Christians often use the month of January to reflect on how God has worked over the past year and to set plans and goals going forward. We establish objectives for physical or financial health. We review our careers, relationships, and spiritual lives, and make course corrections for the new year. Commentators fill social media with what the Bible teaches about a new start, and some verses, such as 2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version Bible, 2011) frequently come to mind: “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (Bible Study Tools, 2024; Christianity.com, n.d.). This blog post will examine the context of another popular New Year’s Bible verse, taken from a passage in the Old Testament, Isaiah 43:14-21. This post will then elaborate on how God envisions a new beginning and draw lessons that can inform us as we set goals and make resolutions for 2025.
Background of Isaiah 43
To understand Isaiah 43, it’s helpful to view the larger context. Isaiah 39 provided an historical introduction to chapters 40-55 (Webb, 1996). In that earlier chapter, King Hezekiah showed to Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, the valuables found in his treasury, whereupon Isaiah prophesied that all that Hezekiah and his fathers had stored up would be carried away by that empire (Isa 39:1-7). This prophecy foretold the Babylonian exile coming to Israel (Webb, 1996). Isaiah wrote chapters 40-55 in the latter part of his life, around 712-697 BC, at a time when “the nation and its leaders were no longer willing to listen” (Webb, 1996, p. 160). Isaiah recorded these prophesies for a future time in order “to comfort God’s people in words that his disciples would cherish and preserve in the dark days ahead until Israel was at last ready to hear them” (Webb, 1996, p. 160-161).
The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and its citizens were exiled to Babylon in 587 BC (Yee et al., 2016). It was a dark time for God’s word when Isaiah wrote, but one day His people would have hearts that were willing to accept God’s message. Yee et al. (2016) claimed that chapters 40-55 were addressed to the Israelites living in Babylonian exile during the time of Cyrus (538-515 BC). Combining what Webb (1996) asserted and what Yee et al. (2016) claimed, we can surmise that perhaps 160-170 years passed between when Isaiah wrote and when his intended audience, the exiles in Babylon, ultimately received and understood these prophecies from God.
This brief survey informs the context of the times addressed in Isaiah 40-55. It makes sense that God would prepare their way with words of comfort (Isa 40), assuring them that they truly belonged to Him: God called them “my” people (Isa 40:1), claiming that their sin had been taken away (Isa 40:2) and that He would clear the way to bring them home (Isa 40:3-5) (Webb, 1996). God was strong and majestic (Isa 40:12-31), ruled the nations (Isa 41), and God’s servant, unlike the blind and deaf servant that was Israel (Isa 42:18-25), was perfect (Isa 42:1-9) (Webb, 1996). Nested in chapter 43, Isaiah 43:14-21, the subject of our discussion, is just one of many encouragements that God gave the exiles as they awaited deliverance from Babylon and safe return to Jerusalem (Webb, 1996). Let’s proceed to a verse-by-verse discussion of the text.
Isaiah 43:14-21
A God Who Is Personally Involved
The first two verses of this passage immediately echoed Isaiah’s theme of the LORD getting personally involved. Note the personal pronouns in the verses below:
This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.
I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.Isa 43:14-15
Isaiah used six personal pronouns, two in the first-person and four in the second, to describe His relationship with Israel. The prophet utilized such personal language throughout his writing. From Isaiah 41:1-44:8 alone, one English translation of the Bible cited over 130 uses of first-person pronouns (Yee et al., 2016).
Proclaiming that He was their Redeemer, “the Holy One of Israel,” also reminded Israel that God would be faithful to His covenant: only He who made such an agreement could punish them and provide for their future in such a direct, personal way (Brueggemann, 2008). Naming the LORD as Creator echoed Isaiah 43:1 and the intentional care that the LORD provided, just as calling Him King added a sense of personal touch and commitment (Motyer, 1993). Moreover, in the text immediately preceding these eight verses, Isaiah 43:9-13, the LORD had put the nations on trial, demanding that they provide witnesses to demonstrate any other god who could “declare this and proclaim to us the former things” (Isa 43:9). However, no god could work personally in history and prophesy like the LORD (Yee et al., 2016). Isaiah 43:14-21 spoke into this context: here God proclaimed what He alone could—and would—do.
Furthermore, this prophecy must have aroused anyone receiving it, because for the first time since chapter 39, Babylon was specifically named (Webb, 1996). Comfort and deliverance had been promised, but now Isaiah called out Babylon, the ruling empire, doomed to become a mere possession of God (Isa 43:14). In fitting fashion, the Babylonians would soon find themselves transported in their own ships, considered by them as their pride (Motyer, 1993). The tables would be turned: God was about to reverse the political world and demonstrate to the nations who was actually sovereign.
Committed to the Exiles’ Safe Return
Fortified with reassurances of God’s personal care for them, the exiles still faced a daunting task: were they ready for the actual journey to return to Jerusalem? Here is one description of the challenge they faced:
It is perhaps hard for us to appreciate fully what a frightening prospect this journey must have been to those who faced it. First, it was across unknown territory. Most of those who were young and fit enough to travel would have been born in exile, and although Babylon was not their true home it would have been the only place they knew. The wilderness represented a break with that limited security. Secondly, Jerusalem was a long way off, between 500 and 900 miles, depending on the route.
