Holy Bible

Behold My Servant. Isaiah 42:1-17 Who is the "servant of Jehovah Prof. T. K. Cheyne, D. D. ? — The following are, in brief, the leading opinions which have been held:(1) Hitzig's, that the Jewish people in exile is referred to, as distinguished from the heathen;(2) that of Paulus and Maurer, that the servant is the pious portion of the people;(3) that of Gesenins, that the prophetic order is intended;(4) that of Hofmann, combining (2) and (3), that it means Israel, the prophetic people, suffering on behalf of the heathen world;(5) that of Oehler and Delitzsch, that "the conception of the servant of Jehovah is, as it were, a pyramid, of which the base is the people of Israel as a whole, the central part Israel 'according to the Spirit,' and the summit, the person of the Mediator of salvation, who arises out of Israel." ( Prof. T. K. Cheyne, D. D. ) The Mediator is the centre F. Delitzsch, D. D. 1. In the circle of the kingdom of promise — the second David. 2. In the circle of the people of salvation — the true Israel. 3. In the circle of humanity — the second Adam. ( F. Delitzsch, D. D. ) The servant of Jehovah Prof. T. K. Cheyne, D. D. In the sublimest description of the servant I am unable to resist the impression that we have a presentiment of an individual, and venture to think that our general view of the servant ought to be ruled by those passages in which the enthusiasm of the author is at its height. "Servant of Jehovah" in these passages seems equivalent to "son of Jehovah" in Psalm 2:7 ("son" and "servant" being, in fact, nearly equivalent in the Old Testament), namely, the personal instrument of Israel's regeneration, or, as we may say in the broader sense of the word, the Messiah. ( Prof. T. K. Cheyne, D. D. ) Jehovah and Jehovah's servant Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. This servant is brought before us with all the urgency with which Jehovah has presented Himself, and next to Jehovah He turns out to be the most important figure of the prophecy. Does the prophet insist that God is the only source and sufficiency of His people's salvation? It is with equal emphasis that He introduces the servant as God's indispensable agent in the work. Cyrus is also acknowledged as an elect instrument. But neither in closeness to God, nor in effect upon the world, is Cyrus to be compared for an instant to the servant. Cyrus is subservient and incidental But the servant is a character, to delineate whose immortal beauty and example the prophet devotes as much space as he does to Jehovah Himself. As he turns again and again to speak of God's omnipotence and faithfulness and agonising love for His own, so with equal frequency and fondness does he linger on every feature of the servant's conduct and aspect: His gentleness, His patience, His courage, His purity, His meekness: His daily wakefulness to God's voice, the swiftness and brilliance of His speech for others, His silence under His own torments; His resorts — among the bruised, the prisoners, the forwandered of Israel, the weary, and them that sit in darkness, the far-off heathen; His warfare with the world, His face set like a flint; His unworldly beauty, which men call ugliness; His unnoticed presence in His own generation, yet the effect of His face upon kings; His habit of woe, a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness; His sore stripes and bruises, His judicial murder, His felon's grave; His exaltation and eternal glory — till we may reverently say that these pictures, by their vividness and charm, have drawn our eyes away from our prophet's visions of God, and have caused the chapters in which they occur to be oftener read among us, and learned by heart, than the chapters in which God Himself is lifted up and adored. Jehovah and Jehovah's servant — these are the two heroes of the drama. ( Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. ) The servant, first Israel as a whole, then Israel in part Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. Nothing could be more clear than this, that in the earlier years of the exile, the servant of Jehovah was Israel as a whole, Israel as a body politic Very soon the prophet has to make a distinction, and to sketch the servant as something less than the actual nation In modern history we have two familiar illustrations of this process of winnowing and idealising a people, in the light of their destiny. In a well-known passage in the "Areopagitica" Milton exclaims: "Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself and shaking her invincible locks; methinks I see her as an eagle renewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam while the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means." In this passage the "nation" is no longer what Milton meant by the term in the earlier part of his treatise, where "England" stands simply for the outline of the whole English people; but the "nation" is the true genius of England realised in her enlightened and aspiring sons, and breaking away from the hindering and debasing members of the body politic. Or, recall Mazzini's bitter experience. To no man was his Italy more really one than to this ardent son of hers, who loved every born Italian because he was an Italian, and counted none of the fragments of his unhappy country too petty or too corrupt to be included in the hope of her restoration. To Mazzini's earliest imagination, it was the whole Italian seed who were ready for redemption, and would rise to achieve it at his summons. But when his summons came, how few responded, and after the first struggles how fewer still remained, Mazzini himself has told us with breaking heart. The real Italy was but a handful of born Italians; at times it seemed to shrink to the prophet alone. From such a core the conscience indeed spread again, till the entire people was delivered from tyranny and from schism, and now every peasant and burgher from the Alps to Sicily understands what Italy means, and is proud to be an Italian. But for a time Mazzini and his few comrades stood alone. It is a similar winnowing process through which we see our prophet's thought pass with regard to Israel. Him, too, experience teaches, that "the many are called, but the few chosen." Perhaps the first traces of distinction between the real servant and the whole nation are to be found in the programme of his mission ( Isaiah 42:1-7 ). ( Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. ) The ideal servant Jehovah E. H. Plumptre, D. D. That mysterious form of the ideal servant of Jehovah, which seems, as we read, to shift and change its aspect, was to Israel what the "colossal man" of the idealist is to humanity at large ( E. H. Plumptre, D. D. ) The servant of the Lord A. Maclaren, D. D. The figure, as it first appears in this half of what are called Isaiah's prophecies, evidently represents Israel as God intended it to be, chosen for His service and for the diffusion of His Name; the conviction gradually steals over the prophet that the nation cannot discharge these functions, but that the Israel within Israel, the devout core of the people, is the Servant of the Lord; and finally, the knowledge seems to have been breathed into him that not even "that holy seed" which "is the substance thereof" is adequate to do all that the Servant of the Lord is to do; and thus finally the figure changes into a Person, who can be and do all that Israel ought to have been and done, but was not, and did not. In other words, whether the prophet discerned it or no, the role of the Servant of the Lord is only fulfilled by Jesus Christ. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) Cyrus and the Servant of Jehovah Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. His relation to Cyrus, before whose departure from connection with Israel's fate the Servant does not appear as a person, is most interesting. Perhaps we may best convey it in a homely figure On the ship of Israel's fortunes — as on every ship and on every voyage — the prophet sees two personages. One is the pilot through the shallows, Cyrus, who is dropped as soon as the shallows are past; and the other is the captain of the ship, who remains always identified with it — the servant. The captain does not come to the front till the pilot is gone; but, both alongside the pilot, and after the pilot has been dropped, there is every room for his office. ( Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. ) The ideal servant's work Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D. The chief aspects of the ideal servant's work may be classed as follows: 1. He is to be the embodiment of a new covenant between Jehovah and His people, to restore the actual nation exiled at the time in Babylon, and to reestablish them in their own land ( Isaiah 42:6 ; Isaiah 49:5, 6, 8 ). 2. But He has a mission not to Israel merely, but to the world: He is to teach the world true religion, and to be a "light of the Gentiles" ( Isaiah 42:1, 3, 6 ; Isaiah 49:6 ). 3. He is to be a prophet, patient and faithful in the discharge of His work, in spite of the contumely and opposition which He may encounter ( Isaiah 50:4-9 ). 4. Being innocent Himself, He is to suffer and die for the sins of others ( Isaiah 53:4-9 ). ( Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D. ) The Trinity in unity W. Cadman, M. A. This is the language of the Eternal Father; but it contains a description of our blessed Lord and Saviour in His character, as the Redeemer of the world. Then the Spirit of God is represented as resting upon Christ, to qualify Him for that work of redemption; and thus in this one verse we have brought before us suggestions concerning the Father's sovereign will, the Son's willing obedience, and the Spirit's fulness of grace manifested in the Person of the Son, and the setting Him apart for His real work. I. THE SCRIPTURAL REVELATION CONCERNING THE TRINITY IN UNITY. 1. No one can doubt that Holy Scripture teaches the unity of God. 2. Yet Scripture speaks of this one God, this one Jehovah, Israel's Lord, as revealing Himself in three distinct characters and relations, and only three. 3. Then Scripture attributes works and qualities to each of these three Persons which could not be attributed to them justly if each of them were not truly God. 4. Then Holy Scripture teaches, notwithstanding, that these Three Divine Persons, each spoken of as God, are yet one God, and this without any difference or inequality. II. THE PRACTICAL VIEW OF THE TRINITY WHICH THIS PASSAGE CONTAINS. We gather from it that it is the will of the Eternal Jehovah that the glory of the Trinity should be specially manifested in connection with the Person and work of Christ. Observe the description of the Second Person in the blessed Trinity. 