Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 43:1-28

"But now thus saith Jehovah that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead. Since thou hast been precious in my sight, [and] honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life. Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth; every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yea, whom I have made. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled: 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, It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour. I have declared, and I have saved, and I have showed; and there was no strange [god] among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God. Yea, since the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who can hinder it? Thus saith Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing. I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus saith Jehovah, who maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; who bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick): Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field shall honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise. Yet thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me of thy sheep for burnt-offerings; neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices. I have not burdened thee with offerings, nor wearied thee with frankincense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast burdened me with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance; let us plead together: set thou forth [thy cause], that thou mayest be justified. Thy first father sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling." — Isaiah 43:1-28 (ASV)

1. And now thus says the LORD. Here he shows them divine love through the remedies he granted them in their difficulties. This is divided into three parts:

   • First, he promises future remedies to show them his love.

   • Second, he recalls past benefits to confirm the promise: thus says the LORD, who made a way in the sea (Isaiah 43:16).

   • Third, he excludes their merits to take away their presumption: but you have not called upon me (Isaiah 43:22).

   Concerning the first part, he does three things:

   • First, he shows the privilege of divine love toward them.

   • Second, he excludes any share of divine power in the promised remedies: all the nations are assembled together (Isaiah 43:9).

   • Third, he presents the sign of his love: thus says the LORD your redeemer (Isaiah 43:14).

2. Concerning the first point, he promises them three remedies. The first remedy is support in their punishments, banishing fear by the divine presence. He reminds them that he is the one that created you, as to the principle of their substance: is not he your father, that has possessed you, and made you, and created you? (Deuteronomy 32:6). He is also the one who formed you, as to the form he gave them: and the LORD God formed man (Genesis 2:7). He says, I have redeemed you from evils: I will deliver them out of the hand of death. I will redeem them from death (Hosea 13:14). And he has called you to grace: I will call that which was not my people, my people (Hosea 1:9).Cf. Romans 9:25.

   He then states the promise: when you shall pass through the waters (the Egyptians), the rivers (the Chaldeans), the fire (the Greeks), and the flames (the Romans), for they were not entirely consumed: we have passed through fire and water (Psalms 66:12). And he gives the reason for this: for I am the LORD, as stated previously: for God himself is my savior (Isaiah 12:2).

3. Second, he promises the substitution of their punishments, meaning that he would punish others in their place. He lays out this substitution: I have given Egypt for your atonement, that is, so that I may be propitiated toward you, as if by the punishments of those who provoked you to sin by your hoping in their help. He mentions Saba, a city of Ethiopia, and quotes, the just is delivered out of distress: and the wicked shall be given up for him (Proverbs 11:8).

   He gives the reason for this, which is the love of God itself: since you became honorable—that is, “I made and considered you honorable.” He says, I will give men for you, for your liberation, as in Jeremiah 31:20: surely Ephraim is an honorable son to me.

4. Third, he promises them every kind of liberation from tribulation. Concerning this, he does three things:

   1. He promises the benefit of liberation: fear not; from the east. This is because they had been dispersed in every direction, as stated previously: he shall assemble the fugitives of Israel (Isaiah 11:12), and, behold I will bring them from the north country (Jeremiah 31:8).

   2. He sets out their fitness for liberation: and every one that calls upon my name, I will lead into my glory, so that he might glorify me, and so that I might appear glorious in him. As it is written, every one that shall call upon the name of the LORD, shall be saved (Joel 2:32).

   3. He issues the command for liberation: bring forth—O Cyrus—out of the land of their captivity, the people, namely, the Jews. This is the people described as: hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not (Jeremiah 5:21).

5. All the nations. Here he excludes any sharing of divinity with other gods.

   First, he shows the falsehood of other gods through a kind of judgment. He points out the consensus of the nations in idolatry, assembled together in one error: they are all gone aside (Psalms 13:3). He then seeks a sign of divinity: who among you—that is, which of your gods? Or, this is said to the idols. He seeks testimony: let them bring forth their witnesses, let them be justified—that is, let them be justly called gods. And let the witnesses hear future things from them and say testimony for you, as stated previously: there is none that shows, nor that foretells (Isaiah 41:26).

