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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 43:2

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When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

2. When Jehovah was angry the fire burned Israel (ch. Isa 42:25), but now with Jehovah on its side, it is invulnerable in the severest trials. “Water” and “fire” are common images of extreme peril; the former in Psa 32:6; Psa 42:7; Psa 124:4 f.; the latter in ch. Isa 42:25 (cf. Dan 3:17; Dan 3:27); both together Psa 66:12. For burned render scorched (Pro 6:28).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

When thou passest through the waters – This is a general promise, and means that whenever and wherever they should pass through water or fire, he would protect them. It had been true in their past history as a people; and the assurance is here given in order that they might be comforted in view of the calamities which they were then suffering in Babylon. Fire and water are often used in the Scriptures to denote calamity – the latter because it overwhelms; the former because it consumes; see Psa 69:1 – The waters are come into my soul; also Psa 73:10; Psa 124:4-5; Psa 66:12 – We went through fire and through water.

I will be with thee – (Compare the note at Isa 41:10).

And through the rivers – Also expressive of calamity and danger – like attempting to ford deep and rapid streams.

They shall not overflow thee – As was the case with the Jordan when they crossed it under the guidance of Joshua, and a pathway was made for the armies of Israel.

When thou walkest through the fire – This is expressive of calamity and danger in general like passing through fire. Yet it had a literal fulfillment in the case of the three pious Jews who were cast by Nebuchadnezzar into the burning furnace Dan 3:25, Dan 3:27.

Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee – It shall not only not consume thee, but it shall hog even burn, or injure thee (see Dan 3:27). The Chaldee Paraphrase refers this verse to the passage through the Red Sea, and to the protection which God gave his people there. It is rendered, In the beginning, when you passed through the Red Sea, my word was your aid. Pharaoh and Egypt, who were mighty like the waters of a river, were not able to prevail against you. And when thou didst go among a people who were formidable like fire, they could not prevail against you, and the kingdoms which were strong like flame could not consume you. It is, however, to be understood rather as a promise pertaining to the future; though the language is mainly derived, undoubtedly, from Gods protecting them in their perils in former times.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Isa 43:2

When thou passest through the waters

Through water and fire.

I. Notice the frank and matter-of-course way in which your AFFLICTIONS AND TRIALS are mentioned. The waters, the rivers, the fire, the flame; it takes it for granted that you will meet with some or all of them before you have finished your course, and they are mentioned in a way, too, that will not suffer you to think lightly of them. Waters, many of them, and may be deep; rivers, rushing calamities that threaten to carry you away; fire and flame! hard words these, and I gather that your tribulations, Jacob, are great, various, and sure.

II. But the words, When thou passest,–And when thou walkest, clearly intimate that JACOB IS TRAVELLING, MOVING FROM ONE POINT TO ANOTHER. We may be quite sure that the waters, rivers, fire, flame we read of:here have reference only to such of them as are met with on Jacobs proper track. If these perilous possibilities do not confront him on the way of duty; and if he makes a voluntary circumbendibus, to serve only his own pleasure, so that he confronts them; then, such waters and such fires are very likely to destroy him. Lot goes and settles down in Sodom; he had no more business there than has flour in a soot-bag; and the fire burnt him. The waters overflowed Jonah to some purpose; but that was because he went where he liked, and not where he ought.

III. Not only shall Jacob be safe in the flood, and brought through the fire; not only shall both flood and fire become vanquished perils living only in the victors memory, but THE PASSING THROUGH THEM SHALL DO GOOD TO JACOB! He shall be a nobler soul for being tossed by waves; he shall be a purer being for being tried by fire, and like the finely tempered steel which was first in the red-hot furnace, and was then plunged into the ice-cold cistern, and so became the keen, invincible blade: so the trial, afflictions, testings of the Christian do mould and temper and shape and brighten Jacobs character, and ennoble after the Christly pattern his moral manhood, which is the glory of his immortal soul! Note two things to be remembered in the day of the flood and fire.

