Isaiah 43:2, commentary and pictures

When believers pass through overwhelming trials, dangers and afflictions pictured as deep waters, dangerous rivers and burning fire, God Himself remains personally with them to strengthen, uphold and preserve them so trouble does not overwhelm or consume them. This does not mean they will be exempt from suffering, for they must still go through deep waters and fire, and even the faithful may feel the effects of calamity. Jesus speaks this promise directly and individually to each soul as Creator, Redeemer and Saviour who has redeemed His own, called them by name, and regards them as precious, honorable and loved. He watches over affliction as a refining fire that purifies character and removes dross and earthliness to fit it for heaven, while the true metal itself is not hurt or destroyed. The promise was remembered by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and fulfilled literally when Christ stood beside them in the Babylonian furnace so the flames lost power to consume and only their bonds were burned.

Words and Setting

The waters, the rivers, and the fire are deep waters, dangerous rivers, and burning fire picturing severe trials, dangers, afflictions, and hardships that may be overwhelming. They do not promise escape from suffering, but that those who trust and obey God will be sustained through it and not be utterly overwhelmed, overcome, or destroyed by it. The dangers are such as cannot be met in human strength alone, and the assurance is of continuing presence, care, deliverance, and saving help. The same word comforts one who confesses and forsakes sin and turns to God, with the Lord identifying Himself as that person's God and Saviour, and it assures Christ's followers that Jesus does not call them to follow Him and then abandon them in trouble.

The word stands among promises in which the God who created Jacob and formed Israel declares that He has redeemed His people and called them by name as His own. He is the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, their Saviour, to whom they are precious and honorable and loved, whom He created for His glory, for whom He will act, and whose transgressions He blots out for His own sake. His redeeming love has claimed the person by name as His own precious, honorable, and loved possession, and His presence goes with them through rivers of trouble and fire of trial so that trouble does not overwhelm them and trial does not destroy them. The assurance of presence and protection through danger is thus joined to redemption and forgiveness, and is to be repeated personally to the fearful and afflicted to give courage, faith, and healing.

The speaker is Jesus Christ, since all the words of Scripture are His words, speaking directly and individually to every soul weary with suffering and sin and trembling on the brink of death. His voice is heard to the trembling poor who remained when others fled, telling them with tears and love and sympathy not to fear, that He will deliver them and they will glorify Him. That deliverance is present healing and comfort for body and soul, given because He came into the world for this cause. The surrounding section in which the word stands reveals God's purpose for His people and directs them to seek wisdom from God and not from finite human beings.

The chapter to which the word belongs is a chapter of promises giving encouragement amid coming judgments, calamities, and affliction. It assures God's people that He will be with them and preserve them through overwhelming trials. Even faithful followers may feel the effects of calamities, but the assurance remains sure.

Presence and Protection

The promise is that God Himself stays with those who trust Him as they go through danger and hardship, holding them up and keeping them so that trouble does not overwhelm, overcome or destroy them and trial does not consume them. The waters, the rivers and the fire picture severe affliction that the church must endure, dangers too great to meet in human strength, met only by His continuing presence and care for those who trust and obey Him. It belongs to prophecies of coming hardship and deliverance for God's chosen and redeemed people, to be fulfilled in the last days when His law is made void and His people are robbed, spoiled, trapped and left without deliverer or restorer. Spoken personally to the suffering believer, it declares to one whom He has redeemed, called by name as His own, created for His glory, and who is precious and honorable in His sight, that He will be with her through deep waters and fiery trials and will act for her so trouble does not overwhelm her. The three Hebrews relied on this assurance when they faced the fiery furnace, and their keeping unharmed publicly honored God and rebuked earthly powers that defied Heaven.

The assurance is not escape from suffering but preservation in it, for believers must still pass through deep waters and fire and cannot claim exemption from trials and perplexities. No one knows how soon that passing will come, and even faithful followers may feel the effects of coming judgments, calamities and affliction, yet the assurance remains sure. As in a flooded crossing, travelers must still go through what frightens them, and passing safely through does not mean being abandoned or kept from entering the danger.

God sets bounds to the destroying power of trial, so that the furnace does not consume beyond what His people can bear. The furnace represents trials stirred up by Satan, who may contend against the godly and trouble their peace, but Jesus and angels watch over the trusting Christian and his power is limited, so that only the dross is consumed and the true metal is not destroyed or hurt. Before deep waters are faced, God also gives His people the Holy Spirit and blessings beforehand, preparing them for trials not yet met.

He does not forget His own and does not forsake them in sorrow or extremity. Deep waters of severe trial and oppression that seemed about to overwhelm them and cause them to sink did not do so, because the Lord did not forsake them. For Christ's followers this means Jesus does not call them to follow Him and then abandon them in trouble when trials are like deep waters or fire. Given through Isaiah about one hundred years before Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced the burning fiery furnace, the word was remembered by them and sustained their faith, and was fulfilled literally in Babylon when Christ stood beside them, the flames recognized Him who is mighty in power, and the Lord of heat and cold required obedience from nature so the flames lost power to consume.

