A Savior to the Gentiles: Isaiah 49:1-13
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The Vision of Isaiah, by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815 – 1891) |
Introduction
Isaiah’s four “Servant Songs,” chapters 42 through 53, are prophetic
and give details about the character and purpose of the Messiah.
Isaiah’s prophecies of the Messiah have in view both the
Messiah’s first advent to suffer and die as that perfect atonement and the
Messiah’s second advent and future kingdom on earth. Isaiah, of course, did not
know about two advents, and therefore some of his prophecies contain elements of
both.
In our last study, we examined the first Servant Song in
Isaiah 42, in which the Lord identified the Messiah as “My Servant,” who
would demonstrate a quiet and patient demeanor, would bring truth, justice, and
comfort to the weak and oppressed, would be a light to the Gentiles, and would
open mankind’s eyes to the reality and grace of God.
The
character and office of the Messiah were exhibited to us in general terms in
Isaiah’s first Servant Song, chapter 42, in which he introduced the Messiah
this way in v. 1:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my
chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring
justice to the nations.”
That first Servant Song ended with the assurance that the
Messiah was sure to come, because God had promised, and He always had kept His
promises.
This
second Servant Song is more difficult to outline, because the text intermingles
the promises of the Messiah to both the people of Israel in the relatively near
term, their exile and return in the two centuries immediately following Isaiah,
and to the Messiah’s message of salvation to the Gentiles in his first advent,
seven centuries after these prophecies.
Mixing
the promises the way they are intermingled in this song is a literary device
that emphasizes the role of the Messiah as the Savior, first for Israel, and
then for all people.
I
can imagine Isaiah in the temple court announcing his prophecies in this Servant
Song to his listeners. I am not sure how his audience would have reacted…but I wouldn’t
be surprised if there were puzzling looks and bewildered shaking of heads…an
outright anger and rejection at his suggestion that the Messiah would have
anything to do with Gentiles.
The
Israelites expected a Messiah for themselves only, one who would rise up and
defeat the oppressive nations around them…and then establish His rule, through
the nation of Israel, over the entire world. But they did not buy into the idea
of a Messiah who would offer salvation to all people, including the hated
Gentiles. At Jesus’ first advent, 700 years in the future, this was still the
attitude of the people of Israel; they hated the Gentiles.
In
the judgment of the Jewish establishment in the time of Jesus’ first advent, He
had failed to demonstrate He was the Messiah, because He did not eject the
Roman occupiers from their land, and they resented His criticism of their
hypocrisy, their legalism, their lack of devotion to God. And He associated
with people the Jews deemed unclean.
Isaiah’s
prophecies, and the Servant Songs, are right on the mark: The remnant or
preserved ones of Israel will turn to Him, and still in our future today, the
Messiah will, indeed, rule the world from Jerusalem.
The
second Servant Song is found in Isaiah 49:1-13 and concentrates on the Messiah
as a savior to the Gentiles, a subject he also dealt with in his first Servant
Song.
Here
is what Isaiah tells us in the second Song:
1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before
I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my
name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he
made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my
splendor.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at
all.
Yet
what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says—
“he who formed me in the womb to be his
servant
to
bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for
I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength—”
6 he says:
“It
is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I
will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach
to the ends of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to
him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings
will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because
of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen
you.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In
the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help
you;
I
will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to
restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
“They
will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat
or the sun beat down on them.
He
who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar—
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.”
13 Shout for joy, you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For
the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted
ones.
Exposition
In
this second Servant Song, Isaiah begins by telling us:
V.
1: The Messiah will come in human form
1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear
this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from
my mother’s womb
he has spoken my name.
It
is the Servant—the Messiah—who speaks beginning in v. 1. His reference to “…islands…”
and “…you distant nations…” means the entire world and confirms again
that the Messiah would be sent not just to Israel, but to the entire world.
It
is interesting to me that these two phrases “Listen to me, you islands…”
and “…hear this, you distant nations…” express the same thought in twice
different words. The last part of the verse also express the same idea twice: “…Before
I was born the Lord called me…” and “…from my mother’s womb he has
spoken my name.”
