Scripture Reading: Isa. 51:9-11; 52:7-15
In this message we will cover three points concerning Christ's being the Servant of Jehovah — the arm of Jehovah, the reigning God, and the exalted Christ. Isaiah is a book of sixty-six chapters. In previous messages we pointed out that the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah correspond to the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, and the last twenty-seven chapters correspond to the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Chapter forty, the first chapter of the last twenty-seven, is the same as the beginning of the New Testament, in which John the Baptist was introduced. Verses 3-5 of that chapter, speaking of John the Baptist, say, "The voice of one who cries / In the wilderness: Make clear / The way of Jehovah; / Make straight in the desert / A highway for our God. / Every valley will be lifted up, / And every mountain and hill will be made low, / And the crooked places will become straight, / And the rough places, a broad plain. / Then the glory of Jehovah will be revealed, / And all flesh will see it together, / Because the mouth of Jehovah has spoken" (cf. Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6). Immediately after this chapter that introduces the New Testament, there are twenty-six chapters, from chapter forty-one through chapter sixty-six, concerning Christ as the Servant of Jehovah.
We need to see that Christ as the Servant of Jehovah, occupying twenty-six chapters in Isaiah, is mainly for Israel's return and restoration. When these twenty-six chapters were written in the way of prophecy, Israel was destined to be scattered, to be captured, to be exiled from their fathers' land to some foreign lands to suffer there. In such a condition of captivity and exile, they needed Christ as the Servant of Jehovah to serve them in order to bring them back from their captivity and also to restore them. As captives in Babylon, the Israelites needed not only to be released but also to return to their fathers' land. Then, after their return, they needed to be restored. Their nation was devastated to the uttermost. It had become a desolation, an uninhabitable wilderness, with no rain, no soil for growing crops, and no food for people to eat. Surely they needed a restoration. Thus, Isaiah has twenty-six chapters on Christ serving God's elect to bring them back and to restore them.
Isaiah 51:9-11 and 52:7-15 reveal that Christ is the Servant of Jehovah as the arm of Jehovah, the reigning God, and the exalted Christ. The first two of these items — the arm of Jehovah and the reigning God — have the tone of the Old Testament. But the final item — the exalted Christ — does not bear an Old Testament tone; rather, it is an item of God's New Testament economy. This final item is mentioned at the end of Isaiah 52, in verses 13-15. Chapter fifty-two is continued by chapter fifty-three. It is important for us to see that Isaiah 53 is a direct continuation of the end of chapter fifty-two. The three verses at the end of chapter fifty-two do not bear an Old Testament tone. They bear a New Testament tone in which the exalted Christ is revealed.
Christ's being the Servant of Jehovah as the arm of Jehovah is covered in Isaiah 51:9-11. If we read these three verses carefully, we can discover that these three verses are a parenthesis. Actually, verse 12 continues verse 8. In verses 8 and 12 Jehovah is the speaker. Suddenly, from verse 9 through verse 11 the speaker changes. Verse 9 begins, "Arise, arise! Put on strength, / O arm of Jehovah; / Arise as in the days of old, / As in the generations of past ages." This is not Jehovah's speaking but Isaiah's, representing the people of God. Isaiah seemed to cry out, "Arise, arise, O arm of Jehovah and put on Your strength! Do the same things that You did in the days of old. Do You not remember how You dried up the sea and made it a highway for us all to walk through? Do the same thing today to bring back all those who are in exile."
Then, 52:7 says, "How beautiful on the mountains / Are the feet of him who brings good news, / Of him who announces peace, who brings news of good things, / Who announces salvation; / Of him who says to Zion, Your God reigns!" The announcing of "Your God reigns!" is the announcing of the restoration. In Isaiah 40:9, which speaks concerning the beginning of the New Testament, the glad tidings is, "Here is your God!" Here, in 52:7, the glad tidings is, "Your God reigns!" The former speaks of God coming to accomplish redemption unto salvation for His people, whereas the latter, after redemption has been accomplished, says that in the restoration God reigns. The reigning God in chapter fifty-two is the Redeemer, the Savior, mentioned in chapter forty.