1. Thy God has promised to be ever at thy side.

2. This gracious God, who controls the waters and restrains the fires end conducts His people through them both, reveals Himself here as the Lord that created thee, O Jacob; and He that formed thee, O Israel. He made thee, O Jacob; then He knows thee, knows thy frame; remembereth that thou art dust,–will not put upon thee more than thou canst bear, neither will He forsake the work of His hands. He raised us from the ruins of the fall, made us temples for Himself to dwell in. Then He will never suffer the structures He has erected at so much care and cost to be thrown down by violence, swept away by turbulent waters, or devoured by the ruthless flame. Thou art mine! He says. It is the language of complacency and delight. Thou art mine! My property! My charge! My joy! My jewel! And I will guard My own! Surely with such a text as this to fall back upon, O thou redeemed one, thou wilt not doubt or fear. (J. J. Wray.)

Divine convoy

I. THE PATHWAY THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD TREAD. Through waters, rivers, fires, and flames. It is through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom.

1. If I look at the temporalities first, the wilderness through which we pass is full of troubles. Thorns and thistles has it brought forth ever since the curse was pronounced upon it; and you can scarcely look into a circle of your acquaintance without finding sicknesses, sorrows, losses, cares, broils, contentions, all the fruits of sin, constantly presented to your view. Is not this, then, a tribulated path?

2. Mark, among the tribulations, the rigour of a fiery law.

3. In this unceasing warfare the flesh hateth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.

4. Look at the grand adversary of souls, and his fiery temptations. That is another fire to pass through–Satans suggestions.

II. THE UPHOLDING POWER. I will be with thee. Good company at all events. Was He not with all the worthies recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures, in their sharp conflicts, giving them all the victory? There are two views that may be taken of this precious promise. There is such a thing as God being with His people, and they not knowing it; and there is such a thing as their sensible enjoyment of it. There are two things to be considered. The immutable faithfulness of God has bound Him never to desert the objects of His love. But there have been many instances in which people have been groping in the dark; it has been a long while before they could find Him; and in many instances they have been ready to say, My prayer is shut out; and led to exclaim, Hath God in anger shut up His tender mercies? Will His compassion fail?

III. THE TERMINUS. Heavenly rest–not a wave of trouble shall roll across this peaceful breast. (J. Irons.)

Gods presence in crisis moments

It is surprising to note how the facts of this peoples history have impressed themselves upon the language and thought of Christendom.

I. THAT SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE IS THE SAME IN ALL AGES. These words were written by the prophet of the Exile, who could speak of himself and his comrades as passing through the waters. He shows in this way that he realises that the exiles are one in experience with their ancestors who passed through the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan. Though their circumstances were different, the variation in outward detail was insignificant. The same parts of their nature were tested, and the same virtues were disciplined. Thus this prophet becomes the link between us, who are the disciples of Christ, and the Israelites who crossed the Jordan.

II. THAT IN EVERY LIFE THERE ARE A FEW BRIEF BUT INTENSE TRIALS. There was the long and weary strain of desert life to be constantly borne. The passage of the sea and the river came but twice, and then lasted but a few hours, though the agony for the time was intense. They entered the sea in a night of awful storm, because the terror of their enemies was upon them. They entered the river in broad daylight in utter trust of God, knowing that only thus could the enjoyment of Canaans goodly land be theirs. One was a struggle of fear, the other the yielding of all to God in simple faith. In the Christian life peace only comes after this second struggle.

III. THAT LIFE BEFORE AND AFTER SUCH A CRISIS IS WHOLLY DIFFERENT. The Red Sea was the boundary line between bondage and freedom; the Jordan between wandering and rest, between hope and possession. It seems as though such struggles were the birth-throes of a new life. To pass on to a higher plane such struggle must be encountered. It was such a trial as God called upon Job to pass through.

IV. THAT ONE SUCH CRISIS IS DEATH. In the life of Christ it would appear that the temptation connected with His baptism was His Red Sea, just as St. Paul tells us that the sea was Israels baptism: They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. We know that this temptation was one of the crises of our Saviours life. Then the devil leaveth Him for a season, not to return with like power until he meets Him again at Gethsemane. This was Christs Jordan. Not until this was passed was His sorrow vanquished or His labour finished. When Christian reached this river he was dazed and despondent, and began to look this way and that to see if he could not escape the river. Truly, death is the last and not the least enemy.

V. THAT HUMAN FRIENDSHIP CAN AVAIL BUT LITTLE HERE. Friends may say, I am with you in sympathy; but they can render no help. Viewing the struggle, they may long to share it, but here they must leave their friends in the hands of God.