Such
parallel structures are common in Hebrew poetry and are called “appositions,”
and we find it often in the Hebrew scriptures. For example:
Psalm
25:4:
“Make known to me your ways, Lord; teach
me your paths…”
and
Psalm
91:1:
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most
High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…”
The
Hebrew writers employed appositions to give emphasis to what they wanted to
emphasize. In v. 1 the emphasis is on the fact that it is at Yahweh’s
initiative that the servant serves: “…Before I was born the Lord called me…”
and “…from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.” His calling was to
be a part of Yahweh’s plan from the beginning of his life.
Isaiah
introduces the Messiah as born into the world, and in his prophecy he hints at
the full extent of the Messiah’s commission, which is not only to restore the
errant Israelites and reconcile them to their Lord, but also to be a Savior to
the whole world, which Isaiah refers to as “…islands…” and “…distant
nations….” This, of course, meant the Messiah would also call the Gentiles
to the knowledge and obedience of the true God, and to bring them to be reconciled
to Him along with the Israelites. The Israelites hated the idea that the
Messiah would Minister to the Gentiles, whom they regarded as unclean,
unsalvageable, and forever condemned.
From
v. 1, the prophet tells the Israelites the Messiah would be a human being, born
as others are born of a woman (although virgin born, Isaiah 7:14).
V.
2 tells us:
V.
2: He will be an effective teacher
He
made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in
the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he
made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
Here
we find another example of apposition: “He made my mouth like a sharpened
sword…” and “he made me into a polished arrow…” V. 2 has nothing to
do with actual swords and arrows. These are metaphors pointing to the Messiah’s
ability to deliver Yahweh’s word successfully with his mouth “…like a
sharpened sword…,” speaking and teaching effectively.
Paul
uses a similar metaphor in his letter to the Ephesians, referring to: “…the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17), as does the
author of Hebrews, who writes: “…the word of God is alive and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword…” (Hebrews 4:12).
The
statements in v. 2 “…in the shadow of his hand he hid me…” and “…(He)
concealed me in his quiver…” speak to the timing of the Messiah’s advent;
before His advent, He was with God the Father, Who waited for the right moment
to send the Savior.
In
v. 3, God calls the Messiah “…Israel…”:
V.
3: He will glorify the Father
He
said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
V.
3 is the only place in the Bible where the Messiah is called by the name “…Israel…”
To call the Messiah “…Israel…” may seem curious to us, but it emphasizes
both His human origin as a child from among the Israelites and divine origin as
the chosen one of Israel. “Israel” here is used as a synonym of “Servant,”
to identify the future Messiah with God’s chosen people Israel.
The
purpose of Israel was, in part, to demonstrate the existence of the one true
God to the world, because, like today, most people in the ancient world were
alienated from God. They lived with a host of superstitious religious ideas and
created and worshiped idols. Through Israel, God offered the knowledge of His
existence, created a covenant relationship between Him and His people, and right
from the first covenant God made with Abraham, He made it clear that his
purpose for Israel was about offering salvation to the world—He promised Abraham
in Genesis 12: “…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”
(Genesis 12:3). That would be accomplished with the advent of the Messiah.
His
purpose for Israel was to bring the gospel to the world, offering the world the
cleansing from sin and a renewed purpose. So in v. 3, this Servant—the
Messiah—is going to be the vehicle to fulfill the task given to Israel. Jesus
came to us through Israel, and we must remember that promise to Abraham that Israel’s
main purpose right from the start was to bless “…all peoples on earth…” Paul
shows us how we are to interpret God’s promise to Abraham in his letter to the
Galatian church:
7 Understand, then,
that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture
foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel
in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9
So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Galatians
3:7-9).
Isaiah’s
prophecy emphasizes that people will see the splendor of the Father through the
saving work of the Messiah.
In
vv. 4-5, Isaiah tells us the Servant will be rejected:
Vv.
