Isaiah 43:16–21

Context

Chapters 40–55 of Isaiah form a section proclaiming restoration to Israel in its Babylonian exile. Traditionally these chapters have been read as the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah in the eighth century BC. Most scholars, however, regard them as the work of a different author from the later exilic period, commonly called "Second Isaiah" (Deutero-Isaiah). Verse 14, immediately preceding the passage, mentions Babylon by name.

The "way in the sea" and the "chariot and horse" of verses 16–17 recall the Red Sea crossing of Exodus 14. In verses 18–19 God tells the people not to remember those "former things" and announces a "new thing." This new thing is not making a way through the sea but making "a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." The passage depicts it as a "new exodus" in which the exiles return home through the wilderness. The creatures named in verse 20 (rendered "dragons" and "owls" in the KJV) are jackals and ostriches, animals that live in the wilderness. Verse 21 declares that the purpose for which this people was formed is to praise God: "This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise."

Interpretation

• Historical reading: The new thing is understood as the return from exile that followed Cyrus's decree permitting the exiles to go home.
• Reading in light of the New Testament: Many Reformed and evangelical commentators see this promise as fulfilled in the new creation in Christ and link it to 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Revelation 21:5. The expressions "my chosen" and "praise" in verses 20–21 are read as applied to the church in 1 Peter 2:9.
• Reading for personal application: In preaching, the passage is often explained as a call not to be bound by past failures or wounds but to look expectantly for the new path God will open.
• Pentecostal and charismatic readings: Some emphasize the passage as a promise of a new work of the Holy Spirit or of revival.

Debates and Issues

• The meaning of forgetting the "former things": Isaiah 46:9, by contrast, says, "Remember the former things of old." Commentators generally do not take verse 18 as a command to deny past acts of salvation. Instead, they read it as comparative rhetoric showing that the coming salvation will be greater still.
• Criticism of citation out of context: The "former things" of verse 18 originally refer to saving events such as the Exodus. Some critics argue that sermons applying the phrase directly to an individual's past sins or wounds stretch the meaning of the text. Those who make such applications hold that they are carrying over the principle that the same God is still at work in new ways today.
• Translation and manuscripts: The Great Isaiah Scroll among the Dead Sea Scrolls is known to read "paths" in place of "rivers" at the end of verse 19. Korean translations generally follow the Masoretic Text and render the word "rivers." The word jeongnyeonghi ("surely") in the Korean Revised Version was changed to bandeusi ("certainly") in the New Korean Revised Version.

In the Korean Church

Verse 19, "Behold, I will do a new thing," is widely used as a sermon text for New Year services and New Year's Eve watch-night services, as well as for churches' mottos for the year.

Related Passages

• Exodus 14:13–14
• Isaiah 43:1–2
• Isaiah 46:9
• 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Revelation 21:5