THE
BOOK OF ISAIAH
A
Servant Like No Other
Isaiah
42 10/13/13 SCC
JUSTICE
WILL CHARACTERIZE THE RULE OF GOD’S SERVANT ON EARTH 42:1-4
42:1: ‘Behold’ in 41:29 is now followed by a
second ‘behold’ here. These two
"beholds" contrast the lifeless idols of the nations with the Lord’s
activity. The Lord called on the nations to give attention to His Servant, in
contrast to the idols. (1) The Lord
would uphold, or grip firmly, this Servant; (2) He would sustain Him with deep affection. He would be one in
whom the Lord delighted wholeheartedly; (3)
The Lord would place His Spirit on this Servant blessing Him with His presence
and empowering Him for service; (4) This
Servant would bring justice to the nations of the world. Jesus Christ will do
this at His second coming.
42:2: Notice the things the servant will do in v 2-4: First, His
ministry would be quiet, not aggressive, and unthreatening. It was forecast
by Isaiah, exemplified perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ, and is to be
reproduced in all who would serve the Lord with true service. "He will not
cry out or raise His voice"
This is either: 1. Linked with 53:7, which refers to Jesus' trial; 2. Description
of His quiet style of ministry; or 3. Reference to a prayer for help.
42:3: Second, the Lord’s Servant would be gracious and patient. He would not discard
(bruised reed) what seemed to others useless, and He would not extinguish (dim
wick) what seemed to others too spent. His
calling was to save, not destroy. Third,
again He would be faithful to His calling
to bring justice to the nations mentioned a second time emphasizing the
character of his service.
42:4: Fourth, not only would He not break or extinguish others, but also the
pressures and blows of others would not break or extinguish Him. Fifth, then He would complete His mission of establishing justice on the
earth. The farthest reaches of the earth will, therefore, anticipate the
coming of His law, as Israel did at the base of Mount Sinai. They would do so
eager for justice to come to the earth.
So
Jesus reign will be characterized by the execution of justice across the globe.
GOD ENSURES THAT HIS SERVANT WILL RULE 42:5-9
In case anyone doubted the validity of God’s
servant ruling, God guarantees it:
42:5: The speaker identified Himself, for the
comfort of the idol-worshipping nations. He was the transcendent God who
created all things namely, The Lord, the
covenant-keeping God of Israel. He described Himself further as He who
established the earth and who alone cares for it and sustains its inhabitants. The Servant’s ministry will fulfill the
Creator’s original intention for the earth. Life, not just matter, is from The Lord. He
is the ever-living, only-living God!
42:6-7: These verses describe what The Lord is doing for
His covenant people: He chose them for a purpose, namely: (1) Called
them in righteousness; (2) Held them by the hand; (3) Watched over them;
(4) Appointed them as a covenant people; (a) as a light to the
nations, (b) to open blind eyes, and
(c) To bring out prisoners. Three times this passage is quoted in
the NT to refer to the ministry of Jesus Christ (Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; 26:23).
Notice what the Messiah/Servant
will accomplish:
1. Government in righteousness (cf. 9:6-7; 11:3-4)
2. Worldwide reign (cf. 45:22; 49:6; 52:10; Micah 5:4)
3. Open blind eyes (cf. 29:18; 32:3; 35:5)
4. Release
prisoners (cf. 61:1)
42:8-9: The Lord is His
covenant name—is a distinct person with His own name. He would keep His
covenant with Israel. He is not an idol that someone made and received the
glory for making. The praise for His great acts belongs to Him, not to some
image fashioned by one of His creatures. ‘Behold’ in v 9 concludes this passage as
it began it encasing the point. The former things that God had predicted
through the prophets that had come to pass already provided assurance that the
new things that The Lord just revealed would also happen. The Lord had revealed
them before they happened thus proving His uniqueness and superiority over the
gods of the nations.
So
Jesus is destined to rule over the entire globe and that is where history is
headed.
WE ARE CALLED TO SING PRAISE FOR THE CERTAINTY OF DELIVERANCE 42:10-13
And why not? With God’s
servant destined to rule with justice for all? We want this.
42:10-12: A new song
arises in Scripture when someone has learned of something powerful and good
that God has done or will. This parallels the new things God declares in v 9. Here
it is salvation through the Servant that prompts this song of praise. Isaiah called on everyone to praise the Lord
because the Servant’s ministry would benefit the whole earth. People living
on the farthest seacoasts and in the desert lands should praise Him. Kedar was the name of a town in the Arabian Desert (21:1-16;
60:7). Sela was near modern Petra and was the
mountain fortress city of Edom (16:1). These
people in various places represent diverse sources from which universal praise
should come to the Lord. There are several commands in these verses; 1. "sing" v. 10; 2. "lift
up their voices" v. 11; 3. "sing
aloud" v. 11; 4. "shout for joy"
v. 11; 5. "give glory" v. 12; 6. "declare" v. 12. NB: God is a God of newness. (Use newness material)
42:13: This verse
gives the reason for the praise just called for. This verse describes in military terms the
Lord's attack against the idolatrous nations that oppose His will and His people's
return. Isaiah gloried in the fact that the Lord would one day arise as a
mighty warrior to overcome His enemies:
(1) He did this when He moved Cyrus to allow the Israelites to return
to their land in Ezra and Nehemiah.
