Isaiah forty-two: God’s Chosen Servant is Jesus Christ.
This is a beautiful chapter. I’ll break it into two articles. Here we are reintroduced to God’s chosen servant. But the servant of the Lord was given a significant upgrade from the last chapter.
In this chapter, we have a different ‘chosen servant’ than what we saw in chapter forty-one. The patriarch of the twelve tribes and the chosen servant in that chapter is Jacob. But he didn’t do a good job as a representative of the Lord. Jacob was the father of twelve sons. Those twelve sons became the tribal leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. We discussed this in the last chapter. Jacob was the servant God picked between him and his brother Esau. God chose the younger twin to lead the children of Israel.
Isaiah forty-two provides sharp contrasts between Jacob and Jesus. An upgrade was needed.
Isaiah 42:1 Behold God’s Chosen Servant
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold. My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him. He will bring forth justice to the nations.”
The Lord knew he would need to replace Jacob. It was an important part of God’s unfolding story. Jesus is the servant who would not fail to produce God’s desired outcome. When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit rested upon him and never left. Jesus will bring justice to every nation. That hasn’t happened yet, but it will in the near future. I personally expect to see fulfillment in the next few decades. But I’m no prophet, so we’ll see.
The writer of the Gospel of Matthew used Isaiah’s words when he wrote chapter twelve of his gospel message. There is no doubt who the servant in this chapter is.
Matthew 12:18
“Here is My servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
Isaiah 42:2 The Chosen Servant is quiet
“He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.”
Jesus was a quiet leader. Yes, he did preach a sermon on a mount in front of thousands, but when he taught, he sat. That was a typical position for Rabbis of his day. He didn’t boast of his past glory in Heaven. And he never drew attention to himself. Often, when crowds begged for his attention, he slipped away to spend time in prayer. Even, when they put Jesus on trial and later on the cross, he quietly went through what his Father destined him to endure.
Matthew 12:19
He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets.
Isaiah 42:3 God’s Chosen Servant brings justice
“A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.”
A bruised reed is vulnerable. Jesus did not and never will take advantage of the weak. He is the champion of the weak and oppressed. The smoldering wick presents the same imagery. The image in the words depicts a candle that is about to go out, but Jesus won’t snuff it out. If anything he will bring the fire back. That’s my Jesus, do you know him?
That reminds me of one of the greatest messages I’ve ever heard. Do yourself a favor and listen to this video. It’s incredibly inspiring.
Take time to listen to this masterful speech.
Matthew 12:20
A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory.
Isaiah 42:4 The Lord’s Chosen Servant won’t quit
“He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth, And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
Jesus never quit, even when the crowds turned on him and the cross was near. He saw before him the glory that would follow after the cross, and despised the shame and pressed on to the finish line. Jesus saw you and me in the future. He did the work for all of us who would choose to follow him once his work on the cross was finished.
But his work is not done. It’s true that the work of redemption is finished. No more work is needed to save anyone who seeks eternal life through him. But there is much still to be done. Justice for all the earth is still a future event. He won’t quit until it’s done.
Isaiah 40:28
Do you not know? Have you not heard? the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will never grow faint or weary, His understanding is beyond searching out.
Isaiah 42:5 God created and gave breath to all
“Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it.”
After four lofty verses that declared the new Chosen Servant of the Lord, Isaiah breaks into a verse of worship to the Almighty. The God who created everything has brought the key player of his master plan into the game. Adam failed. Jacob failed. Now the faithful servant who was predicted in Genesis 3:15 is once again predicted by another prophet. Every true prophet of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus.
God didn’t just create the heavens, he stretched them out. In that work, the Lord placed the stars, planets, and galaxies in their fixed places in the universe. He created order in the universe. It wasn’t an explosion followed by billions of years of chaos. God created and then gave the breath of life to every creature. He also gave His Spirit to guide those who choose to follow his path.
Isaiah 37:16
“O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
Isaiah 42:6 God’s Chosen Servant — a light to the nations.
“I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations.”
The Lord called Jacob to walk a path of righteousness. He also promised to take his hand and lead him. It wasn’t enough. He was an imperfect human prone to misbehave like the rest of us. So the focus shifted to the better servant. It’s interesting that God says he will appoint Jesus as a covenant. The word covenant refers to a promise. Jesus is the answer to all the promises made by God. The fulfillment of that promise is a light to the nations.
Interesting Note: When the lights went out on the Jewish nation, the lights were just coming on in the young Christian Church.
