Isaiah 43:22 - Meaning and Application

This charge against Jacob and Israel, God’s professing people, is meant to clear God from blame in sending them into captivity. They were in covenant with him and had his sanctuary among them, so why had the Lord dealt this way with his land (Deuteronomy 29:24)? The answer is that they had left God and turned away from him, so he justly rejected them and handed them over to the curse (Isaiah 43:28). Before they could be ready for rescue, they had to admit this, and they did so (Daniel 9:5; Nehemiah 9:33).

This also makes God’s mercy in their deliverance shine more brightly. Earlier verses show his power in saving them, but this part shows his goodness, since he would do such great things for a people who had deeply provoked him and were now suffering the just result of their sin. Forgiving their sin was as much a display of God’s power as breaking the yoke of their captivity, as Moses also treats the pardon of sin as a great act of power (Numbers 14:17).

Their sins are then named. First, they failed to do the good God had commanded, and this is stressed here. God had said what he had done for them and what he expected in return. He had formed them for himself so that they would show his praise, but they had failed to do it and had given him very poor repayment for his favor.

They had stopped praying. “You have not called on me, Jacob.” Jacob was known for prayer (Hosea 12:4), but his descendants did not follow his example. It grieves God when children drift away from the devotion of their godly ancestors. To claim the name of Jacob and yet live without prayer is to mock God and fool ourselves.

They had also grown tired of worship. “You have been weary of me.” They had been in fellowship with God and in his service, but now they treated it as a burden and said, “What a weariness this is!” Those who stop calling on God are, in effect, saying they are tired of him and want another master.

They were stingy in their devotion. They wanted a cheap religion and tried to avoid costly acts of worship. They had not brought even the smaller animals, the lambs and goats God required for burnt offerings (Isaiah 43:23), much less their larger livestock. They acted as if they could not spare them because they needed them for their families, showing little sense of God’s greatness or their duty to him. They would not even bring a lamb from the flock for his honor, though he asked for it and would gladly accept it.

They also would not pay for sweet cane, or calamus, which was used in holy oil, incense, and perfume. They were unwilling to buy fresh supplies and were content to offer what was old and worthless (Isaiah 43:24). If generous worshipers brought freewill incense along with other gifts, these people were not so generous. They did not fill the altar with rich offerings or give the fat of the sacrifices as they should have done.

What they did offer did not truly honor God, so it was as if they had offered nothing at all (Isaiah 43:23). Some sacrificed to false gods. Others brought offerings to the true God, but did so carelessly or with hypocritical motives. In that way, they did not honor him but dishonor him.

Their neglect was made worse by the fact that God had not made his service hard. He had not burdened them with offerings or worn them out with incense. His commands were not harsh, even in matters of sacrifice. They were not more costly than a people in a fruitful land could afford, and they did not take more time than could be spared. What made these commands especially reasonable was that God required them to serve with gladness and joy before him (Deuteronomy 12:12).

They had many feast days, and only one day each year was set apart for afflicting the soul. Even though the ceremonial law can be called heavy when compared with Christ’s easy yoke (Acts 15:10), it was still light compared with the cruel worship paid to false gods. God had not asked them to sacrifice their children, as Molech did. He had dealt kindly with them, yet they had treated him with neglect.

Second, they committed the evil God had forbidden, and neglect often leads to that. “You have made me serve with your sins.” When people use God’s gifts to feed their sinful desires, or make his providence support their wicked plans, they make God serve with their sins. This may also mean that sin itself is a grief and burden to God. It wears out people, makes creation groan, and also wearies God. Scripture says he is grieved, broken, and pressed down by sinners, like a cart loaded with sheaves (Isaiah 7:13; Psalm 95:10; Ezekiel 6:9; Amos 2:13; Isaiah 1:24).

The contrast is striking. God had not made them serve with sacrifices, but they had made him serve with their sins. He had not worn them out with his commands, but they had worn him out with their disobedience. Such servants treat a good Master very badly. God is thoughtful of our comfort, but we are careless of his honor. This should move us to stay close to our duty, because his service is good, reasonable, and not too hard for us.

