Isaiah 43:7, commentary and pictures

Everyone called by God's name exists because He created and formed and made them for His glory, and they belong to Him as His own. He speaks this to Jacob and Israel as the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, their Saviour, who redeemed them and called them by name and beside whom there is no saviour. The speaker is Christ as Lord and Creator and King, the I AM to whom past, present, and future are alike. He promises to gather His sons and daughters from the east and the west, from the north and the south, from far and from the ends of the earth, even those scattered among the nations. Each person was made in God's own image as His property and steward to display His glory, so to glorify Him is to acknowledge Him in every word and act and use every entrusted faculty rightly, while cherished sin and selfishness dishonor His name and defeat the purpose of creation.

Called by His Name

Everyone who is called by God's name exists because He created him, formed him, and made him for His glory, and as such belongs to Him as His own. The word is spoken to Jacob and Israel, whom He created and formed, whom He redeemed and called by name and claims as His. He declares Himself to them as the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, their Saviour, and beside Him there is no saviour. The speaker through Isaiah is Christ as the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, Saviour, Creator of Israel and King, declaring Himself the I AM, the eternal presence to whom past, present and future are alike. Before Him there was no God formed and after Him there shall be none.

In its context He promises to gather His sons and His daughters from the east and the west, from the north and the south, from far and from the ends of the earth, including the remnant and those scattered among the nations. To an afflicted believer this is a direct personal assurance that He has redeemed her and called her by name, that she is His and precious and honorable in His sight. His tender compassion is toward all who are contrite in heart, His love is revealed toward the believing, trusting soul, His pity and compassion are over all His creatures, and He shows Himself strong in behalf of those who fear Him. He is moved toward His people who are exposed to the temptations of a relentless foe and unable in their own strength to meet him, is touched with the feeling of their infirmities, and bears them up all the days of their lives.

If they are obedient to His commandments which point out the safe and right way, walk in the path of obedience, and comply with the conditions of salvation, He is with them when they pass through the waters and rivers so they do not overflow them and when they walk through the fire so they are not burned. He keeps them close to Christ where the wicked one touches them not and cannot pluck them out of the Saviour's hands, is a very present help in trouble, and rewards homage and service rendered in perfect faith and love with the richest revealing of His grace. The verse belongs to a fuller revelation of God's purpose for His people in Isaiah 41-45, which should be prayerfully studied, declaring that He would be glorified in Israel. There He blots out their transgressions as a thick cloud, redeems them and calls them to return to Him, to look unto Him and be saved, for there is no God else beside Him, and therefore His servants who will not be forgotten must not turn away from His wisdom to look to finite man for wisdom.

Prophecy for Last Days

Isaiah 43 foretells the work of carrying the warning message to the world and sets forth the reason believers hold the faith they profess. In that same prophetic setting it portrays God's people as robbed and trapped in holes and hidden in prison houses, with no one to say restore and no one to deliver them. These words are not empty figures but prophecies that will be fulfilled.

The prophecy concerning God's chosen people, that everyone called by His name has been created and formed for His glory, will meet its fulfillment in the last days when God's law is made void. The chapter stands as one of precious promises and assurance, given to encourage true believers in the face of coming judgments and calamities. To those who follow Him in the latter days the Lord will fulfill what He has promised.

Living for His Glory

Humanity was created and formed for divine glory, and that original purpose stands opposed to sickness, suffering, and death, which came as the result of sin and will pass away when the design is fulfilled and sickness and death are no more. The purpose was to repopulate heaven with the human race if, after test and trial, they proved loyal, and Adam was to be tested to see whether he would be obedient or disobedient. Had he stood the test his thoughts would have been as the thoughts of God and his character would have been molded after the similitude of the divine character, and humanity would have become one with the heavenly family.

Every person was made in the divine image to glorify the Maker, belonging to Him as His property and standing in holy trust as His steward to display His glory and partake of the divine nature. This means the mind brought into harmony with the divine mind, answerable for the right use of every entrusted faculty, kept free from corrupting rubbish and opened to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness so that the intellect becomes well cultivated and the character well disciplined. To glorify Him is to acknowledge Him in every word and act, to appreciate His goodness and believe His Word, to stand in God-given manhood with clear reason and undulled intellect, to guard every avenue of the soul lest its fortifications be removed, to strive for the highest excellence by every means within reach and be faithful over little things, and to honor Him as Creator while preparing for the Judgment and faithfully planting, sowing, and extending into new lands.

Cherished sin and selfishness dishonor the divine name and cannot be accepted in His dominion, being contrary to the purpose for which humanity was created. Worshiping self, indulging appetite for liquor and tobacco, pride, vanity, self-indulgence, engrossment in gaining wealth, making a display, following worldly fashion, and neglecting spiritual welfare and preparation for the Judgment dishonor God and defeat the purpose of creation, while Satan works to obliterate all trace of the divine likeness in man. Willful sin in the church must therefore be met with every possible effort to bring the sinner to repentance. Those called by Christ's name belong to Him because He has redeemed them with His own blood, so that cruelty inflicted on them is treated as cruelty done to Him.