Isaiah 43:13; John 10:28 - No One Can Deliver Out of My Hand

By Ronald R. Day, Sr.

Isaiah 43:13 - Yes, before the day was I am he; and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?" -- American Standard Improved Version.

John 10:28 - and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. -- World English.

Some present these two verses together, evidently with the thought that since Jehovah is quoted as saying "there is no one who can deliver out of my hand" in Isaiah 43:13, and Jesus said "no one shall snatch them out of my hand" in John 10:28, this is alleged to prove to Jesus of John 10:28 is Jehovah of Isaiah 43:13.

Actually, it is not clear that Isaiah 43:13 is actually talking about the same thing that Jesus spoke of in John 10:28. In Isaiah 43:13, Jehovah may not have been speaking of the sheep that He was to give to the "one shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23; 37:24; John 10:16) that he was to appoint over his sheep. (Ezekiel 34:2-24) .

Matthew Poole states concerning Isaiah 43:13:

There is none, none of those which are called gods, that can deliver out of my hand; that can save them whom I will destroy. Therefore they are impotent, and consequently no gods.

I will work, and who shall let it? nor can they hinder me in any other work which I resolve to do.

John Gill states, however, regarding Isaiah 43:13:

and there is none can deliver out of my hand: either such whom the Lord determines to punish, or such whom he resolves to save; none can snatch them out of his hands, there they are safe:

Regardless, Jesus stated:

John 10:28 - I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

John 10:29 - My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. -- World English.

Jesus acknowledges that his sheep are given to him from someone else, his God and Father (Ephesians 1:3). Jesus stands in the strength of his God, Jehovah. (Micah 5:4) Thus it is because no one can snatch these sheep out of the Father's hand, that no one can snatch them out the hand of the one whom Jehovah appointed to be the "one shepherd" over His sheep. -- See Ezekiel 34:2–24.

Rather than claiming to be Jehovah, Jesus was actually claiming to be the one foretold whom his God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4) was set up as the "one shepherd" of Jehovah's sheep.

There is definitely nothing in these scriptures that presents Jehovah as being more than one person, or that Jesus is Jehovah, etc.

See also our study:
The One Shepherd

James 2:19 - Did James Say that the Demons Know That Jesus is God?

 The following has been presented to us:

James 2:19 states: "You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder." -- World English.

Obviously, there is nothing in James 2:19 that says that the demons know that Jesus is God. Thus, the trinitarian (or oneness believer) who uses this verse to claim that the demons know that Jesus is God has to create a lot of assumptions that have to be added to and read into what James said to make it appear to say that demons knew that Jesus is God.

Obviously, James by his words recorded in James 2:19 is referring to the same one person he speaks of as "God" in James 1:1,27. We have no scriptural reason to think that James was not referring to the same one person who is identified as the "one God" in 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:5. Indeed, it is the same one person who is the God of the Messiah in Micah 5:4 and who is the God and Father of Jesus as spoken of in Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3.

They may claim that since there is only one God, and since the Bible uses the word God of Jesus in a few verses, that this means that Jesus has to be that "one God." Of course, such simply ignores the Biblical usage of the words for "god". It would narrow the Hebrew and Greek words for GOD down to meaning only Supreme Being or false god, and thus claim that either Jesus is the "one God" or else he is a false god. We have addressed this in other studies and thus will not address this again here, except to say that since Jesus is not the "one God" of whom are all  (1 Corinthians 8:6), any application of the Hebrew and Greek words for GOD to Jesus should be understood in the sense of special might and power as given to him from his God and Father.

See our studies:
The Hebraic Usage of the Titles for "God"

Aside from Jehovah, There is No God

As far as who the demons knew Jesus to be, the scriptures tell us that Satan knew Jesus, not to be God, but rather the Son of God. (Matthew 4:3,6; Luke 4:3,9) Indeed, if Satan thought Jesus was the Supreme Being, he surely knew that the Supreme Being could not be tempted into disobeying himself, and thus he would not have wasted time trying to tempt Jesus into disobedience to himself. The demons likewise knew Jesus to be, not God Almighty, but rather the Son of God, the Son of the Most High. -- Mark 3:11; 5:7; Luke 4:41; 8:28.

We certainly find nothing in James 2:19 (or anywhere else in the Bible) that presents Jesus as being the "one God," nor do we find any thought that presents the "one God" as being more than one person. Any such thoughts have to be added to and read into what James wrote.