Isaiah 49 The Promised Servant Series

Isaiah 49

The Promised Servant

The Servants Calling Vs. 1-7

The Servants Mission Vs. 8-13

The Servants Faithfulness Vs. 14-21

The Servants Protection Vs. 22-26

Intro: Fifth Gospel

Good to be back from vacation

Take a moment for Easter

Let’s jump back into the book of Isaiah

Isaiah is often referred to as the Fifth Gospel

No where in the OT do we get such a clear picture of Jesus Christ

Isaiah even is parallel to the Gospels in its description of Jesus Christ

Isaiah is the most quoted OT book in the NT

In fact the Gospels alone Isaiah is quoted 25 times, the book of Romans quotes it 19 times

The reason behind this is the fact that we get the clearest picture of Jesus

All of this come 740 years before Jesus was born

If you were to read this as a current account of his life you’d be impressed

But the fact that is was written 740 years before his birth makes even more amazing

God once again brings up the theme of Jesus coming as a servant

Isaiah 49 is actually the second of four songs called the Servant Songs

We see his calling, his mission, his faithfulness, and His protection

Read Isaiah 49:1-4

Transition:

Isaiah 49-55 is a section within a section

You won’t find a clearer picture of Jesus Christ anywhere else in the OT

Israel 40-66 is all about the comfort of God

But Israel need more than just words of comfort

The suffering Jews needed more than release from Babylon.

They needed a savior greater than Cyrus.

God gives them a messiah who is everything they need

We all need a spiritual liberation and an everlasting Savior.

Isaiah is deepening our awareness of this.

Isaiah wants to fix our attention on the servant of the Lord, who embodies God’s loving intentions toward us.

We should melt in delighted wonder that he gives us such a gift as his servant.

The Servants Calling Vs. 1-8

Let’s first look at the Servants calling

A calling is a responsibility put on a person under which God has called them

Jesus was called to what he was to do long before he was born

How do we know that?

Vs. 1 Called me from the Womb, He named my name

Before Jesus was in the womb he was called by the Lord

Even his name was determined before he was born

We see this play out in the Gospels

Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

This is the Angel Gabriel talking to Mary laying out God’s plan that is mentioned here

God’s plan of salvation was what Jesus was called to

Next we see how he is going to be used

Vs. 2 Mouth like a sharp sword, made me a polished arrow

The preparation of the Servant for ministry to the nations involved God making the Servant’s mouth a powerful instrument to declare God’s messages.

His mouth would be like a sharp sword.

Sword imagery suggests the use of piercing-sharp speech,

This indicates that the Servant will not accomplish the tasks described in this passage through military conquests but by speaking some strong words from God.

This is true of Jesus’ ministry

His teaching amazed even the most educated pharisee’s

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart

A second metaphor compares the Servant to a pointed arrow that can strike the enemy with a lethal blow from a distance.

Because he spoke the truth his words were often like a sword and arrow

This really flies in the face of what people expect Christians to be today

It seems like the goal has become to raise up nice people over godly people

We come to equate being a christian as a Ned Flanders, perpetually nice

If You Can’t Say Something Nice

Your mom probably told you this a thousand times growing up

It was intended to keep us from saying things in a mean way

The unintended consequence of this is that we have raised several generations of liars

Because we have switched the meaning of this statement to mean “Don’t hurt anyone’s feelings”

So instead of telling the people the truth we lie to them so it won’t hurt their feelings

Classic case: Your wife asks you if they look fat in the dress

You have three options; Tell the truth, Lie, or say something nice that avoids the subject

Honey you look as good today as the day I married you

While that may be true you avoided the subject