Now, what is interesting is that part of the righteous servant’s commissioning involves bringing the unrighteous servant (Israel) back to God! There are two key verses that state this. The Righteous Servant to bring the Unrighteous Servant back to God Isa 42:1-7 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.” This is what God Yahweh says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I,Yahweh, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand .I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” The key thought that is introduced above is that the servant, in whom God delights, is going to be a covenant for both the people (Israel) and a light for the gentiles. Clearly, the servant has to be someone else apart from the nation of Israel and the gentiles to do this. While this thought is just introduced in Isaiah 42, it is further elaborated on in Isaiah 49. Isa 49:5-7 ‘And now Yahweh says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh and my God has been my strength— he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” This is what Yahweh says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of Yahweh, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. Now this is a very interesting passage. Note the following points: The servant is commissioned to ‘bring Jacob back to Him (Yahweh) and gather Israel to himself.’ Hence, the servant mentioned here cannot be Judah itself for it is the servant’s task to bring Israel (the disobedient servant) back to Yahweh! Yet at the same time, Yahweh says that it is ‘too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel’. In Yahweh’s estimation, there is a far bigger plan for His servant than to just bring Israel back to Himself. His plan for the servant involves the whole world! Yahweh says to the righteous servant ‘I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.’ That is what Yahweh is most concerned about – the salvation of souls, and right to the very ends of the earth! Gentiles as well as Jews. Notice also this important point. The scripture above tells us that initially the righteous servant’s mission to the nation of Israel will be rejected! The righteous servant is called the one ‘despised and abhorred by the nation’. The ‘nation’ is Isaiah’s and Yahweh’s people – the nation of Israel. While the righteous servant will be despised initially by the nation of Israel, the Gentiles will accept Him for ‘kings will see you and rise up, princes will see you and bow down’. Please note however that though initially rejected by the nation of Israel, Isaiah goes on in verses 8-13 of chapter 49 to show that the servants work in restoring the nation of Israel to Yahweh will eventually succeed.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 22:08:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015