Isaiah 42:1-9: The Servant of the Lord
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The prophet Isaiah, painting by |
When we look at the first part of the book of Isaiah, we find how he warned the people of Judah of the consequences of their sin. He predicted the destruction of both the northern kingdom of Israel, which occurred several years into his prophetic ministry, and Judah, which occurred more than a century after hiss ministry ended.
Isaiah
also prophesied the eventual restoration of God’s chosen people to their land
and gave remarkable details about the Messiah who would come and provide the
perfect atonement for sin.
His
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 coming and
future kingdom on earth, which we know as His second advent.
Isaiah
wrote during a troubled period in the history of Judah and Israel. It was a
time when the Assyrian empire was expanding partly at the expense of the
northern kingdom of Israel. Under King Tiglath-Pileser III (reigned 745-727 BC)
the Assyrians swept westward into Aram
(today, Syria) and then into Northern Kingdom of Israel. They then continued
south, and in response, the Kings of Aram and Israel tried to pressure King
Ahaz of Judah (Southern kingdom) into joining their alliance against Assyria.
But
instead of joining this alliance, Ahaz chose to ask Tiglath-Pileser for help
against Israel and Aram, an act which Isaiah condemned (Isaiah 7). Assyria assisted
Judah by conquering and deporting the people of the Northern Kingdom, but this
left the Judah even more vulnerable and exposed to attack from its
ally-turned-enemy, Assyria. In 701, King Sennacherib, who had become king of Assyria
threatened to capture Jerusalem and deport its people into Assyrian slavery (Isaiah
36).
The
Judean king at that time was King Hezekiah, a godly man who prayed earnestly. Isaiah
prophesied something that seemed highly improbable to the people of besieged
Jerusalem…that God would force the Assyrians to withdraw, as related in Isaiah
37:5-7:
5 When King
Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell
your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have
heard… 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him
want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the
sword.’”
Shortly
afterward the angel of the Lord destroyed the Assyrian army encamped around
Jerusalem, as Isaiah describes in vv. 36-37 of chapter 37:
36 Then the angel of
the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the
Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead
bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.
He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
Along
with his men, the Assyrian King Sennacherib was overcome with concern as
predicted and quickly left for Nineveh, where he suffered assassination, as the
priest Ezra reports in 2 Chronicles 32:21:
“…when he
(Assyrian
King Sennacherib) went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own
flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.”
Isaiah
also prophesied that Judah would be defeated and taken captive by the
Babylonians, which occurred about 100 years after Isaiah’s prophecy. We find
the account of his prophecy in 2 Kings 20: 16-18:
16…Isaiah said to
Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 The time will surely come
when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up
until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the
Lord. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who
will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the
palace of the king of Babylon.”
Isaiah
gave King Hezekiah this prophecy around 700 B.C. The Babylonians conquered
Judah in 597 BC, pillaged the city, and took many prominent citizens, including
the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel, back to Babylon…the start of the Babylonian
captivity and the Jewish Diaspora.
The
Babylonians besieged Jerusalem again in 589 BC after the king, Zedekiah,
rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and in 586-587, blinding Zedekiah after
murdering his sons. They demolished the temple and the city’s walls and made
Judah a Babylonian province.
Isaiah’s
warnings to Israel and Judah of their national sins continue throughout
chapters 41 to 49 of his book. In these chapters, God gives them encouragement
that He will eventually redeem them, restore them from their captivity, and
return them to Jerusalem…which took place beginning about 528 BC after the
Medes and the Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to return
to rebuild their city, wall and temple.
Isaiah’s
many visions and prophecies spoke of people and events in what was then the
present and in addition, both the near future and the distant future. He
claimed that the deliverance of the Jews would prefigure another deliverance,
this time from sin, which would take place seven centuries later with the birth
of Jesus, the Messiah…
With
this as a brief background, I want to turn to what are known as Isaiah’s “Servant
Songs,” which we find in chapters 42 through 53. They are prophetic in nature,
and their main purpose is to give us details about the character and purpose of
the Messiah.
The First of Isaiah's Four "Servant Songs"
Vv.
1-9 of chapter 42 comprise the first of Isaiah’s four “Servant Songs.” In this
brief passage, he gives us a partial picture of the future Messiah in His role
of the Servant of the Lord:
“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. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his
voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a
smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth
justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes
justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” 5
This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them
out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath
to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord,
have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep
you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the
Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from
prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” 8 “I am the Lord;
that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9
See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they
spring into being I announce them to you.”
