Review of chapter 41
My first sermon with Christ the Redeemer Church 15 months ago was on Isaiah 41 “Rightly-Placed Faith.” The one where I put the cell phone on the lectern and told it to scare me - do something – do anything.
As we skip from Isaiah 40 to Isaiah 42, let me review my outline of Isaiah 41 for context:
1. Look, my servant;
I hold with Him,
My chosen one, delight of my soul;
I set my Spirit upon Him;
He will cause justice to go out to the nations.
2. He will not yell
or rise up
or make Himself heard in the street,
3. a bruised reed He will not break,
and a dim wick He will not quench;
He will cause judgment to come out to truth.
4. He will not become dim
or bruise
until He will establish justice in the land,
so for His law the coastlands wait.
5. Thus says the God Jehovah,
who created the heavens,
and who stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and her produce,
who gives breath to the people upon her and spirit to those who walk in her.
6. “I am Jehovah;
I have called you in righteousness;
I will strengthen your hand
and I will keep you;
I will give you
for a covenant of a people,
for a light of nations.
7. to open blind eyes,
to cause the captive to go out from the dungeon,
those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
8. I am Jehovah;
it is My name,
and my glory, I will not give to one who comes after,
nor my praise to idols.
9. Look, the first things have come,
and new things I am declaring
before they spring forth, I let you hear.
10. Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea and its fullness,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11. The desert and its cities will rise up,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
the inhabitants of Sela will sing for joy ,
from the head of the mountains they will shout!
12. They will put glory toward Jehovah,
and relate His praise in the coastlands.
· The clarinet trill and scale that introduces Rhapsody in Blue was not originally conceived by Gershwin. Rather the clarinet soloist played it as a joke, Gershwin liked it and thus it became one of the most famous introductions in musical history. (Kirk Whipple - http://www.unconservatory.org/celam/kwmmcomments.html)
· Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous created one of the world's most famous introductions: "My name is Bill Wilson, and I'm an alcoholic." http://www.whale.to/a/wilson_h.html
· Melville’s Moby Dick tale begins with one of the most famous introductions in literature, spoken by the voice of the story's teller:. “Call me.... Ishmael.”
· Henry Morton Stanley in to the African jungle in 1869, which culminated in one of the most famous introductions of all time “Dr. Livingstone I presume”.
· “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s Superman” 1941 Marked the first appearance on film of the famous introduction, "Faster than a speeding bullet, etc...",
· Author Mark Twain was known for his humorous introductions. His book, Huckleberry Finn, opens with a notice: “…persons attempting to find a plot in [this narrative] will be shot, by order of the author.” He sets the tone immediately with this introduction – Do not take this book seriously!
· In Isaiah 42, God makes an introduction very different from all those in our popular culture. It is an introduction which calls us to take Him seriously.
I) v.1-4 God introduces His Servant
A) Who is this servant?
1. Ibn Ezra, Jewish commentator from the middle ages says this is Isaiah
2. The Septuagint translation of the Bible into Greek from before the time of Christ says Israel/Jacob. (cf. Isa. 41:8)
3. The Targum paraphrases of the Bible into Aramaic which date even further back than the Septuagint say this is the Messiah.
4. Matthew (12:17ff) which we read earlier this morning says that Jesus “fulfill[ed] what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet” and then quotes from this chapter 42:1-4!
5. Six positive statements and 7 negative statements are used to introduce Jesus.
B) v.1 “my servant”
1. The term “Servant” is not derogatory - E.J. Young points out that Persian literature speaks of Nebuchadnezzar as “servant of Shamash” and of Cyrus as “servant of Marduk,” and these were some of their greatest kings!
2. Jesus came to do His Father’s will:
(a) John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
(b) John 5:30 "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me.
(c) John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me.
(d) Luke 22:42 "Father… not my will, but yours, be done."
(e) Calvin: “Christ was equipped and sent to bring the whole world under the authority of God and obedience to Him.”
C) v. 1 – “I hold with Him” (uphold/sustain)
1. This word is used in Isa. 33:15 to describe an evil man’s hand grasping for a bribe
2. Then in Isaiah 41:10 it is used to describe God’s hand upholding His people
3. Here it is describing the loyalty between God the Son and God the Father
D) “my chosen one”
1. Luke 1:9 indicates a tradition of the priests that God would have the final say as to which priest came in to the temple and offered incense to Him. The priests cast lots and the one to whom the lot fell would be the one confirmed by God’s choice, since God has control over even the roll of the dice (Prov. 16:33) – to enter His presence with the sacrifice to deal with the people’s sin. This is what Jesus did. Jesus was God’s chosen High Priest would offer Himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
2. Luk 9:35 [at the transfiguration] a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!"
3. 1 Peter 2:4-6 you come to Him [Jesus Christ], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious [and he goes on to quote Isaiah 28:16] where Isaiah calls the Messiah/Jesus the “cornerstone which is chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame."
