Saved by Water

Yahweh is going to redeem Israel in the latter days, and the deliverance will be so dramatic that Israel will forget her former deliverance (Isaiah 43:18). As Robert O’Connell points out ( Concentricity and Continuity: The Literary Structure of Isaiah (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) , 25), this announcement is surrounded by references to water:

A. Path through the wilderness, v 16

A’. Destruction of Egyptians, v 17a

A”. Water path through wilderness, v 19b

A”’. Drink for the chosen people, v 20b-21

Interspersing these deliverances by water are Yahweh’s promises to subdue threatening beasts - Egyptian war horses (v. 17) and wilderness predators (v. 20).

Yahweh is going to do the exodus and wilderness thing all over again, only better: Another path through the sea of nations, another flood overwhelming Israel’s enemies, more miraculous living water to make the people of God fruitful in the midst of the wilderness.

Passages such as this form part of the background for the “then” and “now” of Peter’s baptismal statement in 1 Peter 3:20-21.