   Second, he shows the truth of his own divinity, first as to knowledge, and second as to power: you are my witnesses (Isaiah 43:12).

6. Concerning the first aspect (knowledge), he does two things.

   1. He gives testimony, appointing men to bear witness: you are my witnesses, and my servant (the people of Jacob, or Christ): you shall be witnesses (Acts 1:8). He sets out the way of knowing: that you may know (regarding what can be known about God by natural reason), and believe (regarding what is above reason), and thus understand. For, as stated previously in another reading,Namely, LXX. unless you believe, you will not understand (Isaiah 7:9). He then sets out what is said by the witnesses—that he alone is God: that I, alone, am God. There was no God who forms, or formed—that is, no idol: see that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me (Deuteronomy 32:39). And that he alone is Lord: I am (singularly), I am (preeminently): neither is there salvation in any other (Acts 4:12).

   2. He gives a sign of his divinity: I have declared... there was no strange one among you, by which you could know. As it is written, O Israel, if you will hearken to me, there shall be no new god in you: neither shall you adore a strange god (Psalms 81:8–9).

7. You are my witnesses. Here he shows the truth of his divinity with respect to power.

   • First, he gives the testimony: you are my witnesses, and I am the beginning (John 8:25).

   • Second, he gives a sign of his power, both in punishing—and there is none that can deliver out of my hand (as in Deuteronomy 32:39 and Job 10:7)—and in acting: I will work, as stated previously: the LORD of hosts has decreed, and who can annul it? (Isaiah 14:27).

8. Thus says the LORD. Here he presents the sign of his love: that he destroyed the Babylonians for their sake. The Babylonians gloried in their ships because of their many waters. He says, I sent—that is, my wrath: the LORD has both purposed, and done all that he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:12).

9. Thus says the LORD, who made a way in the sea. Here he recalls his past benefits to confirm their hope for future ones. Concerning this, he does two things.

   First, he recalls his past benefits in guiding them when they came out of Egypt: in the Red sea (Exodus 14), and in the mighty waters of the Arnon (Numbers 21) and the Jordan (Joshua 3). He also recalls the destruction of their enemies: who brought forth the chariot—the chariots of Pharaoh: his chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:4). They were destroyed as flax, cut down in a moment.

10. Second, he promises much greater future benefits. Concerning this, he does three things.

    1. He shows the greatness of his future benefits by comparing them to the former ones: remember not former things. It is as if to say, “They are not worthy to be kept in memory in comparison with future things,” as in Philippians 3:13: forgetting the things that are behind. This is because of the newness of these things—behold I do new things, unheard of: behold, I make all things new (Revelation 21:5)—and because of their certainty: I will make a way in the wilderness for those going to the feasts (that is, in the land of the Jews, which was formerly a desert), and rivers of consolation: he has turned a wilderness into pools of waters (Psalms 107:35). If these things are explained literally as the liberation from captivity in Babylon, they are called greater than the liberation from Egypt, not because of greater miracles, but because the kings from whose power he liberated them were more powerful than Pharaoh, or because they came from a more distant place. If, however, they are referred to the liberation carried out by Christ, it is evident that nothing so admirable had preceded it in past ages.

    2. He shows the usefulness of these benefits for the Gentiles: the beast of the field shall glorify me—that is, the Gentile, living like a beast, who is converted to Christ or who sees how I liberated the Jews: beasts and all cattle: serpents and feathered fowls (Psalms 148:10). He also shows their usefulness for the Jews: to give drink, of teaching and consolation, to the people of whom it is said, the LORD your God has chosen you (Deuteronomy 7:6).

    3. He gives the reason: this people have I formed for myself—that is, for my praise: the LORD has made all things for himself (Proverbs 16:4).