4-5: Sent to save Israel, He will be rejected
4 But I said, “I
have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for
nothing at all.
Yet
what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the Lord
says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to
bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for
I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
and
my God has been my strength—
Isaiah
gives us words he attributes to the future Messiah in v. 4: “I have labored
in vain.” In view here is the first advent, when the people of Israel
rejected Him, and it appeared, at the time of His death, that He had labored in
vain. His own people, to whom He had come to save, had rejected Him and His
message.
The
emphasis in v. 4 is on the suffering Servant, but we should remember that
though the Lord was rejected, and it may have looked for a time that He labored
in vain, His confidence is always in God…so He testifies in v. 5, saying: “I
am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength.” Even
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was a victory; in fact, it is the greatest
victory the world has seen up to the present time.
At
His first advent, Israel rejected Him. But He did something far more wonderful:
He offered salvation for the world, having done the work of the Father. In His
second advent, He will accomplish the purpose outlined for Him in v. 5, which
is: “…to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself…”
V.
6 emphasizes that the Servant will be Savior of the whole world: “…a light
for the Gentiles…”:
V.
6: He will save all mankind
…he
says:
“It
is too small a thing for you to be my
servant to restore
the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I
have kept.
I
will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach
to the ends of the earth.”
The
Israelites did not want a Messiah who would offer redemption the Gentiles along
with themselves, because of their low regard for them.
The
Israelites did not think of a Messiah who would impact the world beyond
granting freedom to the Jewish nation. They expected a prophet, perhaps with
supernatural powers, who would lead them to political and military victory to end
the domination of foreign powers over them.
While
the Messiah’s chief purpose was Savior for Israel, God’s word about the Messiah
given through Isaiah was: “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Though they never tried
to accomplish it, as we know from the word given to Abraham, Israel’s mission was
always to bring the knowledge of the true God to the world around them. But
instead, the Israelites developed a hatred and spitefulness toward all Gentiles.
The
Messiah, however, in His first advent, became the “…light for the Gentiles…,”
offering salvation to Jews and Gentiles alike. In Isaiah’s Servant Songs, we
find he repeats the two themes in v. 6—that he will “…restore the tribes of
Jacob…” to their God and be “…a light for the Gentiles…”
V.
7: Those who despised Him will worship Him
7 This is what the
Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of
Israel—
to
him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings
will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because
of the Lord, who is faithful,
the
Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
V.
7 addresses the fact that the Messiah was to be despised and suffer humiliating
treatment in His first advent…but in the latter part of the verse, Isaiah tells
us there will come a time when kings and princes shall recognize Him as Messiah
and worship Him. This will occur when He returns to gather His people and ultimately
rule the world.
But
the prophet did not know of two advents. In v. 7 we see both of Christ’s
advents, the first when He “…was despised and abhorred…” (His first
advent) and the second when kings and princes will “…bow down…” to Him
(His second advent). Isaiah addresses this again in his fourth Servant Song in
chapter 52, writing: “…kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what
they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will
understand. (52:15).
Vv.
8-13:
Vv.
8-13: A covenant to all people
8 This is what the
Lord says:
“In
the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help
you;
I
will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to
restore the land
and
to reassign its desolate inheritances,
In
v. 8, “In the time of my favor…” and “…in the day of
salvation…” are parallel phrases that indicate that Yahweh grants His
saving grace according to His plan. The Lord continues in v.
8: “…I
will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the
land and to reassign its desolate inheritances…”
A covenant is an agreement
between two parties, outlining what is expected of both sides. Covenants
between equals are typically agreements where each party agrees to give
something in exchange for something else—usually something equal in value to
what they expect to receive.
However, covenants between
God and humans are not covenants between equals, but are covenants between a
superior (God) and an inferior (humans).
God initiates covenants
between Himself and His people and dictates their terms. In every case those
terms are favorable to the His people. For example, God established a
covenant with Abram in which he required Abram to leave his home and family to
go to a land that God would show him. In return, God promised“
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great,and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless
you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”
(Genesis 12:2-3).
