The Prophesied Messiah
I’ve been digging into Isaiah lately in an attempt to go through the old testament. I’ve never actually gone through Isaiah because I feared that it would bore me to death, and to be honest some parts are quite boring. But lemme say, some parts make reading through all the boring stuff worth it, especially when it’s about Jesus.
In Isaiah 42, Isaiah is prophesying about the coming Christ, and truly it is a beautiful picture that will bring hope into the heart of any person. This is not just any person but is God’s chosen servant, one in whom his soul delights!
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1)
This messiah is not simply a chosen servant, but one who has God’s Spirit upon him. God’s very soul delights in this messiah. Not only that, but the messiah will bring forth justice to the nations. This prophecy is being spoken to the nation of Israel in a time when they are constantly disobeying God and being taken over and buttwhopped by all of their enemies. They don’t get or understand that they need to depend on God and continue to try to do things their way and God lets them get owned really for discipline and also for their own sake. And yet, as they are getting owned, God time after time pities them and comes in to rescue them and redeem them. This savior will come and free every person from the injustices that sin has brought into the world. This means the broken relationships, all the wrongs brought upon a person in their life, all the sins committed against one another, and the consequences that come from them, will all be brought to justice! That is a beautiful thing to place one’s hope in.
Vs 2-3 talks more specifically on his qualities and how he truly characterizes peace and true reconciliation.
I love what is being said in vs 4
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4, ESV)
The messiah will not grow faint or be discouraged until he has accomplished what he has come to do, which is establish justice in the earth. It’s also a beautiful picture to see and imagine that there will be people who wait for his law, because his law is good and better than anything we can put in place for ourselves.
Even though the next verse is basically a super long intro to who God is, it’s majestic and powerful!
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it: (Isaiah 42:5, ESV)
I love how it says “Thus says God” because it’s made very clear that he’s not simply a god, or one of many gods, but he is it. When you think of the word god, it’s Him and no one else. Not only is he God, but he’s the Lord as well! Lord is a very powerful title that implies power and authority over one’s life. It continues to exalt God as one who is creator of everything and also the God who gave us life and a soul! We sometimes remember that God created the world around us, but I think more often than not, we forget that God created every single one of us!
The next two verses go back to God talking about the messiah that is to come.
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 42:6-7, ESV)
From this we see that as God talks about the messiah, his relationship with him is one of care and intimacy. He takes him by the hand and keeps him. He guides the messiah and will protect him and keep him secure. But though he delights in the messiah, he is giving him as a covenant to the people that he created. He gives the messiah to them as a light to the nations. A light that will shine truth into the darkness and allow people to see God for who he truly is! He will open the eyes that are blinded from the light and the truth and the good news. He will bring out the prisoners from the dungeon. Though many of us may not want to admit it, we too are prisoners to many things in the world. We are prisoners to the thoughts of those around us, to the goals placed on us in this life, to the desire for wealth and status, to the relationships in our lives, to our sin, etc.
This next part God talks about himself, which is always quite awesome:
I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols. (Isaiah 42:8, ESV)
It’s definitely important to note that God will not give his glory to any other. He makes it clear that he gives glory only to himself. This is something we need to be clear in understanding as believers so that we know that there is no one truly worthy of glory and praise and we should be careful about who we give glory to in our lives. Idols should not be given the praise or worship from our lives. It’s part of our duty to find and reveal the idols in our lives and to destroy them so that we can properly focus on the one who deserves all glory.
Finally in vs 9, God talks about how the former things have come to pass and how He is declaring the new things. It’s a beautiful verse in conjunction with the verses before it because that’s exactly what the messiah has come to do. He’s come to make all things new and to do away with the former things.
What is even more amazing is that Jesus is that messiah and we just celebrated the resurrection of Christ on Easter this past Sunday. Jesus has come to bring justice by being the solution to our sin and the sacrifice to appease the wrath of God. The justice he brought was one that was for our benefit at his cost. He came to being peace and justice, and through that has brought us back into a relationship with God.
That’s why I love this passage and whatever else I’m reading in Isaiah right now, because it points me more clearly to Christ, who is the messiah that God has brought into the world so that we might be with him for eternity!
Let’s continue to celebrate God for all his glory and Christ, who is the covenant and savior and light for the nations!
One Response
Hi Will:
Isaiah is actually not just about the Messiah, but also a book of prophesy concerning the end times. Jonathan Edwards quoted extensively from Isaiah when he was promoting united, extraordinary prayers for the revivals of religion in the First Great Awakening. The key thing to take out from the last chapters of Isaiah is that not all of them are fulfilled yet. The latter glory of Zion will be exceedingly great, as prophesied by Isaiah. The book also shows God’s zeal to end history and to glorify the nation of Israel as part of his grand plan. But there is also a strong urge for more prayer in this book of prophesy — and partly the fulfillment of these prophesies cannot happen until we offer up those prayers. (Isaiah 62:6-7)
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