Finally, Isaiah 52:13, speaking of Christ in His exaltation, says, "Behold, My servant will act wisely and will prosper; / He will be exalted and lifted up and very high."
Whatever is covered in chapters forty-one through sixty-six of Isaiah concerns Christ as the Servant of Jehovah in relation to Israel's return and restoration. In Israel's return and restoration, the all-inclusive Christ is, first, the arm of Jehovah, second, the reigning God, and, third, the exalted Christ.
The arm of Jehovah signifies the strength of Jehovah. Christ as the arm of Jehovah is the strength of Jehovah. Isaiah 51:9 begins, "Arise, arise! Put on strength, / O arm of Jehovah." To put on strength is to wear strength as a garment. Christ is the garment of God as the strength of God.
Jehovah, the complete Triune God, is the great I Am (Exo. 3:13-14). Whatever we need, He is. In a positive sense, He is everything. He is strength, righteousness, justice, light, and many other items. God as strength is embodied in Christ. In this aspect, His name is the arm of Jehovah.
In 51:9-11 Isaiah cried out that the arm of Jehovah should arise and put on strength as in the days of old, as in the generations of past ages, especially as in the exodus of His elect out of Egypt. In the exodus from Egypt, the first obstacle the children of Israel met was the Red Sea. Behind them Pharaoh's army was chasing them, and in front of them was the Red Sea. They could do nothing about the situation, but the arm of Jehovah did something. He caused a strong wind to blow so that the water was divided. The sea was dried up, and Israel walked in the sea on dry land. Isaiah was burdened that the arm of Jehovah would do the same thing in his day so that the captives of Israel would be brought back.
In Isaiah's prophecy Christ has a name which is called "the arm of Jehovah." This name is mentioned not only in 51:9 but also in 53:1, where Isaiah shouted, "Who has believed our report? / And to whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed?" The arm of Jehovah mentioned in both of these verses is Christ. Christ is the arm of Jehovah, who is the Triune God, the great I Am. Christ is the arm of Jehovah to save God's people.
The arm of Jehovah's arising and putting on strength as in the days of old is for the redeemed of Jehovah to return and to come to Zion with a ringing shout and eternal joy (51:11). In the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, we are told that God's people need God's redemption. This is because we as God's elect often become fallen. Whenever there is a fall, there is the need of redemption. First, we fell into sin. Humanly speaking, because we fell into sin, we may feel that we need deliverance. But legally speaking, according to God's economy, we need God's redemption to redeem us from sin. Human beings do not have such a thought because human beings do not know God's government. God's government always involves the matter of righteousness. Our falling into sin involves God's righteousness. For God to come to rescue us is not simple. Before God can rescue us, there must be a redemption that fulfills the requirements of God's righteousness.
Because God's elect in both the Old Testament and the New Testament have fallen into sin, they first need God's redemption to fulfill God's requirements. Actually, to redeem us from sin is to redeem us from God's condemnation. When we fell into sin, we immediately came under God's condemnation. Because we were sinful, we were condemned by God's righteousness. Hence, we needed something to fulfill God's righteous requirement so that we could be redeemed from God's condemnation.
Then, as God's elect, we quite often fall into some trouble. In the Old Testament the children of Israel fell into captivity. In their captivity they needed to be released. However, instead of using the word released, the Old Testament uses the word redeemed. Isaiah 51:11 begins, "Therefore the redeemed of Jehovah will return...." The word return indicates what it means to be redeemed here. To be redeemed here is to be released from captivity, after which the redeemed ones can return. Thus, to be redeemed out of a troublesome situation is another aspect of redemption.
When Israel was under Pharaoh in Egypt, they were suffering as slaves under the Egyptian tyranny. So God came in to send Moses to redeem them (Exo. 6:6). By these examples we can see that God's Old Testament people had at least three kinds of needs. First, they were under God's condemnation; second, they encountered environmental troubles; and third, they were enslaved under a certain kind of tyranny. From each of these three things they needed to be redeemed. It is the same with God's people in the New Testament.
