Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.
19. The making of the way through the desert and water for the pilgrims to drink (See on ch. Isa 40:3 f., Isa 41:18 ff.) is considered to be a miracle transcending the passage of the Red Sea, and all the miracles which attended the first exodus. This is the new thing on which the prophet’s mind fastens as the symbol of Israel’s deliverance.
now it shall &c. ] Rather: even now it is springing forth; do ye not recognise it? In ch. Isa 42:9, the new things are spoken of as announced before they “spring forth,” while as yet there is no sign of their appearing; here to the lively imagination of the prophet they are already seen “germinating,” and he calls on the people to see them as the inevitable issue of the conquests of Cyrus. But while the above seems the most effective rendering of the question, that of the E.V. is quite possible: “shall ye not experience it.”
the desert ] Heb. Jshmn, an utterly barren and arid region (Deu 32:10; Psa 68:7; Psa 78:40; Psa 107:4 &c.) as distinguished from midbr (“wilderness” or “steppe”), where flocks can find a scanty sustenance. It occurs as a proper name in Num 21:20 (1Sa 26:1).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will do a new thing – Something that has not hitherto occurred, some unheard of and wonderful event, that shall far surpass all that he had formerly done (see the note at Isa 42:9).
Now it shall spring forth – (See the note at Isa 42:9). It shall spring up as the grass does from the earth; or it shall bud forth like the opening leaves and flowers – a beautiful figure, denoting the manner in which the events of Divine Providence come to pass.
I will even make a way in the wilderness – In this part of the verse, the prophet describes the anxious care which God would show in protecting his people, and providing for them in conducting them to their native land. See the expressions fully explained in the notes at Isa 41:17-19.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing
The future better than the past
How dear to the heart of the Israelites was the remembrance of the nations deliverance from Egypt and their journey to the Land of Promise! To those great events the religious teachers of the people continually turned for illustrations and proofs of Gods greatness and power and goodness and love.
From this well used and familiar store of imagery the figurative expressions of the text are derived. Dropping the figures put of sight for a moment, we may say this is a gracious promise of suitable help and supply, even under circumstances most difficult and precarious. It is intended as an encouragement to repentance and to renewed consecration to God. It is the old message that God will give to all who look to Him everything that is requisite for spiritual progress and success. In presence of every untried enterprise; on the threshold of every unknown experience; in the hearing of every Divine call, this promise floats as a banner before the soldiers eye, and rings as the sound of a trumpet rings upon the soldiers heart. (T. Stephenson.)
A new thing
1. This messenger of God proclaims, and he may be regarded as in this respect representing all Gods messengers of grace to the world, Look not on the former things–listen not now, in these moments of penitence and prayer, to those threatening voices which tell of an inexorable law of repetition, of the relentless working out of a foregone conclusion and appointed destiny–old things may pass away, all things may become new. Behold, I will do a new thing!
2. This new thing, in the instance before us, is compared with the opening of a path in the wilderness, and the supply of rivers of waters in the desert. The pathless wilderness of the future is before us–no foot has trodden it,–it is beset by unknown difficulties and unseen perils; but even their God will make a way, a road upon which His people shall travel in security and with unerring certainty to their appointed destination. And although the heat of the sun may beat fiercely down upon that path, drying up every particle of moisture and consuming all pleasant vegetation, so that it may seem most unlikely that life can be sustained in the journey across such an arid waste, God can and will provide all that is needed; and rivers of water, an abundant and continuous supply, shall be found there. Preparation and guidance! These are the ideas involved in the promise to make a path. Difficulty, peril, privation! These are the thoughts which associate themselves with the desert and the wilderness. (T. Stephenson.)
