Isaiah 43:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus, when God delivered the Israelites after performing numerous miraculous acts on their behalf, they soon forgot and turned to false idols. To help them remember His might, He proclaimed, "He made a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters." As they escaped Egypt, they traversed the sea and walked through the Jordan. This is the waterway which David celebrated in his song: "What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?" (Psalm 113:5). He further declares of God, "He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot" (Psalm 65:6). So, He provided a route through the sea and a more powerful passage through the waters.

Additionally, He vanquished chariots, horses, and a strong enemy. Pharaoh relentlessly pursued the Israelites with cavalry and a fierce army, yet he was unable to prevail or harm those whom God had liberated. They were submerged in the waters, perished alongside their steeds, and met divine judgment as easily ignited flax. They vanished without struggle, reduced to nothing, as flax, readily consumed by fire, is extinguished with merely a touch and yields a feeble blaze.

Should someone question how it can be stated that the Almighty Himself expelled their chariots and their army, even though Pharaoh acted on his own accord, we refer to the message given to Pharaoh: "For this purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate My power in you, and that My name may be proclaimed throughout the earth" (Rom. 9:17; Ex. 9:16). This can be understood historically.

Yet spiritually, we consider that those who aspire to lead a righteous life, evading the bondage of the devil, withdraw from worldly concerns and seek to be liberated from all impurity. Such individuals are pursued by the adversary, but God saves them in wondrous ways. He allows them to navigate the challenges of this life; with His unfathomable strength, He guides them through. He does not permit the temptations of this world to overwhelm them, organizing their experience so that they are free from worldly disturbances. He calms the diverse trials that assail them like tumultuous waters, so that in isolation—in a state of purity and serenity—they may partake of the heavenly bread and draw water from the rock, enjoying communion with Christ, crossing the Jordan, and ultimately arriving at the promised land. A truly spiritual person will comprehend this message.

The Lord, who overturned Babylon and stripped its mighty men of their strength, holding captive all the Chaldeans, who previously navigated the turbulent waves of this world, opened a passage in the powerful waters of the Red Sea so that His people, liberated from Egypt, could traverse it. Likewise, He who created a route in the Red Sea also cleared a way through the strong waters of the Jordan River, making the departure from Egypt and the entrance into the Promised Land an extraordinary event. He submerged the chariots and horses and all of Pharaoh's forces in the depths, who have now succumbed to an eternal slumber. They have been crushed and withered away swiftly, like flax that has not yet been consumed by flame, losing its natural buoyancy and collapsing instantly into ashes. Therefore, I urge you, in light of those wonders which led to the downfall of the great city Babylon, and the paths that were opened for My people in the Red Sea and the Jordan, to refrain from recalling the former things, for in the Gospel I will perform an even greater act, one that makes the old pale in comparison. I will forge a roadway, not merely in the Red Sea, but in the wilderness of the entire earth. And not just one river or spring will emerge from the rock, but numerous streams that will refresh not just the body as before, but souls thirsting for salvation, fulfilling the promise that you shall "drink from the waters of the springs of the Saviour" (Is. 12). Then shall come a time unlike any other, when all creatures, dragons, and ostriches that roamed the wilderness of the nations, who were akin to beasts through idolatry and immoral ways, will glorify and extol Me. Instead of dragons, which Theodotion referred to as thannim, while others translated it as sirens—grotesque creatures whose alluring yet lethal songs led them to be devoured by the hounds of Scylla—this signifies those once devoted to indulgence and excess will turn to serve the Lord. It is more fitting, however, to refer to dragons, for the inclusion of ostriches suggests a shared affinity for the wilderness among these beings. But the wild creatures, the dragons, and the ostriches shall praise and exalt Me, says the Lord, for I have provided water in the wilderness of the Gentiles and rivers in the arid lands of the nations, so that My chosen ones, those I have redeemed with My blood, might drink and proclaim My glory and My works.