The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, page 341
43:5, 6 east…west…north…south…ends of the earth. The Lord will regather to the land of Israel the faithful remnant of His people from their worldwide dispersion in conjunction with the institution of the Messiah’s kingdom on earth (cf. 11:12).
43:7 called by My name…created for My glory. The faithful remnant of Israel will bear the Lord’s name and exist for one primary purpose: to glorify Him (44:23).
43:8 blind…have eyes…deaf…have ears. Restored Israel (vv. 5–7) will have their spiritual eyesight and hearing restored (29:18; contra. 42:18, 19).
43:9 their witnesses. Who among the idolatrous soothsayers could predict Cyrus would deliver Israel from Babylon, or make prophecies of any kind that already were fulfilled? The gods of the nations showed no ability to reveal accurately “the former things” (41:21–23) as the Lord had. So the nations had no witnesses to accredit that their gods could speak prophetic truth.
43:10 You are My witnesses…My servant. Israel’s God repeatedly predicted the future accurately, enabling Israel to witness to His truthful accuracy (v. 13), and thus the reality that He was the only eternal, living God. This witnessing they will do again in the millennial kingdom (cf. Joel 2:28–32).
43:12 declared and saved…proclaimed. As in the deliverance from Egypt (Ex. 3, 4), God declared in advance how He would redeem Israel from their captivity. Then came the actual events of the saving process, followed by the Lord’s proclamation of that deliverance by way of reminder. The people, on the basis of such omniscience and omnipotence, gave testimony to the true and only living God.
43:13 before the day was. Before the first day of creation when time began and throughout all periods of history, God exists and manifests His will and purpose. no one…My hand. The Heb. behind this clause is identical with the comparable clause in Deut. 32:39. God’s actions are irreversible and can never end in frustration.
43:14 Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. The former title characterizes the Lord’s role in the salvation of His people in chaps. 40–66 (41:14; 43:14; 44:6, 24; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7, 26; 54:5, 8; 59:20; 60:16; 63:16). The latter title represents His holiness throughout the book (see note on 1:4). The Lord’s Servant retains His holiness in implementing His redemption of Israel. Chaldeans…their ships. When God sent a conqueror against Babylon (i.e., Cyrus, 45:1), the proud Babylonian fleet provided a means of flight for the country’s fugitives. Babylon was accessible by ship through the Persian Gulf and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
43:15 your King. The Lord was King over Israel from her inception, but the people asked for a human king instead (1 Sam. 8:4–7). The restoration will put Him back on the throne in the Person of His Servant the Messiah (Luke 1:31–33; cf. 6:1; 41:21).
43:16, 17 sea…mighty waters…chariot and horse. To bring assurance of the greater future deliverance He will bring through His Servant, the Lord reminded Isaiah’s readers of His deliverance of their ancestors from Egypt (Ex. 14:16, 21, 26–28; Josh. 3:13).
43:18, 19 former things…things of old…new thing. Deliverances of the nation in the past will pale into insignificance in comparison with the future deliverance the Lord will give His people (42:9; 48:6; Jer. 16:14, 15).
43:19, 20 rivers…waters…rivers. In the Messiah’s future kingdom, the barren places of Israel will be well-watered (41:18) and will supply refreshment for God’s chosen people (43:1).
43:21 declare My praise. In the messianic age, Israel will finally give the Lord the credit that is due Him (contra. Jer. 13:11).
43:22–24 Even though the Lord has chosen Israel, Israel throughout her history has not chosen Him. Rather, they have wearied Him with their iniquities and empty ritualism (1:11–15).
43:25 I, even I…not remember your sins. This verse is probably the high point of grace in the OT. In spite of Israel’s utter unworthiness, the Lord in His grace has devised a way that He can forgive their sins and grant righteousness (see note on 61:10), without compromising His holiness. This He would accomplish through the work of His Servant (53:6). In spite of her failures, Israel will always be God’s chosen people.
43:26 State your case. God gives the nation opportunity to come into the court and plead her case. The strongest plea is not to claim personal worthiness, but to confess their sin and repent, thus pleading for mercy and forgiveness based on God’s gracious promise in v. 25 and based on what Jesus Christ would do on the cross (cf. 55:6, 7; Rom. 3:21–26).
