Isaiah 49:1-13 The Calling of the Servant of God
A translation and sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the
Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 04 Nov. 2007
Translation
1. Coastlands, listen to me, and to peoples from afar, pay
attention:
Jehovah called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother He
caused my name to be remembered.
2. He positioned my mouth like a
sharp sword,
in the shadow of His hand He hid
me,
and He positioned me for a polished
arrow, in His quiver He concealed me.
3. And He said to me, “You are my
servant, Israel, you in whom I will glorify myself.”
4. Yet I,
I said, “I have
grown tired for nothing,
for chaos and
smoke I have exhausted my strength.
Surely my
vindication is with Jehovah and my result is with my God.
5. And now, Jehovah says He is shaping
me from the womb into a servant for Himself
to turn Jacob back
to Him, though Israel will not be gathered.
So I have been honored in Jehovah’s
eyes and my God has been my strength.
6. Then He says,
“Your being for me
a servant
to cause to
establish the tribes of Jacob
and to cause to
turn back the preserved of Israel
is insubstantial,
I will also give you for a light
of nations, to be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
7. Thus says Jehovah, Redeemer of Israel, its Holy One,
to the despised
soul,
to the one
abhorred by the nation,
to a servant of
rulers,
“Kings will see and they will stand
up,
and princes will prostrate
themselves on account of Jehovah who is faithful,
the Holy one of Israel, and He
chose you.”
8. Thus says Jehovah,
“In a time of favor I answered you,
and in a day of salvation I helped you,
and I will preserve you and give
you for the covenant of a people,
to cause to
establish a land,
to cause to inherit desolated
inheritances.
9. to say to the
captives, ‘Go out;’ to the ones which are in the darkness, ‘Be unveiled!’ Upon
the roads they will pasture, and their pasture will be in all the tundra.
10. They will not hunger and they
will not thirst,
and heat and sun will not strike
them down,
for their Compassionate
One will lead them,
and He will lead
them to water upon springs of water.
11. And I will position all my
mountains into the road and they will raise up my highways!”
12. Look at these - from far away they come!
And look at these - from the North and from Sea-ward!
And these – from the land of China!
13. Heavens, sing for joy, and earth, rejoice! Let mountains
break forth into singing,
for Jehovah has comforted His
people, and will show compassion to His afflicted ones.
Introduction: When we do what God has called us to do and it doesn’t seem
to be working out, is this pointless?
- A year and a half after I moved here, we aren’t a
fully-constituted church yet.
- Practicing violin for months only to break your arm and
not be able to play in the concert.
- Working long hours on a homework assignment only to find
the teacher thought it too hard and gave credit everyone whether or not
they did the assignment.
- Working long hours all week hoping to get the weekend off,
but at the end of the week, some big job lands on your plate and you have
to work all weekend instead.
- Changing dirty diapers day after day; disciplining and
training them day after day and they still don’t obey.
- Bringing an anacephalic baby to birth, knowing that as
soon as he is born, he will die.
This passage in Isaiah reminds us as servants of God not
to give up hope because Jesus did not give up hope in the success of His
calling.
The Fulfillment of this passage in Christ
v.1a called me from the womb
- We’ve seen this already in 48:8; 44:2&24; and 46:3
- Mt 1:21 – Jesus named while still in His mother’s womb
v.1b from the body of my mother
- Isa 7:14 – virgin will conceive
- Gen 3: - seed of the woman
- Micah 5:2-4 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too
little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from
ancient days. 3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she
who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall
return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and shepherd his
flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD
his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the
ends of the earth.
v.2 mouth like a sharp sword
- Isaiah 11:4 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.
- Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of
spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and
intentions of the heart.
- Revelation 1:16 …from his mouth came a sharp two-edged
sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
arrow hidden in shadow/quiver
- arrow – Psalm 127 talks of sons as arrows
- as mentioned in last couple of weeks (48:6), fullness of
Gospel message hidden over O.T. ages and revealed in N.T.
v.3 – my servant
- Similar to Messianic psalm 2:7 – “He said to me, you are
my son”
- Disjunctive punctuation after “you are my servant;”
“Israel” starts new thought.
- The servant is identified with Israel, but with a relative
pronoun.
- Delitzsch notes that the king of a nation is sometimes
called by the name of the nation (viz. Assyria in 10:5)
- John 12:28 Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it
again.”
v.4 Does the complaint that the servant’s labor was in
vain indicate Jesus was not omniscient or not victorious?
- Isaiah 5:4-5 What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did
it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my
vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break
down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
- Mark 8:17-21 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them,
"Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not
yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do
you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets
full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him,
"Twelve." 20 "And the seven for the four thousand, how
many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to
him, "Seven." 21 And he said to them, "Do you not yet
understand?"
- Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that
kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I
have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her
wings, and you would not!
- At many points in Jesus’ ministry, things did not look
successful, and in terms of saving political Israel, it was not
successful, but that’s because His calling was to save the whole world.
