The Servant and His Songs

1
The Servant and His Songs

• Isaiah 40-66

2
The Servant and His Songs

• The problem of the critics
• To whom, then, will ye liken God?
• Behold my servant!
• Hidden in His hand
• The bitter end
• The redeemed of the Lord shall return
• Arise, shine, for thy light is come!

3
The Servant and His Songs

• The Problem of the Critics

4
Is there a problem?
5
1-39 and 40-66 the differences

• Assyria versus Babylon
• Cyrus (4428 451,4,13)
• Assumes Exile, return rebuilding
• Less historical grounding no Isaiah
• The servant figure
• A second call-scene
• Exodus typology
• Different words and style

6
Assyria and Babylon
7
1-39 and 40-66 the differences

• Assyria versus Babylon
• Cyrus (4428 451,4,13)
• Assumes Exile, return and rebuilding
• Less historical grounding no Isaiah
• The servant figure
• A second call scene
• Exodus typology
• Different words and style

8
Special Words in Isaiah 40-66

• Servant
• Comfort
• Fear not
• Courtroom language
• I (am)
• Creation language
• Choose
• Praise

• Spring forth, shoot
• Sing, rejoice
• Isles and coasts
• Covenant
• Repetition, interrogative pronouns, imperatives

9
Isaiah 40-66 The Thesis

• Isaiah 40-66 is about the Second Exodus of
  Israel from captivity and exile in Babylon. This
  redemption is typical of how God saves and will
  save His people the Jews, and it is typical of
  how God saves men and women from the curse of sin
  and death and will bring them to His promised
  kingdom.

10
How to visualise Isaiah

• 1-12
• 13-23
• 24-35
• 36-39
• 40-55
• 56-66

• Three phases
• Syria/Ephraim
• Assyria
• Babylon
• Transitional passage s
• 6-9
• 36-39

11
The Gap
The Hezekiah Model Uzziah ? Ahaz ?
?-------------- Hezekiah -------------------------
--? 1-35 36-39 40-66 The Babylon
Model king Uzziah ? Ahaz ? Hezekiah ?
Return from Exile deliverance from Syro-Ephraim
?Assyria ? Babylon
12
The Clue

• At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of
  Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a
  present to Hezekiah (391)
• Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine
  house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in
  store until this day, shall be carried to
  Babylon nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which
  thou shalt beget, shall they take away and they
  shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of
  Babylon. (396,7)

13
The supporting evidence Former, latter, and new
things

• 4121-23,26 429 439,18,19 447,8 4511
  469-10 483,6-8 5511

14
Produce your cause, saith the Lord bring forth
your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let
them bring them forth, and show us what shall
happen let them show the former things, what
they be, that we may consider them, and know the
latter end of them or declare us things for to
come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter,
that we may know that ye are gods yea, do good,
or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold
it together. .....Who hath declared from the
beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that
we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none
that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth,
yea, there is none that heareth your
words. (Isaiah 41v21-23,26) I have
declared the former things from the beginning
and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed
them I did them suddenly, and they came to
pass.....I have even from the beginning declared
it to thee before it came to pass I shewed it
thee lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath
done them, and my graven image, and my molten
image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard, see
all this and will not ye declare it? I have
shewed thee new things from this time, even
hidden things, and thou didst not know them. They
are created now, and not from the beginning even
before the day when thou heardest them not lest
thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
(Isaiah 48v3,5-7)
15
Summary

• Chapters 40-66 are quite different from 1-39
• Yet they are linked to Isaiahs overall story
• Timeline Syria-Ephraim, Assyria, Babylon
• Chapters 40-66 concern deliverance from the
  Babylonian Exile
• This is a type of the deliverance of Gods people
  (natural and spiritual) more widely
• Although Isaiah jumps forwards in history, he
  gives important clues that he is doing so

16
The Servant and his Songs

• To whom, then, will ye liken God?

17
The incomparability of God

• Some key passages 40 4124-29 438-21
  465,9-13 4812-13 502-3 661-2
• God versus the nations
• 4015-18,21-25
• God versus idols
• 447,8
• God versus man
• 4028-31 558,9

18
Some Questions

• Who hath measured the waters? (40v12)
• Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord?
  (40v13)
• To whom then will ye liken God? (40v18)
• Have ye not known? Have ye not understood?
  (40v21)
• Who hath wrought and done it? (41v4)
• Who hath declared from the beginning? (41v26)

19
The identity of God

• I am
• 414 425,8 433,25 446-8,24-28
  455-7,12,18-19,22 (contrast 478-10) 4817
  5115,22 545 5715
• That they may know
• 4120 453,6,(23) 4923,26 526 6016 642
  6614
• How God defines Himself

20
Images of God

• creator of world Israel (40v22,28 43v1)
• conqueror and man of war (42v13)
• destroyer, laying waste mountains and hills
  (43v15)
• king ushering in his kingdom (42v10 52v7)
• judge (40v10 41v1 etc)
• leader of the blind (43v16)
• husband (54v5)
• woman in travail (43v14)