Webb, 1996, p. 177-178
The journey would have been tiring, with thieves along the way (Webb, 1996). The returning exiles would have also encountered difficulties in an unsettled, hostile Judea, circumstances that Nehemiah described well.
This is what the LORD says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick …
Isaiah 43:16-17
Verses 16-17 reminded the exiles that God had protected His journeying people before. God had led Moses and the Hebrews safely across the Red Sea (Motyer, 1993). The image of the LORD making a way through the mighty waters, drawing out an army of chariots and horses, only to snuff them out like a candle wick, portrayed what God did to Pharaoh, his chariots, and his warriors as they chased Moses and the Israelites into the Red Sea (Exod 14) (Motyer, 1993). The extinguishing of the Egyptian army contrasted with the tenderness that a loving LORD demonstrated to even the slightest ember of hope of someone under His care: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isa 42:3). No, the LORD would be with them, however troubled the waters were (Isa 43:2). A mighty warrior, the LORD fought for and delivered His people (Brueggemann, 2008). The Israelites despaired at the sight of Pharaoh and his army approaching them (Exod 14:10-12), but God saved them at the last moment (Exod 14:26-31). By inserting this clear reference to the Red Sea incident, Isaiah reassured the exiles that God would deliver again during their return, even at their most despairing moments (Motyer, 1993).
Forget the Former Things
Within this context, Isaiah now arrived at the climactic core of these verses:
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isa 43:18-19
Webb (1996) and Motyer (1993) agreed that this forgetting meant that the exiles were to dwell no more on God’s past deliverance of Israel. As amazing as God rescuing His people through the Red Sea was, Isaiah now called the exiles to stop lingering over history. God understood humanity, our nature to dwell on “the glory days,” but by doing so a clearheaded view of the reality gets lost (Webb, 1996). There was no time to pine for an ideal past; instead, the exiles needed to anticipate the new future that God was preparing, unfettered by former success (Motyer, 1993). God was truly “doing a new thing” (Isa 43:19).
And what was this new thing to be? In 43:14 Isaiah called out Babylon as the oppressor that God would overthrow. God was sovereign over political affairs, but even with God breaking the Babylonian yoke, fears of another oppressor emerging remained (Webb, 1996). God would use Persia and its ruler for His own ends (Bruggemann, 2008), but this time it would be to serve His people: Cyrus would be stirred to act (Isa 41:2), support the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its temple (Isa 44:28), and actually effect God’s purposes in that time (Isa 45:1). This new thing would be God using Cyrus to deliver His people out of exile and back into Jerusalem.
Verses 20-21 completed the thought encapsulated in the passage starting with verse 14. God exercised his divine sovereignty over the rulers of the world, casting Babylon off to the side. No empire, ruler, or gods ruled unless God so allowed. Moreover, the image of the wild animals honoring God, with streams of water flowing out from wasteland (43:20), not only recalled God’s care for the Israelites during their wilderness trek in Exodus, providing them water to drink, but also showcased that God ruled over all of creation and could transform it (Motyer, 1993): “we are presented with a picture of absolute sovereignty” (p. 336). So, whether through the political or natural realm, God provided for His people, those whom He had “formed” (see Isa 43:1, 7). God repeatedly showed care for His people, whom He fashioned with His own hands (Isa 29:16).
Conclusion
At the beginning of the year, it’s easy to skim over a Bible verse or two that talks about a new start and miss the meaning behind the context. Isaiah’s dramatic call to the exiled Israelites to remember how their God personally delivered their ancestors from Pharaoh was combined, paradoxically, with an appeal to forget those former glory days. God called His people to look forward to a new future, one that God was shaping Himself. He alone is sovereign over human politics and the natural creation, bending both to fulfill His promises. As we begin 2025, rest assured that God is creating a new future, but we must see what He is doing: “do you not perceive it?” (Isa 43:19).
Questions to Consider
- Do you like to dwell on former victories and accomplishments? Or are you more inclined to dwell on past defeats and failures? Discuss in your small group or with a friend.
- Study other verses where Isaiah lauded God’s ability to proclaim and create the new (e.g., Isa 41:22-23, 42:9, 43:18-19, 48:6, 65:17). God also declared that He would forget the past (Isa 43:25). What are you learning about God? Discuss in your small group.
- Do you perceive God doing something new in your work environment, family setting, or in your relationships with friends and within the church? What might He be up to? After reflecting on this, take time to come up with goals and plans for 2025.
References
Bible Study Tools. (2024, November 4). 27 best bible verses for the New Year to start 2025.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/new-years-bible-verses/
Brueggemann, W. (2008). Old Testament theology: An introduction. Abingdon Press.
Christianity.com. (n.d.). 40 powerful New Year Bible verses for 2025. 40 New Year Bible Verses to Inspire New Beginnings in 2025. https://www.christianity.com/bible/40-powerful-new-
year-bible-verses-for-2025-103
Motyer, J.A. (1993). The prophecy of Isaiah: An introduction and commentary. IVP Academic.
Webb, B. (1996). The message of Isaiah: On eagles’ wings (the Bible speaks today series). Inter-Varsity Press.
Yee, G.A., Page, Jr., H.R., & Coomber, M.J.M. (2016). The prophets: Fortress commentary on the Bible study edition. Fortress Press.