Isaiah 43

But now the LORD, who created Jacob and formed Israel, says: Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. Wesley: But—notwithstanding thy gross insensibleness, I will deal mercifully with thee. Created—that made thee his people, and that in so miraculous a manner as if he had created thee a second time. Redeemed—from the Egyptians. Called thee—by the name of God’s people, which was as proper and peculiar to them as the name of Israel.

Mercy meets a people still called Jacob and Israel after their insensibleness; creation here is making them his people, redemption is from Egypt, the name is the name of God’s people. Fear not; I have redeemed you; Jacob. Wesley’s God deals mercifully notwithstanding their dullness—he is not discovering whether they are his.

Calvin: connected with the preceding severity of chapter 42; the copulative as disjunctive—And yet the Lord will leave some consolation to the godly who shall remain. If but two or three godly persons are left, Fear not. Now is present calamity when all appeared lost. Creator and Maker: not universal creation shared with the rest of men, but regeneration to heavenly life; we are new creatures (Ephesians 2:10). The Church has nothing of her own. I have redeemed thee: may refer future and past; the first deliverance from Egypt gave hope of another; past tense for the future Babylon deliverance because God hath redeemed before the effect reaches us. Called by thy name: admit into close relationship, adoption as children; God rejects the reprobate so as to appear to have forgotten them (Matthew 7:23). Thou art mine: there will always be left a Church among the elect people; a dear inheritance he will not be robbed of.

Consolation after 42 is for the godly remnant; Creator is new birth, not mere nationality; called by name is adoption. The fork is whom “you” strictly names.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; through rivers and fire, you will not be overwhelmed or consumed. From v. 1: the God who redeemed them from Egypt and made them his people will preserve that redeemed people through waters and fire; Fear not still governs.

Presence in the flood, not exemption from it; the people he named his will not be drowned or burned up. Neither side disputes this: waters and fire are calamities; he is with them.

Calvin: the Church is not exempt from calamities; fire and water stand for every kind of miseries. We have the same feeling of pain as other men, but are supported by grace and patience; at length he lifts us up.

Presence is support under misery, not a charm against it. Shared with Wesley’s Fear not of v. 1: they pass through, they are not consumed.

I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. God reasons from what he has already done for them. Wesley: I gave Egypt—fulfilled when Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who designed to revenge his father’s disgrace upon the Jews, was diverted and directed by God to employ his forces against Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba. Seba—the Sabaeans confederate with the Ethiopians.

Assyria turned from Judah onto Egypt, Cush, and Seba as the price of Israel’s life. The LORD is Savior; those nations are the ransom. Skip a nitpick on which Assyrian king: Wesley names Esarhaddon; Calvin will name Sennacherib; both stay in the old story.

I am Jehovah thy God. Calvin: if we wish to know he is our Savior we must be a part of Israel, not in name only, with true evidences of godliness. Holy One of Israel: he hath chosen his people. I have given Egypt as the price of thy redemption: Sennacherib checked and turned against Egypt and Ethiopia; those nations suffered the destruction to which Judah was exposed (2 Kings 19; Isaiah 37). General: the Lord values believers more highly than the whole world (1 Peter 5:7).

Savior is known inside chosen Israel; Egypt paid the price when Assyria was turned. Wesley reads it the same way: Egypt, Cush, Seba as ransom in Assyria.

Because you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life. Wesley: Since—from the time that I chose thee for my people, I have had an affection for thee. Men—as I gave up the Egyptians, so I am ready to give up others to save thee, as occasion requires.

The affection dates from his choice of them as his people; other peoples may be given up as Egypt was. Common confession: precious, honored, loved; exchange for their life.

Calvin: excludes all personal worth; the cause of salvation is the undeserved love of God. I will give a man: a single believer valued above the whole world.

Preciousness is his love, not their merit; one believer weighs more than nations. Wesley agrees: he loves them and will give others in exchange. Both still rest the exchange on his love, not theirs.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west. I will gather you. Paraphrase from v. 1 and v. 7: the same people he created, redeemed, and called by name will have their seed gathered from east and west; Fear not is repeated because he is with them, and v. 7 will say he created them for his glory.

Gathering of Jacob’s offspring, not a modern diaspora theory. Fear not; I am with you; east and west.

Fear not. Calvin: frequent because we are prone to distrust. Presence of God is our safety. I will bring thy seed from the east: Deuteronomy 30:3–4; gather a people scattered like ashes.

Presence is the ground of Fear not; the scattered seed is gathered as Moses promised. Shared with Wesley’s Fear not of v. 1: I am with you.

I will say to the north, Give them up! “And tell the south, Don’t hold them back!” Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Paraphrase from v. 1 and v. 7: the redeemed people called by his name are gathered from every quarter as his sons and daughters; the same mercy that made them his people now claims them from the ends of the earth.

Jacob’s children are gathered from the four winds. North and south must give them up.

Four quarters. Calvin: the whole world. Bring my sons: not all Israel after the flesh but the true Israel; not all Abraham’s descendants are true Israelites (Romans 9:6–7); a remnant (Isaiah 10:21–22). Few returned from captivity. They knew Cyrus would come (Isaiah 45:1) though not yet born. Sons and daughters are the true Israel, a remnant, not every child after the flesh. Both readings hold: gathered from the ends of the earth. Return from captivity; Calvin’s Cyrus here is the still-unborn king of Isaiah 45:1, not a living ruler and not an import of 43:14 into this unit. The remnant accent matches v. 1.

Everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made. Wesley: For my glory—therefore I will glorify my power and goodness and faithfulness in delivering them. Formed—not only created them out of nothing, but formed and made them my peculiar people.