In
the Servant-Song passages, Isaiah emphasizes the Messiah will be both a king
and a servant. He declares that the Messiah will be commissioned by God to
bring forth justice to the nations, and as He accomplishes His mission in His
first advent, He will remain The gentle and kind.
The
term “Servant Songs” has been used of these passages by commentators
throughout the centuries, but the term may be something of a misnomer, because
there is no evidence they were ever sung.
There
can be little doubt that the servant of chapter 42 is Israel’s future Messiah.
Isaiah’s prophecy here intermingles some elements of both His first and second
advents.
Isaiah
provides us with some details about the future Messiah:
V.
1: The Holy Spirit calls the Messiah, “…My Servant…”
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.
“My
servant”
is a designation given for several of Israel’s faithful spiritual leaders over
the preceding centuries…God called Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Job, and
Zerubbabel, among others, “my servant.” The designation also would be
used a century and a half after Isaiah prophesied even to refer to
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, whom God called His servant in using him to
invade Judah as His instrument of judgment in 586 B.C.
The
Messiah also is called “…my chosen one…” in v. 1 because He was chosen
to serve the Father.
Further,
the Lord says of Him, “I will put my Spirit on him…” We find the visible
representation of this at Jesus’ baptism:
Isaiah
42:1:
“…I will put my Spirit on him…”
Matthew
3:16
16 As soon as Jesus
was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I
am well pleased.”
Isaiah
prophesies “…he will bring justice to the nations…” (literally, “…to
the Gentiles…” or “…to the heathen…).
This
is both a look at His first advent and a look forward beyond the first advent
to His second, when He will establish and rule over a kingdom in which justice
prevails throughout the world.
It
is difficult to describe just how revolutionary this prophecy was to the
Israelites who heard the prophecy from Isaiah that the Messiah would come not
just for them, but also for “…the nations…”—which always is a reference
to the Gentiles in the New Testament. This was very hard for the Jews to
accept, because they regarded the Gentiles not just as pagan, but also unclean,
unsalvageable, and forever condemned by Yahweh.
The
New Testament writers affirm the offer of salvation to the Gentiles, as well as
to the Jews.
The
earliest occasion is found in Luke 2, where we find a devout Jew named Simeon,
a “…righteous and devout…” man of Jerusalem to whom, according to Luke, “It
had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had
seen the Lord’s Messiah” (Luke 2:26). Luke describes what occurred when Simeon
met Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as they entered the Temple to fulfill the
requirements of the Law of Moses on the 40th day from Jesus’ birth—the
presentation of Jesus at the Temple:
…When the parents brought in the child
Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon
took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as
you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For
my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the
sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
In addition, Matthew cites the prophecy of
Isaiah 42:1 in Matthew 12, where he writes:
Isaiah 42:1:
“…he
will bring justice to the nations…” (literally “…to the Gentiles…”
or “…to the heathen…).
15…A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.
16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to
fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 18 “Here is my
servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my
Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations…21 In his
name the nations will put their hope.” (Greek ἔθνος—ethnos: “Gentiles, nations,” or
“pagans.”)
The
inclusion of Gentiles in the church did not occur without some opposition by
Jewish converts, however. The Jewish Christians insisted that at minimum Gentile
convert follow Jewish customs of the law in order to be saved. In a meeting
with Jewish believers in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were confronted by some
of the Jewish converts, who, according to Acts 15, “…stood up and said, ‘The
Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses’ (v.5).
Luke
continues to describe what followed in Acts 15:7-10:
7 After much
discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time
ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips
the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the
heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as
he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he
purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test
God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our
ancestors have been able to bear?”
Acts
15: 15-17:
“15 The words of the prophets
are in agreement with this, as it is written: 16 ‘After this I will
return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will
restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even
all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord…’” (quoting from
Amos 9:11-12).
Paul,
who tells us to accept one another as Christ accepted both Jewish and Gentile
converts in Romans 15:7-9:
7 “Accept one
another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s
truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9
and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (15:7-9).
Paul
continues, in Romans 15, citing a number of passages from the Old Testament to
explain why Gentiles can praise God for his mercy:
9…As it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of
your name” (quoting
2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49).
10 Again, it says,
“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people” (quoting Deuteronomy 32:43).
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him” (quoting Psalm
117:1).
