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Scripture Reading: Isa. 41; Isa. 42; Acts 3:26; Ezra 1:2a; Acts 5:31; Rev. 1:5; Isa. 49:8b; Heb. 7:22; Isa. 49:6b; Matt. 4:13-16; Luke 4:18; John 9:14; Matt. 12:18-20
In Isaiah 41—66 Christ is revealed as the Servant of Jehovah in the most thorough and complete way. Since Jehovah is the Triune God, Christ as the Servant of Jehovah is the Servant of the Triune God.
This section of Isaiah uses three persons as types of Christ as the Servant of Jehovah: Isaiah the prophet, Cyrus king of Persia, and Israel. These three types are the key to understanding this portion of the Word.
In Isaiah 41:1-7 Christ is typified by Cyrus the king of Persia.
Cyrus was raised up by Jehovah (vv. 2a, 25a; Acts 3:26).
Isaiah 41:25b indicates that Cyrus called upon the name of Jehovah.
Cyrus was raised up by Jehovah to subdue the nations and have dominion over the kings (vv. 2b, 25c; Ezra 1:2a; Acts 5:31a; Rev. 1:5a).
Christ as the Servant of Jehovah was also typified by Israel for the carrying out of the kind word of comfort spoken by Jehovah to Israel (Isa. 41:8-20).
According to 41:21-29, Christ as the Servant of Jehovah is for the exposing of the falsehood and vanity of the idols.
In chapter forty of Isaiah, Christ is the replacement for everyone. Since we have been replaced by Christ, we must realize that we are nothing — a drop from a bucket, specks of dust on the scales (v. 15). God Himself is the only One in the universe who remains forever. Today God is embodied in the Word. As people who are withering grass and fading flowers (vv. 6-8), we need to learn to come to the Word of God so that we may touch God. When we receive the living and abiding word of God, we are regenerated, and we realize that we are part of the new creation. At such a time we can declare, as Paul did, that we have been crucified with Christ, and that it is no longer we who live but Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20). This is what it means to wait on Christ (Isa. 40:31), that is, to stop ourselves, our living, our ambition, and our everything and to receive Christ as our life, our person, and our replacement. Christ then becomes everything to us. In particular, He becomes our strength.
Isaiah 40:31 reveals that as we wait on Christ, we are renewed and strengthened to such an extent that we mount up with wings like eagles. In the Bible, the wings of the eagle signify God's life power becoming our grace. When we enjoy God in His life power, we mount up with wings like eagles to soar in the heavenlies. This is transformation.
Anyone who is replaced by Christ and waits on Him to enjoy God's life power in grace is a servant of Jehovah. For this reason, in this book Cyrus, Israel, and Isaiah are types of Christ as the Servant of Jehovah. They are not servants of Jehovah apart from Christ, but they are servants with Christ and in Christ in a corporate way. In this sense, Cyrus, Israel, and Isaiah become Christ.
Today, as members of Christ, we also are types of Christ. For what purpose are we types of Christ? On the positive side, we are types of Christ for the purpose of carrying out Jehovah's kind word of comfort (41:8-20), which is the gospel as His testimony. On the negative side, we are types of Christ for the purpose of exposing the falsehood and vanity of the idols (41:21-29). This is the New Testament testimony. We testify two things: 1) that Christ is our reality, centrality, and universality and that we are part of Him, and 2) that everything except Christ is false, vain, and an idol. As types of Christ, we testify that we are nothing, that we have been fired and replaced with Christ, and that Christ is everything to us. We also testify to the falsehood and vanity of the idols, the head of which is Satan.
Isaiah 42 reveals Christ as a covenant for the people and a light for the nations. Christ is a covenant, and this covenant is a testament. A covenant denotes an agreement between two parties, a contract signed by both parties. A testament is a covenant, a signed agreement, that has become a will in which certain things are passed on to the heirs. The covenant is the agreement between God and us. Through the death of Christ, the covenant became a testament, a will. Now in His resurrection Christ executes, enforces, this testament. According to the book of Isaiah, the covenant, which has become the testament, is Christ Himself. Thus, we first have the covenant, the covenant becomes the testament, and the testament is Christ. Christ has not only given us the testament — He Himself is the testament and the reality of everything contained in it. For example, two items in the testament are life and strength. Today, Christ is our eternal life, and He is our strength.
