Devotions in Isaiah Part 1 Jehovah's Witness Isaiah 43:10-13

Devotions in Isaiah Part 1. Jehovah’s Witness

Isaiah 43:10-15 (NASB)

10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.
11 “I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me.
12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God.
13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”


I guess I have to confess. I am Jehovah’s witness. Look right here in Isaiah 43:10
“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
The Lord, by the way, is Yahweh, also translated in some versions as, Jehovah. And as His witnesses, we have a job. Read on.
“And” (you are) “My servant whom I have chosen,”

We are chosen to be His witnesses and His servant. Now, recall that this was written to Israel, but here, it “spills over” to us Gentiles and the rest of the church. And what are we to be witnesses about? This is where is gets great.
10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me."

We are to be witnesses to the fact that He chose us. (And He chose Israel also and we must not forget or ignore that.) He chose us to be his servants.

Right now, the President-elect is choosing his aides, confidants, and advisors. They are not called, “servants” but they literally serve the President. We are called to a much higher position. We are servants of the.., well let’s see Who we are called to serve.

First it is the “He.” (We will examine the “preemptive” name in the next consideration.) But “He” introduces Himself. There was no God before Him and there will be none after Him. There have been Presidents before our new one and there will be Presidents after him. But God is the eternal, I AM. He. The is also the Lord. In English that means the ruler, the one deserving service and obeisance. Jesus is Lord of lords. I feel a Hallelujah coming on. “King of kings, and....”

We are chosen servants. This was not a random, or haphazard appointment. It was a deliberate choice. He chose you. He chose me. Whew! Hang your hat on that for a while. Paul claimed this in Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; and Titus 1:1. Paul also used a particular term, “bond servant.” This is more than an accidental slave, it is a deliberate, self-committed indenture to the master. And Paul also notes others who are bond slaves.

Other writes repeat the refrain. James, the Lord’s brother does in James 1:1. Peter in 2 Peter 1:1. Jude in Jude 1:1. Jude is also thought to be a brother of Jesus. John includes himself and all to whom the Book of Revelation is written in Revelation 1:1. That’s us folks. Jesus reaffirms that several times later in the book. Revelation 15:3 also identifies Moses as a bond servant. And all, throughout the book are summarized as “bond servants of God.” I rest my case.

But we bond servants are not just chosen to do. We are to know.
“So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He.”
Know, believe, and understand Who He is. He is described in the “Hallelujah” paragraph above. And notice the interesting juxtaposition of words. Know, then believe, followed by understanding. God works like that a lot of times. We are told what to do without necessarily having received understanding–yet.

Abraham, went out, not knowing where he went. (Hebrews 11:8.) We see that pattern a lot in the Scripture. We even use it in our daily lives. We can warn our kids not to touch the stove, because it is hot. The little toddlers do not always understand what that means and often have to “touch and see” to really understand. As we grow older, we hope to become better “believers” before understanders.

And we have just begun. We know, believe, and understand, what? He is the Lord, but if He stopped there, it would be a terrifying declaration. He is Lord. We are servants. But we are flawed and deficient servants. His next description is lifesaving. Literally.
And there is no savior besides Me.

HE IS THE SAVIOR! HE IS MY SAVIOR! And that is why I witness, why I proclaim, why I testify. This, HE, the I AM, has saved me. I am out from under the onus of my own flaws and failures. My sins are gone. As an old song goes, “Buried in the depths of the deepest sea.” Actually farther. Gone. Period.

Handel “Hallelujah’ed” about Who Jesus, God, was and is. We “hallelujah” about what He has done. He has saved us. Verse 12
“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you;"

Sermon outline there. (It will be a short one, don’t worry. We will get out in time to make lunch.) He 1) declared, He 2) saved, and He 3) proclaimed. What did He declare? Back to the text.
Verse 10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen," 

He has declared us to be His witnesses and that He chose us. We love the Declaration of Independence and celebrate it every 4th of July. This is the declaration of selection, and we declare it. “HE chose me.”

Point two, He saved me. No sense in having a defective, read sinning, servant. So He purified, or to use a good doctrinal word, justified, us. We are made as pure as Christ. When He sees me, He sees the righteousness of Christ. (Romans 3:21, 22) Philippians 3:9 gives us an explanation. We have a righteousness as a gift through faith in Christ. That is the ultimate salvation. Ultimate and irreversible. (See the next post. Preememptive Name)

Point three, He proclaimed. The last part of verse 12 is the proclamation:
"And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God."

No “strange” or other god did this. No one can do this. It was the One of Whom we witness. He is God. Be a witness.
(To be continued.)