The gathering of vv. 5–6 is for his glory; forming is making them his peculiar people, matching v. 1’s created as his people. Both agree: called by his name; created, formed, made. He created them for his glory and will glorify his faithfulness in delivering them.

All called by my name. Calvin: I have created them for my glory. The salvation of his people concerns himself; he cannot expose his name to reproach. Formed and made: the work begun he wishes to conduct to the end. Extraordinary grace: formed anew after his image.

Wesley agrees: created for his glory; formed as his people. No extra fight: both camps refuse a God who formed them and then walked away.

Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears! Wesley: Bring—O ye idolatrous Gentiles, bring forth your false gods, which have eyes but see not, and ears but hear not.

The summons is to the nations’ idols, furniture with organs that do not work. Agreed: eyes that do not see; God will prove the difference in v. 9.

That I may bring out. Calvin: I will bring out the blind so as to restore sight; first the people are delivered, then eyes and ears restored. Looks farther to the kingdom of Christ (Acts 2). One redemption from Babylon to Christ. He restores eyes and ears though formerly we were by nature both blind and deaf.

The blind are Israel brought out to see, a line from Babylon’s return to Christ’s kingdom. Wesley agrees: idols cannot see; God can give sight. The fork is who is brought out—Gentile idols, or Israel’s blind.

Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear, and say, That is true. Wesley: Assembled—to plead the cause of their idols with me. This—this wonderful work of mine in bringing my people out of captivity. Former things—such things as shall happen long before the return from captivity, which yet your blind idols cannot foresee. Witnesses—who can testify the truth of any such predictions of theirs, that they may be owned for true gods; or if they can produce no evidence, let them confess that what I say is truth, that I only am the true God.

The court is idols versus the LORD; they cannot foresee the return from captivity. Both see: no competent witnesses for false gods. Former things are what he declared; the idols fail the test.

Let all nations be gathered. Calvin: defiance to idols. Foreknowledge and power belong to God alone. Confirm the Jews who knew the true God. Let them produce witnesses: no competent witnesses for false gods.

The assembly is a dare; only God declares and does. Common ground with Wesley: nations gathered, idols mute, witnesses wanting.

You are my witnesses, with my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me. Wesley: Ye—you my people are able to witness for me, that I have given you plain demonstrations of my certain knowledge of future events. My servant—Cyrus who is an eminent instance and proof of God’s foreknowledge: or, the Messiah, who is the most eminent witness in this cause. Understand—that I am the true God. Nor after me—the gods of the Heathens neither had a being before me nor shall continue after me; the Lord is God from everlasting to everlasting; pretenders are but of yesterday. Formed gods—in contempt, to show the ridiculousness of their pretence.

The people witness his foreknowledge; servant may be Cyrus or the Messiah—Wesley’s own either/or, both historic/christological. I am he; no god formed before or after. Do not import 43:14’s Cyrus into this file except as this option. Certain knowledge of future events is already given.

Ye are my witnesses. Calvin: God separates himself from the idols and produces his witnesses (the Jews). Indirect reproach of ingratitude if they do not declare. My servant: some think Isaiah; Calvin prefers the prophets collectively, with a change of number; looks chiefly to Christ in whom all prophecies are accomplished. The Church’s duty is to defend and publish truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Therefore ye shall know, believe, understand: faith goes before confession; God confirms by proofs. That I am he: requisite that we know who is our God. Before me no God formed: irony—no other god that had not been made by mortals.

Jews as witnesses; servant as the prophets, chiefly Christ. Wesley reads it the same way: I am he; formed gods are contemptible. Both camps allow a christological servant; Wesley also names Cyrus as a proof of foreknowledge.

I myself am the LORD. Besides me, there is no savior. Wesley has no extra note; the verse itself governs: besides me there is no saviour. His v. 10 still stands—understand that I am the true God—and his v. 12 will say he first foretold their deliverance and then effected it.

One Savior, the LORD. Undisputed: no savior besides him.

I, I am Jehovah. Calvin: I alone am Jehovah. No Savior besides me: offices of God must not be distributed to saints (he names papal saints as a warning of that error). The chief part of worship is faith acknowledging him as beginning and end of life.

Jehovah alone; savior is not a shareable office. Shared with Wesley and with the verse: besides me there is no savior. Calvin’s warning against distributing God’s offices is his own polemic.

I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown, and there was no strange god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses, and I am God. Wesley: I—I first foretold your deliverance, and then effected it. When—and this I did when you did not worship any idols.

He told it, then did it, without a strange god’s help. Common to both: declared then saved; you are my witnesses; I am God. He declared first, then saved—he is not learning the outcome as he goes.

I have told and have saved. Calvin: foreknowledge and power. No strange god among you: he displayed power without being aided. Unbelief hinders God from displaying power. Ye are therefore my witnesses.

He tells and he saves; no aid from a strange god. Shared with Wesley: declared then effected; witnesses because they saw it.

Also henceforth I am he. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it back? Wesley: Yea—before all time; from all eternity, I am God.

Eternity behind the Fear not of v. 1; none turns back his work. I am he; none delivers from his hand; he works. He works, and who can hinder it back is not a God waiting to see whether the work will hold.

Even before the day was. Calvin: eternity of God; the world is his workmanship, not chance. None to deliver out of my hand: supreme power proved from eternity. No obstacle can prevent what he hath decreed.

Eternity grounds the hand none can reverse; decree is not chance. Common ground with Wesley: from eternity I am God; none delivers from his hand.