Isaiah 43:27Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He states that your forefathers and your leaders have committed transgressions against Me. By referencing the forefathers, He not only implicates the ancestors but also aims to highlight something further. The wise men and lawmakers, chosen for the priesthood and responsible for leading the people, may also be considered fathers and leaders of those under their charge. Therefore, when iniquity is enacted not by the general populace, but by those who ought to correct the wrongs of others, the just and necessary retribution of the wicked becomes inevitable. Hence, He declares, those who assume the role of the forefathers and have been entrusted with authority over you have acted wickedly against Me. In saying ‘Against Me,’ He emphasizes that their disrespectful and sinful actions were not merely offenses against individuals but against the very glory of God, who reigns supreme.

Consider this illustration: if an individual wrongs his neighbor through cruelty or violence, though it is an offense, it is one against a fellow human and not against God. Those who reject God's service, yielding instead to the allure of demons and worshiping idols, rebel against the Divine and diminish His majesty, striving to usurp His rightful honor and superiority, which belongs to Him alone. This is precisely what the Israelites once engaged in; they served idols and, despite acknowledging the sacred truths, refused to humble their proud and obstinate hearts before God. Therefore, He rebukes them, stating, ‘The priests have not asked, “Where is the Lord?” The guardians of the law have not known Me, and the shepherds have acted treacherously against Me’ (Jeremiah 2:8). Furthermore, He adds, ‘Why do you contend with Me? For all of you have transgressed and committed iniquity against Me, says the Lord Almighty’ (Jeremiah 2:29). He denounces the leaders of My holy place, for they had the audacity to erect memorials to demons not only in Jerusalem but also within the very temple itself, prompting the Lord of all to question the congregation of Judah: ‘Why have My beloved ones committed abominations in My house?’ (Jeremiah 11:15), condemning the crafted images and idols as abominations. Similarly, holy things are desecrated whenever anyone neglects to uphold what has been decreed for the glory of God with reverence and purity, disregarding the gravitas of His divine laws. Therefore, because your forebears have transgressed against Me and defiled My sacred leaders, I have allowed enemies to lay waste to Jacob, and I have brought shame upon Israel for their actions.

Yet, for My own sake, because of My goodness, patience, and compassion, I will erase all your wrongs with the sprinkling and blood of the New Covenant: I will cancel the deeds that were written against you, and I will no longer remember your sins, which I will forgive through baptism, provided you believe. Therefore, remind Me that if you can justly present a defense, I will listen with openness, so that we may be judged together, and that you may demonstrate that I have not acted with the proper justice toward you. This sentiment can be found in a fuller expression in Micah: My people, what have I done to you, or how have I troubled you? Answer Me. For I brought you out of the land of Egypt and freed you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam ahead of you (Micah 6:3-4). Similarly, in the fiftieth Psalm, David petitions God, ‘that thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest prevail when thou art judged’ (Ps. 50:6). Speak, therefore, if you have anything to validate your position. The implication is that I will not initiate accusations against you, so you cannot claim oppression through excessive words; instead, you should speak for your own defense if you possess any substantial rationale, that you may discover that your suffering has been undeserved. To make it clear that My compassion toward you is not based on any merit, but stems from My benevolence, I call upon your ancestors to help you understand that you were born into sin. Your forebear was the first to err in the wilderness, representing all of Israel. Or consider your ancestor Abraham, who is culpable of sin for responding to the Lord’s promise of land to his offspring with ‘By this I understand that I will inherit it’ (Genesis 15:8). And he indicates that your intercessors turned away from Me: Aaron and Moses at the waters of Meribah, who acted as mediators between us (Num. 20). To underscore that this explanation is clear, it continues: I have deemed the rulers of the holy ones to be unclean, of whom it is also sung in the Psalms: they were consumed at the rock of their judgment (Psalms 140:6). He remarks that He recognized them as unclean because they did not enter the promised land. Consequently, Jacob was handed over to slaughter, and Israel faced scorn, such that none of those who exited Egypt, aside from two, entered Judah; their bodies instead laid to rest in the wilderness. For those of the Seventy, who advised, “Say you first about your wrongs, that you may be justified,” God invites them to repentance, helping them recognize their faults and attain forgiveness. It is written elsewhere, ‘He that is righteous to himself is a mouthful in the first’ (Proverbs 18:18). It is stated about their leaders and forefathers that they desecrated the holy things of the Lord, not adhering to the law of God, but rather following the traditions and commandments of men; as a consequence, Jacob was lost, and Israel, exiled and wandering the earth, was left to ruin.