1. He is God's Servant. How can the Second Person in the Trinity be spoken of as the Servant of the Eternal Father? The very expression denotes the manhood of Christ. He cannot be a Servant except by creation, and His body was created in order that He might sustain the position of Servant to the Eternal God. "A body," we are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews, quoting from the Psalms, "hast Thou prepared Me... Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God." Here is the Son speaking to the Father. Then the expression God's "Servant" denotes the humiliation of our blessed Lord ( Philippians 2:7 ). As God's servant we have to consider Him in connection with His office, as well as with His humiliation and with His manhood. The office which He had to sustain was to bring sinful men back again to God. 2. Then He is God's beloved — "Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth." 3. The Man Christ Jesus has the Spirit of God — "I will put My Spirit upon Him," that is, I will put it on Him as a garment. At the conception, and at His baptism and ordination to His work, this was specially manifested. Then Jesus had the Spirit for the special work which He had to perform as Mediator. There were three objects to be accomplished, if man was to have a suitable remedy. Man was ignorant of God's will through sin: he needed, therefore, a prophet to teach him, not only what to do, but the actual doing of it, and Jesus was anointed to be that Prophet. Then man was rebellious, and he needed, therefore, a king who should rule over his inward passions, and subdue them, as well as over his outward enemies, and quell them: and therefore Jesus was anointed, that He might sustain the office of King. And man was in a sinful condition, under the curse of the broken law, and therefore he needed a priest to sacrifice for him, and to make intercession for him, and Jesus was that Priest, anointed with the Spirit of God, in order that He might make that satisfaction, and offer that sacrifice, and present that intercession through which sinners may be brought nigh unto God. Thus qualified, the Saviour will "bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." ( W. Cadman, M. A. ) The servitude of Jesus J. Vaughan, M. A. I. IN CHRIST, SERVICE AND FREEDOM WERE PERFECTLY COMBINED. He gave the service of being, the service of work, the service of suffering, the service of worship, the service of rest each to the very highest point of which that service is capable. But when He came, knowing as He did all to which He was coming, He came with these words upon His lips, "I delight to do it." II. CHRIST HAD MANY MASTERS, AND HE SERVED THEM ALL WITH PERFECT SERVICE. 1. There was His own high purpose, which had armed Him for His mission, and never by a hair's-breadth did He ever swerve from that. 2. There was the law. The law had no right over Christ, and yet how He served the law, in every requirement, moral, political, ceremonial, to the smallest tittle. 3. There was death, that fearful master with his giant hand. Step by step, inch by inch, slowly, measuredly, He put Himself under its spell, He obeyed its mandate, and He owned its power. 4. To His Heavenly Father what a true Servant He was, not only in fulfilling all the Father's will, but as He did it, in always tracing to Him all the power, and giving back to Him all the glory. III. THERE IS A DEPTH OF BEAUTY AND POWER, OF LIBERTY AND HUMILIATION, OF ABANDONMENT AND LOVE, IN THAT WORD "SERVANT," which none ever know who have not considered it as one of the titles of Jesus. But there is another name of Jesus, very dear to His people, "The Master." To understand "the Master" you must yourself have felt "the Servant." ( J. Vaughan, M. A. ) The dignity of service J. Parker, D. D. He is not a man of clear and weighty judgment who sees nothing of honour even in the word "servant." Ill times have befallen us if we attach to that word nothing but the idea of humiliation, lowness, valuelessness. That word must be restored to its right place in human intercourse. If any man proudly rise and say he is not servant, there is a retort, not of human invention, which might overwhelm any who are not swallowed up of self-conceit and self-idolatry. We do not know what it is to rule until we know what it is to serve. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) God's programme for the world S. Chadwick. This programme is entrusted to the servant of the Lord, who is the Christ of the New Testament. I. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JEHOVAH AND HIS SERVANT. In all His life of ministry this Servant was assured of three things — 1. That He was chosen of God for the service to which He came. 2. That He dwelt deep in the love of God His Father. 3. That His life lay entirely within the will of God. He was chosen, beloved, approved. All this is possible to those who say, "I am the Lord's." II. THE SERVANT'S DIVINE EQUIPMENT. "I have put My Spirit upon Him." III. THE MISSION OF THE SERVANT: ITS TEMPER AND METHOD. Christ came to reveal God, to restore all things to the pattern of the Divine mind, to make God's judgment the standard of all life and conduct, so that the world should be governed by the principles of God's righteousness. This is to be accomplished without noise or ostentation. This description of Christ's character is remarkable for its omissions: it is a striking list of omissions. The Spirit works by a process of exclusion in revelation and sanctification, and in the restoration of righteousness in the world. ( S. Chadwick. ) The ideal Israelite B. H. Alford. Long before Christ appeared in the flesh, He had already appeared in the Spirit. The chapter carries us back to a time when the conception of a Saviour definitely began. Up to then there had been vague presentiments; after then there was a character prepared for the Jesus who was to come. So it is with all heroes, they are needed before they are born; they could not work their work unless they were needed and discerned; they have prophets to beget them as well as parents. I. AN ACTUAL NAME APPLIED. The title of "God's servant" is one that runs through all Oriental language. The Israelite people at large had failed, — the Jewish people, as reformed by Josiah, had failed, — it remained for God to justify His purpose by manifesting a "new model," who should represent Him rightly to the Gentiles. II. AN IDEAL DESCRIPTION GIVEN. 1. This genuine man of God must be a man of gentleness, and yet He should inherit the earth. 2. A method equally new would prevail in religion; there the true Missionary would proceed with tolerance; He would not thrust His revelation upon aliens, He would open their eyes to behold their own revelation; they also had lamps, dimly-burning, but still alight. God's servant must not extinguish them, He must revive them. 3. But to be gentle in forwarding the right, tolerant in inculcating the true, tender in making allowance for the weak — all this belongs to consummate sympathy, and sympathy demands compensating qualities, for it has besetting defects. Converse with sensitive consciences is often enfeebling. Virtue goes out of us in the endeavour to impart strength, and the infection of fear overtakes the very physician. But our prophet has a strong intellect in view, a Helper who shall not be bruised by anything He has to bear. 4. There is about the perfect character the distinction of patience. He burns brightly in mind. He bears up bravely in heart, "until He have set judgment in the earth." This true service has been fulfilled by the Carpenter of Nazareth — His qualities are on record; His spirit lasts. ( B. H. Alford. ) Messiah and His work Original Secession Magazine. I. THE CHARACTER AND SPIRIT OF THE MESSIAH. II. THE WORK WITH WHICH, AS THE FATHER'S SERVANT, HE HAD BEEN ENTRUSTED. III. THE WAY IN WHICH HE WAS TO EXECUTE IT. "He shall not fail," etc. ( Original Secession Magazine. ) The service of God and man Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. I. THE CONSCIENCE OF THE SERVICE. Before being a service of man, it is a service for God. "My servant." II. THE SUBSTANCE OF SERVICE. "Judgment for the nations shall He bring forth." "According to truth shall He bring forth judgment." He shall not flag nor break, till He set in the earth judgment." III. THE TEMPER OF SERVICE (vers. 2, 3). IV. THE POWER BEHIND SERVICE (vers. 5, 6). ( Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D. ) "Behold, My Servant F. B. Meyer, B. A. They are rare qualities which Jehovah calls us to behold in the elect Servant: a Divine modesty; a Divine humility; a Divine perseverance. I. THE MODESTY OF THE BEST WORK. God is always at work in our world, leading the progress of suns, refreshing grass with dew, directing the flight of the morning beams. But all His work is done so quietly, so unobtrusively, with such reticence as to His personal agency, that many affirm there is no God at all. Thus was it with the work of Christ. He put His hand on the mouths of those who proclaimed His deity, or blazoned abroad His fame. This quality is God's hall-mark upon the best work. His highest artists do not inscribe their names upon their pictures, nor introduce their portraits amongst their groups. II. THE HUMILITY OF THE BEST WORK. He has put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted the humble and meek. And so was it with our Lord. He passed by Herod's palace, and chose Bethlehem and its manger bed. He refused empires of the world, and took the way of the cross. He selected His apostles and disciples from the ranks of the poor. He revealed His choicest secrets to babes. He left the society of the Pharisee and Scribe, and expended Himself on bruised reeds and smoking flax, on dying thieves and fallen women, and the peasantry of Galilee. III. DIVINE PERSEVERANCE. Though our Lord is principally concerned with the bruised and the dimly-burning wick, He is neither one nor the other (see R.V., marg.). He is neither discouraged nor does He fail. This, again, is the quality of the best work. That which emanates from the flesh is full of passion, fury, and impulse. It essays to deliver Israel by a spasm of force that lays an Egyptian dead in the sand; but it soon exhausts itself, and sinks back nerveless and spent. It is impossible too strongly to emphasise the necessity of relying in Christian work on the co-witness of the Spirit of God. ( F. B. Meyer, B. A. ) Purpose and method of the Redeemer R. R. Meredith, D. D. I. THE REDEEMER'S PURPOSE. "He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles"; "He shall bring forth judgment unto truth," and He is to "set judgment in the earth." The