(2) He did it more mightily when He sent Messiah to accomplish
redemption.
(3) And He will do it most dramatically when Messiah comes back to the
earth to defeat His enemies at Armageddon.
So our praise is
not empty nor is it wasted on frivolous hope. Praise is powerful when based in
truth.
ONLY GOD CAN
RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THAT DELIVERANCE 42:14-17
42:14: This possibly
refers to the exilic period. The Lord endured the exile of His covenant people
with deep emotions. God Himself explained that He had remained quiet a long time, but in
the future He would cry out, as a pregnant woman does just before she gives
birth. God would bring forth a new thing.
42:15-16: The Lord describes
His aid for the returning covenant people: (1) In 15 is metaphorical of
preparing a smooth and level highway for the return. (2) In 16a describes
His care for the returnees; (3) In 16b describes The
Lord’s sure commitment to act. Nothing in all creation would be able to resist
and prevent the Lord from acting. However, He would lead His own people, those
unable to find their way through the blinding storm of His judgment, to safety (Rev
12:14) and not leave them undone.
42:17: That deliverance
would spell humiliation for idolaters because they and others would see the
impotence of their gods compared to The Lord. The return from Exile provided a
sign of what God would do for His people in the end times. Both acts of God
seem to be in view here.
So God
personally engages in this full and final deliverance.
GOD’S PEOPLE
NEEDED TO BE DELIVERED BECAUSE OF THEIR REBELLION 42:18-25
So why is this
deliverance needed in the first place?
42:18-19: Israel, above
all others, needed to be able to see and hear what her Lord told her so she
could tell it to the world. The nations were blind but Israel was both blind
and deaf. The shock is that they too had become idolaters! Yet they were even more
responsible for their spiritual condition because they had v 19: (1) the
Patriarchs; (2) the covenants; (3) the promises. The Israelites
had concluded that The Lord was blind and deaf to their situation, namely,
impending destruction. Now He revealed
that it was they who were blind and deaf to what He would do for them. He
challenged them to comprehend what they had missed.
42:20-21: As the Lord had
told Isaiah at the beginning of his ministry, the Israelites saw but did not
comprehend and heard but did not perceive. Here is what the Israelites were
blind and deaf to: the teaching of The Lord. The law in view here probably
includes all of what God had revealed to His people enabling them to come into
relationship with Him. The problem with Israel was not God's law but
Israel's inability to do it, obey it and not rebel against it!
42:22-23: In contrast to
God’s purpose for Israel, the nation was in a position, because of her own sin
and God’s discipline of her, from which she could not deliver herself, much
less lead the Gentiles into the light. Each
description of Israel in this verse contrasts with what she should have been in
the will of God. (plundered, despoiled, trapped,
hidden, prey, spoil—God never intended this for them). The prophet despaired
that no one among the Israelites was learning from God v 23.
42:24-25: "Walk" is used in the Bible to show that biblical faith is a lifestyle commitment, not a theology alone. God’s people needed to observe that sin had led them into their present wretched condition and that whenever their ancestors had gotten into such condition only repentance brought restoration to usefulness. Their relationship to God was the key. The Law of course, explained what God promised to do if His people obeyed or disobeyed Him, but the Israelites had not paid attention to this teaching. Since they chose to go their own way, the judgment of God had burned them. Chapter 42 thus contains a strong contrast. It opens with one Servant who will discharge His ministry successfully, and it ends with another servant in servitude having failed miserably.
SO
WHAT?
1. The presence of sin in the world
necessitates God’s intervention. Sin cannot go unpunished. Sin must always be
paid for. Justice is served either by someone else competent to pay for it on
our behalf, thus Jesus sacrifice, or we will pay for it ourselves thus becoming
our own sacrifice for sin in the Lake of fire.
2. God’s heart is geared toward
deliverance. So God is motivated to provide a just and merciful way to escape
that punishment. He even guarantees it in the end. People will become their own
sacrifices for sin because they want to not because God did not plan and
provide for everyone a way to be delivered.
3. Rebellion against God is a dead end
street. Basically, rebellion says I know better than God what is good for me.
God says okay you can have that if it is what you want even though I have
something much better. Rebellion carries with it, it’s
own set of consequences. There is no such thing as free sin.