12 And again, Isaiah
says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the
nations; in him the Gentiles will hope” (quoting Isaiah 11:10).
Note
the key lines of thought here: Christ serves both Jewish and Gentile
Christians.
Isaiah tells us in v. 2 that:
V.
2: The Messiah will have quiet and patient demeanor
2 He will not shout
or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
V.
2 is a prophecy referencing the peaceful demeanor that largely characterized
Jesus’ ministry during His first advent. He describes how the servant of Yahweh—that
is, Jesus—would, literally translated: “…will not cry, nor lift up, nor
cause to be heard in the street, His voice.”
Even
when confronting, and being confronted by, the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus did
not lose His cool, even though He spoke hard, confrontational truths. He usually
was quiet, gentle, and humble, the opposite of what people expected of the King
of the Jews. His manner of appearing is to be mild, gentle, and humble; the
very opposite of the Pharisees and leaders among the Jews , whose mannerisms
were to exalt themselves. The Messiah will not seek His own, according to the
prophecy.
However,
Isaiah’s prophecy is silent about Christ’s demeanor at His second advent. When
He comes again, He will return with the hosts of heaven and the host of the
saved that comprise His Church to establish the Messianic Kingdom on earth.
That is the role John saw in his vision in Revelation 19:
14 The armies of
heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen,
white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with
which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He
treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On
his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of
Lords
(Revelation 19:14-16).
At that time, the Antichrist will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Satan will be bound for a thousand years (Revelation 19:20; 20:1-3). The nations and their representatives will be judged, as described in Joel 3 and Matthew 25, and Israel will be restored to her land, never more to be removed, according to the prophecies of Amos 9:15; Ezekiel 34:2.
In
vv. 3-4, Isaiah prophesies:
Vv.
3-4: The Messiah will comfort the weak and oppressed and establish justice
3 A bruised reed he
will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. 4 he
will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his
teaching the islands will put their hope.
There
is an ancient middle east cultural reference here. “A bruised reed He will
not break…,” a refers to the Messiah’s compassion even for the people which
the culture may regard as the least among them.
First,
let me explain that the reed to which Isaiah refers still grows by the water in
Israel. It is hollow, easily bent (or “…bruised…”) when leaning under
the pressure of the wind or pushed aside by an animal coming to drink.
Shepherds used reeds to make a small whistle-like musical instrument.
But
once the reed is creased, it is useless. If it was still in the ground, it dies.
If the shepherd’s reed instrument was bent and creased, it cracked and
splintered and was no longer of any use.
Isaiah
refers with the imagery of the “…bruised reed…” to people living under
the pressures of poverty and oppression. His point is that the Messiah would
not come to reinforce the oppression they suffered in the culture, but to
give them comfort…to give them hope and faith.
The
message was an important one to Isaiah’s contemporaries, who were about to
suffer judgment and destruction from God because they had turned away from Him
to worship idols. They had created an unjust culture in which there were few who
were wealthy and politically powerful, including the priests…and the vast
majority of the people were poor and faced a system of justice that was ripe
with bribery and influence against them.
In
prophesying that “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice…,” the
prophet is telling them that the Messiah would come not to reinforce the evil culture,
but to overturn it.
This
one line of the verse, “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice…,” could
be a whole sermon. The Messiah’s purpose is to give hope, to deliver the
promise of joy and eternal life, the hope that so pervades Paul’s letters—the
hope and the certainty of living in His presence eternally regardless of
current circumstances of suffering and pain.
There
is another rather obscure phrase in verse 3: “…and a smoldering wick he will
not snuff out…”; literally: “…a smoldering flax he will not quench…”
The metaphor here is to a smoldering wick in an oil lamp, the fire still alive,
but dying. It is a metaphor about the weak and suffering, beaten down by social
structures, unemployment, severe poverty and suffering. Isaiah tells us the
Messiah would not come to add to their suffering, but to revive them with the
message of salvation and a bright future in His presence; indeed, “In
faithfulness he will bring forth justice;…” rather than coming to add to
oppression and suffering.
This
look into the future was fulfilled beginning with the Messiah’s first advent. The
compassion Jesus showed for the suffering and the poor continues in the spirit
of tenderness and compassion found in every true Christian. As Christians, we
see the less fortunate, and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us urges us to reach
out to help. It is also important to note that the Spirit in us also instills a
God-given sense of justice. No one hates oppression and injustice like
Christians do, not just because of the unfairness, but also because it is
contrary to the character of our Savior and Lord.