When God redeemed Israel out of Egypt, He established an ordinance that every family had to kill a lamb and then put the blood of the lamb upon their doorposts as a mark for the angel who came to kill all the firstborn sons in Egypt (Exo. 12:3-7). When the killing angel saw that blood, he passed over that house (v. 13). The lamb that was slain was called the Passover lamb. That lamb was for the redemption of God's people out of God's condemnation.
All the firstborn in Egypt, whether Egyptians or Israelites, were sinners. Everyone should have been judged and put to death. However, Israel's firstborn escaped that judgment by being redeemed from God's condemnation through the blood shed by the slain lamb. This kind of redemption did not require power or strength. Through the blood the Israelites were immediately redeemed. All the firstborn of the Egyptians were killed, but the firstborn of Israel were redeemed from God's judgment and God's condemnation.
Nevertheless, they were still in Egypt, still under slavery and tyranny. To deliver them from that slavery required strength; it required an arm. The Israelites needed to be strengthened so that they could walk out of Egypt. To strengthen His people, God fed them with the lamb (vv. 8-9). After they killed the lamb and put the blood on the doorposts, they entered into their houses and ate the meat of the lamb. The eating of the lamb was not for redemption from God's condemnation. That was accomplished already by the blood. The eating of the lamb was to strengthen the Israelites to walk out of Egypt. The people ate the lamb with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand (v. 11). Immediately after eating the lamb, they walked out of Egypt.
After leaving Egypt, the children of Israel came to the Red Sea. The Egyptian army was chasing them from behind, and in front of them was the sea. At that juncture, they did not need the blood; they needed the arm of Jehovah. In Exodus 14 the arm of Jehovah was called the Angel of Jehovah. It was that Angel who did a miracle to make the sea a highway. The Angel of Jehovah first took the lead in front of the army of Israel. But when Pharaoh's army came, the Angel of Jehovah turned to the rear to protect Israel (v. 19). That Angel of Jehovah was the arm of Jehovah. Thus, in chapter fifty-one Isaiah reminded the Lord by shouting, "Arise, arise! Put on strength, / O arm of Jehovah; / Arise as in the days of old." This is the all-inclusive Christ in the return of God's people.
Recently a number of Jews went back from Russia to their fatherland by airplane. In addition, a number of flights carried Jews to Israel from Ethiopia. The power by which these Jews returned to their homeland was not merely the power of an airplane; actually, that power was the arm of Jehovah operating in a hidden way. In a similar way, the power that overthrew Communism in Russia and put away the iron curtain was not an earthly power but the all-inclusive Christ as the arm of Jehovah. Recently, a group of brothers who went to Russia and distributed literature to the people there reported that the freedom to speak concerning the Lord Jesus is greater in Russia than in the United States. Today the people of Russia want the Bible. They also want to know God and to follow Christ. The One who did this is Christ as the arm of Jehovah.
Isaiah 52:10 says, "Jehovah has bared His holy arm / In the sight of all the nations, / And all the ends of the earth will see / The salvation of our [Israel's] God." The arm of Jehovah here is the all-inclusive Christ. All the Arab countries surrounding the small country of Israel have been unable to destroy Israel or to gain any of Israel's territory. This is because they have been restricted by the arm of Jehovah, who is Christ as the all-inclusive Servant of Jehovah.
Isaiah 40:9b says, "Say to the cities of Judah, / Here is your God!" This word speaks of God's revealing of Himself in His becoming a man through incarnation. The coming of Jesus is the coming of God. Thus, when Jesus is here, God is here. By comparison, Isaiah 52:7 says, "Your God reigns!" This is the glad tidings, the good news, and the announcing of peace.
In the day when Israel returns from their captivity, the sound will go forth, "Your God reigns!" The reigning of God on this earth among men is not a small thing. Today many nations are reigning on the earth. We cannot yet see the reign of God in full. But in the day when the exiled Israel returns to their fathers' land, the watchman will shout, "Your God reigns!" This is truly a glad tiding and a good news to the returned Israel.
Today the leaders of the nations are very concerned about the economic condition of their countries and whether those under their administration will have an adequate supply of food and other necessities. However, as long as our God reigns among us, we do not need to worry about anything. When God reigns, He also supports, supplies, and provides. When He reigns, He provides the food that His people need. Under His reign there is no lack of food. "Your God reigns" is the good news, the glad tidings of peace and salvation. As long as we have peace and salvation, we can be satisfied; we do not need anything else.