VI. THAT GOD IS WITH US IN ALL SUCH CRISIS MOMENTS. Hopefuls comforting words did Christian little good. But he heard a voice say, When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. Indeed, that is His name, Immanuel, God with us. And Christ has said, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end. If God has brought us through the sea, if He has commenced the good work within us, He will bring us through the Jordan, and thus complete what He has begun. In virtue of such a precious promise we need have no fear. (R. C. Ford, M. A.)

The floods and the flames

I. CONTEMPLATE THE SCENES THROUGH WHICH THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE CALLED TO PASS. No metaphor is more frequent in the Bible than that by which sudden calamities are represented by a deluge of waters (Psa 42:7; Psa 69:1; Psa 96:2).

1. All must pass through–

(1) The waters of temptation (Jam 1:12).

(2) The waters of affliction, in circumstances, person, mind, family.

(3) The river of death. How wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan?

2. We are all familiar with affliction under the image of fire (Ps 1Co 3:13; Isa 48:10; 1Pe 4:12). It is the tendency of fire to–

(1) Consume (Mal 4:1). Affliction, like a fire, will tend to consume our corruptions, whilst we ourselves remain uninjured.

(2) Melt. All metals can be melted, and receive whatever stamp the artificer may impress.

(3) Try. Place any substance in the fire, and its nature and properties are made manifest. Thus Abraham was tried; Job (Job 23:10); Israel Deu 8:2); Hezekiah.

(4) Purify and refine (Isa 1:25; Mal 3:2-3).

II. CONSIDER THE PROMISES MADE TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD WHEN PASSING THROUGH THESE SCENES.

1. The Divine presence. We naturally look for sympathy in the day of trouble (Job 6:14): Sometimes friends who are with us in sunshine forsake us in storm (Job 19:21; Act 28:15, with 2Ti 4:16). But God will never forsake us.

2. Divine protection. The rivers shall not overflow, etc. (Jos 1:9; Act 23:11; Deu 33:25).

3. Divine deliverance. We are not always to be fording rivers, struggling with floods, or walking through fires. We are to leave them all behind. The rest of Canaan compensated for all the toils of the wilderness (Rom 8:18). (Clergymans Magazine.)

The godly in trouble

1. The godly have the best company in the worst places in which their lot is east. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.

2. The godly have special help in their times of deepest trouble. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.

3. The godly are the subjects of miracles of mercy in seasons of greatest distress. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

Gods people not exempt from trouble

If God has a favoured people whom He has chosen, upon whom His distinguishing grace has lighted to make them great and honourable, you would suppose that the verse would run thus: Thou shalt not go through the waters, for I will be with thee to keep thee out of them; neither shalt thou pass through the rivers, for I have bridged them on thy behalf. Thou shalt never go through the fire, and therefore thou shalt not be burned; neither shall there be any fear that the flame shall kindle upon thee, for it shall not come near thee. There is no such word of promise; it would be contrary to the whole tenor of the covenant, which ever speaks of a rod, and of the chosen passing under it. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

Light on the billows crest

There is a story of a shipwreck which tells how the crew and passengers had to leave the broken vessel and take to the boats. The sea was rough, and great care in rowing and steering was necessary, in order to guard the heavily laden boats, not from the ordinary waves, which they rode over easily, but from the great cross seas. Night was approaching, and the hearts of all sank as they asked what they should do in the darkness when they would no longer be able to see these terrible waves. To their great joy, however, when it grew dark, they discovered that they were in phosphorescent waters, and that each dangerous wave rolled up crested with light which made it as clearly visible as if it were midday. So it is that lifes dreaded experiences when we meet them carry in themselves the light which takes away the peril and the terror. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)

Comfort found in God

During the sixteen weeks in which Sir Bartle Frere was dying, though he was nearly always in great pain, not one murmur escaped him. Just at the end he said, I have looked down into the great abyss, but God has never left me through it all. Name that Name when I am in pain, he once said to his wife; it calls me back. (Quiver.)

