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Isaiah Overview: The Servant's Song

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There are four songs in Isaiah attributed to God's Servant. Seth and David walk though each one and show how they anticipate the coming of Jesus and restoration of God's people.

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Isaiah's Servant Songs: How the Prophet Foretold a Suffering Savior Who Would Restore All Thing

Show Notes

In this episode of the Spoken Gospel podcast, hosts David and Seth continue their journey through the Book of Isaiah, tracing the theme of the servant and exploring how it finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. Building on previous episodes that examined the failures of kings like Ahaz and Hezekiah, this conversation turns to the latter half of Isaiah, where the prophet offers stunning prophecies about a coming servant who would accomplish what no human leader ever could.

A Turning Point in Isaiah's Prophecy

Isaiah 40 marks what scholars sometimes call a "seam" in the book, a literary transition that jumps forward approximately 100 years from Hezekiah's lifetime into Israel's Babylonian exile. The previous chapters ended with a devastating prophecy: because of Hezekiah's failure to fully embody the servant hope of Israel, the nation would dissolve into exile, and his sons would become eunuchs, effectively ending the Davidic family line. This raised an existential question for God's people: if the lineage of David that God promised would last forever has been cut off, and if Israel lies captive in a foreign land, how can God possibly rescue them? Can His project of creating a nation of servants that Adam, Abraham, Moses, and the kings were meant to be actually continue from such a hopeless situation?

The answer comes in the opening lines of chapter 40: "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare has ended, her iniquity is pardoned, and she has received from the Lord double for her sins." This declaration hearkens back to Isaiah 6, where God indicated that Israel needed cleansing before they could renew their calling as his servants to the world. Now that cleansing through exile has been accomplished, something new is about to happen. A voice cries out to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight in the desert a highway for God. This imagery, which John the Baptist would later apply to himself before Jesus' ministry began, signals that God himself is coming to rescue his people from Babylonian exile and restore them to their land and calling.

Cyrus the Anointed and the Promise of a Greater Servant

Isaiah provides two answers to how God will accomplish this restoration. The first is historical and geopolitical. In chapter 45, the prophet names a Persian king called Cyrus as God's "anointed one," using the Hebrew word that gives us "Messiah." This striking designation for a pagan ruler indicates that God has commissioned Cyrus for a specific purpose: to defeat Babylon and allow Israel to return home. In a very real political sense, Cyrus prepares a way, opening up a safe passage for figures like Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah to travel back to their homeland. However, while Cyrus solves the external political problem of exile, he cannot address the deeper spiritual malady that led Israel into captivity in the first place. The nation's leaders have consistently failed to trust God, and that internal problem also needs healing.

This is where the servant prophecies become crucial. Three chapters before mentioning Cyrus, in Isaiah 42, the prophet introduces a different kind of figure: "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations." This servant will accomplish what Israel was always meant to do, bringing God's Torah to the whole world so that the nations might learn peace and turn their swords into plowshares. Unlike Cyrus, this servant carries the blessing of God, the Word of God, and the Abrahamic and Davidic promises. He can therefore give these things away in a manner that a foreign king, however useful politically, simply cannot. The juxtaposition of Cyrus the Messiah and this Spirit-filled servant creates a tension that begs for resolution: one figure provides external deliverance, but another is needed for the ultimate internal transformation God's people require.

The Developing Portrait of a Suffering Servant

As Isaiah continues, the servant prophecies reveal increasingly detailed characteristics about this coming figure. In Isaiah 49, the servant declares that the Lord called him from the womb and made his mouth like a sharp sword. He is identified as "Israel, in whom I will be glorified," yet he also speaks as an individual distinct from the nation. This servant's mission is to raise up the tribes of Jacob and be a light to the nations, so that God's salvation might reach the ends of the earth. However, a troubling note enters the prophecy: "I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity." The language evokes barrenness and futility, as though the servant's efforts to create a nation of servants will be met with rejection. This is a significant development. The servant will do exactly what Israel was supposed to do, teaching the law and bringing about peace, but his ministry will be attended by hostility just as Israel's prophets have experienced throughout history.

Isaiah 50 deepens this portrait further. The servant has been given "the tongue of those who are taught" and an ear that hears God's instruction, unlike Israel, whom God previously described as having ears that could not hear. But this obedience leads not to triumph but to suffering: "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard. I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting." The details are startling in their specificity, describing precisely what Jesus would experience during his passion. Yet the servant remains confident: "The Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been disgraced. I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame." Paul would later draw on this servant song in Romans 8 to describe the experience of believers, who likewise face rejection and suffering but trust in God's ultimate vindication.