That
“…he will not falter or be discouraged…” suggests that the Messiah would
face trouble or opposition that might discourage some from the task at hand. Others, faced with what he would have to experience, may
falter, but his faithfulness sustains him as he is obedient to the Father’s
will.
The
Messiah will not fail in bringing truth and justice to mankind. This prophecy
was fulfilled in part in the Messiah’s first advent, by His instilling hope and
character in the hearts of those who have trusted Him as Lord and Savior…and
who have been changed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The prophecy of bringing
justice to the world will be fulfilled universally at His second advent, when
He will establish His government of righteousness throughout the world.
“In
his teaching the islands will put their hope…” is Isaiah’s way
of saying that the truth and justice the Messiah shall bring will be throughout
the world. The word is translated both as “the isles” and “the
coastlands” in various Old Testament passages.
5 This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles…”
The
opening of verse 5 is intended to reinforce that the prophecy is from God and
is reliable: “This is what God the Lord says…who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it (the earth)…,” having created us as
living, breathing beings with a living spirit, or self-awareness. Unlike other
biological life, human beings alone are self-aware; we know our past, we are
capable of knowing God and His holiness, and we can know for sure the certainty
of His promises for the future.
After
reminding us of these certainties in verse 5, in verse 6 the word of the Lord
given to Isaiah reminds His people of His promises to them: “I, the LORD,
have called You in righteousness.” Both God the Father and God the Son—the
Messiah—are perfectly righteous and holy. “…I will take hold of Your hand…”
reinforces the common purpose of the Father and the Son. The picture is of
support, walking together as one. Here is just one of many word-pictured in
scripture of the unity of purpose of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“…I
will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for
the Gentiles…”
is a promise of salvation and future eternity with Him and relates to the “new
covenant” instituted by the birth, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.
“…a
light for the Gentiles…”” is one of the many occasions in Isaiah’s prophecy of
the Messiah’s purpose of not saving just the Israelites, but all mankind. We
covered this earlier in v. 1, where Isaiah prophesies “…he will bring
justice to the nations…” (literally, “…to the Gentiles…” or
“…to the heathen…).
V.
7: The Messiah will open the eyes of the lost.
…to open eyes that are blind, to free
captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
V.
7 paints a picture we often find in scripture. For example, the opening verses
of Isaiah 61 describe the coming Messiah this way:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent
me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and
release from darkness for the prisoners…
Those
depicted in prison are the unsaved, who are in spiritual darkness, imprisoned
by slavery to their sinful, self-centered nature and desires. The Messiah came
to open our spiritually blind eyes, to release us from our spiritual prison and
free us from slavery to our sinful nature. Without Him, people live in
spiritual darkness.
Vv. 8-9: His advent is sure.
“8 I am the Lord (Yahweh); that
is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9
See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they
spring into being I announce them to you.”
As
He does many times in Isaiah and the other prophets, God reminds His people
that this prophecy is dependable. He establishes this truth with two arguments.
First,
He reminds us: “I am Yahweh…” who is the one and only, all-powerful,
self-existing God.
The name Yahweh was loaded with spiritual truth for the Israelites.
To the
Israelites, Yahweh was:
- The one who brings into being
- Creator, life-giver, giver of existence
- The who brings his promises to pass
- The absolute and unchangeable one
- The self-existing, ever-living, one and only God
The
name to the Israelites signified the One who created the heavens and the earth;
the Creator of life; the One who cared for their needs, rescued them time and
time again; the One who is truth and righteousness; the one and only God, who
sets the standards for worship, sinlessness, and judgment.
In
v. 8, He reminds them, “I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to
idols,” reminding us of the false gods and idols that had tempted the
Israelites and turned them away for centuries as they gave in to cultural
pressures of the pagan nations around them.
For
Isaiah’s contemporaries, this was a stern reminder. Most of Isaiah’s ministry
up to this point consisted of warning the Israelites of the impending judgment
because they had turned away from the true God and toward the idols of the
pagans.
V.
9: The prophecy is reliable
“…the former things have taken place, and
new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”
We
can take comfort in all of the prophetic messages of Isaiah and all of the
other Old Testament prophets inspired by the Holy Spirit: God has a perfect
track record:
All
He had promised had come to pass!
In the next posting, we will focus on the second of Isaiah’s four Servant Songs:
Isaiah 49: 1-13: A
Savior to the Gentiles
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