A heartening presence

An exceedingly nervous man was once sentenced to twenty-four hours imprisonment in the dungeon of an old prison. Full of fear he sank to the floor. His brain throbbed as with fever, and mocking voices seemed to sound. He felt terror would drive him mad. Suddenly, overhead, he heard the prison chaplains voice calling his name. Are you there? he gasped. Yes, and I am going to stay till you come out. God bless you, he said; I do not mind it at all now, with you there. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)

Triumphant dying

In her last days Mrs. Booth, of the Salvation Army, sent this message to her friends,–it is a triumphant death-song: The waters are rising, but so am I. I am not going under, but over. Do not be concerned about your dying. Only go on living well, and the dying will be all right.

When thou walkest through the fire

Fire

Walking through the fire here is put for the severest form of trouble. You have, in the commencement of the verse, trouble described as passing through the water. This represents the overwhelming influence of trial, in which the soul is sometimes so covered that it becomes like a man sinking in the waves. When thou goest through the rivers,–those mountain torrents which with terrific force are often sufficient to carry a man away. This expresses the force of trouble, the power with which it sometimes lifts a man from the foothold of his stability, and carries him before it. When thou passest through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. But going through the fire expresses not so much the overwhelming character and the upsetting power of trouble as the actual consuming and destructive power of trouble and temptation. The metaphor is more vivid, not to say more terrific, than that which is employed in the first sentence, and yet, vivid and awful though it be, it is certainly not too strong a figure to be used as the emblem of the temptations and afflictions through which the Church and people of God have been called to pass.

I. THIS TERRIBLE PATHWAY. The sacramental host of Gods elect has never had an easy road along which to journey. I see the fields on fire, the prairie is in a blaze, the very heavens are like a furnace, and the clouds seem rather to be made of fire than water. Across that prairie lies the pathway to heaven, beneath that blazing sky the whole Church of God must make its perpetual journey. It started at the first in fire, and its very glory at the last shall take place in the midst of the fiery passing away of all things. When first there was a Church of God on earth, in the person of Abel, it was persecuted. Since that day, what tongue can tell the sufferings of the people of God! It hath fared well with the Church when she hath been persecuted, and her pathway hath been through fire. Her feet are shod with iron and brass. She ought not to tread on paths strewn with flowers; it is her proper place to suffer.

II. There is AN AWFUL DANGER. The promise of the text is based on a prophecy that follows it. The chapter tells us how God taught His people by terrible things in the past, and how He hath terrible lessons to teach them in the future. The Church has had very painful experience that persecution is a fire which does burn. How many ministers of Christ, when the day of tribulation came, forsook their flocks and fled. Again: I see iniquity raging on every side. Its flames are fanned by every wind of fashion- And fresh victims are being constantly drawn in. It spreads to every class. Not the palace nor the hovel is safe. We may give the alarm to you, young man, who are in the midst of ribald companions. I may cry fire! to you who are compelled to live in a house where you are perpetually tempted to evil. I may cry fire! to you who are marked each day, and have to bear the sneer of the ungodly,–fire! to you who are losing your property and suffering in the flesh, for many have perished thereby. We ought not to look upon our dangers with contempt; they are dangers, they are trials. We ought to look upon our temptations as fires.

III. Here is A DOUBLE INSURANCE. It strikes me that in the second clause we have the higher gradation of a climax. Thou shalt not be burned, to the destruction of thy life, nor even scorched to give thee the most superficial injury, for the flames shall not kindle upon thee. Juat as when the three holy children came out of the fiery furnace it is said, Upon their bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed; neither were their coats changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them; so the text seems to me to teach that the Christian Church under all its trials has not been consumed; but more than that–it has not lost anything by its trials. Upon the entire Church, at the last, there shall not be even the smell of fire. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fire harmful and harmless

When Jehovah was angry the fire burned Israel (Isa 42:25), but now with Jehovah on its side it is invulnerable in the severest trials. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Though I will chastise thee for thy sins, yet I will not suffer thine enemies utterly to destroy thee: compare Jer 30:11.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

2. rivers . . . not overflow theesoin passing Jordan, though at its “overflow,” whenits “swellings” were especially dangerous (Jos 3:15;Jer 12:5).

waters . . . fireaproverbial phrase for the extremest perils (Ps66:12; also Ps 138:7).Literally fulfilled at the Red Sea (Exo 14:21;Exo 14:22), and in the case of thethree youths cast into the fiery furnace for conscience’ sake(Dan 3:25; Dan 3:27).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