43:27 first father…mediators. Sins of even the respected patriarchal ancestors of the Jewish race, like Abraham, kept them from claiming personal merit (e.g., Gen. 12:11–13; 20:2). Even such honored intermediaries between God and Israel as the priests needed cleansing from sin (6:5–7).
43:28 Jacob to the curse…Israel to reproaches. Even though God will forgive the nation in the messianic age, she still must suffer in the intervening interval.
Isaiah 44
44:1–5 Under the shadow of more punishment to come (43:26–28), the prophet spoke of abundant blessing that was to be the nation’s portion during the Millennium.
44:1, 2 My servant…whom I have chosen…made you… formed you. God has chosen His servant Israel to be His own eternally (43:1, 21, 25), and they need not fear abandonment.
44:2 Jeshurun. An honored name for Israel whose root meaning is “right” or “straight,” in contrast to the root of “Jacob” which means “over-reacher” or “deceiver” (cf. Deut. 32:15).
44:3 water…floods. The extensive blessing of physical conditions will favor the nation in the coming kingdom age (43:19, 20); they were also symbolic of spiritual refreshment from the Holy Spirit and God Himself (32:15; Joel 2:28, 29).
44:5 the LORD’s…name of Jacob…The LORD’s…name of Israel. In the future golden age of Israel, belonging to the Lord and belonging to God’s chosen people will be synonymous, and it will be a badge of honor gladly worn without fear.
44:6 King…Redeemer…LORD of hosts…First…Last. The Lord identified Himself as Israel’s King (43:15), Redeemer (43:14), Champion in battle (1:9), and Eternal One (41:4; cf. 48:12). Jesus, in a direct affirmation of His deity, called Himself the First and the Last (cf. Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13). Besides Me…no God. God’s exclusive claim to deity prepared the way for another challenge to false gods in vv. 7–20 (cf. 43:10).
44:7 let him declare…Let them show. If idols can foretell “the things that are coming and shall come,” let them predict accurately, as the Lord has. Since the Jews have had predictions of the future ever since God chose them as His people, they are qualified to be His witnesses (v. 8).
44:9–11 ashamed…ashamed…ashamed. The workmen who manufactured idols were mere men and could make nothing as good as or greater than man. They and others who put their trust in idols had ample reason to fear and be ashamed of such folly (v. 11; contra. v. 8).
44:12–19 Human workers expended all their energy to produce a beautiful idol, but the best they could make was the likeness of a man (Deut. 4:15–18; Rom. 1:23), and that could not renew their strength. Yet they who wait on the Lord will renew their strength (40:28–31). The same humanly nurtured trees used as fuel for fires to furnish warmth and to cook also provides wood for people to make idols, which they worship and to which they entrust their prayers and themselves. Nothing could be more foolish than worshiping as deity a piece of wood, while burning the same wood in a fire to keep warm. Idol-makers cannot comprehend the idiocy of creating gods from materials used for the most trivial domestic purposes. Cf. 6:9, 10; Deut. 27:15.
44:20 deceived heart…lie. Like eating ashes, which provide no nourishment, idolatry is a deception, from which the sinner gets nothing but judgment (cf. Prov. 15:14; Hos. 12:1).
44:22 blotted out…your sins. Further reassurances of God’s sovereign grace at work on behalf of Israel were given (43:25). God had blotted out their sins written in His book against them (cf. Rev. 20:12). As a person can’t see what is ahead because it is blocked by a “thick cloud,” so God obliterated the sins of those He redeemed. Return to Me. God has already provided for redemption, even before the cross, but based on it alone. For those who turn from sin and return to Him, there is redemption (because the purchase price for the sinner was paid by the sacrifice of Christ). The Lord calls on His people to repent so they may receive the promised redemption (cf. Neh. 1:9; Jer 4:1; 24:7; Joel 2:12; Zech. 1:3; Mal. 3:7; Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Rom. 3:25, 26; Heb. 9:15).
44:23 heavens…every tree…redeemed Jacob. The national redemption of Israel at Christ’s second coming entails also the redemption of all nature (Rom. 8:19–22), so the prophet calls on the whole creation to rejoice.