The Climactic Revelation of Substitutionary Suffering

The fourth and final servant song, beginning in Isaiah 52:13, represents the theological climax of Isaiah's servant theme. The servant will be "high and lifted up and shall be exalted," yet his appearance will be "so marred beyond human semblance" that nations will be astonished. Foreign kings who have never heard will suddenly understand what Israel has failed to grasp. This raises a perplexing question: why would the disgrace of a suffering figure lead unbelieving nations to faith? Throughout Isaiah, the suffering of God's people had only prompted their enemies to boast that their gods were superior. Sennacherib mocked Israel's God when Assyria threatened Jerusalem. So how could suffering possibly produce repentance among the Gentiles?

The answer comes in Isaiah 53, one of the most important passages in Scripture for understanding Jesus' atoning work. "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows," the prophet declares, using sacrificial language drawn from Leviticus to describe how sin is carried away from God's people. "He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and upon him was a punishment that brought us peace, and by his wounds we are healed." The servant does not merely suffer as Israel suffered in exile. He suffers as a substitute, taking upon himself the sins of God's people so that they might be reconciled to their King. Corporate Israel in exile did provide a kind of cleansing for subsequent generations, dealing double with their sins so that a remnant could return. But that generation-by-generation pattern could never break the cycle of sin. Each new generation would sin again and require its own judgment. What God's people needed was a servant whose sacrifice would atone not just for one era but for all time, and not just for Israel but for the entire world that God intended to bring into his Kingdom.

The Promise of the Spirit and a Transformed People

After the servant songs reach their crescendo in chapter 53, Isaiah 55 erupts in celebration: "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters!" The mountains break forth into singing, the trees clap their hands, and instead of thorns, cypress trees grow. It sounds like the conclusion of the story, with Eden restored through the servant's work. Yet ten more chapters remain in Isaiah. Why? Because while the servant has been described and his saving work prophesied, the people who will receive his salvation have not yet been transformed. In chapter 59, they confess their continuing blindness and deadness: "We grope for the wall like the blind. We stumble at noon as in the twilight. Among those in full vigor, we are like dead men." The servant's atoning work is glorious news, but it does not automatically fix the internal sinfulness that plagues every human heart.

God responds to this cry with a covenant promise: "My Spirit that is upon you, my words that I put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth or out of your offspring or your children's offspring, from this time forth and forevermore." The same Spirit that rested upon the servant will be given to God's people. This is what distinguishes the messianic servant from every other figure in Isaiah. He is Emmanuel, God with us, possessing the Spirit in a unique way that enables him not only to atone for sin but to share that Spirit with those he redeems. Then in chapter 61 comes the proclamation that Jesus would read aloud at the beginning of his public ministry: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives." Jesus stood in the synagogue at Nazareth and declared that this Scripture was being fulfilled in their hearing. He understood exactly what Isaiah's servant prophecies meant and claimed that identity for himself.

The Servant's Work Completed in New Creation

The Book of Isaiah concludes with visions of new heavens and a new earth, imagery that Revelation 21 and 22 draw upon heavily. Jerusalem stands at the center with its gates torn open, and the nations of the world stream to it just as Isaiah 2 promised. The serpent's curse is lifted so thoroughly that children will play with cobras, reversing the enmity God declared between Eve's offspring and the serpent in Genesis 3. The servant's work, which began with the promise to restore Israel's calling as God's royal priesthood, culminates in the transformation of the entire cosmos.

This is the good news that Isaiah proclaimed across his sixty-six chapters. God would not abandon his servant-creating project despite the failure of every human leader. He would send a servant who is Emmanuel, filled with the Spirit, who would suffer substitutionally for the sins of his people and then share that same Spirit with them so they could finally become the nation of priests God always intended. The church today functions as a partial fulfillment of Isaiah 2, a community to which people from every nation are drawn in hope of finding justice, peace, and transformation. But the ultimate fulfillment awaits the servant's return, when Jesus will complete the Edenic project that Adam abandoned, filling the whole earth with the glory of God and inviting his redeemed servants to reign with him forever.

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Transcript

Seth: [gentle music] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: Yeah, go on.

Seth: Like Israel's doing this thing-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and there's gonna be a new servant, the ultimate servant, who will bring about the Isaiah 2 promise of restoring-

David: Yep

Seth: ... Israel to their calling, and to be princes under God and restore peace to the world. But his ministry is gonna look like Israel's ministry.

David: Yep.

Seth: He's gonna do what Israel was supposed to do, teach the law, bring about peace, but he's also gonna be met with futility and hostility-

David: Yes

Seth: ... just as Israel's servants have throughout the world.

Intro: Welcome to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Spoken Gospel is a ministry that's dedicated to speaking the gospel out of every corner of scripture. In Luke 24, Jesus told his disciples that every part of the Bible is about him. In each episode, hosts David and Seth work through a passage of scripture to see how it's all about Jesus and his good news. Let's jump in. [upbeat music]

David: Well, welcome, everyone, to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. We are continuing our journey through the Book of Isaiah, specifically tracing the theme of the servant through the book, and seeing how it all fulfills in Jesus. Seth-

Seth: Yes.

David: ... where are we at? How you feeling? What's going on?

Seth: How I'm feeling is I feel like I had a lot of curry for lunch, so just a little- [laughs]

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... a little, a little spicy.