word "judgment," as here used, has no better equivalent than righteousness, in the sense of that which is essentially right in heart and life, both toward God and man. This righteousness — rightness — in all the powers and operations of the soul, and in all its relations to God and the universe, is the master-need of mankind. The Redeemer has undertaken to meet this great need of the world. He came not to establish certain forms of theological thought and expression; not to set up certain ecclesiastical organisations and rituals — all these are of little worth, except in so far as they can be made the means to a vastly grander end. Jesus Christ came to establish essential righteousness in individual human souls, and so in the community and in the world. It is His grand purpose to enlighten the ignorance, to quicken the conscience, to energise the will, to purify the affections, and to exalt the aims of men, bringing them thus into harmony with God. He came to make every wrong right — to break the oppressor's yoke, to banish cupidity and caste, ignorance and selfishness, and every form of sin. In the prosecution of this sublime purpose the Redeemer calls all His disciples into co-operation with Himself. In this they are to find the development of their own spiritual character, and by this the world is to be won for Christ. II. THE REDEEMER'S METHOD. This is set before us by the prophet in a fourfold view — 1. As authorised. "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him." Here the Redeemer is represented as acting under the appointment and authorisation of the Eternal Father. Nor is it difficult to perceive why this is necessary. God, as the Sovereign, against whom man has offended, was alone competent to determine whether any mediation could be admitted between Himself and His rebellious creatures, and, if any, what the nature of that mediation should be. It is essential to any man's faith in redemption that he should recognise it as of God from the beginning. The interposition of Christ is first of all, and more than all, the manifestation of the Father's impartial and everlasting love for lost men. The Redeemer is God, the equal of the Father in glory, majesty, power, divinity, and eternity; but He is God manifest in the flesh. As it was necessary that the Redeemer should be authorised, so it was necessary that the authority under which He acted should be explicitly attested. It was thus attested. "Mine elect in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him" ( Luke 4:14 ). This aspect of His mission was clearly understood by His apostles ( Acts 4:27 ; Acts 10:38 ). At intervals during His ministry there came to Him Divine attestation; at its close He "was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead": and having ascended to the Father He was constituted "Head over all things to the Church," principlities and powers being made subject to Him, for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." 2. As unostentatious (ver. 2). Messiah's mission was to be distinguished by no secular pomp, by no military glory. The Redeemer's appearance was to be lowly, His operations silent and unobtrusive. The Saviour of men is great in gentleness. On this point prophecy is mysteriously impressive. History answers to prophecy. In the life of Jesus Christ there is a marvellous mingling of grandeur and humility. The same principle pervades the whole of His administration. There is marvellous grandeur, but there is deep lowliness. The Gospel has mysteriously subdued the hearts of men, forming into its own spirit tempers and habits the most alien from its nature. 3. As compassionate. "A bruised reed," etc. Advancing to the realisation of His sublime purpose the Redeemer will not overlook the smallest acquisition; and His attention will be especially directed to those who are specially needy, weak, and helpless. 4. As persevering. "He shall not fail," etc. He was not discouraged. He ploughed His way through all opposition from Bethlehem to Golgotha. The risen and exalted Redeemer is moving steadily on to His final and complete triumph. ( R. R. Meredith, D. D. ) The Servant of Jehovah Anon. I. THE CHARACTER HE SUSTAINS. "Behold, My Servant," etc. In this capacity God sustained and protected Him. He is also set forth as the object of His special choice and affection. "Mine elect," etc. He delighted in Him on account — 1. Of the close relationship that existed between them. Not merely was He Jehovah's Servant, but His only-begotten Son. 2. The resemblance He bore to Him. 3. His having engaged to execute the Divine purposes. II. THE WORK HE HAD TO ACCOMPLISH. 1. For this work He was endowed with every requisite qualification. "I have put My Spirit upon Him." 2. The work assigned to Him was very extensive in its range. "He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." 3. The character of His work is here intimated. He was to bring forth "judgment"; for the religion He would establish was to be pre-eminently distinguished truth and righteousness. III. THE MANNER IN WHICH IT WAS TO BE EFFECTED. 1. The absence of all ostentation and clamour. It is invariably found that it is not the most noisy that do the most work. 2. He was to evince great tenderness and compassion. "A bruised reed," etc. These words were verified in His conduct towards two classes — (1) The humble penitent. (2) His bitterest foes. This passage is thus. applied by Matthew (chap. 12.). 3. Perseverance in the face of all difficulties and discouragements. He shall not fail nor be discouraged," etc. ( Anon. ) The coming Saviour Sermons by the Monday Club. About these chapters, as a unit, a halo of Messianic brightness gathers, like the aureole with which painters surround the brow of Christ. In these verses (1-11) the prophet taught that — I. THE COMING SAVIOUR WAS TO SET UP A KINGDOM WHICH SHOULD BE UNIVERSAL (vers. 1, 4, 6). Those whom Isaiah addressed supposed that true religion was to reach the world, if at all, through the channels of Judaism; they thought the only way to heaven was through the ,portals of the Jewish Church. The prophet declares that the benefits of Christ s kingdom are to extend to Jew and Gentile alike. No distinctions of race or clime are to arrest its growth. No wonder that under the thrill of such a vision he shouts, "Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth!" It is sometimes said that the religious spirit of the Old Testament is narrow; that it makes God bestow His favours on the few, and not on the many. Can, however, a larger measure of grace be conceived than is here expressed? II. CHRIST'S KINGDOM WAS TO BE EXTENDED BY PEACEFUL MEASURES (vers. 2, 3). The prophet addressed those who thought religious conquest was to be achieved by force. Hitherto conflicts had marked the intercourse of God's chosen people with the Gentiles. The Jews looked for their coming king to be warlike. How strangely, then, does Isaiah describe their conquering prince, — "He shall not cry," i.e. shout as He advances, "nor lift up," i.e. make demonstration of His power, "nor shall He cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench: He shall bring forth judgment unto truth," i.e. truth shall be His victorious weapon. The element in Christianity to which our text refers makes that which is feeble among men powerful for Christ. It also makes it possible for all Christ's servants to be efficient labourers. They become such by imbibing the spirit of the Master. Not all can publicly proclaim the Gospel, but every one can seek for the "same mind which was in Christ." III. CHRIST'S KINGDOM WAS TO REVEAL GOD'S SYMPATHY WITH MAN, ESPECIALLY IN HIS SUFFERING. (ver. 7). The primary reference in these figures is undoubtedly to spiritual results. Eyes morally blind are to be opened, and captive souls emancipated from the prison-house of sin. It is, however, no less true that bodily and mental freedom are included in the blessings of Messiah's reign. The Church is now the representative of the Divine sympathy for suffering; and she should not forget that, as of old, believers will be multiplied when it is seen that through her Christ now cares for bodies as well as souls. IV. CHRIST'S KINGDOM WAS TO FILL THE EARTH WITH JOY (vers. 10, 11). As lessons from our subject we learn — 1. Christians should labour in hope. Isaiah suggests one of the strongest proofs of our Lord's divinity by affirming, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He have set judgment in the land." When we learn of the Master we catch a hopeful spirit. 2. The results of serving Christ are permanent. ( Sermons by the Monday Club. ) Silent spread of Christianity Sermons by the Monday Club. This prophecy accords with fact. Gibbon, in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , has the following words describing the silent but rapid spread of Christianity: "While the Roman Empire was invaded by open violence or undermined by slow decay, a pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new vigour from opposition, and finally erected the triumphant banner of the Cross on the ruins of the Capitol." ( Sermons by the Monday Club. ) The coming Saviour Homiletic Review. I. OUR LORD'S CHARACTER AS PORTRAYED IN PROPHECY. 1. That our Lord should come as a servant (ver. 1).(1) This was His own testimony when He came ( Matthew 20:28 ; John 6:38 ).(2) This is the testimony of the apostles ( Philippians 2:6-8 ). 2. That our Lord was Divinely chosen for His work. "Mine elect" ( 1 Peter 2:6, 7 ). 3. That our Lord should be endowed with the Holy Spirit. "I have put My Spirit upon Him" ( Matthew 3:16, 17 ; Luke 4:14, 18, 19 ; Hebrews 9:14 ; Hebrews 1:9 ). 4. That our Lord would institute a religion for the Gentiles (ver. 1). Such is the force of the word "judgment." 5. That His Spirit would be most tender and gentle (vers. 2, 3).(1) This, surely, is a correct description of the historic Christ. His own testimony ( Matthew 11:29 ). The testimony of His apostles ( Hebrews 7:26 ; Hebrews 12:2, 3 ; 1 Peter 2:21-24 ).(2) In this He gave His disciples an example. 6. That His courage would be equal to His gentleness (ver. 4).(1) It is not the noisy and boastful that are the most courageous and reliable.(2) The deeper our conviction of the truthfulness of our cause the more patient and gentle may we be in its advocacy.(3) The commission of Christ to His disciples proves His entire confidence in the success of His cause. II. OUR LORD'S COMMISSION FORETOLD IN PROPHECY. 1. In its authority (vers. 5, 9). The authority is the highest in respect to power and principle. 2. In its purpose (ver. 7).(1) Our Lord appropriates the terms of this commission to Himself ( Luke 4:17-19 ).(2) This is the commission He fulfilled in His life. III. BOTH THE CHARACTER AND COMMISSION OF CHRIST ARE JUST INCENTIVES TO THANKSGIVING TO GOD (ver. 10). 1. All should praise God. 2. To praise God for Christ intelligently we must personally experience His saving power.Lessons — 1. The study of prophecy is the imperative duty of every child of God. 2. The most inspiring portions of prophecy are those which centre in the person and work of our Lord Jesus. 3. No prophecy can be fully understood that is not interpreted in the light of Christ's work. "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 4. Christianity is a religion for the whol