That they were children of disobedience, because their first father, that is, their forefathers, had sinned. They had not only sinned in their ancestors, they had also copied their sins. Ezra admits this plainly, “Since the days of our fathers, we have been in great guilt” (Ezra 9:7). Their forefathers are called their first father to remind us of the rebellion of our first father, Adam, and we must trace all our sins back to that corrupt source.

They were also learners of disobedience. Their teachers had sinned against God too, and their sins were open and shameful. The people would naturally learn to live the same way. A people is in a bad way when its leaders lead it into sin, and its teachers, who should correct it, help to corrupt it.

What signs showed God’s anger against them for their sins, in Isaiah 43:23? He brought ruin on both the church and the state. The honor of their church was thrown down and treated with contempt: “I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary.” That means the priests and Levites, who served with great dignity and authority in the temple. They had made themselves vile by their evil actions, and then God made them vile through their troubles and the contempt they fell into (Malachi 2:9).

The honor of their state was ruined too. “I have given Jacob to the curse,” meaning to be cursed, hated, and mistreated by all their neighbors, “and Israel to reproach,” meaning to be insulted, mocked, and made a spectacle by their enemies. They may have mocked what was good among them, like their Sabbaths (Lamentations 1:7), but God allowed this reproach as discipline for what was wrong. When people dishonor us, it should humble us for the dishonor we have shown God. We must bear it patiently, because we suffer it fairly, and confess that shame belongs to us.

Yet, in spite of all this, God shows the riches of his mercy. In Isaiah 43:25 he says, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions.” This promise of pardon comes in very unexpectedly. The accusation had been strong: “You have wearied me with your sins” (Isaiah 43:24). We might expect the next words to be, “I, even I, am he who will destroy you.” Instead, God says he will forgive. In this way he teaches us that forgiving offenses is the best way to ease our burden and keep from being worn out by them.

This is meant to encourage repentance, because there is forgiveness with God, and to show how freely he gives mercy. When sin has become very great, grace appears all the greater. This applies, first, to the sins of Israel as a nation. When God stopped his threatened judgments and kept them from complete destruction, even while correcting them, he was blotting out their transgressions. Though he disciplined them, he was reconciled to them again and did not cut them off as a people. He did this many times, until they rejected Christ and his gospel. That was a sin against the cure itself, and then he would forgive them no more as a nation, but destroyed them completely.

It also applies to every believing person who truly repents, with all their sins, whether many failures or serious backslidings. Notice how the pardon is described. He blots them out, as a cloud is wiped away by the sun (Isaiah 44:22), as a debt is erased from the account, or as a sentence is canceled when it is reversed. He also says he will not remember the sin, which means he not only removes the punishment for what is past, but also that it will not lessen his love in the future. When God forgives, he forgets.

The ground of this pardon is not anything in us. It is for his own sake, for his mercy, for his promise, and especially for his Son’s sake, so that he may be glorified in it. God takes glory in this: “I, even I, am he.” He claims forgiveness as his own right. No one can forgive sin except God alone, and he is willing to do it. It is his settled purpose, and he does it gladly and with delight.

The words in Isaiah 43:26, “Put me in remembrance,” can be taken in two ways. First, they can be a rebuke to a proud Pharisee, a self-righteous person who relies on his own goodness before God and expects favor because of his merits, not free grace. It is as if God says, “If you have anything to say in your own defense, anything to offer so you can be pardoned for your own sake and not for mine, bring it to mind. State your case, and tell me what your merits are.” But anyone challenged like that will be left speechless.

Second, these words can be taken as the voice of a humble publican, that is, a repentant sinner. If God is ready to pardon sin and, when he pardons, will remember it no more, then let us bring to mind the sins he has forgiven. They must stay before us to humble us, even though they are pardoned (Psalm 51:3). Let us also remind him of the promises he has made to repentant sinners, and of the satisfaction his Son has made for them. Plead these things with him as you seek pardon, and speak them out, so that you may be justified freely by his grace. This is the only way, and it is a sure way, to peace. Only acknowledge your transgression.