- He trusted God to bring about a good outcome – the
judgment of whether or not he was successful. “He entrusted Himself to Him
who judges justly” – I Peter 2:23
- Isaiah 53:10-12 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush
him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he
shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD
shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall
see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my
servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their
iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul
to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of
many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
v.5-6 – the mission of the servant
- “to turn Jacob back to Jehovah”
- “though Israel will not be gathered” or “He will gather
Israel to Himself”
The word “not” is in the Masoretic text, the ancient Latin Vulgate, and in
KJV. The Hebrew word for “not” sounds like the Hebrew word for “to Himself”
and the spelling “to him” is found in DSS, Targums, and Septuagint – both
are true.
- “honored in the eyes of the Lord” – God spoke out of
heaven at Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration “This is my beloved son in
whom I am well-pleased, listen to Him!” – Command to listen to Him ties in
with His mission.
- “to establish the tribes of Jacob; to turn back preserved
of Israel” (those “kept” by God for His purpose)
- “to be a light of nations”
- Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen
a great light…”
- John 8:12 Jesus said…, "I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life."
- “to be salvation unto the ends of the earth”
- Simeon witnessed in Luke 2:29-32 "Lord, now you are
letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my
eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the
presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and
for glory to your people Israel."
- Paul witnessed in Pisidian Antioch in Acts 13:23 God has
brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised… 46 Since you [Jews] thrust
it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are
turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us,
saying, "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may
bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" 48 And when the
Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the
Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
v.7. The humiliation and glory of the servant
- Next place Isaiah uses this word “despised” is 53:3,
speaking of Jesus, “He was despised and rejected of men…”
- Phil. 2 talks abut Jesus emptying Himself and becoming “obedient.”
But then of Him being exalted above every name so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow. This is the fulfillment.
- Kings will stand up out of respect – like “all rise” when
the judge walks into the courtroom.
v.8-9 The Day of Salvation
- “time of favor”
- When the appointed time had come (Gal 4:4)
- Mary was greeted “hail favored one” (Luke 1:28)
- At Jesus birth the angels sang that peace was coming to
those on whom God had favor – good will toward men. (Luke 2:14)
- “help” in the “day of salvation” – remember when Jesus was
praying in the Garden of Gethsamane, and then angels came and ministered
to Him (Luke 22:43)?
- given as a Covenant of a people – covenants involved blood
sacrificed. “This is the new covenant in my blood”
- 3 infinitives – to establish the land, to apportion the
desolate heritages, and to say, “come out” to the captives. The final
phrase has to do with uncovering the dungeon so that the captives can be
seen again. Beginning fulfillment in return from exile, fulfillment in
beginning of church.
- If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed
- John 8:36
v.9-13 The Servant as a good shepherd
- Jesus is the shepherd, leading His people to pasture and
water along the way and protecting them from danger (sun and heat).
- His flock is remarkable, (v.12) including people from far
away: North, Seaward (West), and East – Sinin could be China, though some
locate it South of Israel in an African country
- Comfort and compassionate mercy towards His people
- Isaiah 40:1-2 Comfort, comfort my people, says your
God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is
ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the
LORD's hand double for all her sins.
- Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they
shall be comforted.
- Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee
and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of
the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and
good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in
every good work and word.
The Union between Christ and His people
- Just as the nation of Israel was embodied in the person of
Jacob who was renamed “Israel” and carried on in his 12 sons, so the
church which is the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) is also embodied in her
founder, Jesus Christ, who is her head and who set up 12 apostles to carry
the church on.
- “Israel is a complex person – the head along with the
body. The head is the Messiah, and the body is the true believers within
the nation of Israel. Sometimes the head is more in view, as in this
passage, sometimes the body is more in view.” F. Barker
- 1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so
also is Christ.
- For instance, just as Christ was given to be salvation to
the ends of the earth, Paul, in Acts 13, could quote Isaiah 49 and claim
that he also had been commanded to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.
- And just as Christ was set apart from the womb, Paul could
make a parallel to himself that “He… set me apart before I was born, and
called me by his grace” Galatians 1:15
- So, if you are a follower of Jesus, these descriptions of
the servant of God also apply to you.
The Application of this passage to us
- God has called and equipped you from your mother’s womb
for a purpose – to glorify Him.
- We may be discouraged and think our work is in van, but we
must remember God’s calling and entrust ourselves to Him.
- Our mission is to call people to be reconciled to God.
Just as it was too small for Jesus to only save Jews, so it is too small
for us to only evangelize Americans – we must press inexorably into the
ends of the earth!
- When we encounter obstacles, we must remember that the
mountains are His mountains and that He will make them into a way.
- ILLUSTRATION: Chuck Colson and prison (taken from Frank
Barker’s exposition on this passage)
Charles Colson, one of former president Nixon’s cabinet, a counselor
involved with the Watergate scandal, became a Christian in the midst of
it, a genuine Christian, But was sent to prison for his crimes. There is
an obstacle, but in prison, he experienced what it was like to be a
prisoner in the United States and the spiritual need of prisoners. When
he got out of prison, he was led of God to found prison Fellowship, a
tremendous ministry which is now worldwide and incorporates thousands and
thousands of men and women as volunteer workers with prisoners. The
mountain became a way. The obstacle was turned into a stepping stone for
Colson.
- (v.13) Instead of worrying about failure, let us sing for
joy for the comfort of salvation our God has given us!
Nate Wilson’s website – Isaiah Sermon Expositions
Christ
the Redeemer Church website - Sermons