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"But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’, and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’"

This powerful text appears in that part of Isaiah which speaks of the glorious future of the people of God, even as they still are in exile in Babylonia. Victor Hugo, the 19th century French writer, declared that Isaiah was among the half-dozen most powerful texts in Western literature (Homer, Shakespeare, Book of Job, Dante, Aeschylus), and this text doesn't disappoint us. It speaks, with terms drenched in covenantal language, of the hope of regathering and ingathering of the people of God; the hope of coming home after years of removal from the land. Three points from the structure and language of the passage should be noted.

I. The opening words, "But now," link the hope of ch. 43 with the dismal disappointment of ch. 42. In Is. 42 we have a story of the people's disappointing failure. Israel was given up to the spoiler, the destroyer, because Israel refused to walk in God's ways, to obey his law. They didn't practice justice and righteousness, and so God "set him on fire all around" (42:25). Even though this punishment came, Israel still didn't take it to heart. If our destiny were determined by the mistakes we have made, none of us would ever dig ourselves out of our pits. But the wonderful news of Is. 43 is that the pain of the past is not the last word, either of our lives or in our relationship to God. "But now" expresses a different spirit from 42, a different tone. It is not as if the people were going to "come to themselves," like the prodigal son and return to the loving arms of the father. Not at all. In Is. 43, God is going to reach down and redeem the people. Why? Simply because he loves them (43:4). Another chance is provided for the people of God not because they are worthy, or because they have acted in repentance, but simply because God will have it so. Thus, the words "but now" can be the most surprising, grace-filled words in our language. We are lost, tied up in our own shenanigans, and then we hear "but now." God is not finished with us yet.

II. The seond thing to note is the literary structure of 43:1-7. It is in a form which scholars call "chiasm," which means an "X-like" shape. All that means is that vv. 1 and 7 (first and last) talk about the same thing; vv. 2 and 5-6 speak about the same topic and vv. 3-4 reinforce each other. The purpose of knowing this structure is because the author wants to lead us to v. 4, in the middle, for the most important point of the whole passage (I will get to it below). But it is good to focus on these three separate elements of the chiastic structure of 43:1-7.
a. 43:1, 7 stress God's care for the people because he has created them. The themes, then, are "Genesis" themes, or themes of beginnings. Yet, God's creation is "brought up to date" in v. 1 by God's having redeemed them. The tense of the Hebrew verb (has redeemed) is interesting: it gives the impression of salvation in the past but it can also be read as a sort of continuing salvation--that God's redemption is not yet done. Not only has there been an old Exodus; there will be a new one.
b. 43: 2, 5-6. Now we are getting more "personal." The redemption coming will be bringing people through fire and water, of calling them from the four corners of the world. The "fire" image picks up from 42:25. There the people were set on fire but they didn't understand. Here God will bring them through the fire. It is important to note that the waters and fire don't disappear for the people of God; rather, we are brought through them. How can you really experience God's faithfulness unless it is faithfulness in or through trial? Where is the faithfulness of God for those who can assure the bounty of their own lives? Noteworthy also here is the language of 5-6. The ingathering of the people is reminiscent of the covenant language of Deut. 30:3-6. Note the words in that passage ("Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back...")
c. 43:3-4. The redemption language of these verses is not altogether clear, but the meaning is generally transparent--that no expense is too dear for God to bear in order to redeem the people. People in return for people; nations in exchange for the chosen people. This is a promise of God, one that isn't seemingly put into motion by anything the people do. God will show power by simply bringing redemption.

III. This redemption culminates, literarily, in the first half v. 4, which is the center and heart of the passage. I quote it for you: "Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.." Wow. An entire sermon is in these three phrases. Each of the Hebrew phrases is rich in meaning. Preciousness is also expressed in Ps. 72:13, 14, where the king is said to "have pity on the weak and the needy...from oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight." To be honored (kbd in Hebrew) is to be "heavy" or to be "filled with glory." But the phrase that arrests me most is the last one: "and I love you." I cannot think of another passage in the whole Scripture where God is speaking and God says, "I love YOU." And the Hebrew form is significant. Though the verb itself carries the first person singular in its form, the author adds the personal pronoun "ani." This is best rendered: "and I myself (yep, God), love you." Just to set the record straight--love is the motivation for God's redemption. Love, pure and simple. In everlasting love God takes them up again. And, that is the focal point of the passage. The people of God are beloved of God, and that is the bottom line of our lives. All this is reminiscent of the great "election lines" from Deut 7, which is how I will close:

"It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt," Deut. 7:7-8.

Can anything be more wonderful than this?

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