The new thing
This doing a new thing is the very achievement which many voices of high authority are assuring us, just now, is impossible with God. The power that carries on the universe, they tell us, never does a new thing. What seems to us the new is only the old revealing itself in an unexpected way. Continuity is the law that governs all things. It is the language of those whose symbol of deity is an interrogation mark, or the sign for an unknown quantity, or a fetter, as they may happen to prefer. It is a phase of thought by no means modern, although sometimes imagined to be such. It never found more telling expression anywhere than at the lips of one who flourished a thousand years before Christ, more or less, and who put it thus: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? I suggest that we take up the ancient challenge. I will mention some of the ways in which Christ may be said to have broken in upon the monotony and uniformity of human life and thought with something new. He brought us–
I. A NEW LIKENESS OF GOD.
II. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
III. A NEW HOPE. (W. R. Huntington, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing] At Isa 43:16, the prophet had referred to the deliverance from Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea; here he promises that the same power shall be employed in their redemption and return from the Babylonish captivity. This was to be a new prodigy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A new thing; such a work as was never yet done in the world, even the redemption of the world by the Messiah.
Now; shortly, although it was not to be done till after some hundreds of years. For so the Scripture oft speaketh of things at a great distance of time as if they were now at hand, as Hag 2:6; Jam 5:9; Rev 22:20, and elsewhere; which it doth to correct our impatience, and to make us willing to wait till Gods time come; and to assure us that the mercy shall come as soon as ever it is fit for us, and we for it; and to make us sensible of the inconsiderableness of time, and all temporal things, in comparison of God, and of the eternal things; upon which account it is said that a thousand years are in Gods sight but as one day, Psa 90:4.
Shall ye not know it? certainly you Jews shall know it by experience, and shall find that I do not deceive you with vain hopes.
I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert; I will give you direction and provision in the wilderness, where there is commonly no path, and where all necessaries are wanting; which as it literally speaks of Gods conducting them in the way from Babylon to Jerusalem, which lay through a great desert; so it is mystically meant of those spiritual blessings which God in and through Christ will confer upon all his people, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles, who in prophetical language are oft compared to the wilderness, as Isa 35:1, and elsewhere.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. newunprecedented in itswonderful character (Isa 42:9).
spring forthas agerminating herb: a beautiful image of the silent but certaingradual growth of events in God’s providence (Mr4:26-28).
way in . . . wildernessjustas Israel in the wilderness, between the Red Sea and Canaan, wasguided, and supplied with water by Jehovah; but the “new”deliverance shall be attended with manifestations of God’s power andlove, eclipsing the old (compare Isa41:17-19). “I will open a way, not merely in the Red Sea,but in the wilderness of the whole world; and not merely one rivershall gush out of the rock, but many, which shall refresh, not thebodies as formerly, but the souls of the thirsty, so that theprophecy shall be fulfilled: ‘With joy shall ye draw water out of thewells of salvation'” [JEROME].”A way” often stands for the true religion (Act 9:2;Act 18:26). “Rivers”express the influences of the Holy Spirit (Joh7:37-39). Israel’s literal restoration hereafter isincluded, as appears by comparing Isa 11:15;Isa 11:16.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, I will do a new thing,…. A wonderful and unheard of thing, and therefore introduced with a “behold”, as a note of admiration; the same with the new thing created in the earth,
Jer 31:22, the incarnation of the Son of God; who took flesh of a virgin, appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was made sin and a curse for his people, in order to obtain eternal redemption for them; which blessing, though not newly thought of, resolved on, contrived, and agreed upon, that being from eternity; nor newly made known, or as to the virtue and efficacy of it, which had been from the beginning of the world, yet new as to the impetration of it by the blood and sacrifice of Christ; and may be also called “new”, because excellent, it being of a spiritual nature, complete and eternal, and having so many valuable blessings in it, as justification, pardon, and eternal life:
now it shall spring forth; or bud forth as a branch, in a very short time, suddenly, and at once; one of the Messiah’s names is that of the Branch; see Zec 3:8:
shall ye not know it? the Redeemer, and the redemption by him. It was known to them that looked for it, and to whom the Gospel is sent, and the Spirit reveals and applies it; these know the nature of it, own it to be of God, and know their interest in it, and know the author of it, in whom they have believed, by the characters given of him: and as this may have respect to the redemption of Christ, so to the conversion of the Gentiles, and to the grace of God dispensed through Christ to them; when old things passed away, and all things became new; a new covenant of grace was exhibited, a new church state set up, new ordinances appointed, and a new people called to partake of all this, on whom was a new face of things; and wonderful and excellent things were done for them, as follows:
I will even make a way in the wilderness; as there was a way made for the Israelites through the wilderness, which lay between Egypt and Canaan; and through another, which lay between Babylon and Judea; so the Lord would also make a way in the Gentile world, comparable to a wilderness for its barrenness and unfruitfulness, for the Gospel to enter into it, where it should run, and be glorified; where Christ, the way of salvation, should be made known; and where there should be a way for Christians to walk together, in the fellowship of the Gospel:
and rivers in the desert; the doctrines of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it, which should be preached and administered in the Gentile world, before like a desert; and the graces of the Spirit, which should be brought into the hearts of men by means of them; and the large communications of grace from Christ; and the discoveries of the love of God, with the blessings of it; compared to rivers for their abundance, and for the comforting, reviving, and fructifying nature of them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
19. Behold, I do a new thing. This shews more clearly what the Prophet meant in the preceding verse, for he declares that there shall be “a new work,” that is, a work unheard of and uncommon, and which, on account of its greatness and excellence, shall throw into the shade the reputation of all other works; in the same manner as the brightness of the sun, when it fills heaven and earth, causes the stars to disappear.
