Isaiah2-3

Now we come to the first of the “Servant Songs” which describe God's servant, one sent by the Lord to fulfil His task, one who will be supported by the Lord and who is a delight to Him. Jesus was clearly seen to the fulfilment of this prophecy in Matthew and when he was being baptised the voice of his Father confirmed His delight in His Son (Mt 3:17 ). The Servant was also to have the Spirit of God in large measure to equip and enable him and Jesus claimed this from the outset of his ministry (Luke 4:18 ) after he had received the Spirit at his baptism (Mt 3:16 ).

The task of the Servant is declared to be to bring justice. Justice may be described as the bringing of right moral judgement upon people and situations. Jesus did this by declaring the truth from God, that there were standards to be kept, and they were not being kept and therefore men were guilty and deserved the punishment of death. To ensure justice was done he then took that punishment himself and so our guilt has been punished. Yes he did bring justice!

Finally note the gentleness with which we comes, so that he will not break the weak or snuff out the just-glimmering life. No he came to redeem the weak not destroy them.

D. Application:

1. Jesus came to bring justice by dealing with our sin. Thank him!

2. Jesus comes to pick up the weak, not reject them. Thank him!

Chapter: Isaiah 42

Passage: Isaiah 42:5-9

A. Find Out:

1. How does the Lord describe Himself? v.5

2. How had the Lord called the Servant? v.6a

3. What two things was He going to make the Servant? v.6b

4. What three things will the servant do? v.7

5. What does the Lord say He will not do? v.8

6. What does He say He is doing? v.9

B. Think:

1. Why is the way the Lord describes Himself important?

2. What is the extent of the ministry of the Servant?

3. What is the significance of the Lord not sharing His glory?

C. Comment:

The Lord first declares his right to do things on the earth: He is its Creator, it's giver of life. Therefore He calls the Servant because it is right to do so; when the Servant comes it will be because it is right that he comes and everything he does will be right (righteous).

Not only that, the Lord promises the Servant that He will support and help him, and that He will go on to make him the sign of a legally binding agreement between God and man, between God and both Jew and Gentile. This enlarges the scope of the Servant's ministry to the whole world, not just to one chosen nation.

The work of the Servant is here described as opening the eyes of the blind, setting captives free, those who are in dark dungeons. Putting these things together it is more likely to refer to spiritual releasing than physical releasing although Jesus came and did both.

Finally note that the Lord says that He won't share His glory. What was he saying? Well in retrospect we can see that He didn't share His glory with any man, He merely let it shine out through His Son so it remained with the Godhead.

D. Application:

1. Jesus is the sole reason we can have peace with God, He is the covenant

between God and man.

2. Jesus came to release us from the darkness of our own foolishness into

the glory of his own light.

Chapter: Isaiah 42

Passage: Isaiah 42:10-17

A. Find Out:

1. Who are encouraged to praise the Lord? v.10-12

2. What will the Lord do? v.13

3. To what does the Lord liken Himself? v.14

4. What does He say He will do? v.15

5. Who will He lead where & what will He do for them? v.16

6. What will He do to others? v.17

B. Think:

1. How does this passage follow directly on from the previous one?

2. What indication is there that the Lord has been silent previously?

3. How are the blind and idol worshippers seen to be different?

C. Comment:

First, observe that there are clear links between this passage and what goes before. First there is the promise of new things in verse 9 and now a new song in response in verse 10. Also verse 14 indicates the bringing forth of the new thing referred to in verse 9.

Second, note the extent of the Lord's activity (expanding on verse 6 - the Gentiles), “to the ends of the earth”. This means that this is something far greater than simply something He is going to do for Israel ; this is for the whole world.

Third, see the nature of the Lord's work: He will transform the land to make it more habitable and accessible for the blind. He is going to lead the blind and take them from darkness into light (again echoing verse 7). Who are the “blind”? Well they are not idol worshippers (because they are dealt with differently) so they must simply be those who have so far been unable to see and comprehend the glory of God.

Clearly we have here the great promise to the Gentile world that had previously not had the revelation that Israel had received. Jesus came to the whole world, not just to the Jews. God is concerned with the whole of His world and that means every nation!

D. Application:

1. Jesus died for the whole world!

2. Do we have the same concern as God, for His entire world, every nation,

every tribe, every tongue?

