Isaiah 42:1 My Servant - For The Glory of Jesus

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My Servant

God is telling us that a servant is coming who will give us the plan of salvation for the world. Are you a servant of Jesus?

This is a Bible Study. Have your own Bible handy to look up the references mentioned.

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Isaiah 42:1-13

1.” Isaiah 42:1-7 is the first of four ‘Servant Songs’ in Isaiah, referring to God’s Servant, the Messiah. The others are 49:1-6; 50:1-11; 52:13-53:12.” (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament Prophets. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2002], 52)

“Here God formally presented the servant to an audience, although both the name of the servant and the nature of the audience remain mysteriously unclear.” [Max Anders and Trent C. Butler (2012). HOTC Vol. 15: Isaiah. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]

2. “In the midst of the difficultly in establishing justice he will not give up or ‘cry out’ in frustration and exasperation just because the responsibility is difficult. Instead, he will be guided by patient endurance, humility, and steadfastness in the face of opposition.” (Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary, Volume 15B, Isaiah 40-66. [Nashville, B & H Publishing Group, 2009], 162)

3. “The Lord didn’t move in with a club against sin. He simply let sin bring its own judgment.” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume III. [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 290)

4. “It is through the ministry of the Servant that God will accomplish His great plan of salvation for this world.” (Wiersbe, 52)

God

5. “The God who makes these promises is the one who ‘stretched out’ the heavens and ‘spread out’ the earth (making a connection with 40:22 and Genesis 1).” (Smith, 165)

6. “Jesus Christ is ‘the light of the world’ (John 8:12), and that includes the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:6; Acts 13:47-48; Luke 1:79).” (Wiersbe, 52)

7. “Isaiah 42:7 refers to the nations deliverance from Babylon (29:18; 32:3; 35:5) as well as to the sinner’s deliverance from condemnation (61:1-3; Luke 4:18-19).” (Wiersbe, 52)

“The best approach is to interpret these phrases as metaphors of God’s deliverance of people from the prison of spiritual darkness (blindness) and ignorance (9:2; 42:19-20; 43:8; 44:18-19) through the work of the servant.” (Smith, 169)

8. “God reminded the newly installed servant that he had limits. Yahweh alone must receive proper honor and praise. Worship of other gods or their images was forbidden.” [Max Anders and Trent C. Butler (2012). HOTC Vol. 15: Isaiah. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]

9. “The new events surrounding the coming of the servant of God are presented as another new way for God to demonstrate his divinity, for God states ‘I’ (implying no one else) ‘am declaring’ to the people on the earth what will spring forth in the future.” (Smith, 170)

“The ‘new things’ refer to what God will do through his servant, but the ultimate purpose in sending this servant is not just to open people’s eyes and free them from the darkness of their ignorance. The ultimate purpose is for this enlightened people to glorify God.” (Smith, 170)

Praise

10. “In this brief subparagraph the prophet is trying to persuade his audience to put behind them the pessimism of their present situation and all its problems (40:27; 41:11-12) and to be inspired by what God will do in the future.” (Smith, 171)

11. “Two specific unlikely places are identified (Kedar and Sela in 42:11), possibly to illustrate that this astonishing transformation will overtake even the Arab desert tribes (cf. 21:13-17) and the Edomites at Sela (those who dwell among the rocks) who hated the Hebrews at one time (Amos 1:11-12; Ezekiel 35-36; Obadiah 1:10-14).” (Smith, 173)

12. “The purpose of this singing will be to proclaim God’s praise and establish his glory before all people, even those living in far-off islands.” (Smith, 173)

13. “The imagery of God marching out ‘like a mighty man’ or ‘like a warrior’ with a loud ‘battle cry’ to defeat his enemies is thoroughly militaristic.” (Smith, 173)

“Isaiah repeatedly pictures God as fighting for his causes (28:21; 29:2-3; 30:27-33; 31:4; 34:2-6) often in a theophanic appearance of his glory.” (Smith, 173)

References

In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.

Max Anders and Trent C. Butler (2012). HOTC Vol. 15: Isaiah. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com
McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume III. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary, Volume 15B, Isaiah 40-66. Nashville, B & H Publishing Group, 2009
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament Prophets. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2002

Idols Blind

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