After Israel returns from their captivity, they need to be restored. Isaiah 52:8 tells us that the reigning of God is to restore Zion by Jehovah.
Then, verse 9 says that the reigning of Israel's God is to comfort His people and to redeem Jerusalem by Jehovah. To redeem Jerusalem here is to deliver Jerusalem out of any kind of trouble, any kind of oppression, and any kind of tyranny.
Verse 10 says that the reigning of God is the salvation of Jehovah's holy arm. This salvation is the salvation of Christ as the holy arm of Jehovah.
In verse 11 Jehovah charged Israel to depart from Babylon. God was redeeming Israel out of Babylon; hence, they needed to depart. God provided a way for the Jews to depart from Babylon, yet many were not willing to depart. According to prophecy, a good number of Jews will be left in foreign countries because they are not willing to depart.
In verse 12 Jehovah said that He will go before the departing and returning ones and will be their rear guard, just as the Angel of Jehovah did for Israel in the exodus from Egypt.
Thus far in Isaiah 51 and 52 we have seen both Israel's return and Israel's restoration. After their return and their restoration, Israel still needs to know Christ further. Thus far the redeemed, returned, and restored people of God know Christ only as the arm of Jehovah and as the reigning God. This knowledge is very good, but it is not sufficient. God's people still need to know Christ in the New Testament sense.
The section of the word in the Old Testament from Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53 is a portion that is absolutely in the New Testament sense with the New Testament tone. From my youth, every time I read Isaiah 53 I had the sense that this was a New Testament chapter. The returned and restored Israel still has not come to know Christ in the New Testament sense. They still do not know how Christ died an all-inclusive and vicarious death and then was resurrected. Isaiah 53 gives us a full record of Christ's death, including a description of the environment of Christ's death. It tells us how God put all our sins upon Him (v. 6), how He was brought like a lamb to the slaughter (v. 7), and how after His death He was buried (v. 9) and then resurrected (v. 10b). All these things are in the New Testament, but the Old Testament elect did not know these things, and even the Jewish people today do not know these things. They know Jehovah, they know the power of Jehovah, they know the strength of Jehovah, and they know the arm of Jehovah. In their praises to God for the exodus, they did not speak much about the blood. They praised God mainly for His power; very rarely did they praise God for the blood. This means that the Jews know God in His power, they know God in His arm, but they do not know God in His New Testament redemption. They do not know that God became a man, that He died and resurrected, and that He has now become a life-giving Spirit to enter into His elect and dwell in them as the indwelling Spirit. Thus, there is the need of another portion in Isaiah to reveal to them the New Testament Christ.
Isaiah 52:13a says that Jesus will act wisely and will prosper. After His ascension to the heavens, Jesus has been acting prudently and wisely on this earth, and in whatever He has done He has prospered. Although many attacks have come upon Him, none of these attacks has frustrated Him. Communism tried to frustrate Christ for seventy years, but it was not successful. A recent newspaper article reported that in the parliament of Soviet Russia an announcement was made that Russia no longer wanted atheism. Now, the emptied Russians want the Bible, God, and Christ. When I left Communist China forty-two years ago, there were at the most approximately four million Chinese Christians, including Catholics. Today in China there are more than fifty million believers. The more they are oppressed, the more Christians rise up. Christ acts wisely and prosperously. Who can frustrate Him?
Actually, the book of Acts is not a record of the acts of the apostles. It is a record of the acts of Christ in the heavens through the apostles in their spirit. The acts of the apostle Paul were the acts of Christ, and they were carried out wisely and prosperously. Today no one can defeat Jesus Christ.
The second half of Isaiah 52:13 says that Jesus will be exalted and lifted up and very high. Actually, the Lord Jesus has been exalted already (Phil. 2:9).
