Isaiah 49:1-7

A friend, who has been an energetic servant of Christ, had a heart attack last year, and he had to drop down a gear or two. The pace of his life had to slow. I’m pleased to say that he is now much better, and active again. But he told me (and shared this with others) that for a time he felt he was like the ‘’polished arrow…concealed…in his quiver.’’ (2b).

In 48:16 you read these words: ‘’And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his Spirit.’’ Who is speaking? Some commentators believe it is Isaiah, interjecting a comment about himself and his ministry. But many others think it is the ‘Servant of the Lord’, who we meet in today’s passage. (If that is the case, we have a glimpse of the Triune God in that verse in chapter 48; the One only to be fully revealed in the coming of Jesus.) At first the ‘’servant’’ appears to be Israel (3). However, quite quickly, we see this figure as an individual emerging from within the nation. The servant is an embodiment of a perfect Israel, an idealized Israel. He will succeed in His mission where Israel as a nation failed. Here is someone who will have a ministry to Israel (5, 6a), and also to the world (6b). (Verse 6 has been called the Old Testament version of the great commission. Paul quoted it on one occasion, applying it to himself and Barnabas (Acts 13:46, 47). All believers share in the ‘Servant’s’ world embracing mandate.) Jesus is going to have a worldwide impact (7), but this will follow rejection by His own people (see also John 1:11). It is almost impossible to not see the Lord Jesus Christ in these verses. ‘’He says, ‘’But that’s not a big enough job for my servant – just to recover the tribes of Jacob, merely to round up the strays of Israel. I’m setting you up as a light for the nations so that my salvation becomes global!’’ ‘’The Message. For Jesus, there were many hidden years. There are days, weeks, months we know nothing about. But at the right time, God the Father ‘fired’ Him into the world (2) and what an impact He has had, and will continue to have until that day when every knee bows before Him, and every tongue confesses that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). I like how The Message expresses the first half of verse two: ‘’He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.’’ The Words of Christ have so profoundly impacted human history. When preachers are filled with the same Spirit who came upon Jesus, their words can have a similar impact (Acts 2:37; see also Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16).

Note that God’s glory is supremely manifest in His Son (Hebrews 1:3; John 17:4).

‘’In verse 4, we see the servant frustrated and discouraged; his mission seems to have failed. Yet he places himself in the Lord’s hands; the Lord will surely vindicate him and reward him. All of this came true in the life of Jesus (1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 12:3). And it continues to come true in the lives of Jesus’ followers today. Let Christian workers not be surprised when they meet with frustration and failure; their Master did likewise (John 15:18, 20). But like their Master, they will ultimately receive their reward.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1049.

‘’The paradox of an Israel sent to Israel is part of the powerful thrust of the OT towards the NT, since not even the ‘remnant’ of true Israelites…can fulfil the boundless expectations of vs 1-13. We are driven to seek a more perfect embodiment of God’s light, salvation (6) and covenant (8) in Christ at the head of his church, ‘the Israel of God’ (Acts 13:47; Gal.6:16). Also the theme of conquest through service, broached in 42:1-4, has begun to sound the note of suffering and rejection (4, 7), which will increase in sharpness and significance in the third and fourth ‘Songs’.’’ Derek Kidner: ‘New Bible Commentary, p.660.       

 Prayer: Thank you God for the wonder of Jesus. Thank you for the light He shines into my life.