. 18, 19). They were often exhorted to seek help and consolation in remembering their past; but this is a caution against a way of looking at the past which works injury—against a brooding on it that spoils the future. Self-consciousness comes with increasing years; we are apt to exclaim, “The thing which hath been is that which shall be;” “The child is father of the man,” points to the conclusion of a wide induction. Philosophy tells us that this unreadiness to believe that the future can be better than the past is but a proof of growing wisdom; and we are often inclined to say, “our theories of the Christian life have always been far in advance of our attainments; but shortcomings have brought down our expectations.” It is one of the severest penalties of unfaithfulness, that hope for the future is slain.

Often men are not troubled much about the loss of hope, but even these know what it is to have a dark void where there should be a light shining more and more.

One of the hardest tasks of the Hebrew prophets was that of renewing in the people the impulses of hope; and so this representative messenger of God proclaims, “Remember not the former things,” old things may pass away, all things may become new.

II. This new thing is compared with the opening of a path in the wilderness, and the supply of rivers in the desert. Before each one there is a pathless wilderness, beset by difficulties and perils; but even there God will make a way for His people, and sustain their life. Preparation and guidance, difficulty, peril, privation! These are thoughts which associate themselves with the desert and the wilderness. For every Christian, God is preparing a way through unknown experiences. Of each man it may be said—

“He was the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.”

But God prepares the way; He preserves the traveller; He connects the present, the future, and the past Each day shall be, in some respects, different from all past days; and when the heart turns faint at new demands made upon it, He breathes new life into it with the promise, “Behold, I will do a new thing!” The voice of apprehension cries, “How shall freshness and vigour be maintained within me?” God says, “I will supply rivers in the desert;” not simply sufficiency, but abundance. To-morrow may be a barren prospect; but God is with us; we are near to the Fountain of Life.

R. A. Bertram and Alfred Tucker, Isaiah 40–66, vol. 2, The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York; London; Toronto: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1892), 160–161.

3. Contemporary 1900- Present

a. CSB Study Bible: Notes (Chapter 43)

43:18–19 The exodus poetically described in vv. 16–17 is described as past events, the things of old. But God turns the hearers’ attention to something new, a new exodus. This time God will create not “a way in the sea” (v. 16), but a way in the wilderness. This future deliverance is pictured as a reversal of nature, with rivers in the desert.

b.

God had permitted the Jews to be captured and exiled to chasten them for their sins (42:18–25), but their captivity would not be forever. He would come in judgment and destroy Babylon (42:10–17), using Cyrus as His tool. Chapter 43 again assures Israel, “Fear not—I am with thee.” Their deliverance would make them witnesses to the world of the grace and power of God (43:10, 12). But Isaiah chides the nation for having forgotten God (43:22–27); and yet in His grace God would forgive their sins (43:25). It is possible to apply these promises of pardon to the future Jewish remnant during the Tribulation period.

IV. The Greatness of His Promises (44–45)

Note the repeated “I will” statements in these chapters. Here God is promising the nation His help and blessing. In 44:1–8 He promises to restore them to their land, bless the land, and reign as their King. Of course, the nation must repent of its sins before God can restore and forgive (44:21–23)

Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Is 42–45.

c.14–21 The name Babylon appears for the first time since 39:7, and while the Hebrew of v 14 has its obscurities, the main thrust of the passage is a clear promise of a greater exodus, in which God’s wonders in the desert (19–20) will outmatch even those of the Red Sea (16–18). The promise is once again rooted in the covenant (note the terms of relationship in vs 14–15 and of election in vs 20c–21).

Derek Kidner, “Isaiah,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 658.

d. 43:16–21. God, who in the first Exodus brought Israel out of Egypt and drowned the Egyptian army, would do an even greater thing. Therefore forgetting the past (v. 18), Israel should realize God would do a new work. In this new “Exodus,” the return from the Exile, the Jews would be going through desolate desert land where God would provide water and streams in abundance (cf. 35:6–7; 41:18; 44:3–4). Therefore His Chosen People (cf. comments on 41:8–9), whom He created (formed; cf. 43:21; 44:2, 24), would praise Him (cf. 42:10–13). Still a third and more glorious “Exodus” will take place when the Messiah returns to regather His people (cf. 43:5–6) and establish His millennial reign on earth.

John A. Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1097.