“But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” (Isaiah 43:1-2a)
God makes three wonderfully encouraging statements in the opening verses of Isaiah 43: ‘I have redeemed you’, ‘I have called you by name’, and ‘I will be with you’.
‘I have redeemed you’
The Hebrew word carries the ideas of a price being paid to secure someone’s freedom and of liberation (my French Bible translates with the wonderfully familiar and personal je t’ai libéré). Israel knew this from the Exodus. They had not escaped Egypt through their own ingenuity or power. God had intervened, broken their chains, and brought them out. So, whatever would bind them now (fear? failure? regret? grief? circumstance?) they know nothing can bind them anymore. That redemption is not about being possessed by God but about being protected by Him. They are freed, redeemed, liberated. And so are we. The highest price has been paid for us.
‘I have called you by name’
This is deeply personal language. God does not address his people as anonymous. He calls them by name. God’s calling is often personal: Abraham, Moses and Samuel were called by name. Mary heard the Risen Lord call her by name. We matter individually and personally to the God who created the stars. This may be the most comforting phrase in these verses. Our loving God says of us: “You are mine.” We are known personally, loved individually, claimed eternally.
‘I will be with you’
God does not say: “You will never face trouble.” “You will never experience sorrow.” “You will never walk through deep waters.” Instead, he says: “I will be with you.” The promise is not exemption from trials but companionship in trials and One who finds a way through and walks with us. The Red Sea and the River Jordan both looked impossible to cross, yet God made a way through. What God had done before becomes the basis for trusting him in the present. The promise is: waters, barriers, obstacles, crises, problems – whatever we face – will not have the last word. It will not be our end or our defeat.