Now it shall arise. He means that the time shall not be long. Yet these things were not so speedily accomplished; but, if we look to God, four hundred or even a thousand years are counted as a moment before him; how much less ought a delay of seventy years to wear out and discourage them? When he adds, Shall ye not know it? this question is more forcible and impressive than a bare affirmation, and this form of question is more frequently employed by Hebrew writers than in the Greek and Latin languages. When he promises a way in the wilderness, he alludes to that wilderness which lay between Judea and Babylon; for he speaks of the return of the people. Accordingly to the way he adds rivers; for in travelling through a dry country they might have been parched and died of thirst. On this account, the Lord says that he will supply them with water and everything that is necessary for the journey; as if he had said, “I will furnish you with provisions, so that under my guidance you shall return to your native land.”
But it may be thought that the Prophet is excessive, and that his language is altogether hyperbolical, when he extols this deliverance in such lofty terms; for we read that rivers were turned into blood, (Exo 7:20,) the air was covered with darkness, (Exo 10:22,) the first-born were slain, (Exo 12:29,) insects were sent forth to destroy the whole country, (Exo 10:15,) and that other prodigies of the same kind happened in Egypt, while nothing of this sort was done in Babylon. What then is meant by this new redemption? This consideration has compelled almost all Christian commentators to interpret this passage as referring absolutely to the coming of Christ, in which they are undoubtedly mistaken; and the Jews are also in the wrong, when they limit it to the redemption from Babylon. Accordingly, as I have frequently remarked, we ought here to include the whole period which followed the redemption from Babylon, down to the coming of Christ.
The redemption from Egypt may be regarded as having been the first birth of the Church; because the people were gathered into a body, and the Church was established, of which formerly there was not the semblance; but that deliverance is not limited to the time when the people went out of Egypt, but is continued down to the possession of the land of Canaan, which was delivered to the people, when the kings had been driven out. (Jos 11:23.) We ought to take the same view of this new birth, ( περὶ ταύτης παλιγγενεσίας,) by which the people were rescued from Babylon, and brought back to their native land; for that restoration must not be limited to the departure from Babylon, but must be extended to Christ, during the whole of which period great and wonderful events undoubtedly happened. Was it not astonishing that a captive people, whom all despised as some contemptible slave, and who were even held to be accursed, should receive freedom and liberty to return from heathen kings; and not only so, but should be furnished with provisions, and with everything else that was necessary both for the journey and for settling at home, for rearing the city and for rebuilding the Temple? (Ezr 1:2.)