Isaiah 52:14 continues by saying that many will be astonished at Him: "Even as many were astonished at Him — / His visage was marred more than that of any man, / And His form more than that of the sons of men." The Hebrew word for mar here means to disfigure. The word visage denotes the appearance and also refers to the face or facial expression, the countenance. This was Isaiah's poetic writing. In such a poetic writing Isaiah portrayed Christ in the New Testament sense. He was exalted and lifted up and is very high, and He has acted prudently and has prospered in every way. Today even the opposers of Christ respect Him. They all know that Christ is a great One. But when we meet Him, we will see that His face was marred, or disfigured. Christ was disfigured for us.
On the one hand, Christ is now glorified, but on the other hand, He still bears the impress of His being disfigured for us. Today the Jews might know Christ somewhat as the glorious Christ, but they do not know the disfigured Christ. We believers know the disfigured Christ much more than the glorified Christ. We were saved not only by a glorified Christ but also by a disfigured Christ. A so-called picture of Jesus popular among Christians today portrays Him as a handsome man. However, Christ our Savior was not that handsome; rather, He was disfigured. Isaiah said that many people were astonished at this.
According to people's concept, Jesus is great, high, stately, and glorified. Who would think that Jesus would be such a disfigured One? After I preached the gospel in China, many learned ones, after listening to the message, came to me and said, "Is this Jesus? We thought that Jesus Christ was a great man, a great figure. Is this disfigured One, this marred One, really Jesus?" Yes, this is Jesus. If He were not so, He could never save us; He could never be our Substitute on the cross. This is something astonishing.
Verse 15 begins, "So will He surprise many nations; / Kings will shut their mouths because of Him." Jesus not only astonished people, but He also surprised many nations. Kings shut their mouths because of Him, meaning that these kings regarded Jesus in a very positive way. Jesus is high, Jesus is wonderful, and Jesus is glorious, but when the kings met Jesus, they were told many things about Him according to what is recorded in the New Testament. The kings imagined a great Jesus, but eventually they met a little Nazarene. They were surprised that such a great One could be put on the cross and crucified.
Verse 15 continues, "For what had not been recounted to them they will see, / And what they had not heard of they will contemplate." What had not been recounted to them was that Jesus became a man with two natures, the divine nature and the human nature; that He lived the life of a Nazarene; that He was crucified; that He was buried; and that He was resurrected. All these things had never been recounted to them. But now they will see these things, and what they had not heard of they will contemplate, that is, they will understand, they will realize. This means that they will hear the gospel.
Isaiah 53 follows immediately after the end of chapter fifty-two. The things spoken of in Isaiah 53 are the things mentioned in 52:15 that are to be recounted, to be seen, to be heard of, and to be contemplated. The first verse of Isaiah 53 says, "Who has believed our report? / And to whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed?" Verse two continues, "For He grew up like a tender plant before Him, / And like a root out of dry ground." The entire chapter is a recounting, a telling, of the things concerning Christ according to the New Testament gospel.
In the future the returned and restored Israel will read the account in Isaiah 53. After all the Jews have returned to their fathers' land and have been restored there, they will be told, charged, instructed, and directed to know Isaiah 53. They will know Jesus not merely as the arm of Jehovah and the reigning God, but they will know Him as the exalted Christ. That Christ was exalted indicates that He was first humiliated. In His incarnation, and even in His daily living for thirty-three and a half years, He was very much disfigured and marred. Then He was brought to Calvary, a little mount outside of the city of Jerusalem, and He was crucified there for six hours. All these things the Jews need to know.
Today, as New Testament believers, we first know these things concerning Christ, and later we will know the arm of Jehovah in His miraculous power (cf. Heb. 6:5). But today many Pentecostal people have dropped knowing Jesus in the New Testament sense. In its preoccupation with miracles and power, Pentecostalism brings people back to the Old Testament. I thank the Lord that from my youth, for over sixty-five years, He has never led me to know Him in the way of miracles and power, but He has always led me to know Him as a humiliated Jesus. This is the reason that I like to follow Jesus, to take His steps as the One humiliated by people. To be glorified by anyone is a shame. To follow the Lord in His humiliation is to know Jesus Christ in the New Testament sense. Later, when He comes, we will see Him and know Him as the arm of Jehovah and as the reigning God. We all will shout to one another, "Our God reigns!" Then we will be in the time of restoration. This is our Christ, the all-inclusive One, as the Servant of Jehovah in relation to Israel's return and restoration.