When thou passest through the waters; I will be with thee,…. The Targum and Jarchi apply this to the Israelites’ passage through the waters of the Red sea, as a thing past; and Kimchi to Sennacherib’s army, compared to the waters of a river strong and many, Isa 8:7. Jerom says, that the Jewish writers by “waters” would have the Egyptians understood; by the “rivers”, the Babylonians; by “fire”, the Macedonians; and by the “flame”, the Romans; which is not amiss; but rather the afflictions of God’s people in general are meant by waters, as by rivers also, in the next clause:

and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; because of the variety and multitude of them, as persecutions from men, those proud waves that go over them; the temptations of Satan, that enemy who comes in like a flood, and various others; and because of the rapidity and force of them, and their overflowing and overwhelming nature: now there are paths through which the people of God pass: their way lies through them to eternal glory; and though they are of some continuance, yet have an end, as paths have; and having a good guide, and sufficient strength given them, they wade through them safely; for they do not and shall not “overflow” them, so as to cause their faith utterly to fail, or to separate them from the love of God, or so as to destroy them; for though they come nigh them, and upon them, and may greatly affect and distress them, yet shall not hurt them, but turn to their advantage; for their God is with them, to sympathize with them, to comfort and revive them, to teach and instruct them by their afflictions, and to sanctify them to them, as well as to support and bear them up under them, and to deliver out of them:

when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt: neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; afflictions are compared to fire and flames, because very grievous and troublesome to the flesh; and because of the apprehensions of God’s wrath in them sometimes; and because of their trying nature; grace is tried by them as gold and silver in the fire; but yet the saints are not consumed by them, they lose nothing but their dross; their principles and profession are tried, and they are supported through all; which has been abundantly verified in the martyrs of Jesus; see Ps 66:12.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

2 When thou shalt pass through the waters. This is an anticipation by which he declares that they who rely on God’s immediate assistance have no reason for sinking under adversity. That is stated more fully than in the preceding verse, because while he shews that the Church will not be exempt from calamities and afflictions, but must maintain a constant warfare, he encourages to patience and courage; as if he had said, “The Lord hath not redeemed thee that thou mightest enjoy pleasures and luxuries, or that thou mightest abandon thyself to ease and indolence, but rather that thou shouldest be prepared for enduring every kind of evils.”

By fire and water he means every kind of miseries to which we are liable in this life; for we must contend not with calamities of one kind only, but with infinitely diversified calamities. At one time we must “pass through wares” and at another “through fire.” (Psa 66:12.) In like manner the Apostle James exhorts believers not to faint when they “fall into various temptations.” (Jas 1:2.) And, indeed, faith needs to be put to the trial in many ways; for it often happens that he who has been victorious in one combat has been baffled by another kind of temptation. We are therefore tried by afflictions, but are at length delivered; we are baffled by the billows, but are not swallowed up; we are even scorched by the flames, but are not consumed. We have, indeed, the same feeling of pain as other men, but we are supported by the grace of God, and fortified by the spirit of patience, that we may not faint; and at length he will stretch out his hand and lift us up on high. (163)

(163) “ Jusqu’ ace qu’il nons esleve en haut a soy.” “Till he raise us on high to himself.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(2) When thou passest through the waters . . .The two contrasted forms of elemental perils are used, as elsewhere, proverbially for all forms of danger (Psa. 66:12).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Isa 43:2. When thou passest through the waters, &c. The general sense of the promise in this verse is, that God will so support and protect his spiritual church in those adversities and calamities which seem to threaten its destruction, that it shall never be destroyed; and that true believers shall always be supported by the hand of the Almighty. The expression in this verse seems to allude to some preceding events in the Jewish history, and to have respect to some succeeding ones. See Psa 66:12.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 932
THE SAINTS ARE WITNESSES FOR GOD

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.
GOD is a jealous God, and cannot endure that any other should be put in competition with him. Hence he takes frequent occasion to reprove the idolatry into which his people were ever prone to relapse. He shews them the folly of cutting down a tree, and kindling a fire with part of the wood, and roasting their food with it, and then fashioning another part of the same tree into the image of a man, and bowing down to it as a god. He challenges them and all the world to bring any single instance of such senseless idols having ever revealed things that were long past and forgotten, or of their having ever foretold future events, or effected for their votaries any signal deliverance. He appeals to them, that He had done these things for them; and that therefore they themselves were witnesses for him, that he was the only true God.
A similar appeal may properly be made to the people of God at this day. They have within themselves very convincing proofs of his exclusive right to universal adoration;