But far greater events followed, when but a few persons were willing to return, and the greater part were so discouraged as to prefer wretched bondage to blessed freedom. When, in comparison of that vast multitude which had been carried away, a few persons returned to Judea, still greater obstacles arose. Conspiracies were formed, the people formerly abhorred became the objects of keener resentments, the work was interrupted, and every method was tried for putting a full stop to the design. (Ezr 4:0.) Thus it appeared as if in vain the Lord had brought them back, for they were exposed to dangers much greater than before. When the temple had been built, they did not enjoy greater peace; for they were hedged in on all sides by very cruel and deadly enemies, from whom they often sustained great hardships. They were afterwards afflicted by distresses, and calamities, and various persecutions, so that they were supposed to be struck down and overwhelmed, and utterly ruined. And yet, in the midst of fire and sword, God wonderfully preserved them; and if we consider their wretched and miserable condition, and the grievous persecutions of tyrants, we shall wonder that even a single individual of them could survive.
In order that we may understand how great was the excellence of this latter redemption, and how far it excelled the former, we must: continue and bring it down to the time of Christ, who at length gave an immense addition to the former benefits. Thus, beyond all question, the second redemption leaves the first far behind. There is nothing forced in this interpretation, and it corresponds to the ordinary language of the prophets, who always have the Messiah for their end, and keep him constantly in their eye. But this will appear more clearly from what is related by Haggai; for, when the Temple began to be rebuilt, the old men, who had seen the glory of the ancient temple, mourned, and were not far from thinking that God had forsaken them, and that his promises had failed. But Haggai, in order to comfort them and to prove that the glory of this second would be greater than the glory of the first, though the structure of the building was far inferior, leads them to the Redeemer.
“
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,” says he, “Yet once, and within a short time, I will shake the heavens, and the earth, the sea, and the continent, and all the nations; and the Desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former.” (Hag 2:6.)
Thus, as Haggai brings the restoration of the Temple down to Christ, and refers to him its true glory; so this deliverance (for the two things are connected, or rather they are the same) extended even to Christ. Consequently, we need not wonder if it surpassed the Egyptian deliverance in every respect.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE FUTURE BETTER THAN THE PAST
Isa. 43:19. Behold, I will do a new thing, &c.
Gods messages to Israel are steeped in imagery supplied by their past experiences. From this familiar store the figurative expressions of the text are derived; it holds out a challenge to faith, a rebuke to unbelief.
I. The emphasis of the promise lies in Gods promise to do a NEW thingi.e., something unprecedented. Israel was cautioned not to make the past the measure of the future (cf. Isa. 43:18-19). They were often exhorted to seek help and consolation in remembering their past; but this is a caution against a way of looking at the past which works injuryagainst a brooding on it that spoils the future. Self-consciousness comes with increasing years; we are apt to exclaim, The thing which hath been is that which shall be; The child is father of the man, points to the conclusion of a wide induction. Philosophy tells us that this unreadiness to believe that the future can be better than the past is but a proof of growing wisdom; and we are often inclined to say, our theories of the Christian life have always been far in advance of our attainments; but shortcomings have brought down our expectations. It is one of the severest penalties of unfaithfulness, that hope for the future is slain.
Often men are not troubled much about the loss of hope, but even these know what it is to have a dark void where there should be a light shining more and more.
One of the hardest tasks of the Hebrew prophets was that of renewing in the people the impulses of hope; and so this representative messenger of God proclaims, Remember not the former things, old things may pass away, all things may become new.
II. This new thing is compared with the opening of a path in the wilderness, and the supply of rivers in the desert. Before each one there is a pathless wilderness, beset by difficulties and perils; but even there God will make a way for His people, and sustain their life. Preparation and guidance, difficulty, peril, privation! These are thoughts which associate themselves with the desert and the wilderness. For every Christian, God is preparing a way through unknown experiences. Of each man it may be said
He was the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
But God prepares the way; He preserves the traveller; He connects the present, the future, and the past Each day shall be, in some respects, different from all past days; and when the heart turns faint at new demands made upon it, He breathes new life into it with the promise, Behold, I will do a new thing! The voice of apprehension cries, How shall freshness and vigour be maintained within me? God says, I will supply rivers in the desert; not simply sufficiency, but abundance. To-morrow may be a barren prospect; but God is with us; we are near to the Fountain of Life. We often speak of our lack of spiritual life and vigour as though it were a perplexing problem. Is it so, when we do not, will not, drink? There is a law of the life of the spirit as well as of the body. Our hearts are like seeds wrapped round so that moisture and air are excluded; such seeds may be planted, but they will not grow. Nor will our hearts wrapped round by prayerlessness, selfishness, indolence, and forgetfulness. Take away these wrappings, lay them aside for ever!