Chapter: Isaiah 49

Passage: Isaiah 49:1-4

A. Find Out:

1. When had the Lord called his Servant? v.1

2. What were his words to be like? v.2a

3. Yet how was he being held by the Lord? v.2b

4. What would he do? v.3

5. Yet what did he feel? v.4a

6. So what did he trust in? v.4b

B. Think:

1. What is here indicating success?

2. What also indicates failure?

3. Read Matt 10:34 How did Jesus fulfil this prophecy?

C. Comment:

In this second “Servant song” we have the servant himself speaking and calling, first of all, to the nations of the world. Again we note he comes not merely to the Jews but to the whole world.. He then declares that he has been part of God's plan long before his birth on earth (via Mary). He also tells us that it will be by the words from his mouth that he will have effect; those words will have a cutting impact. Yet for the moment he is hidden, to be revealed at some future appropriate moment, when the time is right, to reveal the glory of God.

Then we come to some strange words which must have puzzled the Jewish readers, words indicating a sense of failure, where it will be necessary for him to just trust in God's sovereignty and reward. From our perspective we can now see how this fitted Jesus perfectly: at the end of his ministry he was deserted by all his followers, as he hung on the Cross he had to rely totally on God to bring the good they had planned before the foundation of the world.

This passage emphasises the fore-planning of the Servant's work, his being held until the right time, his work with the word of God and also his sense of failure and need to rely on God.

D. Application:

1. Humanly speaking Jesus failed in his work, yet in the divine purpose it

was a glorious success!

2. Nothing about his coming was left to chance!

Chapter: Isaiah 49

Passage: Isaiah 49:5-7

A. Find Out:

1. What was the stated purpose of the servant? v.5b

2. How was he honoured and what did that do? v.5c

3. What was too small a thing in God's thinking? v.6a

4. So what would He also do with the Servant? v.6b

5. How does the Lord refer to the Servant? v.7b

6. What effect will he have in the world and why? v.7c,d

B. Think:

1. What twofold role of the Servant forms the main thrust here?

2. How is weakness and failure hinted at again?

3. Yet how is “success” also hinted at?

C. Comment:

First of all, we see the servant acknowledging his divine call; he is what he is because God has made him so. Second we see him declaring his initial purpose is to bring Israel back to God, and for the bulk of Jesus' three years of ministry it was to the Jews that he spoke.

However the thrust of what the Servant is saying is that God had said to him that this is only a part of what He has formed him for; the bigger task is to reach out to the whole world. At the end of his ministry Jesus told his disciples that they were to disciple all nations (Matthew 28:19) and be his witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Throughout most of their history the Jews seem to have forgotten this mandate to be a light to the rest of the world, and simply concentrated on being themselves, often in quite an insular way, yet God HAS achieved it through Jesus. We should note that there is within most of us this same tendency to focus just on our own affairs and forget the mandate to reach outwards with the Gospel.

In verse 7 are glimmers of failure and success. First there are references to the Servant being despised and abhorred by Israel , and so by and large, he was and still is. Yet there is also the declaration that rulers will bow before him. Some do now and all will eventually.

D. Application:

1. The Gospel is for taking out not holding onto!

2. Before Jesus every knee WILL bow (Philippians 2:10 )

Chapter: Isaiah 49

Passage: Isaiah 49:8-13

A. Find Out:

1. When does the Lord say He will do these things? v.8a

2. What will the Lord make the Servant and with what aim? v.8b

3. Who will he minister to? v.9a

4. What will he do for them? v.9b,10

5. What will he also do and why? v.11,12

6. So what are all encouraged to do and why? v.13

B. Think:

1. What is the Lord promising He will do for whom here?

2. Where will these people come from?

3. How does this echo much of what we have read previously?

C. Comment:

The Lord speaks further here of the work of the servant and first of all says that it will happen at a specific appointed time, in a day of favour or salvation. On that day the Lord will sent His Servant who will come as a sign of a covenant between God and the land (also 42:6). On that day he will restore the land (also 49:6) and release captives (also 42:7), but then he goes further; he will feed them, pasture them like a shepherd with a flock, care for them. In other word he will do what he has said he will do previously, deliver this people and enter into a loving and caring relationship with them.

But then (v.11 on) he indicates that he will bring these people from afar; they will not merely be the people in the land, they will be people drawn back to the land from afar. Perhaps this refers to the exiles from Babylon in the following century, but certainly, as we know that the Servant was Jesus, it refers to people from all over the world being drawn to him. It is clearly a time for rejoicing.

This passage simply confirms what we have read previously about the work of the Messiah: he will be one called by God at a specific point of time to bring release and blessing to those who God will gather together - and that is us!