Benson Commentary Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:1 . Behold my servant, &c. — “The prophet, having opened his subject with the preparation for the return from the captivity at Babylon, and intimated that a much greater deliverance was covered under the veil of that event, proceeded to vindicate the power of God, as Creator and Disposer of all things, and his infinite knowledge from his prediction of future events, and in particular of that deliverance; he then went still further, and pointed out the instrument by which he should effect the redemption of his people from slavery, namely, a great conqueror, whom he would call forth from the north and the east, to execute his orders. He now proceeds to the great deliverance, and at once brings forth into full view the Messiah, without throwing any veil of allegory over the subject.” For, though the person here spoken of has by some been supposed to be Cyrus, and by others Isaiah himself, and by others again the people of the Jews; yet we are directed by an infallible interpreter to understand the prophet as speaking of Christ. For to him St. Matthew has directly applied his words; nor, as Bishop Lowth has observed, can they, “with any justice or propriety, be applied to any other person or character whatever.” This is so evident, that not only the generality of Christians, but the Chaldee paraphrast, and divers of the most learned Jews, understand the passage of the Messiah, and of him alone; and pass a very severe sentence upon their brethren that expound it of any other person, and affirm that they are smitten with blindness in this matter. Indeed, to him, and to him only, all the particulars here following do truly and evidently belong, as we shall see. My servant — Though he was the only Son of the Father, in a sense in which no creature, man or angel, was, is, or can be his son; see Hebrews 1:2-5 ; yet, as Mediator, and with respect to his human nature, he sustained the character, and appeared in the form of a servant, learned obedience to his Father’s will, practised it, and was continually employed in advancing the interests of his kingdom. Whom I uphold — Whom I assist, and enable to do and suffer all those things which belong to his office; mine elect — Chosen by me to this great work of mediation and redemption; in whom my soul delighteth — Or, as ???? is often rendered, is well pleased, both for himself and for all his people, being fully satisfied with that sacrifice which he shall offer up to me: see Matthew 3:17 ; Matthew 17:5 ; 2 Peter 1:17 ; John 3:35 . I have put my Spirit upon him — Not by, but without, measure, John 3:34 ; by which he is furnished with that abundance and eminence of graces and gifts which are necessary for the discharge of his high and mighty undertaking. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles — He shall publish or show (as the word ???? often signifies, and is translated Matthew 12:18 ) the law, counsel, or will of God concerning man’s salvation; and that not only to the Jews, to whom the knowledge of God’s law had been hitherto in a great measure confined, but to the heathen nations also. Isaiah 42:2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. Isaiah 42:2-3 . He shall not cry — In a way of contention or ostentation. He shall neither erect nor govern his kingdom with violence or outward pomp and state, like worldly princes, but with meekness and humility. He shall not lift up — Namely, his voice; nor cause it to be heard in the street — As contentious and vain-glorious persons frequently do. “He shall instruct those that oppose themselves, with all meekness and gentleness; he shall patiently endure the contradictions of sinners against himself, and not vindicate himself against their calumnies in an angry or clamorous manner.” — Lowth. A bruised reed shall he not break — He will not deal roughly or rigorously with those that come to him, but he will use all gentleness and kindness to them, bearing with their infirmities, cherishing and encouraging the smallest beginnings of grace, supporting and comforting such as are bowed down under the burden of their sins, and healing wounded consciences. And the smoking flax shall he not quench — That wick of a candle, which is almost extinct, he will not quench, but revive and kindle it again. He shall bring forth judgment, &c. — The law of God, or the doctrine of the gospel, which he will bring forth unto, with, or according to truth — That is, truly and faithfully. St. Matthew reads the clause, Till he send forth judgment unto victory, expressing not so much the words, as the sense, of the original, which seems to be, “till he make the cause of righteousness and truth completely victorious, and gloriously triumphant over all opposition.” Isaiah 42:3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. Isaiah 42:4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Isaiah 42:4 . He shall not fail, nor be discouraged — Though he be thus meek and gentle, yet he is also courageous and resolute, notwithstanding all the many and great difficulties and conflicts to which he will be exposed, and he will persevere till he have finished his work. Till he have set judgment in the earth — Till, by his holy life, his extreme sufferings, his many miracles, his resurrection from the dead, his visible ascension into heaven, and the wonderful effusion of his Holy Spirit, in extraordinary gifts and graces on his apostles and other servants, he shall fully evince the certain truth and infinite importance of his doctrine, and the divine original and authority of that holy religion which he came to establish: or, till he shall erect his kingdom in the world, or a church for himself among men, and, by the power of his gospel and grace, shall reform mankind, and fix such principles in their minds as will make them wise and holy, just and good. Lowth thinks this prophecy relates chiefly to the propagation of the gospel in the world by his apostles and other messengers; observing that Christ himself was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and consequently could be a light to the Gentiles only as he commissioned others to preach the gospel to them: see Ephesians 2:17 . And, taking the words in this comprehensive sense, they import, that our Saviour and his apostles would not be discouraged at the difficulties they were to meet with in the discharge of their office, but would still continue unwearied in their work, till, at last, they should surmount all opposition, plant judgment and truth in the earth, and make the remotest parts of the world own their dependance upon him as their Lord, and submit to his government. And the isles — Of the Gentiles, the countries remote from Judea, as the word often signifies; shall wait for his law — Shall gladly receive his doctrine and commands from time to time. Isaiah 42:5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: Isaiah 42:5-7 . Thus saith God the Lord, &c. — This large description of God’s infinite power is here seasonably added, to give assurance of the certain accomplishment of these great and wonderful promises, which otherwise would seem incredible. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness — To declare my righteousness, as is said Romans 3:26 : or, my faithfulness, manifested in fulfilling my promises, long since made, and often renewed; and will hold thy hand — Will give thee counsel and strength for thy great and mighty work. And will keep thee — That thou shalt not fail in, nor, by thine enemies, be hindered from, the accomplishment of thy work; and give thee for a covenant of the people — To be the Angel of the covenant, Malachi 3:1 ; or, the Mediator, in and by whom my covenant of grace is made and confirmed with mankind, even with all people who will accept of it. For a light of the Gentiles — To enlighten them with true and saving knowledge, and to direct them in the right way to true happiness, out of which they had miserably wandered. To open the blind eyes — The eyes of men’s minds, blinded with long ignorance, deep prejudice, and inveterate error, and by the god of this world, 2 Corinthians 4:4 . And to bring out the prisoners, &c. — Namely, sinners who are taken captive by the devil at his will, ( 2 Timothy 2:26 ,) and enslaved by their own lusts, and who can only be made free by Christ, John 8:32 ; John 8:36 : compare Isaiah 61:1 , and Luke 4:17-21 . Isaiah 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; Isaiah 42:7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8-9 . I am the Lord — Hebrew, Jehovah; who have all being in and of myself, and give being to all my creatures. The everlasting, and unchangeable, and omnipotent God, who therefore both can and will fulfil all my promises. That is my name — Which I must own and justify to the world. He seems to allude to Exodus 3:14 ; Exodus 6:3 . My glory will I not give to another — I will not any longer suffer that honour and worship which are peculiar to me to be given to idols, as it hath been, but I will, by the Messiah and his gospel, abolish idolatry out of the world. Behold, the former things are come to pass — As all things which I have formerly promised or foretold, have exactly come to pass in their proper seasons, and not one of them has failed; so you have great reason to believe that what I now promise, though it be new and strange to you, shall infallibly be accomplished. Before they spring forth I tell you of them — That when they come to pass you may know that I am God, and that this is my work. Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. Isaiah 42:10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Isaiah 42:10 ; Isaiah 42:12 . Sing unto the Lord a new song — Upon this new and great occasion, the salvation of the world by Christ. It is with peculiar propriety and elegance that the nations are here called upon and exhorted to praise and extol Jehovah, for the singular blessing conferred upon them by the gospel. And his praise from the end of the earth — All nations, from one end of the earth to another. Ye that go down to the sea — You that go by sea, carry these glad tidings from Judea, where Christ was born, and lived, and died, and published the gospel, unto the remotest parts of the earth. Let the wilderness, &c. — Those parts of the world which are now desolate and forsaken of God, and barren of all good fruits. The villages that Kedar doth inhabit — The Arabians, who were a heathen and barbarous people, and are put for all nations. Let them shout from the top of the mountains — Whose inhabitants are commonly more savage and ignorant than others. Let them declare his praise in the islands — In the remotest parts of the world, as well as in Arabia, which was near to them. Isaiah 42:11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice , the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Isaiah 42:12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. Isaiah 42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. Isaiah 42:13-15 . The Lord shall go forth — Namely, to battle against his enemies. He shall stir up jealousy — His fierce indignation against the obstinate enemies of his Son and gospel. He shall cry, yea, roar — As a lion doth upon his prey, and as soldiers do when they begin the battle. I have long time held my peace — I have been long silent, and not interposed in behalf of my cause, but have suffered Satan and his servants to prevail in the world, to afflict my people, and hinder the entertainment of my doctrine and worship among mankind; and this my forbearance has increased the presumption of my enemies. Now will I cry like a travailing woman — Now I will no more contain myself than a woman in the pangs of travail can forbear crying out: but I will give vent to my just resentments for the injuries offered to myself and my oppressed people, by bringing some exemplary punishment upon their oppressors. I will destroy and devour at once — I will suddenly and utterly destroy the incorrigible enemies of my truth. When men’s provocations come to a great height, God is represented in Scripture as if his patience were quite tired out, and he could no longer forbear punishing them: see Jeremiah 15:6 ; Jeremiah 44:22 . I will make waste mountains and hills — He does not mean dry and barren ones, for these were waste already, but such as were clothed with grass and herbs. Which clause is to be understood metaphorically of God’s destroying his most lofty and flourishing enemies, often compared in Scripture to mountains and hills. I will dry up the pools — Remove all the sources of their prosperity and comfort. “As God’s mercy is represented by pouring water upon the dry ground, chap. 35:6, and 44:3, so his wrath is described as if it were a consuming fire, parching up every thing, and reducing it to barrenness. Isaiah 42:14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. Isaiah 42:15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16-17 . And I will bring the blind — The ignorant Gentiles, represented as blind, Isaiah 42:7 , and in many other parts of Scripture, and accounted blind by the Jews; by a way that they knew not — By the way of truth, which hitherto hath been hidden from them. I will make darkness light before them, &c. — I will enlighten their dark minds, rectify their perverse wills and affections, and direct them in the right way, until I have brought them, with safety and comfort, to the end of their journey. They shall be turned back, &c. — This may be understood, either, 1st, Of the converted Gentiles, turned back from their former sinful courses, and sincerely grieving, and being ashamed, that they should ever have been guilty of such folly and wickedness as to worship and trust in idols; or, 2d, Of those Gentiles who, when their brethren embraced the true religion, persisted obstinately in their idolatrous practices. Isaiah 42:17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. Isaiah 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Isaiah 42:18-20 . Hear, ye deaf, &c. — O you, whosoever you are, whether Jews or Gentiles, who shall resist this clear light, and obstinately continue in your former errors, attend diligently to my words, and consider these mighty works of God. Who is blind but my servant? — But no people under heaven are so blind as the Jews, who call themselves my servants and people, who will not receive their Messiah, though he be recommended to them with such evident and illustrious signs and miraculous works as force belief from the formerly unbelieving and idolatrous Gentiles. Or deaf as my messenger that I sent — Or rather, as Bishop Lowth renders it, as he to whom I have sent my messengers. Thus the Vulgate and Chaldee, “ut ad quem nuncios meos misi.” Who is blind as he that is perfect — Or, perfectly instructed, as ????? may be rendered, who has all the means of knowledge and spiritual improvement. Perhaps the prophet may chiefly intend the priests and other teachers of the Jews, who, as they were appointed to instruct the people in the right way of worshipping and serving God, so they had peculiar advantages for knowing that way themselves, having the oracles of God in their hands, and much leisure for reading and considering them. Or he may be understood as speaking sarcastically, and terming them perfect, or, perfectly instructed, because they pretended to greater knowledge and piety than others, to a more perfect acquaintance with, and conformity to, the divine will, proudly calling themselves rabbis and masters, and despising the people as cursed and not knowing the law, John 7:49 ; and deriding Christ for calling them blind, John 9:40 . And blind as the Lord’s servant? — Which title, as it was given to the Jewish people in the first clause of the verse, may be here given to the priests, because they were called and obliged to be the Lord’s servants, in a special manner. Seeing many things, but thou observest not — Thou dost not seriously consider the plain word and wonderful works of God. Isaiah 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? Isaiah 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. Isaiah 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. Isaiah 42:21 . The Lord is well pleased, &c. — Although thou art a wicked people, that rebellest against the clearest light, and therefore God might justly destroy thee suddenly, yet he will patiently wait for thy repentance, that he may be gracious; and that not for thy sake, but for the glory of his own faithfulness, in fulfilling that covenant which he made with thy pious progenitors. He will magnify the law — He will maintain the honour of his law, and therefore is not forward to destroy you, who profess the true religion, lest his law should, upon that occasion, be exposed to contempt. Thus the verse may be interpreted according to the present translation. But it may be rendered differently, as it is by Vitringa and Dr. Waterland, thus: “The Lord took delight in him for his righteousness’ sake; he hath magnified him by his law, and made him honourable.” God liberally provided for his people whatever was needful or useful, in order to their salvation and the stability of their state. “He had given them excellent laws; he had increased and honoured them; had made, and was willing to make them glorious among their neighbours. But they had been wanting to themselves, had despised his laws, and incurred his just vengeance.” — Dodd. Isaiah 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. Isaiah 42:22-24 . But this is a people robbed and spoiled — Notwithstanding the great respect which God hath had, and still hath, for his people, it is evident he hath severely scourged them for their sins. They are all of them snared in holes, &c. — They have been taken in snares made by their own hands, and, by God’s just judgment, delivered into the hands of their enemies, and by them cast into pits, or dungeons, and prisons. And none saith, Restore — None afforded them either pity or help in their extremities. Who will give ear to this — O that you would learn from your former and dear-bought experience to be wiser for the future, and not to provoke God to your own total and final ruin. Who gave Jacob for a spoil? Did not the Lord? — Do not flatter yourselves with a conceit of impunity, because you are a people whom God hath favoured with many and great privileges; for as God hath punished you formerly, be assured, if you continue to sin, he will punish you more and more. “It was reasonably to be expected that the Jews, blessed with such great privileges, would have been greatly honoured and respected; but, abusing those privileges, their case and situation have been, in various periods, what the prophet describes in these verses; broken, plundered, spoiled, despised by other nations, subject to the insolence of conquerors, shut up in prison, trod upon, abused and punished in such a manner as may justly raise the greatest commiseration. Their history, since the crucifixion of the Redeemer, supplies us with one continued detail of their miseries and afflictions; yet, which is most astonishing, who among them giveth ear? who heareth for the time to come? — Who among them considereth the cause of their sufferings, and becometh obedient to the law of Christ? ” — Dodd. Isaiah 42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? Isaiah 42:24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Isaiah 42:25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. Isaiah 42:25 . Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury, &c. — Most grievous judgments. It hath set him on fire round about — This was literally fulfilled when the Chaldean army took their city, and burned both it and their temple. Yet he knew it not — Considered it not: they were secure and stupid under God’s judgments; neither fearing them when threatened, nor truly sensible of God’s hand in them, of the causes of God’s displeasure, or of the means of cure. The reader will easily observe, that “the force and elegance of the metaphor in this verse are very great. Of all natural evils which affect the human mind, which arouse and awaken it, none do so with greater quickness than fire, than a mighty flame encompassing a man on every side. No sleep, no lethargy is so great, which this will not shake off; and yet the stupor and insensibility of the Jews are here represented to be so great, that in the midst of the fire and flame, which they might and ought to think kindled by God, they inquired not into the causes of this judgment. They knew them not, nor considered them; but, persisting in their impenitence and stupidity, applied not to God in faith and repentance, nor humbled themselves before him.” See Vitringa. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. -20 BOOK 3 THE SERVANT OF THE LORD HAVING completed our survey of the fundamental truths of our prophecy, and studied the subject which forms its immediate and most urgent interest, the deliverance of Israel from Babylon, we are now at liberty to turn to consider the great duty and destiny which lie before the delivered people- the Service of Jehovah. The passages of our prophecy which describe this are scattered both among those chapters we have already studied and among those which lie before us. But, as was explained in the Introduction, they are all easily detached from their surroundings; and the continuity and progress, of which their series, though so much interrupted, gives evidence, demand that they should be treated by us together. They will, therefore, form the Third of the Books, into which this volume is divided. The passages on the Servant of Jehovah, or, as the English reader is more accustomed to hear him called, the Servant of the Lord, are as follows: Isaiah 41:8 ff; Isaiah 42:1-7 ; Isaiah 42:18-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 passim , especially Isaiah 43:8-10 : Isaiah 44:1 ; Isaiah 44:21 ; Isaiah 48:20 ; Isaiah 49:1-9 ; Isaiah 1:4-11 ; Isaiah 52:13-15 . The main passages are those in chapters 41, 42, 43, 49, 1, and 52.-53. The others are incidental allusions to Israel as the Servant of the Lord, and do not develop the character of the Servant or the Service. Upon the questions relevant to the structure of these prophecies-why they have been so scattered, and whether they were originally from the main author of Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 , or from any other single writer, -questions on which critics have either preserved a discreet silence, or have spoken to convince nobody but themselves, -I have no final opinions to offer. It may be that these passages formed a poem by themselves before their incorporation with our prophecy; but the evidence which has been offered for this is very far from adequate. It may be that one or more of them are insertions from other authors, to which our prophet consciously works up with ideas of his own about the Servant; but neither for this is there any evidence worth serious consideration. I think that all we can do is to remember that they occur in a dramatic work, which may, partly at least, account for the interruptions which separate them; that the subject of which they treat is woven through and through other portions of Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 ; Isaiah 47:1-15 ; Isaiah 48:1-22 ; Isaiah 49:1-26 ; Isaiah 50:1-11 ; Isaiah 51:1-23 ; Isaiah 52:1-15 ; Isaiah 53:1-12 , and that even those of them which, like Isaiah 49:1-26 , look as if they could stand by themselves, are led up to by the verses before them; and that, finally, the series of them exhibits a continuity and furnishes a distinct development of their subject. It is this development which the following exposition seeks to trace. As the prophet starts from the idea of the Servant as being the whole historical nation Israel, it will be necessary to devote, first of all, a chapter to Israel’s peculiar relation to God. This will be chapter 15 "One God, One People." In chapter 16 we shall trace the development of the idea through the whole series of the passages; and in chapter 17 we shall give the New Testament interpretation and fulfilment of the Servant. Then will follow an exposition of the contents of the Service and of the ideal it presents to ourselves, first, as it is given in Isaiah 42:1-9 , as the service of God and man, chapter 18, of this volume; then as it is realised and owned by the Servant himself, as prophet and martyr, Isaiah 49:1 , chapter 19 of this Book; and finally as it culminates in Isaiah 52:13-15 , chapter 20 of this volume. 0 CHAPTER XVI THE SERVANT OF THE LORD Isaiah 41:8-20 ; Isaiah 42:1-7 ; Isaiah 42:18 ; Isaiah 43:5-10 ; Isaiah 49:1-9 ; Isaiah 1:4-10 ; Isaiah 52:13-15 With chapter 42, we reach a distinct stage in our prophecy. The preceding chapters have been occupied with the declaration of the great, basal truth, that Jehovah is the One Sovereign God. This has been declared to two classes of hearers in succession-to God’s own people, Israel, in chapter 40, and to the heathen in chapter 41. Having established His sovereignty, God now publishes His will, again addressing these two classes according to the purpose which He has for each. Has He vindicated Himself to Israel, the Almighty and Righteous God, Who will give His people freedom and strength: He will now define to them the mission for which that strength and freedom are required. Has He proved to the Gentiles that He is the one true God: He will declare to them now what truth He has for them to learn. In short, to use modern terms, the apologetic of chapters 40-41 is succeeded by the missionary programme of chapter 42. And although, from the necessities of the case, we are frequently brought back, in the course of the prophecy, to its fundamental claims for the Godhead of Jehovah, we are nevertheless sensible that with ver. 1 of chapter 42 ( Isaiah 42:1 ) we make a distinct advance. It is one of those logical steps which, along with a certain chronological progress that we have already felt, assures us that Isaiah, whether originally by one or more authors, is in its present form a unity, with a distinct order and principle of development. The Purpose of God is identified with a Minister or Servant, whom He commissions to carry it out in the world. This Servant is brought before us with all the urgency with which Jehovah has presented Himself, and next to Jehovah he turns out to be the most important figure of the prophecy. Does the prophet insist that God is the only source and sufficiency of His people’s salvation: it is with equal emphasis that He introduces the Servant as God’s indispensable agent in the work. Cyrus is also acknowledged as an elect instrument. But neither in closeness to God, nor in effect upon the world, is Cyrus to be compared for an instant to the Servant. Cyrus is subservient and incidental: with the overthrow of Babylon, for which he was raised up, he will disappear from the stage of our prophecy. But God’s purpose, which uses the gates opened by Cyrus, only to pass through them with the redeemed people to the regeneration of the whole world, is to be carried to this Divine consummation by the Servant: its universal and glorious progress is identified with his career. Cyrus flashes through these pages a well-polished sword: it is only his swift and brilliant usefulness that is allowed to catch our eye. But the Servant is a Character, to delineate whose immortal beauty and example the prophet devotes as much space as he does to Jehovah Himself. As he turns again and again to speak of God’s omnipotence and faithfulness and agonising love for His own, so with equal frequency and fondness does he linger on every feature of the Servant’s conduct and aspect: His gentleness, His patience, His courage, His purity, His meekness; His daily wakefulness to God’s voice, the swiftness and brilliance of His speech for others, His silence under His own torments; His resorts-among the bruised, the prisoners, the forwandered of Israel, the weary, and them that sit in darkness, the far-off heathen; His warfare with the world, His face set like a flint; His unworldly beauty, which men call ugliness; His unnoticed presence in His own generation, yet the effect of His face upon kings; His habit of woe, a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness: His sore stripes and bruises, His judicial murder, His felon’s grave; His exaltation and eternal glory-till we may reverently say that these pictures, by their vividness and charm, have drawn our eyes away from our prophet’s visions of God, and have caused the chapters in which they occur to be oftener read among us, and learned by heart, than the chapters in which God Himself is lifted up and adored. Jehovah and Jehovah’s Servant-these are the two heroes of the drama. Now we might naturally expect that so indispensable and fondly imagined a figure would also be defined past all ambiguity, whether as to His time or person or name. But the opposite is the case. About Scripture there are few more intricate questions than those on the Servant of the Lord. Is He a Person or Personification? If the latter, is He a Personification of all Israel? Or of a part of Israel? Or of the ideal Israel? Or of the Order of the Prophets? Or if a Person-is he the prophet himself? Or a martyr who has already lived and suffered, like Jeremiah? Or One still to come, like the promised Messiah? Each of these suggestions has not only been made about the Servant, but derives considerable support from one or another of our prophet’s dissolving views of his person and work. A final answer to them can be given only after a comparative study of all the relevant passages; but as these are scattered over the prophecy, and our detailed exposition of them must necessarily be interrupted, it will be of advantage to take here a prospect of them all, and see to what they combine to develop this sublime character and mission. And after we have seen what the prophecies themselves teach concerning the Servant, we shall inquire how they were understood and fulfilled by the New Testament; and that will show us how to expound and apply them with regard to ourselves. 