Isaiah 43:18 tells God’s people to stop living in the memory of past failures and past glories, because God is about to do something new. The verse is not a command to forget history in a shallow sense. It is an invitation to look ahead to what God is already starting. The words come from the prophet Isaiah, speaking for the LORD to the exiles of Israel who were living far from home in Babylon.
“Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the things of old.
Isaiah 43:18 (WEB)
What Isaiah 43:18 Means
The opening phrase, “Don’t remember the former things,” asks the people to stop fixating on the events that once defined them. For Israel, the former things included the rescue from Egypt, the wilderness years, and the failures that led to judgment. God is not asking them to erase those events from memory, since the same chapter recalls the sea and the mighty waters. He is asking them not to let the past become the lens through which they see their present and future.
The second phrase, “don’t consider the things of old,” reinforces the first. The word “consider” points to dwelling on something, turning it over again and again. The verse warns against a mind that keeps rehearsing what is gone. Then verse 19 explains why: God says he will do a new thing, and it is already springing up. The verse does not promise a specific outcome or a timeline. It promises that God is active and that his people are invited to notice it.
The Context of Isaiah 43:18
Isaiah 40 through 55 is often called the “book of comfort” because it speaks to Israel during or near the exile in Babylon, roughly the sixth century BC. The traditional view attributes the entire book to Isaiah of Jerusalem, while many scholars think a later prophet wrote chapters 40 to 55. Either way, the audience is the exiled community, people who had lost their land, temple, and sense of national identity.
Just before verse 18, God reminds Israel of the exodus, when he made a way through the sea and destroyed Pharaoh’s army. Verse 18 then turns the reader toward something larger. Read against that backdrop, the call to forget the old things does not mean the exodus was unimportant. It means God is doing a greater work that will make the exodus look small by comparison, and his people should not stay stuck in the glory of the past.
Key Phrases in Isaiah 43:18
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
(WEB)
Paul writes that anyone in Christ is a new creation, and the old things have passed away. This echoes Isaiah’s call to leave former patterns behind and shows how the New Testament takes the same hope and grounds it in Christ.
Philippians 3:13-14
13 Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
(WEB)
Paul describes forgetting what lies behind and pressing toward what lies ahead. The same forward-looking posture appears here, with the goal set on God’s calling rather than on past achievements or defeats.
A Short Prayer From Isaiah 43:18
Lord, you know the memories I keep returning to, the failures I replay and the old disappointments I still carry. Help me loosen my grip on them. Show me where you are already at work, even in places that feel dry and empty. Give me eyes to notice what is springing up, and the courage to take the next faithful step. Let my confidence rest in your faithfulness, not in how well I remember my past. Amen.