In what he has taught them

He has given them such views of Divine truth as they could not possibly obtain from any other quarter. He has shewn them,

The depravity of their nature

[Others may profess in words that they are fallen creatures; but who over learned, from more study, or the instructions of man, that his heart was deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked? Who ever so learned it, as really to abhor himself in dust and ashes? But God does teach all his people this lesson and all who have learned it, are therefore living witnesses of his almighty power and grace.]

The excellency of Christ

[To compliment Christ with honourable titles is common enough. But who can open a mans eyes, so that he shall behold the glory of God in his face? Yet this is done for all the Lords people. To every one of them Christ is truly precious In this respect therefore they are witnesses that their teacher is the omnipotent Jehovah.]

The beauty of holiness

DISCOURSE: 932
THE SAINTS ARE WITNESSES FOR GOD

Isaiah 43; Isaiah 12. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.

GOD is a jealous God, and cannot endure that any other should be put in competition with him. Hence he takes frequent occasion to reprove the idolatry into which his people were ever prone to relapse. He shews them the folly of cutting down a tree, and kindling a fire with part of the wood, and roasting their food with it, and then fashioning another part of the same tree into the image of a man, and bowing down to it as a god. He challenges them and all the world to bring any single instance of such senseless idols having ever revealed things that were long past and forgotten, or of their having ever foretold future events, or effected for their votaries any signal deliverance. He appeals to them, that He had done these things for them; and that therefore they themselves were witnesses for him, that he was the only true God.
A similar appeal may properly be made to the people of God at this day. They have within themselves very convincing proofs of his exclusive right to universal adoration;

In what he has taught them

He has given them such views of Divine truth as they could not possibly obtain from any other quarter. He has shewn them,

The depravity of their nature

The excellency of Christ

The beauty of holiness

[However some particular virtues may be admired in the world, the holiness which the Gospel requires is odious in their eyes. Penitence is considered as melancholy; devotion, as hypocrisy: zeal for God, as enthusiasm; and an earnest expectation of glory, as consummate pride and presumption. And who can alter their views? Not an Apostle, nor even an angel from heaven. They might be silenced; but nothing less than Omnipotence can so change their sentiments, as to make them in love with a spiritual and heavenly life. But the Child of God sees that such a life is the perfection of bliss, a very heaven upon earth and herein also is a witness, that the God whom he serves is the only true God.]
But the Children of God are also living witnesses of his power and Godhead,

II.

In what he has done for them

We acknowledge the creation to be an evidence that the Maker thereof is God: and so likewise is the work which God hath wrought in his saints.

He has created them anew

[The change that takes place in conversion is not an outward and partial, but an inward and universal, change. It is a new birth, a renovation of the inward man after the image of God But where is the power that can effect this? Let philosophy try her powers; let reason exert herself: the old man, the corrupt principles of nature, will laugh at them, and defy their utmost exertions But is not this change actually wrought in thousands? We grant, that in many who have professed to have experienced it, it is but very imperfectly produced; yea, and that many who think it has been wrought m them only deceive their own souls: but all the Apostles were not like Judas; nor are all professors of religion hypocrites. Take then the upright and consistent Christian, and tell me whether any power on earth can produce such a character? if not, he is a witness for God, that HE alone is worthy of our hope and dependence.]

He has elevated them above the world

[There is among the professors of religion so great a diversity of attainment, and we are so little able to judge respecting the secret experience of their hearts, that we cannot with any certainty form our estimate of the Christian character from what we see around us: we must go to the inspired volume, and take that as the only standard of Christian experience. Now we know that Christians are there represented as not being of the world, any more than Christ himself was of the world: and we see there examples of persons altogether crucified to the world, to its cares, its pleasures, and to every thing that is in it. That there are but few Christians in the present day who have arrived at the Scripture standard, we confess with grief and shame; and it will be well if many of them do not find themselves awfully mistaken, when they shall stand at the judgment-seat of Christ: but the truth is the same, whether few or many experience it; and it is a certain fact, that every Child of God is delivered from the love of this present evil world and the fewness of those, whose lives correspond with their professions, tends to prove, rather than to disprove, the point we have affirmed. For, where shall we find one person truly elevated above the world, unless amongst those who have been born of God? Some may be found who are dissatisfied with the world, and who from age or other circumstances find no relish for it: but if they were put into a capacity to enjoy the world as they once did, their love of it would be found as strong as ever. We defy the whole world to produce one, who by the mere powers of reason has been raised above the world; and this is a decisive proof that the deadness to the world which true Christians experience, is the work of an Almighty arm.]