Christ has been called by Jehovah, and He is held by His hand and kept by Him (42:6). This means that Christ and the God who calls are one. First, Christ has been called by Jehovah, and then Christ is held and kept by Jehovah. Therefore, Christ and God are one. This Christ has been called to be a covenant for the people (49:8b; Heb. 7:22). Christ has also been called to be a light for the nations (Isa. 49:6b; Matt. 4:13-16), to open the eyes of the blind (Isa. 42:7a; Luke 4:18; John 9:14), and to bring the prisoner out of prison and those who dwell in darkness from the prison house (Isa. 42:7b).
Isaiah 42:1 says, "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold, / My chosen One in whom My soul delights; / I have put My Spirit upon Him, / And He will bring forth judgment to the nations" (cf. Matt. 12:18). For Jehovah's Spirit to be upon His Servant means that His Spirit and His Servant are one.
The word judgment in 42:1 is significant; it is an inclusive term. If we have the Lord, we have judgment. Without the Lord, we do not have any judgment. When we have the Lord, everything is judged. Christ must be the judgment for everything in our daily life. For example, we should have the Lord's judgment concerning the kind of shoes we buy and the way we style our hair.
Christ's being the judgment means that Christ is the answer. In order to have Him as our judgment, we must have Him as our answer. Without Christ, we have only questions; with Christ, we have an answer for everything.
To wait on Christ means that we bring every question to Him. Before doing a certain thing, we should bring that matter to the Lord and wait for His judgment. We must learn the lesson not to do anything or say anything before waiting on Him. When we turn to the Lord and wait on Him, judgment comes, and we are able to act and speak in oneness with the Lord.
Isaiah 42:2 says, "He will not cry out, nor lift up His voice, / Nor make His voice heard in the street." This verse is quoted in Matthew 12:19, where it is applied to the Lord Jesus in His ministry on earth. In His ministry the Lord did not strive with others, and He did not promote Himself. He did not seek to make Himself known to people on the streets. In a sense He was very hidden. When the Lord Jesus was living on earth, He never made Himself great. Rather, He always kept Himself small. This is what it means to say that He did not cry out, lift up His voice, or make His voice heard in the street.
Isaiah 42:3 and 4 go on to say, "A bruised reed He will not break; / And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; / He will bring forth judgment in truth. / He will not faint, nor will He be discouraged, / Until He has established justice in the earth; / And the coastlands will wait for His instruction." Not only did Christ make no noise in the street; He did not break a bruised reed nor quench a smoking flax. This indicates that He was full of mercy.
The Jews often made flutes of reeds. When a reed was bruised and no longer useful as a musical instrument, they broke it. They also made torches of flax to burn with oil. When the oil ran out, the flax smoked, and they quenched it. Some of the Lord's people are like a bruised reed that cannot give a musical sound; others are like smoking flax that cannot give a shining light. Yet the Lord Jesus will not "break" the bruised ones who cannot give a musical sound, nor "quench" the ones like dimly burning flax that cannot give a shining light.
In 42:5 we are told that this is of God Jehovah, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what springs up from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk on it. His glory should not be given to another, nor His praise to idols (v. 8).
According to 42:10-12, for this all the peoples should sing a new song to Jehovah. They should sing His praise from the end of the earth, lift up their voices and sing for joy, shout from the tops of the mountains, give glory to Jehovah, and declare His praise.
Because of this, Jehovah will rise up to deal with His enemies, to expose the vanity of the idols, and to discipline and instruct His blind and deaf servant, Israel (vv. 13-25).
Verse 19 says, "Who is blind except My servant, / And as deaf as My messenger, whom I will send?" The word servant here refers to Israel, typifying Christ as the Servant of Jehovah. Israel was blind and deaf, having no understanding or power of perception. Therefore, Israel could not hear God's word nor see His vision. However, in the restoration Israel will become one with Christ and thus, being able to see and hear, will have the power to perceive and the ability to understand.
