An Expert Breakdown of Isaiah 43:16-19: God Does New Things

Context of Isaiah 43:16-19

This passage speaks directly to the people of Israel during their exile in Babylon, a time when hope felt lost and God’s promises seemed forgotten.

The Israelites were far from home, living under foreign rule, struggling to believe God was still with them. Isaiah reminds them of how God made a way through the Red Sea - an old miracle - but now says, 'Forget that. I’m doing something new.' He isn’t just repeating past acts. He is bringing life to the desert, a fresh path where none existed.

This new thing points forward to restoration beyond exile, ultimately through Christ, where God makes a way for all people to return to Him.

God's Past Power and Future Promise in Isaiah 43:16-19

Isaiah 43:16-19 weaves together memories of God’s past deliverance with a bold promise of future restoration, showing that His power isn’t limited to history but is actively breaking into the present.

The image of God making 'a way in the sea' recalls the Exodus, when He parted the Red Sea to rescue Israel from Egypt - a defining moment of salvation. But here, God tells His people to 'remember not the former things,' signaling that while the past miracle matters, it’s not the final chapter. Instead, He’s doing 'a new thing' - a fresh act of grace that surpasses even the Exodus. This isn’t just about repeating history. It’s about God bringing life where there was death, water where there was drought, and hope where there was despair.

The promise of a 'way in the wilderness' and 'rivers in the desert' paints a picture of divine provision in impossible places, much like when God brought water from a rock in the wilderness long before. This new work points first to the return from Babylonian exile - God bringing His people home through a desolate land. But it also reaches further, echoing the new creation promised in Revelation 21:1, where God makes all things new, and streams of living water flow from His throne.

This prophecy is both a prediction and a message of encouragement: God will act, and His people are called to notice and trust. The fulfillment begins with return from exile but finds its fullest meaning in Christ, who said, 'I am the way' (John 14:6), making a path through the ultimate wilderness of sin and death.

God is doing a new thing - can you see it beginning around you?

The promise stands firm because it rests on God’s character, not human effort - yet it invites a response of faith and praise, setting the stage for the next part of God’s redemptive plan.

How God's New Thing Connects to Jesus

This promise of a 'new thing' isn’t a break from God’s past work but its fulfillment, pointing forward to Jesus as the one who brings lasting salvation in a way that both continues and surpasses what came before.

The call to 'remember not the former things' doesn’t mean God’s past acts - like the Exodus - are unimportant, but that they were never the final goal. Instead, they were signs pointing to something greater: a new covenant where God writes His law on hearts, as Jeremiah 31:31-34 foretells, freeing people from slavery and transforming them from within.

God isn’t just repeating the past - He’s making all things new through Jesus.

Jesus Himself echoes this when He says in John 13:20, 'Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts the one I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me,' showing that He is the living way God has made. Paul later declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17, 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!' - directly linking Isaiah’s 'new thing' to life in Jesus. This new work doesn’t erase the past but fulfills it, bringing a deeper freedom from sin itself, and inviting everyone to walk in a fresh relationship with God.

The Ongoing Fulfillment of God's New Thing in Biblical Story

This promise in Isaiah 43:19 doesn’t end with the return from exile or even the coming of Jesus - it unfolds across the entire Bible story, pointing to a future when God finally makes all things new.

God’s act of making 'a way in the sea' in Isaiah 43:16 directly recalls the Exodus, when He parted the Red Sea to rescue Israel (Exodus 14:21-22), but He tells His people to 'remember not the former things' because He is doing something greater: a second exodus. This new deliverance is pictured in Isaiah 11:15-16, which says, 'The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea. With a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River.' He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals - a miraculous path through once-impossible places, similar to the first Exodus but on a renewed scale.

Now, this 'new thing' began in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection - He is the way through the wilderness of sin - but it’s not yet complete. We still live in a world with deserts, both physical and spiritual, where people go without hope, water, or healing. Yet Revelation 21:5 promises, 'He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”' This is the final fulfillment: a new creation where God wipes away every tear, the wilderness blooms, and rivers flow in the desert forever. That day hasn’t fully come, but it’s certain because God has already started His work in Christ. Until then, we live between the 'already' and the 'not yet,' trusting that the God who made a way through the sea is still making a way in our broken world.

God isn’t just fixing the old world - He’s creating a whole new one where every wilderness blooms.

So this prophecy gives us hope: what God began long ago, He will finish. The same power that brought Israel out of Egypt and raised Jesus from the dead is at work today, preparing a world where justice, peace, and life flow like rivers in the desert. And when that day comes, we’ll finally see the full meaning of 'Behold, I am doing a new thing.'

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