Acts 13:47
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Isaiah 42:7 The Chosen Servant opens blind eyes
“To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”
Jesus was the cure for physical and spiritual blindness. See other passages in this book. Isaiah 29:18, Isaiah 32:3, Isaiah 35:5. At one point, Jesus healed a blind man who was born sightless. This caused quite a stir for some reason. This was one of many other acts of physical healing. His redemptive work on the cross has allowed countless millions to see God’s truth despite their own spiritual blindness.
And Isaiah predicted the Lord’s servant would set the captives free. The Good News of Christ sets captives free from the bondage of sin.
Acts 26:18
To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
Isaiah 42:8 The Lord is an incomparable God
“I am the LORD, that is My name, I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”
Jehovah is the name that expresses God’s self-existence, eternity, and immutability. It’s the name by which he revealed himself to Israel. Jehovah is God’s name, and he doesn’t share the glory of that name or its authority. There were false gods in all the surrounding nations and they had crept into the fabric of Jewish life also. There were gods of the ocean, suns, moon, cows, harvesting, and any number of foolish ideas. But God insisted He was the One and Only God, and he wouldn’t share his glory with some imaginary sun god or any other false deity. Jesus, on the other hand, was and is uniquely different. He and the Father are One.
Psalm 83:18
May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
Isaiah 42:9 New, bolder predictions from the Lord
“Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
I Love this verse!
Looking back to chapter forty-one we remember how the Lord dared any of the false gods to make predictions and make them come to pass.
Here God takes it further. He promised and fulfilled just as he predicted. “Former things have come to pass.” So, the Lord will “declare new things” before they happen.
We can count on God’s Prophetic Word to come to pass. We may struggle with understanding some of the meaning and certainly the timing, but fulfillment is certain.
Isaiah 41:23
Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods.
Isaiah 42:10 Time for a new song
“Sing to the LORD a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth! You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it. You islands, and those who dwell on them.”
The “new things” that will “spring forth” are worthy of a new song. The Lord predicts and will bring forth new things worthy of songs and praise.
But not everyone who witnesses these new things will rejoice, but those who stand on the Lord’s side will. Finally, after thousands of years of waiting, the enemies of God will face their judgment day. It’s been too long in coming but it will be precisely in God’s timing. He knows the day and the hour.
When the Egyptian army perished in the Red Sea, the Israelites sang a new song. But those songs were just the start of the Israelites’ long journey through the wilderness. After God’s victory at the Red Sea, they had new stories to tell of God’s wondrous victory. In the last days, when the last enemy is vanquished, we will rejoice for a thousand years.
Isaiah 42:11 Those in the wilderness will rejoice
“Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices, The settlements where Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud, Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.”
Here Isaiah addresses those who live outside of the cities and towns. Those on the outskirts of civilization will have as much reason to rejoice as any other group of people. Those who dwell in cities have usually been the ones throughout history who built great empires and oppressed the weak. History is full of powerful cities with great walls that were the center of historic empires or ruling kingdoms.
Also, we should note, that when the Lord spoke of the last days he mentioned the wilderness. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus spoke about a time when people should run out of the cities and hide in the wilderness.
As a general rule, prophetic passages deal with the now, the future, and the distant future. This passage is no different. The ultimate focus of this time of rejoicing is during the Tribulation when many people will run into the wilderness and later witness the victory of Christ over the Antichrist’s armies.
Isaiah 42:12 Those in the islands will rejoice
“Let them give glory to the LORD And declare His praise in the coastlands.”
From the wilderness that was nearby, Isaiah then shifts to the coastlands. That is a term that often refers to the island nations to the west of Asia. When I write Asia, most modern readers will automatically think of China, Japan, and those nations. But those were never the focus of the biblical text. The modern nation of Turkey was Asia in the biblical text. The islands west of Asia (Turkey) are the focus of this verse.
On the map below we can see how many islands there were. Again, the context is the people who would rejoice when Christ’s victory is complete. The Middle East will become a raging firestorm of destruction in the last days. People will seek out places to flee to if they can. These islands will become a refuge for many.
Isaiah 42:13 The man of warrior king will arrive
“The LORD will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.”
This verse leads off the next section but I’ll place it here in this article to serve as the warning it was intended to be. The Lord Jesus was a gentle shepherd during the time of his first coming. He fed the poor, protected a woman from death by stoning, and had mercy on parents who were heartbroken at the death of their child. That is the nature of God, but he is also just and holy and cannot allow injustice and cruelty to continue unchecked. It has gone on too long already but the Bible is clear that God’s timing is perfect.
The Warrior is Jesus. He will march through his enemies like a hot knife through butter. We don’t like to think of Jesus in that type of imagery, but the enemies must be defeated. There is only One who is capable of accomplishing that, and he will not fail.
Will he fight to save his friends?
He must.
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