He has filled them with spiritual peace and joy

[The peace and joy which the unconverted man possesses, will vanish at the prospect of death and judgment: or if under the influences of deluded hopes they retain a confidence, the peace flowing from that confidence is as different from that which is the fruit of the Spirit, as the ravings of a maniac are from the suggestions of sober reason But the true Christian has a peace that passeth all understanding, and a joy that is unspeakable and glorified Whence does ho obtain this? Who but God can give it him? or who can take it away, when God has given it him? Here then again is he a witness for God, that his power and grace are infinite.]

Address
Those who idolatrously exalt the creature

[See the challenge given by God himself [Note: ver. 8, 9.]: produce the people that have obtained from any but Jehovah, either this knowledge, or this experience. We defy the whole universe. Bring forth your witnesses, that you may be justified: or else hear ye, and acknowledge, that what we have affirmed is truth. the more you examine the pretensions of any who profess to have acquired these things by their own power, the more evidence you will have, that God alone can produce them in the souls of men ]

Those who profess to be Christians indeed

[Remember that it is your duty and office to be witnesses for God. You are to be as lights in a dark world, and as a city upon a hill. Be then voluntary witnesses. Wicked men, and even the devils themselves, are in some sense witnesses for him: they attest, though against their will, that his representations of the human heart are true, and that he is a God of infinite patience, majesty, and power. But you are intentionally to make your light shine before men, and to convince them by the holiness of your lives that God is with you of a truth. Be also steadfast witnesses. You will find many temptations to put your light under a bushel; but you must be resolute in glorifying God, whether by life or by death. Further, be also consistent witnesses. The world will judge, not by your words, but by your actions: and if they see these to be at variance with each other, they will rather harden themselves in their infidelity, and adduce your testimony as adverse to God. Look to it then that ye walk in all things holily, justly, and unblameably; and that they who are on the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

Lastly, for your encouragement, think what witnesses ye shall one day be for God in heaven! How will ye there proclaim and manifest his power and grace! O blessed day! Look forward to it with joy; and prepare for it by increasing zeal in the service of your God.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Mark well the causes of the divine love; Jacob and Israel are the objects of God’s care, from every consideration: Jehovah created them, and hath newly created them in Christ; he hath redeemed them also, and he hath called them. He is their God in covenant; and so dear are they to him, that he hath given all nations for them, They are the gift of his love, the purchase of Christ’s blood, the subjects of his grace; and therefore they are, and must be most precious in his sight: so that all the elements of nature, so far from proving noxious to them, shall be made to minister to his glory, in their welfare. Reader, think of these precious things; and if thou canst find in thine experience testimonies of redemption by Christ, ask thine heart, what can be wanting to endear a poor sinner to the Lord, whose precious blood must be infinitely more costly and valuable than all the riches of Ethiopia and Egypt.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Ver. 2. When thou passest through the waters. ] Fire and water, we say, have no mercy when once they get above us; extreme calamities are hereby denoted. Psa 66:12 But God’s gracious presence kept the bush from burning – burn it did, but was not consumed, through “the good will of him that dwelt in it” saith Moses Deu 33:16 – the Israelites in the Red Sea from drowning. Exo 14:28-29 His presence made the fiery furnace a gallery of pleasure; the lion’s den a house of defence; the Leonine prison a delectable orchard, as that Italian martyr phrased it; the fiery trial a bed of roses, as another, Tua praesentia, Domine, Laurentio ipsam craticulam dulcem feeit. Jerome of Prague and other martyrs sang in the very flames. Blessed Bilney, being condemned to be burned for the testimony of Jesus, when he was comforted by some against the extremity of the fire, put his hand toward the flame of the candle burning before them, and feeling the heat thereof, Oh, said he, I feel by experience, and have learned by philosophy, that fire by God’s ordinance is naturally hot. But yet I am persuaded by God’s Holy Word, and by the experience of some spoken of in the same, that in the flame they felt no heat, and in the fire no consumption. I constantly believe, that howsoever the stubble of this my body shall be wasted by it, yet my soul and spirit shall be purged thereby; a pain for the time, wherein notwithstanding followeth joy unspeakable; and here he much treated on this text, “Fear not, when thou passest through the waters,” &c. So that some of his friends there present took such sweet benefit therein that they caused the whole said sentence to be fair written in tables, and some in their books, the comfort whereof in varions of them was never taken from them to their dying day. a

