Prophecy

New Testament Fulfillment / Interpretation

^ESV Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. ² He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. ³ And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

In 49:1-6 the Servant is speaking, while quoting Yahweh in verses 3 and 6.

In 49:7 Yahweh is speaking.

“Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar.” – The Servant is pictured speaking to peoples (~aol. (l®°œm) – can be translated “nations”) that live in distant lands. In other words, he is addressing the Gentile world.

In verses 1-3, the Servant’s work is described as that of a prophet, one is called by Yahweh to speak God’s Word. The statement, “He made my mouth like a sharp sword” refers to the sharp and penetrating power of God’s Word which cuts to the heart and convicts. This same picture is conveyed in Revelation 1:16-18. It conveys the same thought as Hebrews 4:12. See also Ephesians 6:17 and John 16:7-8.

“You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” – Many commentators understand this to mean that the Servant/Messiah represents the nation of Israel. The angel of Yahweh gave the new name “Israel” (laer'f.yI (yi´r¹°¢l)) to Jacob after the two of them wrestled all night long at Peniel (Genesis 32:24-31) The word Israel means “he who contends with God.” In Jesus God was glorified fully, fulfilling this prophesy. See John 12:28; John 17.

^ESV Isaiah 49:4 But I said, "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God."

“I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.” -- The word for vain is qyrI (rîq), and the word for nothing is WhTo (tœhû) ,which means “formlessness” or “nothingness.” The word for vanity is lb,h, (hebel), the same word that is used 36 times in Ecclesiastes.

The Servant, looking back on his Ministry, is overcome by discouragement, as it appears to him to have been without results, and therefore all for nothing. This is a very comforting passage to those of us who become discouraged over lack of results. Christ himself experienced it! Luther is on target when he writes in his commentary on this passage, “This is a powerful text. I have labored in vain, for nothing, etc. This is the lament of every preacher, that

even though the Word is sure, he has so few disciples. “I preach, but there seems to be no fruit. All are leaving.” We had this experience. At first many applauded the Gospel. Later, when we attacked the Mass and other things, the nobles and monks became our enemies again. Here Christ in His own person complains about the small number of disciples. So we, too, experienced that we lost many.”

“yet surely my right is with the LORD” – the Servant immediately comforts himself with the truth that God is just and can be trusted. Yahweh gave the Servant his work and Yahweh will see to the results. Again, Luther: “This consolation is necessary in the church when we see the scarcity of disciples in the church. As for me, Martin Luther, unless God had closed for me the eyes of reason, I would long ago have stopped preaching and have despaired.ā Now a boldness, or certainty, comes to my aid.”

^ESV Isaiah 49:5 And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him- for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength- ⁶ he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." ⁷ Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."

“he says: It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Verse six is the key to this entire Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 49. It clearly shows that Yahweh wants the Servant to be the Savior not only of Israel, but also of the Gentiles. God regards saving the Jews only to be far too insignificant (ll;q' (q¹lal)) for the Servant to do. He is charged by Yahweh not only to “raise up” and “bring back” Israel. God will also make him “a light for the nations” ~yIAG rAal. (°ôr gôy). No other earthly servant in Israel’s history was ever made to be “a light to the nations” except Jesus the Christ. (See John 1:4, 8:12, 9:5, 12:35). This passage shows that even in the Old Testament, it was God’s plan to bring “salvation to the end of the earth.” The word for salvation here is h['Wvy> (y®shû±â), the very name that the Messiah would be given: “Yeshua” or “Jesus.” See Matthew 1:18.

New Testament fulfillment: Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47, 26:23. See also Luke 24:46:47 and Matthew 28:18-20.

After calling himself “the Redeemer of Israel” and the “Holy One,” Yahweh addresses the Servant/Messiah as one “deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers.” By these words the suffering, rejection, and humiliation of the Servant/Messiah are pictured in bold relief, something obviously fulfilled in the suffering of Jesus. Yet Yahweh promises that kings and princes will prostrate themselves before the Servant. (See Philippians 2:9-11). This pictures the Messiah’s exaltation.