Isaiah 42:1-25

Isaiah: God controls the nations

God promises comfort to his people

Isaiah Chapter s 40 to 48

Norman Hillyer

Chapter 42

The *Old Testament calls several people ‘the *Lord’s servant’. Moses is one example (see Exodus 14:31). In the Book of Isaiah various people are called ‘the *Lord’s servant’ (see Isaiah 20:3; Isaiah 22:20; Isaiah 37:35). Sometimes Israel, as a group of people, is also called ‘the *Lord’s servant’ (see Isaiah 41:8; Isaiah 44:21). In general, the name means someone that God calls to do something for him.

• But in certain passages in Isaiah Chapter s 40 to 55, the name ‘the *Lord’s Servant’ has a very special meaning. These particular passages are Isaiah 42:1-7; Isaiah 49:1-6; Isaiah 50:4-9; and 52:13 to 53:12. These four passages are often called ‘the Servant Songs’ (see my notes below on verse 1).

The *Lord’s servant

v1 The *Lord speaks: ‘See, here is my Servant. I support him. I have chosen him. He pleases me. I have put my Spirit on him. He will establish fair judgement among the nations. v2 He will not shout or cry out. He will not make loud speeches in the streets. v3 He will not break a thin stick. Nor will he put out a lamp that gives only a little light. He will make sure that judgements are always true. v4 My Servant will not lose hope or courage. He will make the world a place of fair judgements. And distant nations will wait hopefully for him to teach them.’

v5 It is God the *Lord who created the heavens. He created them so that they hang like a curtain. It is God the *Lord who created the earth. And he created all that it produces. He gave the breath of life to all who live upon the earth. Now this is what the *Lord says to his Servant: v6 ‘I am the *Lord. I have called you, my Servant, to bring *justice to the world. I have given you the power to carry out this task. I have appointed you to be my *covenant with the nations. And to be as a light for the nations. v7 This is so that you can make blind people able to see. And so that you can free prisoners. And so that you can bring people out of the darkness in which they were living. v8 I alone am the *Lord. That is my name. I do not permit the honour that belongs to me to go to anyone else. Or to go to some home-made *idol. v9 In the past, I announced that various things would happen. Look! Those events really have happened. Now I am announcing some new events. I am telling you about them before they happen.’