This long section (44:1-44:5) is fundamentally a reaffirmation of Israel’s calling to be the Lord’s servant. The fact that the Lord has pointed to another and greater Servant does not mean that Israel’s own servant role has been done away with. Quite the opposite; it is confirmed here in the strongest possible terms. The main thrust of the passage can be summarized in six great statements of encouragement, one for each of its six parts. (We will review two in this study and the remaining four on the next study.)

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you” (vv. 1-7): In these verses you will find some of the tenderest words that God ever spoke to His children. They are addressed to people far from home, still in the midst of fires and deep waters, with many trials to face before they reach their final rest. There is no promise here of a quick fix or a trouble-free future, but God’s sustaining presence right through to the journey’s end, come what may. They are words which as believers can treasure, because even though we have the cross and the empty tomb behind us, we remain aliens and exiles in a hostile world. It is the faithfulness of the same God, who has promised never to leave them or forsake them, that will bring them home. Isaiah goes on to say that the God of creation and redemption is the same God that has created and formed them too, for His glory (vv. 1, 7). People who are loved like that have absolutely nothing to fear.

“You are My witnesses, declares the Lord” (vv. 8-13): Fear of course, turns us in upon ourselves. It chills our heart and silences our lips, and is the greatest possible hindrance to effective witness. So it is not until he has dealt with the fear that was crippling Israel that Isaiah can move on in verses 8-13 to tell them of their call to be the Lord’s witness. Isaiah uses again a favorite literary form, the courtroom drama. The fundamental point behind this figure is that what he asserts are not fables but truths tested and attested at law, verified conclusions based on firm evidence. At first sight it would seem that the issue to be contested is whether, like the Lord, the idol-gods can predict and fulfill their predictions. As we listen to the proceedings, however, this issue begins to recede and to be replaced by a question about which of all the claimant gods can act and which has the sovereign capacity to determine on a course of action and see it through.

Israel’s own blindness and deafness are swallowed up by a new assurance, and they leave the court with a firm tread and heads held high (v. 10b). The feeble people of God can and will be His witnesses! Truth on their side, and as they rise above their fears and proclaim it, that truth will grip them and transform them. Witness is not an onerous burden, but and unspeakable privilege. It is a means not only of projecting the truth about God into the world, but of strengthening God’s people themselves.

But here we strike a problem. How were those whom the enemy would herd off into exile to fulfill their calling to be witnesses? The deportees never did proclaim the truth about the Lord to the nations in the way that we normally think of witnessing today. They simply returned to Jerusalem when God opened the way, and lived there again as His people. But the fact is that this itself was proof of the Lord’s claim to be God, for it was the historical fulfillment of the Word He had spoken concerning them through the prophets. He had done what no other god could do, and established His people like a lamp on a lampstand or a city set on a hill, bearing witness by their very existence to the truth about Him.

Isaiah also foresaw the day when witnessing would assume a far more active form; heralds would be sent out far and wide to proclaim the Lord’s glory among the nations (66:19-20). This lay far beyond the horizon of Isaiah’s own experience, or that of those who were to live through the dark days following his death, but it was part of the vision he gave them. They were to see what happened to them as laying the foundation for something far greater that God would bring to pass in the future, and take courage from that.

Isaiah 43:1-13 Reflection Questions:

Write down as many encouraging words that speak to you in verses 1-7.

What is the correlation between verse 6 and 2 Cor. 6:17-18?

How are you witnessing each day? Do you see witnessing as a privilege?

What lessons do you learn from this study?