D. Application:

1. Jesus' aim was first to deliver us from darkness and slavery.

2. His second purpose is to lead us in days of blessing on earth.

Chapter: Isaiah 50

Passage: Isaiah 50:4-9

A. Find Out:

1. What has the Lord given the Servant? v.4a

2. Why does He waken him each morning? v.4b,5a

3. What was the Servant's response? v.5b

4. What has happened to the Servant? v.6

5. Why will he not be disgraced though? v.7a,9a

6. What did the Servant do therefore? v.7b

B. Think:

1. What is especially brought out about the relationship between the

Servant and the Lord in these verses?

2. What will that apparently lead the Servant into?

3. Read John 5:19,20 How does that link with this passage?

C. Comment:

The word “servant” is not used in this passage but there are such similarities to the earlier servant passages that there can be little doubt that it is the Servant speaking.

In this passage he highlights the fact that God teaches him what to say and what to do. When Jesus came he only did what he was shown by his Father in heaven; he was quite clearly, “one who is taught”. Little is said about who he is to minister to beyond the fact that they are weary, and of course in Matthew 11:28 Jesus encouraged the weary to come to him for rest.

Then we move into the most graphic detail yet of the “failure” aspects of his ministry that have been referred to at least twice already; the fact that being taught and led will eventually lead him into a place where he will be physically abused, violently abused. Yet, he declares, it will not put him off because God will uphold him and ensure he is not disgraced and therefore he will determine to go through with it. In that latter part are echoes of Gethsemane where Jesus resolutely set his face to go on with it to achieve God's ultimate purpose for him (see Matthew 26:36-46)

D. Application:

1. Jesus served as one taught. Do we?

2. Jesus went through violent abuse for us. Worship him.

Chapter: Isaiah 52

Passage: Isaiah 52:13-15

A. Find Out:

1. How will the Servant act? v.13a

2. What will happen to him? v.13b

3. Yet also what will apparently happen to him? v.14

4. What will he do for who? v.15a

5. And who will respond how? v.15b

6. Why? v.16

B. Think:

1. What are we told about the “success” and “failure” of the Servant?

2. How does this passages confirm what we've seen previously?

3. How does this passage enlarge on what we've seen previously?

C. Comment:

At the start of this fourth “Servant Song”, note the alternative renderings in the notes in your Bible. First the servant will act wisely and prosper; in other words he will succeed in his mission. It says he will be exalted and lifted up, which the Jews would have taken to also mean success, yet as we look at this with hindsight, we see that it means he was lifted up on a Cross; it is the start of the description of what happened to him at Calvary .

What follows must have certainly confused the Jews of Isaiah's day, for the Servant apparently is to go through a terrible physical ordeal to achieve his success. On the Cross Jesus' body would hang and be contorted in agony, marred by the driven nails, splattered with blood from the crown of thorns, an awful picture of a wrecked human body, abused by other human hands.

Yet, the record says, he will sprinkle or cleanse many nations, a reference to his universal work of salvation, that can stretch to every tribe, every tongue, every nation, to whoever will receive it. Even rulers will see, hear, understand and stop their proud boasting as this new thing is seen, understood and responded to.

D. Application:

1. Jesus' triumph involved his humiliation and death.

2. We too, have to die to self and let God raise us to new life if we are to let

Jesus do in us all he desires to do.

Chapter: Isaiah 53

Passage: Isaiah 53:1-6

A. Find Out:

1. What question does he start with? v.1

2. What are we told about his beginnings? v.2

3. What sort of person was he? v.3

4. What did he do and yet how did men see it? v.4

5. What has been done for us and how? v.5

6. Why did the Lord do what He did? v.6

B. Think:

1. How was the Servant not “an obvious candidate for the job”?

2. What obviously was to happen to him?

3. Why was it obviously to happen?

C. Comment:

At this point in the Servant song the detail increases and the causes for the Servant's activity become more clear. First we see his beginnings: in a dry place, although he himself did not show signs of parched growth. He was not one who would naturally attract men to himself, he was not the tall, strong, handsome type. Indeed, in stark contrast to that, he was despised by those who saw him. Throughout his ministry Jesus was despised by the religious fraternity, looked down about by the social elite, for much of the time he mixed with the lowly and weak, those who were sorrowful and suffering. It was the sick and the poor who came to Jesus, and only rarely the educated seeker.

And then comes what happened to him: men looked at what happened and believed it was God's judgement (and so it was - but on their behalf!!) as he was pierced, crushed and punished and wounded. Surely this man was not a servant of God, was the popular reasoning of the day. Yet the reality was that he was bearing our sins and our iniquities when he went to the Cross. The reality was that it was US who had gone astray, us who had turned to our own ways and deserved God's judgement, not him! He was in fact taking our punishment as he hung there and we, the onlookers, thought he was the wrong one!