1. The Hebrew word for "Servant" means a person at the disposal of another-to carry out his will, do his work, represent his interests. It was thus applied to the representatives of a king or the worshippers of a god. All Israelites were thus in a sense the "servants of Jehovah"; though in the singular the title was reserved for persons of extraordinary character and usefulness. But we have seen, as clearly as possible, that God set apart for His chief service upon earth, not an individual nor a group of individuals, but a whole nation in its national capacity. We have seen Israel’s political origin and preservation bound up with that service; we have heard the whole nation plainly called, by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the Servant of Jehovah. Nothing could be more clear than this, that in the earlier years of the Exile the Servant of Jehovah was Israel as a whole, Israel as a body politic. It is also in this sense that our prophet first uses the title in a passage we have already quoted; { Isaiah 51:8 } "Thou Israel, My Servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham My lover, whom I took hold of from the ends of the earth and its corners! I called thee and said unto thee, My Servant art thou. I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away." Here the "Servant" is plainly the historical nation, descended from Abraham, and the subject of those national experiences which are traced in the previous chapter. It is the same in the following verses:- Isaiah 44:1 ff: "Yet now hear, O Jacob My Servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: thus saith Jehovah thy Maker, and thy Moulder from the womb, He wilt help thee. Fear not, My servant Jacob; and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring." Isaiah 44:21 : "Remember these things, O Jacob; and Israel, for My servant art thou: I have formed thee; a servant for Myself art thou; O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me." Isaiah 48:20 : "Go ye forth from Babylon; say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed His servant Jacob." In all these verses, which bind up the nation’s restoration from exile with the fact that God called it to be His Servant, the title "Servant" is plainly equivalent to the national name "Israel" or "Jacob" But "Israel" or "Jacob" is not a label for the mere national idea, or the bare political framework, without regard to the living individuals included in it. To the eye and heart of Him, "Who counts the number of the stars," Israel means no mere outline, but all the individuals of the living generation of the people-"thy seed," that is, every born Israelite, however fallen or forwandered. This is made clear in a very beautiful passage in chapter 43 ( Isaiah 43:1-7 ): "Thus saith Jehovah, thy Creator, O Jacob; thy Moulder, O Israel Fear not, for I am with thee; from the sunrise I will bring thy seed, and from the sunset will I gather thee; My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth; every one who is called by My name, and whom for My glory I have created, formed, yea, I have made him." To this Israel-Israel as a whole, yet no mere abstraction or outline of the nation, but the people in mass and bulk-every individual of whom is dear to Jehovah, and in some sense shares His calling and equipment-to this Israel the title "Servant of Jehovah" is at first applied by our prophet. 2. We say "at first," for very soon the prophet has to make a distinction, and to sketch the Servant as something less than the actual nation. The distinction is obscure; it has given rise to a very great deal of controversy. But it is so natural, where a nation is the subject, and of such frequent occurrence in other literatures, that we may almost state it as a general law. In all the passages quoted above, Israel has been spoken of in the passive mood, as the object of some affection or action on the part of God: "loved," "formed," "chosen," "called," and "about to be redeemed by Him." Now, so long as a people thus lie passive, their prophet will naturally think of them as a whole. In their shadow his eye can see them only in the outline of their mass; in their common suffering and servitude his heart will go out to all their individuals, as equally dear and equally in need of redemption. But when the hour comes for the people to work out their own salvation, and they emerge into action, it must needs be different. When they are no more the object of their prophet’s affection only, but pass under the test of his experience and judgment, then distinctions naturally appear upon them. Lifted to the light of their destiny, their inequality becomes apparent; tried by its strain, part of them break away. And so, though the prophet continues still to call on the nation by its name to fulfil its calling, what he means by that name is no longer the bulk and the body of the citizenship. A certain ideal of the people fills his mind’s eye - an ideal, however, which is no mere spectre floating above his own generation, but is realised in their noble and aspiring portion-although his ignorance as to the exact size of this portion must always leave his image of them more or less ideal to his eyes. It will be their quality rather than their quantity that is clear to him. In modern history we have two familiar illustrations of this process of winnowing and idealising a people in the light of their destiny, which may prepare us for the more obscure instance of it in our prophecy. In a well-known passage in the " Areopagitica ," Milton exclaims, "Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself and shaking her invincible locks; methinks I see her as an eagle renewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam while the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means." In this passage the "nation" is no longer what Milton meant by the term in the earlier part of his treatise, where "England" stands simply for the outline of the whole English people; but the "nation" is the true genius of England realised in her enlightened and aspiring sons, and breaking away from the hindering and debasing members of the body politic-"the timorous and flocking birds with those also that love the twilight"-who are indeed Englishmen after the flesh, but form no part of the nation’s better self. Or, recall Mazzini’s bitter experience. To no man was his Italy more really one than to this ardent son of hers, who loved every born Italian because he was an Italian, and counted none of the fragments of his unhappy country too petty or too corrupt to be included in the hope of her restoration. To Mazzini’s earliest imagination, it was the whole Italian seed, who were ready for redemption, and would rise to achieve it at his summons. But when his summons came, how few responded, and after the first struggles how fewer still remained, -Mazzini himself has told us with breaking heart. The real Italy was but a handful of born Italians; at times it seemed to shrink to the prophet alone. From such a core the conscience indeed spread again, till the entire people was delivered from tyranny and from schism, and now every peasant and burgher from the Alps to Sicily understands what Italy means, and is proud to be an Italian. But for a time Mazzini and his few comrades stood alone. Others of their blood and speech were Piedmontese, Pope’s men, Neapolitans, -merchants, lawyers, scholars, -or merely selfish and sensual. They alone were Italians; they alone were Italy. It is a similar winnowing process, through which we see our prophet’s thoughts pass with regard to Israel. Him, too, experience teaches that "the many are called, but the few chosen." So long as his people lie in the shadow of captivity, so long as he has to speak of them in the passive mood, the object of God’s call and preparation, it is "their seed," the born people in bulk and mass, whom he names Israel, and entitles "the Servant of Jehovah." But the moment that he lifts them to their mission in the world, and to the light of their destiny, a difference becomes apparent upon them, and the Servant of Jehovah, though still called Israel, shrinks to something less than the living generation, draws off to something finer than the mass of the people. How, indeed, could it be otherwise with this strange people, than which no nation on earth had a loftier ideal identified with its history, or more frequently turned upon its better self, with a sword in its hand. Israel, though created a nation by God for His service, was always what Paul found it, divided into an "Israel after the flesh," and an "Israel after the spirit." But it was in the Exile that this distinction gaped most broad. With the fall of Jerusalem, the political framework, which kept the different elements of the nation together, was shattered, and these were left loose to the action of moral forces. The baser elements were quickly absorbed by heathendom; the nobler, that remained loyal to the divine call, were free to assume a new and ideal form. Every year spent in Babylonia made it more apparent that the true and effective Israel of the future would not coincide with all the "seed of Jacob," who went into exile. Numbers of the latter were as contented with their Babylonian circumstance as numbers of Mazzini’s "Italians" were satisfied to live on as Austrian and Papal subjects. Many, as we have seen, became idolaters; many more settled down into the prosperous habits of Babylonian commerce, while a large multitude besides were scattered far out of sight across the world. It required little insight to perceive that the true, effective Israel-the real "Servant of Jehovah"-must needs be a much smaller body than the sum of all these: a loyal kernel within Israel, who were still conscious of the national calling, and capable of carrying it out; who stood sensible of their duty to the whole world, but whose first conscience was for their lapsed and lost countrymen. This Israel within Israel was the real "Servant of the Lord"; to personify it in that character-however vague might be the actual proportion it would assume in his own or in any other generation-would be as natural to our dramatic prophet as to personify the nation as a whole. All this very natural process-this passing from the historical Israel, the nation originally designed by God to be His Servant, to the conscious and effective Israel, that uncertain quantity within the present and every future generation-takes place in the chapters before us; and it will be sufficiently easy for us to follow if we only remember that our prophet is not a dogmatic theologian, careful to make clear each logical distinction, but a dramatic poet, who delivers his ideas in groups, tableaux, dialogues, interrupted by choruses; and who writes in a language incapable of expressing such delicate differences, except by dramatic contrasts, and by the one other figure of which he is so fond-paradox. Perhaps the first traces of distinction between the real Servant and the whole nation are to be found in the Programme of his Mission in Isaiah 42:1-7 . There it is said that the Servant is to be for a "covenant of the people" ( Isaiah 42:6 ). I have explained below why we are to understand "people" as here meaning Israel. And in Isaiah 42:7 it is said of the Servant that he is "to open blind eyes, bring forth from prison the captive, from the house of bondage dwellers in darkness": phrases that are descriptive, of course, of the captive Israel. Already, then, in chapter 42 the Servant is something distinct from the whole nation, whose Covenant and Redeemer he is to be. The next references to the Servant are a couple of paradoxes, which are evidently the prophet’s attempt to show why it was necessary to draw in the Servant of Jehovah from the whole to a part of the people. The first of these paradoxes is in Isaiah 42:18 . Ye deaf, hearken! and ye blind, look ye to see! Who is blind but My Servant, and deaf as My Messenger whom I send? Who is blind as Meshullam, and blind as the Servant of Jehovah? Vision of many things-and thou dost not observe, Opening of ears