E) v.1 "In whom my soul delights"
1. God spoke this out loud twice while Jesus was on earth:
once at his baptism and once at His transfiguration:
Mat 3:17/17:5 a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him."
F) v.1 “put my Spirit on Him”
1. Isaiah 11:1-5 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
G) v.1 “He will cause justice to go out to the nations”
1. Repeated in v.3&4 – “He will cause judgment to come out to truth (faithfully bring forth justice-ESV)… He will establish justice in the land, and the coastlands will wait for His law.”
2. The servant is to accomplish a difficult task that would lead some to expect He would faint and be broken over, and that task is to bring justice to the whole world.
3. How did Jesus do this?
(a) by living a perfectly righteous life
(b) by dying on the cross and bringing propitiation for our unrighteousness
(c) by rising from the dead, and ruling as Lord in heaven at the right hand of God
(d) in the future by bring a consummation to justice at His second coming
H) Isaiah now makes seven negative statements of what Jesus will NOT do:
1. One through 3 are in v.2: He will not cry aloud; He will not rise up (or raise the volume of His voice); and He will not make people on the street listen to Him.
(a) Jesus was not ostentatious. He did not take advantage of His popularity. He often retreated to get away from the crowds.
(b) Likewise His kingdom grows quietly and unobtrusively
Matthew 13:31-33 He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom
of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his
field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger
than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air
come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them another parable.
"The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three
measures of flour, till it was all leavened."
(c) The wildfire growth of Christianity all over the world and it’s complete outstripping of all other world religions, including secularism is the most important news happening, but you won’t see it reported on the radio and TV. It goes unnoticed – hidden until suddenly you look around and realize, wow God has been working!
2. The next two “nots” come in v. 3. “He will not break a bruised reed or a dim wick He will not quench”
(a) Jesus was gentle in His ministry
(b) ILLUSTRATION of a guttering candle.
(c) When He encountered gentiles who knew very little of the Bible, He encouraged their faith.
(d) When He encountered prostitutes whose bodies and family relationships were weak, He was forgiving and kind.
(e) John 12:47 – When Jesus came into the world in the first century A.D., He said that He did not come to judge the world but to save it!
3. The last two “nots” come in v. 4. “He will not dim, and He will not bruise (be discouraged)”
(a) same words used of the “bruised reed” and “dim wick”
(b) Jesus will be relentless – nothing can stop Him. Not the religious leaders, not the Roman army, not death – nothing!
(c) He will build His church; He will establish His kingdom in the world and it will overcome every obstacle.
(d) Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
(e) Because we believe that He will establish justice in the earth, we in the figurative coastlands on the opposite side of the world from Israel can wait patiently with confidence for Jesus to bring justice and righteousness to this sin-sick earth.
II) GOD INTRODUCES HIMSELF
A) Read vs. 5-9
B) A backwards introduction
1. The person who makes the introduction must be someone who knows the person He is introducing and he must be someone who can be trusted to accurately describe the one he is introducing.
2. EXAMPLE: When I was at Heartland Community Church in Wichita this weekend with my youngest son, Peter, I introduced myself to the people in the church and then introduced Peter to them.
3. Here God has introduced His Son, and now He introduces Himself.
4. Why? Because He is a Trinity. To introduce Jesus is to introduce Himself.
5. As Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)
C) First God introduces Himself as the Creator in v.5
1. God is the One who made the heavens
2. God is the One who made the earth
3. God is the One who made all life, from the plants that grow up out of the earth to the animals that walk upon it.
4. That breath that you breathe in and breathe out: it is not yours; God gave that to you!
5. When this God talks, you’d better listen and obey!
D) God then makes 6 statements about what He does and does not do with His servant:
1. v. 6 God “called [Him] in righteousness”
(a) God calls the shots; nobody tells Him what to do
(b) God does this righteously; never doing wrong to anyone.
2. God “will strengthen [His] hand” (or “grab you by the hand”)
(a) This expresses a tender, personal relationship that will endure over time (Young)
(b) This also expresses giving power to the servant so that he will triumph over his adversaries (Soncino, Calvin)
3. God will keep [Him]
(a) Septuagint uses the word “strengthen” here
(b) Protect and give staying power – not allow him to faint or be discouraged.
4. God will give [Him]
(a) for a covenant of a people
(i) Mal. 3:1 "I am going to send My messenger, and He will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.
(ii) Heb. 12:24 calls Jesus “the mediator of the new covenant”
(iii) “All the blessings of the covenant are embodied in, have their root and origin in and are dispensed by Him!” (E.J. Young)
(iv) A covenant, is, of course, a contract between two parties.
· God created the world and made a human being and then made a contract/covenant with him: Do what I say and enjoy eternal life with me; but if you rebel against me, you will experience death.
· Ever since that contract was made with Adam in the Garden of Eden, we humans have rebelled against God and experienced the consequences of misery and death.
