Isaiah 50 ISRAEL SET ASIDE In the on-going unfolding of who Jehovah’s Perfect Servant is, and the contrast between Him and all other servants, there are a number of specific things in this chapter that set Him way above and beyond any other servant, including Isaiah. There are seven things that are true of Christ. He is the Acceptable Preacher in verse four. He has the power and right to instruct in the things of God. He is the Obedient Servant in verse five, in whom is the spirit of meekness and obedience. He is the Suffering Savior in verse six, who in spite of what was done to Him, had the spirit of confidence and strength in God. So, in that way He was the Persevering Servant in verse seven. He was also the trusting Confident Man with His face like a flint, and no embarrassment or shame because of what happened to Him in verse seven. In verse eight, He is the Accepted Servant, who as the courageous Champion, stands alone in victory in spite of the condemnation of sinful men.
Israel created their own problems by choosing sin and idolatry even though the Lord had promised to help them in every way. But they rejected Him. They rejected Him in the past and they rejected them when our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth. He did not reject them. The question then is why is Israel divorced as Jehovah’s earthly bride? God did not want to put Israel away to the captivity of Babylon, but the people of Israel didn’t want to hear what He said or do what He wanted. They wanted everything their own way. Consequently, He allowed the captivity to happen. The nation is still not recovered to Him. He is able, and willing to deliver them at the appropriate time – and He will do so.
Self-sufficiency leads to torment as Israel learned. When we are confident in our own success, and we think our intelligence is all that is needed to solve every problem, God will leave us on our own until we face the fact that we don’t know everything and cannot deal with the consequences of our sin. The appearance of confidence and nothing is too hard for us, will leave us high and dry and in torment. It is the light of divine truth, given by divine Persons that enables us to walk in the light in times of darkness all around us. When we know the Lord and are in fellowship with Him, the “Light of life” is real to us, and we can “walk in the light, as He is in the light.”
When the Lord Jesus Christ came to His own, they would not receive Him; no one welcomed Him. There was evidence as to who he was right from His birth all through His life here on earth. “We have never seen it on this wise before!” “Never man spoke like this Man.” But because of their hardness of heart, self-sufficiency in religious practices, and self-centered identity, they could not conceive of the Messiah being different than their preconceived notions. They saw evidence of His power over nature, over creation, over sin and wickedness and even over the devil, but they would not believe on Him.
He came in humiliation, but was “full of grace and truth.” He was “found in fashion as a man,” but did things that only God can do. He did not come in visible glory as a conquering king, but as an obedient Servant of Jehovah with His inherent glory veiled. His deity was revealed in many ways, but because He didn’t reveal it in the way unbelievers wanted, they would not believe in Him nor accept Him. He came, fully God and fully man, so that He could identify Himself as the perfectly appropriate sacrifice for our sins. In His sinless humanity, He was able to take our place as our sinless substitute, and suffer on our behalf for our sins, so that He could bring us to God.
He did not take action in the full power of His omnipotence, but rather as a Man among men, He experienced all the things that happen to humans and what they do, apart from sinning in any way. In that way, He could be our “High Priest” who is touched with the “feeling of our infirmities.” He is able to help us in our human experiences of sickness and pain, sorrow and grief, rejection and trouble. In His amazing grace, he received sinners who came to Him in faith. With tears on His face He wept over His earthly people the Jews, because they “knew not the time of their visitation.”
In spite of the abuse of the world, the Servant placed His confidence in God and is “awake” to take action on all that God wants to do and say through Him. He is not rebellious in any way in spite of what people did to Him when He was rejected. His back was beaten; the hairs on His face were pulled out; He was spit on. All of this was done to Him, and He endured it for the sins of others who deserved that kind of treatment. In His own sinlessness, He set His face as a flint to endure all the reproaches that should have fallen on us. He was not ashamed in any way before God, even though He was despised and rejected of men. “Morning by morning” the Servant and His Master/Father connected in perfect communion. This Servant was what the servant Israel, was not. Even in the sufferings He went through in His servant-work, He had His confidence in God alone.
The Lord God helped Him, so the condemnation of men against Him had no validity in any way. The very things people condemned Him for, is what condemns those who refuse Him. “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” “He, Himself is Christ, a King.” “Are You the Son of God?” “Save Yourself.” People think they can make themselves acceptable to God “if there is a God.” Many people think they are God or are becoming a god. Their opinion as far as they are concerned, is what is truth. Like the Jews who trusted in the false teaching of the rabbis, many today base their beliefs on what some professor says, or what some philosopher has written rather than the unchanging and infallible word of God.
Consequently, people today and those in the past who reject Christ, will suffer His rejection of them. Israel will continue to experience sorrow and rejection until they will “look on Him whom they have pierced.” The consequences of that divorcement will not be lifted until they acknowledge “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” As individuals, both Jews and Gentiles since the time our Lord Jesus was here, have “[confessed] with [their] mouth, Jesus as Lord, and have believed in [their] heart that God hath raised Him from the dead,” are saved by His grace. That salvation is personal, real, wonderful and eternal.
Restoration of Israel is possible because our Lord can redeem, He can deliver and He can save His people from their sins. As a result of the obedience of Jehovah’s Servant, Israel is called to prepare for His coming. The challenge goes out to all the hearers to listen to the Servant. He can be trusted and when people trust Him, they will find light in the darkness. If they choose to walk in the light of their own fire, they will end in torment. Trusting believers will be saved and delivered. The rebellious will be condemned and tormented as a result of their own choice.