D. Application:

1. Jesus did the unthinkable, and died in our place. Worship him.

2. We, sinful humanity, looked on uncomprehendingly. Do we still?

Chapter: Isaiah 53

Passage: Isaiah 53:7-9

A. Find Out:

1. What was done to him? v.7a

2. Yet how did he respond? v.7b-d

3. How was he taken? v.8a

4. Why was he stricken? v.8d

5. Where was he buried? v.9a

6. Yet of what was he innocent? v.9b

B. Think:

1. What are we told about what was to be done to the servant?

2. What are we told of his response to it?

3. What reason are we given for all of it?

C. Comment:

First, we are told the nature of what was to happen to the Servant: he was to be oppressed, that is he was to be taken by those more powerful than him, who would judge him and inflict punishment upon him, a punishment that ended his life.

Second, we are told the response that was to be given by the Servant: he was to simply accept it all, just like dumb animals do when taken to the slaughter or for shearing. There is to be a passive acceptance of all this unjust activity against him.

Third, we are told that he will be buried as a criminal but yet in a rich man's grave. This was fulfilled in Jesus being buried in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). Perfect detail!

Fourth, we are told that although all this was to happen to him, yet he would be completely innocent, he would have committed no violent act worthy of death and would have said no wrong thing worthy of such a penalty.

Finally, we note that all this happened because of the transgressions of the people of God, and of course we know today this meant he would die to take our sin upon himself on the Cross at Calvary so that we might live instead.

D. Application:

1. Jesus perfectly fulfilled every detail of the prophecy.

2. Jesus died in YOUR place. Worship him.

Chapter: Isaiah 53

Passage: Isaiah 53:10-12

A. Find Out:

1. What was God's intention and why? v.10a,b

2. Yet what will the Servant see and achieve? v.10c,d

3. What will happen after his suffering and what will he feel? v.11a

4. What will he have achieved? v.11b,c

5. What will God give him? v.12a,b

6. Why? v.12c,d

B. Think:

1. What is made clear about the origin of the Servant's suffering?

2. What is made clear about what follows the suffering?

3. What is re-emphasised about the purpose of the suffering?

C. Comment:

In this last block of this song, we see first of all with devastating clarity that all this is expressly because it is God's declared will. Yes, it is God's will for one to suffer, but it is clearly “redemptive suffering” that is specifically to redeem others. Yes the Servant will suffer because God wants him to be a guilt offering, to bear the iniquities of many (note, not ALL). This point comes over several times in these three verses, as if to say, make no mistake, God is providing a means for your sin to be dealt with through the death of His Servant.

And yet despite the suffering which clearly ends in death, there is the sustained promise that this will all result in success, for the will of God to be achieved and for fruit to come forth. Although in verse 8 he was said to have no descendants because he was cut off in the prime of life, here now in verse 10 he will see offspring. How can this be? The answer is that although Jesus never had any natural descendants, as the result of his work on the Cross, he now has millions of offspring or followers, children of God.

Within these verses we have encapsulated the very heart of the Gospel: God planned Calvary . God planned for Jesus to die on the Cross to bear our sins. God planned his resurrection.

D. Application:

1. Calvary was no accident, but the express plan of God.

2. God planned it and brought it about to save us. Worship Him.

RECAP - "The Servant" - Isaiah 42,49,50,52,53

SUMMARY :

In this third group of 11 studies we have seen the Coming One described as a Servant who will:

  - bring justice

  - open blind eyes and release captives in the whole world

  - apparently fail in some part of his ministry

  - be utterly disfigured in the process

  - be despised and rejected in the process

  - will take our punishment in the process

COMMENT :

Is it any wonder that the Jewish teachers couldn't agree on the nature of the coming Messiah. The descriptions seem so contradictory. On one hand he is the servant of God who achieves salvation and justice for the nations, and yet on the other side he is despised and rejected. How, they asked, could this be? It is only in retrospect as we observe the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that we can see and understand the accuracy of the detail of these prophecies. Jesus fulfilled every prophecy in detail. How incredible!

LESSONS?

1. Jesus came to pick up the weak. He expects us to do the same.

2. Jesus died for the whole world. We have to tell the whole world.

3. Jesus had a teachable spirit. We have to be the same.

4. Jesus died in our place, taking our sin. We too have to die to self.

5. Calvary was the expression of God's perfect plan

PRAY :

Thank and worship the Lord for His incredible plan, worked out in Jesus, that brings salvation to us today.

PART 4 : "Finally"

In this last short Part in these studies we will see the last two Messianic prophecies that reach out to all nations, and reveal in detail the work of the Messiah who comes to release captives and rebuilt broken down lives. How wonderful.