11. But you have not called upon me. Here he excludes any merit on the part of the Jews for attaining such benefits. Concerning this, he does three things:

    • First, he excludes their merit.

    • Second, he gives them an opportunity to respond: put me in remembrance (Isaiah 43:26).

    • Third, he preempts a certain line of response: your first father (Isaiah 43:27).

    Concerning the first point, he does three things.

    1. He excludes their merit: you have not called upon me. All this is said because they did not offer these things to God with their whole heart, but partly to God and partly to idols; or because they offered nothing to God; or because they did so in hope of temporal repayment; or because, after the coming of Christ, their offerings were not accepted: who is there among you, that will shut the doors, and will kindle the fire on my altar for free? (Malachi 1:10); shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? Or shall I drink the blood of goats? (Psalms 50:13).

    2. He shows their guilt: but you have made me to serve with your sins. This is as if to say, “You made me seem servile when you offended me and I did not punish you,” as stated previously: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them (Isaiah 1:14). He speaks in human terms.

    3. He shows that the benefit is given freely: I am he that blots out your iniquities for my own sake, as in Psalm 25:11: for your name’s sake, O LORD, you will pardon my sin, and Ezekiel 36:22: it is not for your sake that I will do this.

12. Put me in remembrance. Here he gives them an opportunity to respond. Put me in remembrance is as if to say, “Consider what I have done for you.” He continues, tell if you have any thing, to excuse yourself or to accuse me, that you may be justified—that is, so that you might be judged to be just. This is similar to Job 33:32: if you have any thing to say, answer me, speak: for I would have you to appear just.

13. Your first father sinned. Here he preempts a certain line of response. They could claim the innocence of their fathers, but against this, he says, your first father sinned. This could refer to Adam (Genesis 3), or Abraham, who asked for a sign of God's promise as if doubting (Genesis 15:8). He also mentions your teachers, Moses and Aaron, at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20). He continues, And I have profaned the holy princes—that is, “I have allowed them to be profaned”—and I have given Jacob to slaughter, for they all died in the desert, except for Caleb and Joshua. As the psalmist says, we have sinned with our fathers (Psalms 106:6).

14. The Lord liberates his saints from the fire :

    • from the fire of carnal temptation: it is a fire that devours even to consumption (Job 31:12);Consumptionem. Vg.: perditionem. DR: “destruction.”

    • from the fire of temporal tribulation: you have tried me by fire (Psalms 17:3);

    • from the fire of eternal damnation: go, you cursed, into everlasting fire (Matthew 25:41);

    • from the fire of divine wrath: a fire is kindled in my wrath (Deuteronomy 32:22).

    In this fire are burned:

    • the lascivious: for it is better to marry than to be burnt (1 Corinthians 7:9);

    • the impatient, as stated previously: their countenances shall be as faces burnt (Isaiah 13:8);

    • the impenitent: the flame burned the wicked (Psalms 106:18);

    • the proud: the foundations of the mountains were burned (Psalms 18:7).

15. He also liberates them from the waters :

    • from the waters of pleasure: stolen waters are sweeter (Proverbs 9:17), in which the lustful are suffocated;

    • from the waters of covetousness: they sunk as lead in the mighty waters (Exodus 15:10), in which the greedy are suffocated;

    • from the waters of adversity: the waters are come in even unto my soul (Psalms 69:1), in which the impatient are suffocated;

    • from the waters of worldly power: the waters over which she sits (Revelation 17:1),Aquae super quas sedet. Vg.: quae sedet super aquas multas. DR: “who sitteth upon many waters.” in which the proud are suffocated.

16. We ought to put God in remembrance :

    • of the wonders he has done, so that we might worship: remember his marvelous works which he has done (Psalms 105:5);

    • of the benefits he has given, so that we might give thanks: I remembered your mercy ;

    • of the torments he sustained, so that we might feel compassion: remember my poverty (Lamentations 3:19);

    • of the precepts he gave, so that we might observe them: they are mindful of his commandments to do them (Psalms 103:18).