Page 89 - Isaiah Student Worktext

But for those who put their trust in false gods, they will be greatly ashamed.

V. 18-22 All this is coming even before Manasseh was born, and certainly before he led the nation
astray. This is a prophecy of the things to come. His people will be robbed and plundered and
imprisoned by Gentiles that God is allowing to punish His people.

V. 23-25 V. 24 makes it clear that God is the One who will give Israel up to foreign invaders and that God
has poured on ‘him’ the fury of His anger. Still, he, Israel, did not take this to heart.

We sometimes have a difficult time believing that God still loves us when we have sinned greatly. For
someone who has never accepted the forgiveness and grace of the Lord, it is very difficult for them to
imagine that they could ever be accepted and loved by God. Pastors have a unique opportunity to be
gentle like Jesus, but still making them aware of the wrath that comes for rejecting the truth of God and
His mercy.

Chapter 43 - Main Idea: God displays His glory by rescuing His chosen
people through the fire and water of His judgments, a new salvation,
which He predicted, and which is greater than the deliverance of Israel
from Egypt.

There are some incredibly comforting verses in this chapter.

V. 1-3 First, He has called us by name. He is speaking directly to Israel here, but to all those who will
hear and accept His calling.

Then He tells us that He is there with us as we pass through the waters and walk through the rivers.
God destroyed the earth with a flood…water, and in 2 Peter 3: 10 & 12, we are told that the earth will
be ‘dissolved with fire’. It is significant that God instructed Isaiah to write these two particular things.

Water and fire are also used in scripture to illustrate purification. The trials we go through can be used
for purification, and God will be with us through them.

The flame will not scorch calls to mind Daniel 3, when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were saved in
the flames and not a hair on their head was singed.

God says that He gave Egypt for our ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in our place. Some commentators say
this is the ‘non-elect’ which God ‘traded out’ for the elect. Others say that this means God will allow the
Persians to extend their empire to these areas in exchange for freeing Israel. In any case, God protects
and provides for His people.

Why does God do this for us?

V. 4 Because we are precious in His sight and He loves us.

V. 5-7 Since we have just seen the prediction of the Babylonian captivity, these verses point to the
release from that captivity.

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