Refining Through Affliction

Affliction can feel like a fire that will consume, yet the promise is that God stays with His people through severe trial and does not let them be overwhelmed or destroyed, watching over the process to purify and refine rather than to consume. His loving-kindness remains with them in hardship as in times of peace, guarding them and bringing them through. The fire removes the impurities and roughness of character and burns away dross and earthliness, purifying them for heavenly life so that Christ's image may be reflected in them.

Satan may heat the furnace of affliction, stir up trials, contend against the godly and trouble their peace, but Jesus and angels watch over the trusting believer and his power is limited. Therefore the trial cannot destroy or harm the true character, for only the dross is consumed while the true metal is not destroyed or hurt.

Passing through waters and fire includes prisons, persecution, and martyr death under dark clouds of oppression, yet the risen Christ is personally present, entering prisons to reveal Himself to His chosen ones and standing with them at the stake so they are not extinguished or destroyed. The darker the trial, the more clearly His glory and living power are revealed to the church, giving its most instructive lessons. Holding fast in faith through such suffering keeps His servants contrite and humble.

Prophecy and Fulfillment

The promise was given through Isaiah about one hundred years before Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced the burning fiery furnace. It means that God does not forget His own but is personally with faithful people in trial, so that when they walk through fire they are not burned. The three Hebrew youth remembered it, relied on it, and were sustained by it in faith when threatened with death for loyalty to God. They trusted God and remained loyal to Him rather than yield.

The promise was fulfilled literally in Babylon when Christ stood beside them in the furnace. The flames recognized the presence of Him who is mighty in power, and the Lord of heat and cold required obedience from nature so the flames lost their power to consume. They were kept unharmed in the flames while their bonds alone were burned. Their deliverance publicly honored God and rebuked earthly powers that defied Heaven.

The verse belongs with prophecies about God's chosen people being robbed, spoiled, trapped, and left without deliverer or restorer. Those prophecies will be fulfilled in the last days. Then God's law is made void, His grace is manifested, and He remains with His people through overwhelming trials and protects them from being overcome.

Redemption and Healing

The assurance holds because redeeming love has already acted, having created and formed its people, redeemed them and called each one by name as its own. It rests on personal knowledge and love and on the regard in which the person is held as a precious possession, honorable and loved. The One who gives it identifies Himself as the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel and Saviour, who is with His people and who blots out transgressions for His own sake. Therefore those burdened by suffering and sin are assured that through severe trials of deep waters and rivers of trouble and fire of trial, adversity will not overwhelm or destroy them.

The promise calls sinners to return, offering comfort to one who confesses and forsakes sin and turns to God. To such a one the Lord identifies Himself as his God and Saviour, assuring him that He has redeemed him. He will forgive sins, blot out transgressions, and make clean.

To the trembling poor who remained in the temple when the priests fled, the verse speaks as the voice of Christ telling them not to fear. With tears and love and sympathy He tells them He will deliver them, and that they will glorify Him. That deliverance is present healing and comfort for body and soul, given because He came into the world for this cause.

Since all the words of Scripture are His words, Jesus speaks them directly and individually to every soul weary with suffering and sin and trembling on the brink of death. The verse is to be repeated personally to the fearful and afflicted to give courage, faith, and healing.

Courage for Daily Life

The promise gives ground for courage through successive dangers, pictured as passing first through fire and then through water, and that courage rests on trusting what God has said and placing oneself in His hands rather than on feeling. Since God lives and reigns, where a person is or what position is held matters little if His approval is possessed, for happiness can be carried along and believers should be content and cheerful and happy as true and living Christians rather than uneasy and restless and dissatisfied, or rash and impatient and headstrong. Deep waters of affliction and trial with their perplexities cannot be avoided, no one knows how soon they will come, and probation will soon close on earth.

Passage through danger displays divine goodness, for God is with His people through deep waters and keeps them from being overwhelmed. Passing safely through dangerous waters does not mean being abandoned or overcome, nor does it mean absence of fear, for travelers must still go through the flooded crossing even when it frightens them.

God stays with, strengthens, upholds, and sustains His people as they pass through deep waters so hardship does not overwhelm them or cause them to sink, and He does not forsake them in extremity even when severe trials and oppression seem ready to engulf them. So a publishing worker was assured that her husband must continue publishing and that he would be sustained, and after years of suffering he was mercifully healed in answer to prayer. The same image of passing through deep waters describes overwhelming personal distress, as in a mother's own distress that could nearly overwhelm. It describes Sister Evans's severe affliction over her husband's infatuation with another woman. It also describes King's survival after a serious injury as staying above a wave so the waters did not overflow him, when Satan sought to destroy him but God directed help to him and preserved his life.