This was the foundational
covenant for the Hebrew nation and the first indication of His promise to bless
all peoples.
Vv.
8-13 comprise both a metaphor of God extending His grace to all people these
verses deal with prophecies of real events to come for the Israelites.
Looking
first at v. 8, we find the servant is “…to be a covenant
for the people…” Given that Yahweh always specifies covenant
terms favorable to the humans, this conveys the sense that Yahweh will
bless the people through the work of the servant. Initially, the promise is to
the Israelites in Babylonian captivity, which is to take place about a century
after Isaiah’s prophecy, in 605 and 596 B.C. Isaiah, prophesies in v. 8 that
God will “…restore
the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances…” and in vv. 9-10 provide
for them on the journey preparing for their return to their
homeland from Babylonian captivity, beginning in 530 B.C., about two centuries
after Isaiah.
9
to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
“They
will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither
hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun
beat down on them.
He
who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water
The
beginning of v. 9 sets the tone for these final four verses of this second Servant
Song with the promise:
“…to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and
to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’” and in v. 10: “He who has compassion
on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.”
These phrases have a double meaning. God today calls human
beings out of the darkness of sin into the light of righteousness. So God’s
guidance and care on a journey of the Jewish exiles that is both geographical
for the Israelites…and also long-term spiritual. When God says: “… to those in
darkness, ‘Be free!...” it is as applicable today as it was
3,000 years ago when it was first given In Isaiah’s prophecy. For the Jewish
exiles, they will return to their homeland, and for people everywhere, the
Servant—the Messiah—offers the way for all people to return to their Creator
and be saved.
The
image of God turning mountains into roads and removing all obstructions in v.
11 is a reference to His assisting in the Jews’ return from Babylon to the promised
land. It may also be taken as the easy path for all people to receive God’s
offer of His grace.
11 I will turn all
my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will
come from afar—
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.”
13 Shout for joy,
you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For
the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.”
One
note about v. 12. I am not sure where the NIV translators came up with “…they
will come from afar—…some from the region of Aswan.” In Hebrew, the verse
reads “…from the land of the Sinites…,” referring to Sinim, the
Hebrew term for the far east. His point in v. 12 simply relates to God’s offer
of grace to all mankind.
Finally, in v. 13 we find the idea of joy
available to all mankind. God will have mercy because of His compassion, His
promise, and His grace, resulting in a reason to “…shout for joy…” and “…rejoice…” The idea in this verse is, that the
heavens and the earth would have cause to exult together . It is common in
Isaiah thus to interpose a song of praise in his prophecies.
Conclusion
I am not sure how Isaiah’s contemporaries
reacted to his prophecies…first, predicting the Jews’ exile from and return to
their land, and, second, his prophecy of God’s offer of grace to the Gentiles,
who were to the Jews, filthy, unworthy, and permanently rejected by God.
Many of Isaiah’s contemporaries probably at
best were puzzled and at worst angry with him. They expected an exclusive
Messiah for themselves, to rescue them from the oppressive nations around them
and to establish His rule, through the nation of Israel, over all the world.
They thought of themselves as the only
people worthy of God’s grace and found it impossible to accept the idea of a
Messiah who would offer salvation to everyone.
At Jesus’ first advent, 700 years after Isaiah
prophesied about Him, that was still the attitude of the people of Israel. In
their eyes, He failed first because He did not eject the Roman occupiers and,
second, because pointed out their own hypocrisy.
His first advent proved the accuracy of
Isaiah’s prophecies. God sent His Son, the Messiah, to the people of Israel and
ultimately to us, with the invitation to turn to Him, accept His offer of
salvation and an eternal future with Him.
We should all remember…God did not choose the
people of Israel because of their greatness. They were weak and powerless in a
world that was dominated by other nations of people alienated from God.
Nevertheless, God chose Israel to make salvation
and communion with God available to the world. God intended to save all through
Israel…and through the people of Israel, that offer of reconciliation and
relationship with God came us all with the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah.
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