Short answer: Isaiah 43:19 is God's promise to bring Israel home from Babylonian exile through impossible terrain — a rescue so fresh it should make even the exodus feel like old news. It announces God's ability to start something new where there is no visible path.
The context: don't live off the last miracle
Isaiah 40–55 addresses a people facing or enduring exile in Babylon. Chapter 43 opens with reassurance: "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee" (v. 1, KJV), and the well-known promise that when you pass through the waters, God will be with you (v. 2).
Then verses 16–17 deliberately recall the exodus — the LORD who makes a way in the sea, who brought out chariot and horse and extinguished them. Any Israelite would recognize the Red Sea. And then comes the surprise of verse 18: "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old" (KJV).
That is a startling command in a book that constantly tells Israel to remember. God is not erasing the exodus; He is saying the coming rescue will be big enough that they should not be looking backward for evidence.
What the verse means, phrase by phrase
"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:19, KJV).
"Behold, I will do a new thing" — "New" does not mean unprecedented in kind. God has made a way before. It means this act is not a repeat performance; it is a fresh work for a present crisis.
"now it shall spring forth" — The verb suggests sprouting, like a plant breaking soil. It is already germinating, still underground. Which explains the next clause.
"shall ye not know it?" — A question aimed at people who might miss it. New works of God can look small at the start, and a nation waiting for another Red Sea might overlook a slow return caravan.
"a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert" — The journey from Babylon to Judah crossed genuinely hostile ground. The exodus image is reversed and updated: last time God made a dry path through water, this time He will put water in the dry places. Same God, different miracle, fitted to a different problem.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 43:2 — through the waters, God is with you.
- Isaiah 35:6–7 — waters breaking out in the wilderness, the parched ground becoming a pool.
- Isaiah 48:20–21 — the call to leave Babylon, with water from the rock.
- Isaiah 40:3–4 — prepare a way in the wilderness; applied to John the Baptist in Mark 1:2–3.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 — "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (KJV).
- Revelation 21:5 — "Behold, I make all things new" (KJV).
How to apply it today
Read at its own address, this verse is about a specific historical homecoming. That is worth keeping in view, because it is the reason the promise has weight — God actually did it.
The extension to personal circumstances is fair as long as it stays honest. The pattern the verse establishes is that God is not limited to repeating His last rescue, and that His new work often starts too small to be noticed. If you are waiting for God to solve a problem the way He solved the last one, this verse is a gentle correction.
Where interpreters differ is how much of Isaiah 43 points forward to Christ. Some read the "new thing" primarily as the return from exile, with the New Testament using its language for the greater deliverance in Jesus; others read the passage as directly messianic, given how the New Testament handles nearby chapters (Isaiah 40:3, Isaiah 53). Both readings honor the text; neither requires flattening the original setting.
What both allow is the practical instruction underneath: stop auditing the past for proof, and start watching for the sprout.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the "new thing" God promised in Isaiah 43:19? In its immediate context, the return of the exiles from Babylon to Judah — a deliverance across wilderness terrain that would echo but not repeat the exodus. Isaiah 48:20–21 describes the same departure with similar imagery.
Why does God say "remember not the former things" when Scripture tells Israel to remember? Because the point is comparison, not amnesia. Verses 16–17 have just invoked the exodus, and verse 18 says the coming rescue will be so significant that the old one shouldn't dominate their expectations. It is emphasis, not a ban on memory.
Can I apply Isaiah 43:19 to my own situation? The pattern applies: God can open a path where none exists, and His new work often begins imperceptibly. What the verse does not guarantee is that a particular problem of yours will be resolved in a particular way or timeframe — that is more than the text promises.
What does "rivers in the desert" mean? It is a picture of provision on an impossible route. Water in a desert is the difference between a journey being survivable and not, so the image says God will supply what the road cannot.