· That’s why an additional clause to the contract was revealed in the Garden of Eden – there will come a descendant from Adam and Eve who would
o crush the head of the serpent,
o who would shed His blood to save His people from their sin,
o who would gather a new people out of every tongue, tribe and nation
o and give them eternal life –
That is what it means that Jesus is a covenant of a people. Do you believe that this is true? Do you want to obey Him and enjoy eternal life with Him? Then you have become a member of that people for which He is the covenant.
(b) for a light of nations
(i) Isa 9:2&6 – “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light... for unto us a Son is born”
(ii) John, speaking of Jesus wrote, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men... There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” (1:4,9)
(iii) Note that the Servant Isaiah describes does not just make a covenant and bring light, He Himself is the covenant; He Himself is the light – that’s exactly what Jesus is!
(c) v.7 gives the reason
God will give His servant as a covenant and a light:
in order to open blind eyes and release the prisoners
(i) Most Jews believe this is merely talking about Cyrus, the Persian who overthrew Babylon and let the Jews leave captivity in Babylon and go back home to Israel.
(ii) Because this passage is so obviously talking about Jesus, we have to include a figurative interpretation. Jesus came to deal with spiritual blindness and spiritual bondage to sin.
(iii) Luke 4:16 (NASB) “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 ‘The Spirit Of The Lord Is Upon Me, Because He Anointed Me To Preach The Gospel To The Poor. He Has Sent Me To Proclaim Release To The Captives, And Recovery Of Sight To The Blind, To Set Free Those Who Are Oppressed, 19 To Proclaim The Favorable Year Of The Lord.’ (Isa 61:1-2) 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”
(iv) Acts 26:17-18 The apostle Paul was sent by Jesus “to the Gentiles 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus].”
(v) Sin is like blindness and like jail. You can’t save yourself. You need a savior - Jesus.
5. v. 8 God will NOT give His glory to one who comes after
(a) Notice who the glory and praise belongs to. God claims that it belongs to Him “My glory… My praise.” Don’t mess with God’s glory and praise and take some for yourself!
(b) No one can compete with God for glory and praise because He is before all things. The Hebrew wording is literally that he will not give His glory to one coming after. We all came after Him because He created us!
(c) Also note that God allowed glory and praise to be given to Jesus. This means Jesus is God Himself, because God does not share His praise and glory with anyone else!
6.
v.9 God gives revelation through His
word
“The first things have come to pass and I am declaring new things before
they happen.”
(a) Many prophecies had already come to pass at this point in history. Most recently the failure of Assyria to conquer Jerusalem.
(b) God promised to keep delivering prophecy to His people – that’s why we have 24 more chapters to Isaiah!
(c) The rest of the book of Isaiah prophecies that the Israelites taken into captivity in Babylon would return to their homeland, that Jesus the Messiah would come and establish His kingdom in the hearts of His people, and it speaks of the glories of heaven to come.
III) GOD CALLS FOR A RESPONSE
A) Example: The M.C. introduces a famous performer, then what does he say? Let’s give a round of applause to welcome so-and-so.
B) God calls for applause for His servant whom He is introducing.
C) He commands that we sing a new song – His praise
1. Example of Isaac Watts in 1700, who did not follow the tradition of singing only Psalms out of the Bible but rather wrote new hymns that brought out the new covenant through the Psalms.
(a) For instance His hymn “Jesus Shall Reign Wherever the Sun” is based upon Psalm 72 but brings out the truth that Jesus is the fulfillment of that Psalm.
(b) Likewise “Joy to the World” is his rendition of Psalm 98 which we sing in the light of Jesus’ birth at Christmas.
(c) In doing this, Watts merely followed Isaiah’s example, for the end of Isaiah 42 is itself an adaptation of Psalm 98 with new meaning added to it in light of the coming Servant of God!
2. in v.10, God commands you to sing praise to Jesus. Are you doing it?
(a) work on learning a new hymn during the week
(b) sing God’s praise when you are at work
(EXAMPLE: Toby Yelverton, my Jr. Hi. Bible teacher made us learn “Glorious
Things of The are Spoken” because it had been meaningful to him to get him
though a difficult factory job.)
(c) make times of worship at home that include singing praise to God
D) v.11 - God commands us to put glory in its rightful place – toward God and relate His praise to others.
1. Don’t steal God’s glory by trying to impress others with how nice or skilled or important you are. When you are around other people, think, how can I move their attention toward God and how wonderful and great He is?
2. Talk about God. Share naturally how wonderful and great He is – relate His praise.
CONCLUSION: In light of who God our creator is, in light of God’s amazing servant, our Lord Jesus Christ, let us be a people who give Him the glory due His name, a people who sing and declare His praise in this world!
Nate Wilson’s website – Isaiah Sermon Expositions
Christ the Redeemer Church website - Sermons