LESSON 13
A SERVENT OF THE LORD
ISAIAH 42
The servant of the Lord is seen in two distinct ways in the study before us. In the early part of the chapter we have an individual personality who is chosen by God to bring salvation to Israel and be a light to His people. As the chapter closes, the “servant of Jehovah” is clearly Israel who is seen as blind and deaf. Israel as a nation was unfaithful and found it hard to understand the ways of God.
In Isaiah 42:1-4, we have a unique passage dealing with prophecy concerning Christ, which clearly Jesus fulfilled. The Lord Jesus did not move in with a club against sin but as a bruised reed that would not be broken. He does not crush the weak or broken person but heals them as in Isaiah 42:3. Dr. Harry Ironside points out in his testimony that he was so under the power of legalism that as a young man, when he got on to a train or street car, he would get to his feet as soon as it began to move and give his personal testimony and tell people how to get saved. He did this because he felt he would be held responsible for the souls of men if he did not give a witness. These verses helped him to see the difference between indifference and rudeness. As you consider this passage and study the ministry of the Lord Jesus on earth, you come to understand that our Lord was truly, “God’s gentlemen.” The Lord Jesus was gentle and gracious, never boisterous and uncouth.
The inhabitants of the coastlands and desert are encouraged to sing a new song in Isaiah 42:10-17. The reason for the song is that the Lord who has been silent for a long time is about to intervene on behalf of His people Israel. The wrath of God will affect nature, and no one will stand in the path of God’s plan. God who has punished His people for sin will now act in mercy. All those who worshipped idols will be deeply ashamed as indicated in Isaiah 42:17.
The truth of Isaiah 42:17-21 reveals the nation of Israel as incapable of comprehending the message, which they have heard, or the mission God had entrusted to them. God sent Israel on a mission to the nations, and her unfaithfulness to the trust had brought judgment. The driving thought behind all this is that Christ as Messiah will be the perfect representative of Israel who restores the broken covenant relationship between Jehovah and His people. The July 26, 2007 Jerusalem Post under Judaism states, “The very survival of Israel, despite Egyptian enslavement and Holocaust conflagration and despite the fact that we are the smallest and weakest of all nations (indeed, for almost 2,000 years we were completely stateless), makes us God’s witnesses, testifying that He is indeed, a God of love and morality.” I believe we are living in a period of time, which Isaiah 43 leads us toward, in which Jehovah’s love for Israel will be revealed in power and in such an awesome manner as to once again bring great comfort to the people of Israel. To the child of God of our generation, remember Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”