44:25 babblers…diviners. False prophets must suffer the consequences of their deceptive counsel (47:12–14; Deut. 13:1–5; Josh. 13:22; Jer. 27:9; 29:8; 50:36; Mic. 3:7).
44:26 His servant…His messengers. In contrast with His breaking the word of false prophets (v. 25), the Lord confirmed the word of His true prophets such as of Isaiah (Zech. 1:6). Most specially, God confirmed the Word of the Messiah, who is the consummate embodiment of all the prophets and messengers of God (Mal. 3:1; Matt. 21:34, 36, 37). raise up her waste places. The fall of Jerusalem came in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians invaded the Land. God promised to restore the Land to prosperity, the foretaste of restoration coming after 70 years with the help of the Persians (41:2), but the greater restoration to come in Messiah’s kingdom.
44:27 Be dry! The Lord demonstrated His power by drying up the Red Sea and the Jordan River when delivering His people from Egypt (43:2).
44:28 Cyrus…My shepherd. The prophecy—given a century and a half before Cyrus lived and became king of Persia—predicted God’s use of the Persian king to gather the faithful remnant of Israel back to the Land. In this role, Cyrus prefigured the Lord’s Servant, who will shepherd the sheep of Israel in their final regathering (Mic. 5:4). The title “shepherd” applied to kings as leaders of God’s people (2 Sam. 5:2; Jer. 3:15). In Acts 13:22, Paul compares David to the standard of Cyrus’ obedience. Jerusalem…the temple. In 538 B.C. Cyrus decreed the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 1:1, 2; 6:3), thus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. The returning Jews completed the work in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:15).
Isaiah 45
45:1 His anointed. This word is the one translated from the Heb. by the transliteration—”Messiah.” It is the word used for the messianic Redeemer King in Ps. 2:2 and Dan. 9:25, 26, but here refers to Cyrus, as the king set apart by God’s providence for divine purposes. Though not a worshiper of the Lord, the Persian monarch played an unusual role as Israel’s shepherd (44:28) and God’s anointed judge on nations.
45:1, 2 double doors…gates…gates of bronze. Probably this was a reference to the many gates in the city wall of Babylon which Cyrus entered with relative ease. The inner gates leading from the river to the city were left open, as were the palace doors. Herodotus, the Greek historian, reported that the openness of the city was so great that the Persians were taking prisoners as they moved to the palace in the center.
45:3 That you may know. God intended Cyrus to be aware that the God of the Jews was giving him victorious conquests. According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, who indicated that Daniel influenced Cyrus with the prophecy of Isaiah, the king did know that the God of Israel was with him.
45:4 For Jacob…have not known Me. For His servant Israel’s sake, the Lord raised up Cyrus, calling him by name, even though Cyrus did not have a personal relationship to Him. At some point, Cyrus certainly became aware of the true God and His sovereign control over human affairs, perhaps through the influence of Daniel (cf. Ezra 1:1–4).
45:6 from the rising of the sun to its setting. This expression, meaning the whole earth, points to the fact that through the eventual, final regathering of Israel (of which Cyrus’ exploits were a foretaste), the whole earth will know the Lord alone is God (cf. 43:10; 44:6).
45:8 righteousness…salvation…righteousness. Eventually the Lord will cause righteous goodness to prevail throughout the world, just as He has promised Israel that it would (v. 13; Hos. 10:12).
45:9, 10 Woe…Woe. Figures of the potter and the clay and of parent and child show how absurd it is to contend with God over His plans for the future. This anticipated the objections by the Jews against 1) their captivity and restoration by a pagan king, and 2) ultimately God’s sovereign plan to redeem Gentiles as well as Jews worldwide (cf. Rom. 9:20–24).
45:11 Ask Me of things to come. The Lord commands Israel to seek information about what He will do for the nation in the future, for He will reveal it.
45:12, 13 I have made…He shall build My city. As the omnipotent Creator, God can save the nation through Cyrus as He has promised.
45:14 Egypt…Cush…Sabeans. Three countries to the S (cf. 43:3) illustrate the worldwide submission to Israel that will prevail during the messianic kingdom age. Surely God is in you. All nations will acknowledge the presence of the one true God among His people Israel (49:23; 60:14). Paul the apostle found a fuller sense in these words when he advised the Corinthians on exercising prophecy rather than tongues in their meetings. This brought an acknowledgment from visitors of God’s presence among them (1 Cor. 14:25).
