God’s Plan for Redemption
Introduction
At this point, we will be studying two chapters in the 66 chapter book of Isaiah. Isaiah is referred to as the prince of prophets. Jesus quoted Isaiah more than any other prophet. Although Isaiah prophesied for the benefit of Israel, his prophecy’s told of a coming Messiah and how He would suffer for those who become His children. Prophecies can be very confusing mainly because of difficulties in translating them into a language grammar system entirely different from Hebrew.
Isaiah states His Mission
Verses 1-4
1 Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother, He named Me. 2 He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me, And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. 3 He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory.” 4 But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord, And My reward with My God.”
(1) Who or what was Isaiah referring to by using the term “O isles”?
The word Isles refers to all regions beyond the Mediterranean. We know from past studies Jews migrated all over the Mediterranean mainly for the purpose of trade. These pockets of Jews were like islands among the Gentile nations. We also know the Jewish nation rejected Jesus as their Christ (Isaiah 49:4 Isaiah 49:5). Consequently, Gentiles too would be saved.
When Isaiah spoke prophetically in the second sentence of verse 1, he for told of a person to be born, who would be named by God. In the translation, I am using words referring to deity were capitalized. The womb is that of Mary. An angel of the Lord told Mary she would conceive and what to name her child (Matthew 1:21). We can trace His lineage from Adam in Luke 3:23-38. John describes Jesus as always (John1:1-5, 9-10, &14). In John 1:10 Jesus is quoted giving a parable identifying Himself as the good shepherd.
(2) Isaiah goes on to say Jesus was hidden from the Jew, like a sword which is hidden from view in its scabbard. Jesus was to be a one of a kind arrow, straight, true, and unblemished, hidden in the Fathers quiver, out of sight, and protected, waiting for His time.
(3) This verse might be confusing until you realize Isaiah is not talking about a nation called Israel, but Jesus. The word Israel from the Hebrew word Yisra'el pronounced yis-raw-ale' from 8280 and 410; He will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: --Israel. See HEBREW for 08280 see HEBREW for 0410 Strong’s extensive concordance. Therefore if we were to substitute the word Israel with “He will rule as God, ” or more simply Jesus, the meaning of this verse becomes evident. Isaiah writes in Isaiah 44:23 of Jesus who would redeem Jacob and glorify the Father.
(4) Is Isaiah speaking about himself in this verse by saying “But I said”?
Gordon Churchyard writes the following in his commentary on Isaiah 49. “When God called Isaiah to speak for him, he had warned Isaiah about people’s reaction. People would not listen to Isaiah (see Isaiah 6:9-12). But Isaiah wisely realized that his duty was to obey God. As a result, it was not Isaiah’s responsibility (see Isaiah 40:4-8). It was God’s responsibility”.
I saw a clue to this verse inside the quotation marks. Once again the translation I used uses capitalization to denote deity. I believe Isaiah is still talking about the Messiah (not himself), saying in the future tense, “I have toiled in vain.” Not to say Jesus’s work was in vain, but rather the Jews will reject Him. Jesus was to come into the world and would be dismissed by the Jews (John 1:11). However, He and His work would be glorified by the Father (John 7:5-8).
Verses 5-6
5 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, And My God is My strength), 6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations’ So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
(5) Isaiah uses Jacob (patriarch of the Israelites), to denote the 12 Jewish tribes. Once again we see the use of capitalization to denote deity (NAS translation). However, in the KJV the same words are not capitalized. Jesus was formed in the womb of Mary. And I believe this was in the same form of the eternal Jesus. We know both the heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit are in spirit form whereas Jesus is in human form. I believe Jesus always had physical form He walks in the garden with Adam (Gen 3:8). He (Jesus) was to go to the Israelites first (Acts 3:26); to gather them as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing for their protection. Jesus became flesh to restore the lost sheep of Israel to God (Matthew 24:15).
Does the use of capitalized words change the meaning of the verse?
I believe it does. Without capitalized words, Isaiah could be referring to himself instead of Jesus this perhaps is why the Jews were blinded.