and he hears not. The context shows that the Servant here-or Meshullam, as he is called, the "devoted" or "submissive one," from the same root, and of much the same form as the Arabic Muslim-is the whole people; but they are entitled "Servant" only in order to show how unfit they are for the task to which they have been designated, and what a paradox their title is beside their real character. God had given them every opportunity by "making great His instruction" ( Isaiah 42:21 ), and, when that failed, by His sore discipline in exile ( Isaiah 42:24-25 ). "For who gave Jacob for spoil and Israel to the robbers? Did not Jehovah? He against whom we sinned, and they would not walk in His ways, neither were obedient to His instruction. So He poured upon him the fury of His anger and the force of war." But even this did not awake the dull nation. "Though it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it kindled upon him, yet he laid it not to heart." The nation as a whole had been favoured with God’s revelation; as a whole they had been brought into His purifying furnace of the Exile. But as they have benefited by neither the one nor the other, the natural conclusion is that as a whole they are no more fit to be God’s Servant. Such is the hint which this paradox is intended to give us. But a little further on there is an obverse paradox, which plainly says, that although the people are blind and deaf as a whole, still the capacity for service is found among them alone. { Isaiah 43:8 ; Isaiah 43:10 } Bring forth the blind people-yet eyes are there! And the deaf, yet ears have they! Ye are My witnesses, saith Jehovah, and My Servant whom I have chosen. The preceding verses ( Isaiah 43:1-7 ) show us that it is again the whole people, in their bulk and scattered fragments, who are referred to. Blind though they be, "yet are there eyes" among them; deaf though they be, yet "they have ears." And so Jehovah addresses them all, in contradistinction to the heathen peoples ( Isaiah 43:9 ), as His Servant. These two complementary paradoxes together show this: that while Israel as a whole is unfit to be the Servant, it is nevertheless within Israel, alone of all the world’s nations, that the true capacities for service are found-"eyes are there, ears have they." They prepare us for the Servant’s testimony about himself, in which, while he owns himself to be distinct from Israel as a whole, he is nevertheless still called Israel. This is given in chapter 49. And He said unto me, "My Servant art thou; Israel, in whom I will glorify Myself. And now saith Jehovah, my moulder from the womb to be a Servant unto Him, to turn again Jacob to Him, and that Israel might not be destroyed; and I am of value in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God is my strength. And He said, It is too light for thy being My Servant, merely to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also set thee for a light of nations, to be My salvation to the end of the earth". { Isaiah 49:3-6 } Here the Servant, though still called Israel, is clearly distinct from the nation as a whole, for part of his work is to raise the nation up again. And, moreover, he tells us this as his own testimony about himself. He is no longer spoken of in the third person, he speaks for himself in the first. This is significant. It is more than a mere artistic figure, the effect of our prophet’s dramatic style-as if the Servant now stood opposite him, so vivid and near that he heard him speak, and quoted him in the direct form of speech. It is more probably the result of moral sympathy: the prophet speaks out of the heart of the Servant, in the name of that better portion of Israel which was already conscious of the Divine call, and of its distinction in this respect from the mass of the people. It is futile to inquire what this better portion of Israel actually was, for whom the prophet speaks in the first person. Some have argued, from the stress which the speaker lays upon his gifts of speech and office of preaching, that what is now signified by the Servant is the order of the prophets; but such forget that in these chapters the proclamation of the Kingdom of God is the ideal, not of prophets only, but of the whole people. Zion as a whole is to be "heraldess of good news". { Isaiah 40:9 } It is, therefore, not the official function of the prophet-order which the Servant here owns, but the ideal of the prophet-nation. Others have argued from the direct form of speech, that the prophet puts himself forward as the Servant. But no individual would call himself Israel. And as Professor Cheyne remarks, the passage is altogether too self-assertive to be spoken by any man of himself as an individual; although, of course, our prophet could not have spoken of the true Israel with such sympathy, unless he had himself been part of it. The writer of these verses may have been, for the time, as virtually the real Israel as Mazzini was the real Italy. But still he does not speak as an individual. The passage is manifestly a piece of personification. The Servant is Israel- not now the nation as a whole, not the body and bulk of the Israelites, for they are to be the object of his first efforts, but the loyal, conscious, and effective Israel, realised in some of her members, and here personified by our prophet, who himself speaks for her out of his heart, in the first person. By chapter 49, then, the Servant of Jehovah is a personification of the true, effective Israel as distinguished from the mass of the nation-a Personification, but not yet a Person. Something within Israel has wakened up to find itself conscious of being the Servant of Jehovah, and distinct from the mass of the nation-something that is not yet a Person. And this definition of the Servant may stand (with some modifications) for his next appearance in Isaiah 50:4-9 . In this passage the Servant, still speaking in the first person, continues to illustrate his experience as a prophet, and carries it to its consequence in martyrdom. But let us notice that he now no longer calls himself Israel, and that if it were not for the previous passages it would be natural to suppose that an individual was speaking. This supposition is confirmed by a verse that follows the Servant’s speech, and is spoken, as chorus, by the prophet himself. "Who among you is a fearer of Jehovah, obedient to the voice of His Servant, who walketh in darkness, and hath no light. Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God." In this too much neglected verse, which forms a real transition to Isaiah 52:13-15 , the prophet is addressing any individual Israelite, on behalf of a personal God. It is very difficult to refrain from concluding that therefore the Servant also is a Person. Let us, however, not go beyond what we have evidence for; and note only that in chapter 1 the Servant is no more called Israel, and is represented not as if he were one part of the nation, over against the mass of it, but as if he were one individual over against other individuals; that in fine the Personification of chapter 49 has become much more difficult to distinguish from an actual Person. 3. This brings us to the culminating passage- Isaiah 52:13-15 through Isaiah 53:1-12 . Is the Servant still a Personification here, or at last and unmistakably a Person? It may relieve the air of that electricity, which is apt to charge it at the discussion of so classic a passage as this, and secure us calm weather in which to examine exegetical details, if we at once assert, what none but prejudiced Jews have ever denied, that this great prophecy, known as the fifty-third of Isaiah, was fulfilled in One Person, Jesus of Nazareth, and achieved in all its details by Him alone. But, on the other hand, it requires also to be pointed out that Christ’s personal fulfilment of it does not necessarily imply that our prophet wrote it of a Person. The present expositor hopes, indeed, to be able to give strong reasons for the theory usual among us, that the Personification of previous passages is at last in chapter 53 presented as a Person. But he fails to understand, why critics should be regarded as unorthodox or at variance with New Testament teaching on the subject, who, while they acknowledge that only Christ fulfilled chapter 53, are yet unable to believe that the prophet looked upon the Servant as an individual, and who regard chapter 53 as simply a sublimer form of the prophet’s previous pictures of the ideal people of God. Surely Christ could and did fulfil prophecies other than personal ones. The types of Him, which the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament, are not exclusively individuals. Christ is sometimes represented as realising in His Person and work statements, which, as they were first spoken, could only refer to Israel, the nation. Matthew, for instance, applies to Jesus a text which Hosea wrote primarily of the whole Jewish people: "Out of Egypt have I called My Son." { Hosea 11:1 ; Matthew 2:15 } Or, to take an instance from our own prophet-who but Jesus fulfilled chapter 49, in which, as we have seen, it is not an individual, but the ideal of the prophet people, that is figured? So that, even if it were proved past all doubt-proved from grammar, context, and every prophetical analogy-that in writing chapter 53 our prophet had still in view that aspect of the nation which he has personified in chapter 49, such a conclusion would not weaken the connection between the prophecy and its unquestioned fulfilment by Jesus Christ, nor render the two less evidently part of one Divine design. But we are by no means compelled to adopt the impersonal view of chapter 53. On the contrary, while the question is one to which all experts know the difficulty of finding an absolutely conclusive answer one way or the other, it seems to me that reasons prevail which make for the personal interpretation. Let us see what exactly are the objections to taking Isaiah 52:13-15 through Isaiah 53:1-12 in a personal sense. First, it is very important to observe that they do not rise out of the grammar or language of the passage. The reference of both of these is consistently individual. Throughout, the Servant is spoken of in the singular. The name Israel is not once applied to him: nothing-except that the nation has also suffered-suggests that he is playing a national role; there is no reflection in his fate of the features of the Exile. The antithesis, which was evident in previous passages, between a better Israel and the mass of the people has disappeared. The Servant is contrasted, not with the nation as a whole, but with His people as individuals. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." As far as