45:15 hide Yourself. The contemporary situation hid God’s purposes of mercy toward Israel, i.e., that they would repent and He would eventually regather them and make Jerusalem the center of world attention (cf. 8:17; 54:8; 57:17; Ps. 44:24).
45:16, 17 Israel shall be saved. Makers of idols are to find disillusionment because of the failure of their gods to deliver, but Israel is to find eternal salvation in the Lord (44:9–11; Rom. 11:25–27).
45:19 not spoken in secret. Unlike mysterious utterances of the false gods (8:19; 29:4), God’s revelations through His true prophets are open and accessible.
45:21 Who has declared this from ancient time? The Lord’s case to prove He is the only true God is unanswerable; only He foretold the captivity of Judah and the deliverance from that captivity, as well as other future events that happened just as He had predicted.
45:21 there is no other…There is none. The Lord restated the truth expressed by Moses in Deut. 4:35 (cf. 43:10; 44:6; 45:6). The scribe who asked Jesus about the greatest commandment cited this same principle in agreeing with Jesus’ answer to his question (Mark 12:32).
45:22 be saved, all you ends of the earth! When the Messiah sits on His throne in Jerusalem, all people will enjoy His temporal salvation in the physical blessings of the millennial earth and will have opportunity for spiritual salvation (49:6).
45:23 every knee shall bow. In the kingdom age, all nations will worship the one true God of Israel. A further meaning, justified by the NT, applies this verse to believers’ accountability to God when He evaluates their works (Rom. 14:11). In assigning the words another meaning, Paul relates the words to the coming universal acknowledgment that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10, 11).
45:25 all the descendants of Israel. Physical descent from Abraham alone cannot bring justification. Only the faithful remnant of Israel will be saved (v. 17; Rom. 11:25–27). “Justified” means to be declared righteous, to be treated as if one is not sinful, but holy through the application of Christ’s righteousness to the one who believes (cf. 61:10; 2 Cor. 5:21).
Isaiah 46
46:1 Bel…Nebo. The two most prominent gods in Babylon. “Bel” is another spelling for “Baal,” the Phoenician chief god of Babylon. That “Nebo” was extensively worshiped is shown by the proper names compounded from his: Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar, and Nebuzaradan.
46:2 gone into captivity. When Cyrus came, even the gods were taken into exile. These idols couldn’t save themselves from being laid down on the backs of beasts and hauled away, let alone save the people who worshiped them.
46:3, 4 all the remnant of the house of Israel. The God of Israel is not helpless like idols. In His strength He has sustained and will sustain helpless Israel through every circumstance. In v. 4, the Lord uses the first person pronoun 5 times to emphasize His personal involvement in delivering Israel.
46:5–8 The human origin and utter impotence of idols renders them unfit for comparison with the God of Israel (40:18–20). In v. 8, the prophet calls on the readers to recall the impotence of the idols they worship in transgression of God’s law.
46:9 Remember the former things of old. The readers are to recall: 1) all the past history of fulfilled prophecies, as well as 2) miraculous deliverances such as that from Egypt, and 3) providential blessings Israel has experienced. All of these are ample evidence that He alone is God.
46:11 man…from a far country. Cyrus was this man whom God summoned to conquer Babylon and return a remnant of Israel to end the 70 year captivity a century and a half after Isaiah wrote this prophecy (44:28; 45:1).
46:13 righteousness…salvation in Zion. At God’s appointed time, the salvation of Israel will become reality and result in the Messiah’s righteous kingdom (61:3; 62:11; Joel 3:17; Zech. 12:10—13:1; Rom. 11:25–27).
Isaiah 47
47:1–3 O virgin daughter of Babylon. The prophet depicted Babylon as a virgin in the sense of never before having been captured. Babylon sat like a royal virgin in the dust, experiencing complete humiliation. The “throne” was gone, taken by Persian power, and the empire never recovered from being robbed of its power, its people, and its name. The former royal virgin is depicted as a slave woman forced to exchange royal garments for working clothes, who must lift her garment to wade through the water as she serves like a slave traversing the river in her duties. Such duties in the E belonged to women of low rank, fitting imagery for Babylon’s fall into degradation.
