Isaiah 43

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

God’s Promise of the Restoration of Israel

BACKGROUND NOTES

God has preserved His people, Israel, throughout their captivity and scattering.
God has preserved His people, Israel, in spite of their callousness and sin.

What is the dramatic contrast between Isaiah 42 and 43?
How does Romans 11 relate to this passage?
Who experienced a very literal fulfillment of the promise of Isaiah 43:2 to “walk through the fire and not be burned”?
How do we know that the predicted future return of God’s people to the land of Israel includes more than their return from the Babylonian captivity?
What “new thing” was the nation of Israel told to look forward to in verse 19?

Even though the nation of Israel had failed as the imperfect servant of the Lord, God promises to restore them, not only from their Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC, but also from their worldwide scattering in the future.
Romans 11 makes it very clear that God has not rejected His people. They have only temporarily been set aside while the blessing of the Gentiles and the formation of the Church have been brought into the forefront of God’s program. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will again be brought into the place of blessing when they turn back to the Lord and recognize and receive Jesus as their true Messiah.
About 100 years from when Isaiah wrote this prophecy, the three godly friends of Daniel were preserved from the fiery furnace.
Because verses 5-7 speak of them returning from the north, south, east, and west, a worldwide scattering, as they are doing today.
The new thing was more than the return of the Jewish people to their homeland from their Babylonian captivity. They were to look beyond to our Lord’s earthly kingdom in the future when He returns.

Discuss what you know about the history of the Jewish people since the end of the New Testament period. God’s preservation of them as a people with their unique language and culture has been truly miraculous.
Describe the courtroom scene in Isaiah 43:8-12. What evidence does God bring into His courtroom to prove that He holds and controls all events – past, present, and future? The nation of Israel.

Serving the Lord can be difficult and full of persecution, at times. But you can never say that it’s too great a burden. In Matthew 11:30, the Lord Jesus says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy one of Israel, your Savior.’” Isaiah 43:1-3
“‘You are My witnesses,’ says the LORD, ‘And 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, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore you are My witnesses,’” Says the LORD, ‘that I am God.’” Isaiah 43:10-12