Note further, that this Divine promise pledges God to supply that which is a natural source of verdure, gladness, beauty. This is only one of many instances, in which we are taught that Gods will is not only to preserve, but also to adorn our life (Isa. 35:1). The young should surely listen to this voice. For them all life is emphatically new; their experiences shall not, indeed, be unparalleled in the history of men, but to them they shall be a new thing from God. Christ declares Himself to be the Giver of living water; life, and light, and beauty go before Him; He speaks the word which cannot fail: Behold, I make all things new!Thomas Stephenson: Christian World Pulpit, vol. v. pp. 209210.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
19-21. A new thing As the former event was common in invasions, sieges, etc., to the unfortunate conquered, the marvel now to be spoken of is the certainly approaching spiritual restoration, not on Jews only, but also on Gentiles.
A way in the wilderness rivers in the desert Certainly the same figures, almost the same language, as in chap. xxv, manifestly used of the great renovation under Messiah, and it seems quite to establish again the same authorship of both compositions. See notes on chap. 35. Of this great renovation, to come over all men, the literal restoration from Babylon, is the type.
This people formed for myself Probably the exiles from Babylon prefigure here the whole spiritual Israel of the coming Messianic ages. It was a great thing that the exiles were so far spiritually restored as never afterward to relapse into their old idolatry; and that which this prefigured was “the new thing” of Isa 43:19. A glorious fruitage awaits the budding of Messianic germs which the changed wilderness is showing. One thinks of Luk 19:40: “If these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out.” When Messiah shall reign as king and judge, all things will “show forth Jehovah’s praise.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.
Ver. 19. Shall ye not know it? ] Or, Do ye not perceive it? He speaketh of it as present and under view.
And rivers in a desert.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a new thing. The future deliverance of Israel will be with greater marvels than at the Exodus.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will do: Isa 42:9, Isa 48:6, Jer 31:22, Rev 21:5
I will even: Isa 35:6-10, Isa 40:3, Isa 40:4, Isa 48:21, Luk 3:4, Luk 3:5
rivers: Isa 41:18, Isa 48:21, Isa 48:22, Exo 17:6, Num 20:11, Deu 8:15, Psa 78:16-20, Psa 105:41
Reciprocal: Num 16:30 – make a new thing Deu 28:28 – General Jdg 6:39 – dry 2Ki 3:17 – Ye shall not Job 38:26 – on the wilderness Psa 105:5 – Remember Pro 21:1 – as Ecc 1:9 – and there Son 3:6 – this Son 8:5 – from the Isa 30:25 – upon every high Isa 42:11 – Let the wilderness Isa 43:20 – to give Isa 44:3 – floods Isa 49:11 – General Jer 16:14 – behold Jer 23:7 – General 2Co 5:17 – old
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the {t} wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.
(t) Meaning, that their deliverance out of Babylon would be more famous than that from Egypt was, Jer 23:7, Hag 2:10, 2Co 5:17, Rev 21:5; Rev 21:7 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God was going to do a new thing for Israel, something that would appear unexpectedly, like a sprout from barren soil. The Israelites would become aware of it even though they had no knowledge of it at that time. He would do for the captives in Babylon what He had done for their ancestors in Egypt, namely, make a highway for them through the wilderness and provide them with water (cf. Exodus 17). Instead of turning a sea into dry land, He would turn the dry land into waterways (cf. Isa 35:6-7). These images picture a second Exodus. Even the animals would acknowledge God’s greatness as they observed His acts and benefited from His goodness to His people.
"Here we see the acts of God bringing the whole world into harmony, a feature which will be perfected in the Messianic day (Isa 11:6-9[; Isa 65:25]). Here, the journeying people are met by a transformed world (19cd) into which the animal creation gladly enters with benefit." [Note: Motyer, p. 337.]
One writer took the water as symbolic of God’s sustaining provision for the Jews, and the animals as figures representing Gentile nations that will benefit from the witness of the restored Jews. [Note: Archer, p. 639]