21
Idols

• 4019-20
• 417,23-24,29
• 428,17
• 449-20
• 4516,20-21

• 461,2,6,7
• 485
• 575-10
• 663
• Cf 477-8,10

22
In the courtroom

• 411-2,21-23 (all chp 41?) 438-21,26 447,8
  4520-24 4814-16 508-9

23
A message of comfort

• Comfort joy
• 401-2 4517 463-4 4913-16 513,12 521.9
  547-14 612,3,7 624-5 (marriage) 6610,13,14
• Fear not
• 4110,13 431,2,5 442,8 517,12 5414

24
The Lessons

• How big is your God?
• How central is your God?
• What are you allowing to compete with Him?
• God will help you if you let Him
• Dont rely on anything or anyone else
• Rejoice! And dont be afraid

25
The Servant and his Songs

• Behold My Servant!

26
The Evidence

• Singular
• 41v8,9 42v1,19 43v10 44v1,2,21,26 45v4
  48v20 49v3,5,6,7 50v10 52v13 53v11

• Plural
• 54v17 56v6 65v8,9,13,14,15 66v14

27
Who is the servant?
28
Some Possibilities

• Israel
• Cyrus
• Isaiah
• Zerubbabel / Joshua
• Hezekiah
• Some other leader
• Christ

29
Individual and Collective

• Collective
• 418,9
• 4310
• 441,2,21
• 454
• 4820

• Individual
• 421
• 493,5,6,7?
• 5010?
• 5213
• 5311

?? 4219 4426 ?? Salvation for the servant
Salvation by the servant
30
What Israel should have been

• Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth God
  chose and loved His people
• He shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles
  The law of Moses
• A light to the Gentiles Israels relationship
  with God would illuminate the world and bring
  others
• The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the
  learned / The Lord God hath opened mine ear
  Israels privileged possession of Gods statutes
• The Lord God will help me An apt summary of
  Gods eagerness to do good to His people
• He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very
  high Israel were to be the head of the nations

31
Israels Sufferings in Isaiah 53

• Many were astonied at thee
• His visage was so marred more than any man
• He hath no form nor comelinessthere is no
  beauty
• Despised and rejected of men
• We hid as it were our faces from him
• He was oppressed, and he was afflicted
• He was cut off out of the land of the living

32
Levels of Meaning / Spectacles
Natural Israel The Righteous Remnant in
Israel Spiritual Israel The Ideal
Israel Individual Israel (Christ)
33
The Servant Songs

• 421-4 (or 1-7)
• 491-6 (or 1-9)
• 504-9 (cf v10)
• 5213-5312
• Other passages to consider 5116 611-3,10-11
  631-7/9

34
The Servant and his Songs

• Hidden in His Hand

35
None to save

• (4126,28) 502 5117-20 5915-17 635
• The servant given 426 496,8 53 554

36
Victory and Gentile mission

• 421-7 4514 496,22-23 5210 543 556,7
  603-16 619,11 622 631-9 651 6612,19

37
Moses My Servant

• Moses offered to die for the people (bore the
  sin of many poured out his soul unto death)
• He prayed for mercy on fellow Israelites (made
  intercession for the transgressors)
• He was condemned to die with the faithless
  Israelites (numbered among the transgressors)
• He was rejected by his own people (despised and
  rejected of men)
• Moses was the lawgiver (he shall establish
  justice the isles shall wait for his law)
• Moses face shone with Gods glory (light of the
  nations)
• Moses makes a covenant between God and Israel (I
  have given you as a covenant for the people)

38
The servant songs

• 421-4 (or 1-7)
• 491-6 (or 1-9)
• 504-9 (cf v10)
• 5213-5312
• Other passages to consider 5116 611-3,10-11
  631-7/9

39
Isaiah 53 a story of pronouns
He was despised and we esteemed him not Surely he
hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows Yet
we did esteem him stricken He was wounded for
our transgressions He was bruised for our
iniquities All we like sheep have gone astray And
the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(53v3-6) Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him He
hath put him to grief When thou shalt make his
soul an offering for sin He shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days And the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hand v10 Therefore will
I divide him a portion with the great And he
shall divide the spoil with the strong Because he
hath poured out his soul unto death And made
intercession for the transgressors. (53v10-12)
40
The Servant and his Songs

• The Bitter End

41
The End

• And it shall come to pass, that from one new
  moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another,
  shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith
  the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon
  the carcasses of the men that have transgressed
  against me for their worm shall not die, neither
  shall their fire be quenched and they shall be
  an abhorring unto all flesh. (Isaiah 66v23-24)

42
65-66 Alternations
65v1-7 rebellious people corrupt worship
holier than thou 65v8-10 remnant will be
spared inherit 65v11-15 destruction of
evildoers who do not belong to God anymore
65v16-25 Gods plan for world new heavens
earth 66v1-4 God wants poor contrite will
destroy false worshippers 66v5-14 rejoice for
future glories of Zion! 66v15-18 fiery
punishments, especially on corrupt worshippers
66v19-24 Gods people nations will remain
forever 66v23-24 punishments of wicked as a
perpetual reminder
43
The End and the Beginning