a Acts and Mon., fol. 923.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

When thou passest = shouldst thou pass: the habitual sense of ki with the Future. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 31:6, Deu 31:8).

the waters . . . the rivers. . . the fire . . . the flame = waters . . . rivers . . . fire . . . flame. A general promise of future deliverance put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), for troubles of any and all kinds. This promise refers to Israel’s future, and not to the Saxon race, or the Church.

kindle upon thee = pass over thee.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

passest: Isa 8:7-10, Isa 11:15, Isa 11:16, Exo 14:29, Jos 3:15-17, Psa 66:10, Psa 66:12, Psa 91:3-5, Amo 9:8, Amo 9:9, Mat 7:25-27, Heb 11:29

I will be: Isa 41:10, Isa 41:14, Deu 31:6-8, Jos 1:5, Jos 1:9, Psa 23:4, Psa 46:4-7, Psa 91:15, Mat 1:23, 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:10, 2Ti 4:17, 2Ti 4:22

when thou walkest: Dan 3:25-27, Zec 13:9, Mal 3:2, Mal 3:3, Mal 4:1, Luk 21:12-18, 1Co 3:13-15, Heb 11:33-38, 1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:13

Reciprocal: Gen 21:17 – fear Gen 26:3 – I will be Gen 26:24 – fear Gen 28:15 – I am Gen 35:3 – was with Gen 39:2 – the Lord Gen 39:21 – the Lord Gen 39:23 – because Gen 46:3 – fear not Gen 46:4 – will go Exo 3:2 – bush burned Exo 3:12 – Certainly Num 31:23 – abide Deu 1:21 – fear not Deu 3:22 – shall not Deu 20:1 – the Lord Deu 31:8 – he will be Jos 8:1 – Fear not Jos 11:1 – he sent Jdg 7:9 – Arise 1Sa 3:19 – the Lord 2Sa 22:17 – he drew 2Ch 20:15 – Be not afraid Psa 14:5 – God Psa 25:10 – the paths Psa 31:7 – known Psa 32:6 – in the floods Psa 69:1 – the waters Psa 69:15 – waterflood Psa 91:4 – his truth Psa 91:5 – Thou Psa 102:2 – Hide Psa 110:6 – fill Son 8:7 – waters Isa 37:6 – Be not Isa 43:5 – Fear not Isa 43:16 – maketh Jer 1:8 – for I am Jer 42:11 – for I Jer 46:28 – for I am Lam 3:57 – thou saidst Eze 34:24 – I the Lord will Dan 3:27 – upon Dan 6:16 – Thy God Dan 10:19 – fear not Zep 3:16 – be said Hag 1:13 – I am Zec 8:15 – fear Zec 10:11 – he shall Mat 10:26 – Fear Mar 4:40 – Why Mar 6:50 – it is I Joh 6:20 – It is Joh 14:1 – not Act 7:9 – but Act 7:30 – in a flame Act 18:10 – I am Act 23:11 – the Lord Act 27:22 – I exhort 2Co 4:9 – cast Phi 2:27 – but God 2Ti 3:11 – but Heb 11:34 – Quenched

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

43:2 When thou passest through the {c} waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

"Water" and "fire" are traditional symbols for testing that suggest totality when used together (cf. Psa 32:6; Psa 42:7; Psa 66:12; Jas 1:2). God promised to protect His people from total destruction when they underwent their various trials. He had done this in the past, and He would do it in the future because He would be with His special people (cf. Daniel 3; Rom 8:31-39).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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