(6) God’s plan from the beginning was to provide the perfect blood sacrifice for all humankind's sins. Isaiah is saying that Jesus was to be a sacrifice, not just for the Jews but also for the Gentile nations as well. Note how Isaiah uses the phrase “preserved ones of Israel.” To preserve something is to keep it from perishing. Those in Israel who believed in Jesus would be saved from an eternal separation from God; these were the "preserved ones." The rejection of Jesus by the Jews was part of God’s design to ensure the entire world’s population was included in this salvation. Isaiah writes this quote “I will also make You a light of the nations.” Jesus will be the light (illumination) for all nations. Isaiah finishes verse six with “So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” God’s plan from the beginning, is that all humankind would be saved.
The remaining verses of chapter 49 deal with God dealing directly with His people Israel. We will now look at chapter 53.
God will rescue his people
Verse 7
7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
Once again Isaiah is speaking of Christ Jesus. He is being called the redeemer of Israel but also the despised One (see also Isaiah 48:17, 52:14 & 15, 53:3). The Jews called out to crucify Him (Luke 23:18-23).
Isaiah is calling Jesus a servant of rulers and rightfully so because Jesus was brought before both King Herod (Luke 23:17) and governor Pilot and Jesus did not defend himself (Matthew 27:14 & 15).
A day will come when all nations including Gentile nations will bow down before the Christ Jesus (Isaiah 66:230)
God will lead his people home
Verses 8-13
8 Thus says the Lord, “In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; 9 Saying to those who are bound, ‘Go forth,’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ Along the roads, they will feed, And their pasture will be on all bare heights. 10 “They will not experience hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or the sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them And will guide them to springs of water. 11 “I will make all My mountains a road, And My highways will be raised up. 12 “Behold, these will come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim.” 13 Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.
(8) In explaining the phrase “an acceptable time” HENGSTENBERG writes “In a time of grace.” The Lord through Isaiah is now giving hope to Israel. There will be a time of judgment (Isaiah 61:2 and following), and there will be a time of grace (Galatians 4:4). In 2 Corinthians 6:2, Paul states this was the time of grace whereby salvation, was extended to all who would believe and accept the blood sacrifice of the Lamb of God (Jesus) (Hebrews 4:7 and 5:7).
God gave Jesus the “help” He needed to accomplish His mission. Jesus, in His physical being, suffered Satan’s temptations, physical and personal abuse, and finally death. He triumphed over death and suffered no decay (Acts 2:31, 13:34).
The desolate heritages refers to those lands lost to the Gentiles (a morally corrupt people).
(9) Those Jews who accept the Messiah will become bonded, also called indentured servants to Him. They would be ordained to go to the Gentile nations, and there to bring the Gentiles out of the darkness of ignorance of the one true God, and into the light of truth through the gospel of Christ (Matthew 5:16).
(10) God will attend to all their needs, both physically and spiritually while the He leads them to Palestine, and then to heaven. They were to go forth without money, or food, and to rely wholly on the Lord (Mark 6:8), He would provide all their needs. When in the fullness of their time, they would no longer suffer hunger, thirst or suffer any misery because they would be in the bosom of the Lord (Revelation 7:16).
There is a valuable lesson from this verse for us today. God will attend to all our needs as He did for His chosen. We too are to trust in our Lord for His direction and His promise to take care of our needs. Our Lord will not send us forth without giving us what we need to complete the task He has set before us.
(11) In verse eleven Isaiah is saying the Lord will remove obstacles from their path (see also Isaiah 40:4).
(12) Some Biblical scholars believe Sinim refers to China. The Septuagint (Hebrew to Greek translation) points to an Eastern country. Although improbable it would have been possible Israelites to have journeyed that the Far East.
Isaiah may have been speaking in the metaphorical sense, saying the Israelites would gather from all over the world.
We know Israel had a tumultuous history. Every time Israel strayed from God they were defeated by their enemies and were taken captive. Isaiah’s prophecy could have been the near future and also applies to its distant future (May 14, 1948).
(13) Isaiah’s prophecy was one of hope for Israel and us because of the great compassion of God for His people and those who would be called by His name.
Obviously, this is not the entire chapter of Isaiah 49. The remaining verses deal with Israel. We could draw nuggets from these verses for our lives I choose not too at this time. Instead, we will look how Isaiah tells us of the suffering Messiah in chapter 53.