• abomination of sacrifices 1v11,13 66v3
• false new moons Sabbaths 1v13-14 66v3
• fake sanctification 1v13 66v17
• false worship (trees/gardens) 1v29-31 65v3
  66v17
• violent judgement 1v28 66v15-16
• they will be ashamed 1v29 65v13 66v5
• fiery, burning judgement 1v31 66v24
• a new name 1v26 65v15

44
Isaiah 65-66 the conclusion

• Positive and negative intertwines
• Reprise of chapter 1
• Reprise of chapter 40 (and 40-55)
• Reprise of the whole book
• The parting message

45
Gods judgment on Babylon

• The references
• 4111-12,15-16,25 4213-15 4314,17 461,11
  471-15 esp 1-5 4814 4925-26 5123
• More generally 4822 5720-21 918,19
  6615-19,24 633,6
• The nations submit, eg 4514 543
• The symbol of Babylon

46
Gods judgments on Israel

• The purifying process
• 4222-25 4322-28 484,8,10
• Its not over yet
• 569-12 571-13 581-10,13 591-15 6310,16
  652-7,11-15 663-6
• Confession
• Repent!

47
Isaiah 40-55 and 56-66

• Chapters 40-55
• Optimism
• Salvation
• Restoration
• Return
• The Servant
• Kingdom near reminders of a painful past

• Chapters 56-66
• Sins
• Judgement
• Punishment
• Confession
• Appeal
• Glimpses of the kingdom amid the gloom

48
Themes in Isaiah 56-66

• Israel is attacked for her sin
• God will judge and punish His people
• Israel is told to repent and shown how to behave
• Isaiah confesses on her behalf
• Isaiah urges God to intervene and fulfil His
  promises

49
Scenarios for Isaiah 56-66

• Israel back in their own land?
• Israel in Isaiahs day
• Exhortations for natural and spiritual Israel
  today
• The joys of 40-55 set against the realities of
  judgment from 1-39

50
The Structure of 56-66
Sin judgement, but ultimately hope
(56v1-59v8) We speech confession of sins and
helplessness (59v9-15) He knew that there was
no man (59v16) Vivid picture of coming
judgement/deliv. (59v16-21) The goal Isaiah
40-55 reprised (60-62) Vivid picture of
coming judgement/deliv. (63v1-6) I looked,
and there was none to help (63v5) We speech
plea to save and forgive (63v15-64v12) Sin
judgement, but ultimately hope (65-66)
51
The Servant and his Songs

• The Redeemed of the Lord shall Return

52
Egypt and the wilderness

• Wilderness 40v3 41v18,19 42v11 43v19,20
  443,4 4820-22 50v2 51v3 551,12-13
• Fruitfulness 5811 6111 628-9 6611
  (contrast 6410)
• Exodus 4427 4821 499-11 502 5114-15
  6013-17,22 639,12-14

53
Procession

• 403-5,9-11 4211-16 432-4 4817 499-26
  5211-12 6210-12 (cf 631 6619,20)

54
Regather, restore, redeem

• Redeem 41v14 43v1.14 44v6,22-26 47v4
  48v17,20 49v7,26 50v2 51v11 52v1-9 54v5,8
  59v20 60v16 62v12 63v4,9,16
• Regather 435-7 4911-12,18-23 528 547
  568 6620
• Saved and restored 4517,22 513-5 547-14
  5718 5812-14 591 6010 615 6510

55
Exodus for them and us

• Salvation from dead works
• The creation of a people
• Journey through the wilderness
• Regathering of the saints
• Gods glory revealed

56
The gospel hope

• 401-11
• 4121-29
• 527-12
• 601-7
• 611-11

57
Isaiah 40-66 The Thesis

• Isaiah 40-66 is about the Second Exodus of
  Israel from captivity and exile in Babylon. This
  redemption is typical of how God saves and will
  save His people the Jews, and it is typical of
  how God saves men and women from the curse of sin
  and death and will bring them to His promised
  kingdom.

58
The Servant and His Songs

• The problem of the critics
• Differences, setting, Babylon, type,
  former/latter
• To whom, then, will ye liken God?
• Splendour, questions, I am, court, idols, comfort
• Behold my servant!
• Israel, Moses, Christ, suffering/exaltation
• The bitter end
• Still waiting, judgment/hope, ch. 1, confession
• The redeemed of the Lord shall return
• Wilderness, Exodus, restoration, procession

59
A message of comfort

• Comfort joy
• 401-2 4517 463-4 4913-16 513,12 521.9
  547-14 612,3,7 624-5 (marriage) 6610,13,14
• Fear not
• 4110,13 431,2,5 442,8 517,12 5414

60
Visions of the kingdom

• New heavens and new earth 667-12,20-24
• Eden restored 644 6516-25
• Chp 60 Gentiles, light, glory, rebuild, peace,
  fruitfulness
• Creation of a people 4321 443-5
• Covenant 5410 553 5921 618
• Rejoice! 541 5512

61
The Servant and his Songs

• Arise! Shine! For thy Light is Come