Isaiah 43:3
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
The verse identifies the speaker as the LORD, Israel's God, the Holy One of Israel and Saviour, and those words are Christ's own as the eternal I AM speaking as the divine Savior.
Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba were given in exchange as Israel's ransom, and that ransom was the Exodus, when after four hundred years of bondage God judged stubborn Egypt, ruined the land down to the firstborn, and made a path through the sea to free His people as their personal Redeemer.
Because He has redeemed them, called them by name and claimed them as His own, they are precious, honored and loved in His sight, and He is with them through waters, rivers and fire so trial will not overwhelm them.
He has blotted out their transgressions as a thick cloud and calls them in earnest repentance to return and trust and obey Him alone.
Christ speaks this word directly to every fearful, suffering and sin-burdened soul, especially in the latter days amid judgment and calamity, to give courage, healing and peace, that those He delivers will glorify Him as the Restorer of soul and body.
Words and Exodus Deliverance
The speaker names Himself the LORD, Israel's God, the Holy One of Israel, and Saviour, and on that identity He grounds His promises to redeem, love, protect, and stay with His people through trial so that hardship will not overwhelm them. He declares that He has redeemed them, that they are His, and that He will be with them and will not forsake them in danger. The speaker is Christ, the eternal I AM, and the title Saviour belongs to His claim to be the I AM. These words were spoken through Isaiah about Christ as the divine Savior, and all the words of Holy Scripture are His.
Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba were given in exchange as Israel's ransom, with men and peoples given for Israel's life. Egypt was given up and afflicted so that Israel could be freed from bondage, and other peoples were likewise given for Israel. This exchange was made because Israel was precious, honored, and loved in His sight, showing the people's preciousness to God and His commitment to save them.
The ransom refers to the Exodus after Israel went down to Egypt to escape starvation, was enslaved there, and suffered four hundred years of bondage. God judged Egypt because it would not let Israel go, gave Egypt over to desolation and ruin to deliver Israel, and devastated the whole land. That devastation came after Pharaoh persisted in unbelief, stubbornness, and resistance, and it included the death of the firstborn in Pharaoh's house and throughout the kingdom. God then made a path for His chosen people through the sea and delivered them, displaying His power to rescue and calling for trust in Him.
In that deliverance God acted as Israel's personal Redeemer, leading the people through the wilderness and caring for and guarding them there as an expression of His saving love. He showed His power over nature and every force that oppressed them, using His rule over nature to accomplish His purpose. By this He revealed that He alone is God.
Saviour's Love and Presence
The verse declares that God has redeemed His people, has called them by name, has claimed them as His own, and has made them belong to Him so that they need not fear. He speaks to them as Jacob and Israel, as their Creator and Redeemer, declaring they are His and that He is the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, and their Saviour.
Joined to the surrounding promises, the verse assures that He is with His people through danger, trial and affliction, through waters and rivers and fire, so that hardship will not overwhelm or destroy those who trust Him, for He will not forsake them. Affliction will not finally overwhelm those who trust in Him, for He is mighty to deliver them. This assurance grounds hope and comfort for one burdened by sorrow and anxiety in God's presence and saving care, and calls His people to trust and obey Him.
It shows that the people are precious, honored and loved in His sight, because He gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba as their ransom and gave men and peoples for their life. That exchange expresses His everlasting love and His loving-kindness in drawing them to Himself. Even when He hides His face from them for a moment, with everlasting kindness He has mercy on them. His care and guardianship of Israel in the wilderness is an expression of that same saving love.
It presents Him as having blotted out His people's transgressions as a thick cloud and as calling them to return to Him. That call is to trust in the Lord alone and to turn to Him in earnest repentance, trusting and obeying Him.
Prophecy and Present Application
Isaiah 43:3 belongs to a section in which God fully reveals His purpose for His people, and that section is to be studied prayerfully. It does not direct them to turn from God or to seek wisdom from finite people, but directs them to rely on His wisdom rather than finite human wisdom.
The chapter is a declaration of the Lord filled with promises and assurance, offering precious encouragement to believers in the latter days as judgments and calamities afflict the world. Its prophecies are to be fulfilled in the last days, when God shows great grace to His chosen people while His law is made void, including the prophecy of God's people being robbed and trapped and left without a deliverer. Christ speaks the verse directly and individually to every fearful, suffering and sin-burdened soul. It is especially for one trembling on the brink of the grave and weary of the burden of suffering and sin, declaring that He is the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and Saviour who has redeemed and called by name and claimed the person as His own.
It promises His abiding presence and protection through waters, rivers and fire, and that the person is precious, honored and loved in His sight. It is to be repeated to the afflicted, including by the physician to one trembling with fear on the brink of the grave, to give courage, faith and healing power. It gives the peace of Christ to the troubled heart, assuring it not to be troubled and not to be afraid. It is Christ's word with tears and with love and sympathy exceeding that of a tender mother to the trembling poor, meaning fear not, I will deliver thee, so that those delivered will glorify Him.
Deliverance is the cause for which He came into the world, shown in hearing every urgent cry, bending over suffering little ones, healing every disease, opening dumb lips in praise, letting the blind behold their Restorer, making hearts glad with hope and gladness and minds with peace, and restoring soul and body as Saviour who gives health of body and light to the soul. The verse also describes the Lord as God, the Holy One of Israel and Saviour doing His restoring work in one who partakes of the divine nature as a faithful steward. When a person guards every avenue of the soul, keeps the mind free from evil rubbish, and lays it open to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, he presents to the Lord his portion of the vineyard well-cultivated and beautiful through faithful planting, sowing, and extending into new lands.