Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43:1

David - He reproves them all, because they were the king’s counsellors. Is it a small thing - Is it not wickedness enough. My God - To vex God’s prophets and people, with your oppressions and horrid impieties. And by your ingratitude and unbelief, and disobedience of his commands.

Isaiah 43:2

Therefore - Because you despise me, and the sign which I now offer to you, God of his own free grace will send you a more honourable messenger, and give you a nobler sign. A sign - Of your deliverance. But how was this birth, which was not to happen ’till many ages after, a sign of their deliverance from present danger? This promised birth supposed the preservation of that city, and nation and tribe, in and of which the Messiah was to be born; and therefore there was no cause to fear that ruin which their enemies now threatened. Immanuel - God with us; God dwelling among us, in our nature, John 1:14. God and man meeting in one person, and being a mediator between God and men. For the design of these words is not so much to relate the name by which Christ should commonly he called, as to describe his nature and office.

Isaiah 43:3

Butter - The common food of children in that country. He - The virgin’s son. Know - To discern between things good and evil.

Isaiah 43:4

Yea - Not only this land shall be preserved until the virgin’s son shall be born, but thine enemies land shall be sorely scourged, and these two kings destroyed within a very little time. This child - Shear - Jashub, whom in all probability the prophet pointed at, and who was brought hither by God’s special command, ver.3. for this very use. The land - The lands of Syria and Israel. Forsaken - So far shall Pekah and Rezin be from conquering thy land, that they shall lose their own lands, and their lives too; which they did within two years after this time, being both slain by the king of Assyria.

Isaiah 43:5

Shall bring - But altho’ God will deliver you at this time, yet he will requite all your wickedness. Thee - For part of this Assyrian storm fell in Ahaz’s reign. And - Upon thy sons and successors, the kings of Judah. Days - Calamities. Departed - When ten tribes revolted from thy father’s house. The king - Who may well be called their plague or calamity, as he is called the rod of God’s anger, chap.10:5.

Isaiah 43:6

The fly - The flies. So he calls these enemies, to imply their great numbers. In - In their extremity, where they go out into the sea. Rivers - Of the river Nile, which may be called rivers, either for its greatness, or because towards the end of it, it is divided into seven streams. When the Chaldeans had in good measure subdued the Egyptians, it is probable great numbers of the Egyptian soldiers listed themselves in the Chaldean army, and with them invaded the land of Judah. The bee - The Assyrian army, compared to bees, as for their numerous forces and orderly march, so for their fierce attempts and mischievous effects. Assyria - In the empire of Assyria, or Babylon; for these two were united into one empire, and therefore in scripture are promiscuously called sometimes by one title, and sometimes by the other.

Isaiah 43:7

Valleys - Such as they found fruitful, but made desolate. Rocks - To which possibly the Israelites fled for refuge. Bushes - Which he mentions because flies and bees use frequently to rest there; and to intimate, that no place should escape their fury.

Isaiah 43:8

Shave - Utterly spoil, as shaving takes away the hair. Hired - By Ahaz, who did hire them, 2 Kings 16:7,8. And so the prophet notes the just judgment of God, in scourging them with a rod of their own making. By - By the successive kings of the Assyrian empire, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and especially by Nebuchadnezzar. The head - By these metaphorical expressions he signifies the total destruction of their state, from head to foot, from the highest to the lowest.

Isaiah 43:9

Sheep - They who formerly used to keep great herds of cattle, and many flocks of sheep, shall esteem it a happiness if they can keep but one cow and two sheep.

Isaiah 43:10

Abundance - Because they shall have large pastures, by reason of the great scarcity of cattle. Butter - Which the poorer sort had formerly used to sell, to procure them cheaper food for themselves: but now the land should be so destitute of people, that there were none to whom they could sell them.

Isaiah 43:11

Of silver - Each of the thousand vineyards might have been sold or let for a thousand shekels, which was the yearly rent of some excellent vineyards.

Isaiah 43:12

With arrows - Either to hunt, or to defend themselves from wild beasts, which commonly abide in desolate grounds.

Isaiah 43:13

Digged - That used to be digged and dressed for the planting of vines, or other choice fruit - trees. The fear - That they might be freed from briars and thorns. Cattle - All sorts of cattle may enter, and feed there, the fences being broken down, and the owners slain, or carried into captivity.

Isaiah 43:15

A roll - Or, a great volume, because the prophecy to be written in it was large, and God would have it written in large and legible characters. Pen - With such a pen as writers use. Concerning - Concerning that thing which is signified by the name of the child, which is here mentioned by way of anticipation.

Isaiah 43:17

Prophetess - To his own wife, so called, because the wife of a prophet.

Isaiah 43:18

To cry - To speak and to know his parents; which is within the space of two years. And his agrees with the other prophecy, chap.7:16. Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and chuse the good, which requires a longer time than to distinguish his parents, and suits well to Shear - Jashub, who, being born some years before, was capable of that farther degree of knowledge, as soon as this was capable of the lower degree. Before - In his presence, and by himself and his forces.

Isaiah 43:20

This people - The people of Israel, of whom he last spake, who rejoiced not only in their own king, but also in the assistance of so powerful an ally as Rezin. Shiloah - That small brook which ran by Jerusalem. Hereby he understands the munitions and strength of the Jews, which their enemies derided.

Isaiah 43:21

The river - Of Euphrates, called the river, for its eminent greatness; whereby he understands the Assyrian forces. Glory - His numerous and puissant army. He - This great river shall overflow its own proper channels. That is, this great monarch shall enlarge his dominions, and add the lands of Syria and Israel to them.

Isaiah 43:22

Reach - So that they shall be in great danger of being desired. He persists in the metaphor of a river swelling so high as to reach to a man’s neck, and be ready to overwhelm him. Such was the danger of Judah’s land, when Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, 2 Kings 18:13, and sent his army against Jerusalem. Wings - Of his forces, or of the wings of his army, as they still are called. My land - Of the land of Judah, so called because the Messiah, who is called Immanuel, should be born there. And this is added emphatically for the consolation of God’s people, to assure them, that notwithstanding this dreadful scourge, yet God would make a difference between Israel and Judah, and whereas Israel should not be a people, Judah should be restored, for the sake of the Messiah, to be the place of his birth and ministry.

Isaiah 43:23

Ye people - Syrians and Israelites. All ye - Whosoever you be, who conspire against Immanuel’s land. Gird - Prepare yourselves for war. Broken - This is repeated for the greater assurance of the thing, and the comfort of God’s people.

Isaiah 43:25

Spake - With a vehement and more than ordinary inspiration. In the way - Of the generality of the people of Judah; whose eminent danger and calamity he foretells.

Isaiah 43:26

Say not - Thou Isaiah, and my children, do not consent to this confederacy with the king of Assyria. Their fear - That thing which they fear, that, if they do not call in the Assyrian succours, they shall be destroyed by those two potent kings.

Isaiah 43:27

Sanctify - Give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting to his promises. Let him - Let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel be the object of your fear.

Isaiah 43:28

Sanctuary - A sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him. A stone - An occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offence and stumble, so as to fall and be broken. To both - To the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes. Jerusalem - Which are distinctly mentioned, as a wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God’s solemn worship, where all the means of knowledge and grace were in greatest plenty, where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established, where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel when he should appear, was so strange an occurrence, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith.