Thursday: A Feeling and Suffering Servant
Isaiah 49:1-12
Who is God’s servant in Isaiah 49:1-12?
God calls and names him before he is born, makes his mouth like a sword, and will be glorified in him. God uses the servant to bring the nation of Israel back to Himself, to be a light of salvation to all the world, to be a covenant, and to release prisoners. There is plenty of overlap between this description and that of Isaiah 42, where we identified the servant as the Messiah. The New Testament finds the servant’s attributes in Jesus Christ, in both comings: Matt: 1:21, John 8:12, John 9:5, John 17:1-5, Rev: 1:16, Rev: 2:16, Rev: 19:15.
If this servant is the Messiah, why does God call Him “Israel” here (Isa: 49:3)?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Earlier we found that in this section of Isaiah, God’s servant “Israel/Jacob” refers to the nation. But here the name “Israel” (without a parallel reference to “Jacob”) clearly applies to the individual servant, who restores the nation to God (Isa: 49:5). The individual servant has become the ideal embodiment or representative of the nation whose failure has compromised its use of the name “Israel” (Isa: 48:1).
What new element appears here? Isa: 49:4, Isaiah 49:7.
Here is the first intimation of the difficulty involved in the servant’s task. He laments, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity” (Isa: 49:4, NRSV), an idea echoed in Daniel 9:26: “an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing” (NRSV). But he clings to faith: “Yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God” (Isa: 49:4, NRSV). J. Alec Motyer observes: “Thus, Isaiah foresaw a Servant with a real human nature, tested like we are and proving himself to be the author and perfecter of the way of faith, a real, personal faith that can still say my God when nothing any longer seems worthwhile.” — The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 387.
Isaiah 49:7 is startling. The servant is “deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers,” but the Lord says to him: “Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you” (NRSV).
| Look back at Christ’s ministry. Right up until the end, didn’t He have reasons for discouragement? Yet, He stayed faithful, despite outward appearances. What is the lesson for us to do the same—despite outward appearances? |
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Isaiah 49 is one of those poems that is like a modern art picture with bits and pieces of imagery pasted together in such a way that at first you think it is meaningless. But as you read and reread it big ideas keep popping into our field of vision and finally you see that there really is a big theme to all of it.
I am time short this morning so I will skip some of the pieces and jump to the big idea.
Whatever vision we have of the omnipotent, omniscient, infinite God who created the universe, he wants to be known as a personal God interested in individuals who are caught in the ebb and flow of a galactic battle between good and evil. That is the reason why God picked Israel (He who has struggled with God and humans and has overcome Gen 32:28), both Jacob, his descendants, and his spiritual descendants and he keep hammering us with the ideas of compassion.
Look at the metaphors; a mother with her young baby. He will never forget. I had a mother who was still praying for me when I was 70 years old. God wants to be identified with that sort of relationship.
And then there is the verse about tattooing our names on his hands. When we were kids we used to write the name of who we thought was our girlfriend on our hands and not wash our hands for days. That took a bit of effort and subterfuge because Mum would inevitably check whether we had washed our hands before we ate. But you get the picture - we wrote the name on our hands because we thought they were someone special. Again, God wants that personal relationship with us. He wants us to know that we are special.
We are so blessed to have the New Testament to help us understand the meaning of Isaiah's prophecies, however I wonder did the remnant of the the Israelites, Judah, understand them?
Do we have any indication as to what they understood or did the apostles & Paul only understand after the resurrection of Jesus when he explained it to them?
Luk 24:27 MKJV And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Act 1:3 MKJV to whom He also presented Himself living after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them through forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Shirley, I think Israel did understand these words. My college theology professor said, “ God speaks to man in the language of man because if He spoke to us in the language of heaven we would not understand Him”. Each of the Bible writers used words, phrases and imagery familiar in there own historical setting. Discovering the setting of the day of each writer and all that goes with it, inspired my interest in history and its connection to the Bible.
The more time we take to delve into the historical setting and the imagery of the day, the clearer the pictures become.
Jim, then I suppose they concentrated on and only looked forward to the triumphant deliverer and not the suffering servant.
It encourages me to ensure I appreciate the full picture of the prophecies of the end time.
Are the signs of the times Jesus gave really increasing exponentially in frequency and intensity or am I biased?
God is always in a mission of saving. We normally don't understand until we get a spiritual growth in us
These verses in question today, who is it? Is it Jesus? Yes, He fits the description given here, yet, as we consider all that these verses say, it seems broader than any single individual. Calling this servant "Israel" is where this seems to be speaking more broadly. True, we can read the new testament and find the life of Jesus a fulfillment, but isn't He our Example to follow, and didn't Jesus Himself say that those who believed in and followed Him would do "greater works than these"?
It is my belief that this passage applies to any who follow the example of Christ in being a servant of God, laboring for the salvation of their fellow man. Though working together, we are saved and labor as individuals, and either we follow Jesus' example in serving the Lord or we follow the example of the devil and serve self. This is the great war that began in heaven(Rev 12:7) isn't it? It continues today.
So I did a little digging and it is interesting to read 7T, pg 191, (Isa 49:2-6 quoted)"This is the word of the Lord to all who are in any way connected with His appointed institutions. They are favored of God, for they are brought into channels where the light shines. They are in His special service, and they should not esteem this a light thing."
It is our highest privilege to promote the kingdom of God by our faithful service in this life, and if faithful, in the life to come.
The Messiah prototypes in the OT all made a choice to identify themselves and their life mission with the suffering ones.
Moses "chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin" in Pharaoh's palace (Heb. 11:25). Ruth chose the dejected and hopeless Naomi and an anticipated lifetime on the fringes of society over an easier life back in Moab (Ruth 1:16-17). Then Boaz the kinsman redeemer chose the outcaste Ruth for his bride (Ruth 4:6,9-10). Abraham, too, went away from his relatives and his father's house (Genesis 12:1-3).
Jesus told us to count the cost before following Him because it would mean sacrifice. The plan of salvation is all about sacrifice.
Buddhists do not believe in a god but search for a way to end suffering by ending all self-desires. New Agers attempt to find inner peace by releasing attachment to thoughts that interpret a situation in a painful way. Christianity acknowledges suffering, suffering is not just a selfish desire or a painful interpretation. Christianity as I know it can simply be described as a love relationship where others see the Son of God standing with us in our fiery trials (Daniel 3:25). The Christian is so busy looking at Jesus, desiring God and communing with Him that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us" (Rom. 8:18). Our relationship with Christ is a bond far more powerful than any suffering we will ever encounter or earthly sacrifice we must make. Help me to deeply trust this truth, Lord.
I read the entire chapter of Isaiah 49 to help me answer the question: “If this servant is the Messiah, why does God call Him “Israel” here?” – Isa.49:3. My conclusion: Israel is mentioned in the context of: “Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified, it refers to His People Israel.” The message is addressed to the “isles and people from far” – Isa.49:1. The prophet Isaiah speaks the Word of God to let the ‘world’ know that Israel is God’s servant in whom the LORD will be glorified.
I looked up the meaning of the name ‘Israel’ and found the following: ‘God Contended’, ‘Wrestles with God’, ‘Triumphant with God’. (Israel (name) Wikipedia)
From the Hebrew name יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisra'el) meaning "God contends", from the roots שָׂרָה (sarah) meaning "to contend, to fight" and אֵל ('el) meaning "God". In the Old Testament, Israel (who was formerly named Jacob; see Genesis 32:28) wrestles with an angel. The ancient and modern states of Israel took their names from him. (behindthename.com)
I do not see Jesus as the embodiment of Israel, the “individual servant (that) has become the ideal embodiment or representative of the nation whose failure has compromised its use of the name “Israel”.
As I understand the Scripture, the people of God, Israel, continued to ‘wrestle’ with their God, and God continues to bless them and call them HIS people.
Their God watched over them because it was declared that the Messiah was to come from the root of Jesse. For the people of Israel to receive earthly blessings and to prosper, it had to fulfill its covenant obligations with their God. But to bring forth the Messiah, this was an assigned privilege/blessing, an honor placed outside their covenant requirements. The Messiah was to be a blessing to all the nations regardless of the faithfulness of Israel. Faith, that which was so difficult to maintain for Israel by obedience to the Law, He used its essence to establish the new Coventant relationship with all mankind - Faith – Isa.49:6KJV.
Isa.49:7,8KJV – I interpret the Word of God differently and changed the ‘wording/punctuation’ of the KJV a bit to clarify its meaning: ”Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of (His People)Israel and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship because of the LORD that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose thee(Israel).”
v.8: ”Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;”
The new Covenant with spiritual Israel has come in the form of the Messiah, our Lord Christ Jesus. With Him, God’s law was placed into the hearts and minds of all mankind. He calls all to come to him, believe His Word and trust that He is the Lord and Savior who will save man from destruction; all He asks from us is to have Faith.
As He admonished Israel, He admonishes us to know that the LORD is our God, to put Him first in all we do, to love Him with all that we are and dedicate our whole being to Him and love Him so that He can direct our path in righteousness - Jer.31:32-40; Jer.24:7; Mark12:30.
I want to correct my comment to say: "..., He used the essence on which Faith is established to form the new Covenant relationship with all mankind - LOVE.