David: A little spicy?

Seth: Little... A little, a little tired. But-

David: You- there was only one spice level left-

Seth: For me to go up

David: ... for you to go up on.

Seth: I did. I did.

David: You were right at the tippy top.

Seth: I did have a lot of- [laughs]

David: I was on the opposite end of that spectrum.

Seth: That's the way Erica is, too. But here, where we are in the Book of Isaiah is we are at a story seam in the Book of Isaiah.

David: Okay.

Seth: We've been tracing this theme of the servant. Israel is meant to be this nation of servants that do justice-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and spread peace throughout the world, and the nations of the world are supposed to look to Israel as this beacon of hope, and peace, and justice, and they all flock to it. However-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... both Ahaz and Hezekiah have failed to be the servants they were meant to be.

David: Ahaz kind of outright. Hezekiah was so close.

Seth: He was so close, maybe better than anybody-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... any human up to that point in time, but ultimately fails. And God promises at the end of Hezekiah's life that his failure is kind of uniquely catastrophic. Like, because of his failure to embody the servant hope of Israel, the nation of Israel will dissolve.

David: Mm.

Seth: The nation promised to Abraham will fall into exile, and his lineage, the lineage of David, that God promised his forefather would last forever, all his sons will become eunuchs, and the family line will end.

David: Man.

Seth: Right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so-

David: And I, yeah, I remember we were talking about Adam and Eve, too-

Seth: Yes

David: ... and how this servant theme of being fruitful and multiplying, blessing the world, started with him.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And now it seems that his, him and his family are not going to be able to be fruitful and multiply to be a blessing to the world.

Seth: That's right.

David: So it seems like a death-

Seth: That's right

David: ... to where will come resurrection.

Seth: Right, and so the question Isaiah 40 opens up with-

David: Mm

Seth: ... is, okay, if Israel will be exiled to Babylon, if the, the, the lineage of David is all castrated stumps-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... how can God rescue? Will God rescue?

David: Right.

Seth: Can God rescue?

David: Yeah.

Seth: And how will he do it, if he's gonna do it? And the opening lines of this new section of the book are, "Comfort, comfort, uh, my people, Israel."

David: Okay, before we get into comfort-

Seth: Yes

David: ... you s- you used this phrase that I'm curious about, that Chapter 40 is a seam.

Seth: Yes.

David: What do we mean by that?

Seth: Uh, I, I mean, Chapter 38 and 39 are seams. They are the end of Hezekiah's life-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and they kind of, like, talk about his, his fall.

David: Yep.

Seth: And they prophesy or predict the coming Babylonian invasion and threat.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And so that prophecy comes at the end of Chapter 39, and at the beginning of Chapter 40, the situation described is Israel in exile. So we've jumped ahead. The situation is, like, 100 years into the future.

David: Okay.

Seth: This little historical moment that ends-

David: Mm

Seth: ... with Hezekiah's lifetime ends.

David: Yep.

Seth: But there's a little hint at it of a lot to come, the death of the Davidic family, and the death of Israel.

David: Right, but the seam comes, and it's kind of like a new book being stitched in, or-

Seth: Yeah, so like the ne-

David: ... like, 'cause we're jumping ahead?

Seth: Yeah, like the next stage of the story.

David: Okay.

Seth: So this is what God promised is gonna happen.

David: So that, that was Fellowship of the Ring-

Seth: Yes

David: ... and now we're into Two Towers.

Seth: Now we're into Two Towers.

David: [chuckles] Okay.

Seth: What God said came true, and so... Because in other prophets, like, they describe the fall of Israel, they describe the Babylonian invasion. Isaiah doesn't do any of that. He just assumes it happens.

David: Okay, which is strange.

Seth: It is strange.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Uh-

David: Okay

Seth: ... but he just assumes it happens, and then the question is, can God raise-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... up a servant from this situation?

David: Okay.

Seth: Is the, is the project God began with humanity and Adam, and continued through Abraham, and Moses-

David: Yes

Seth: ... and the kings of Israel-

David: Okay

Seth: ... can it continue from this place?

David: All right, cool.

Seth: And-

David: So we open up the Two Towers-

Seth: That's right

David: ... in Chapter 40.

Seth: And he says, "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her. Her warfare has ended, her iniquity is pardoned, and she has received from the Lord double for her sins."

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Like, her sins have been pardoned, her punishment's complete. It's now time for comfort. Uh, that kind of goes back, all the way back to Isaiah 6. Like, Israel had needed to be cleansed-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... before they could renew their calling as God's servant to the world.

David: So he, is he's saying the cleansing has happened?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Therefore, take comfort, because now God's not gonna deal with you according to your sins anymore.

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: A new thing is gonna happen. A new servant's gonna come. And then verse three, uh, uh, a verse that should sound very familiar to you: "A voice cries in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.' "... every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, uneven ground made level, and rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Israel has gone into exile, their sin has been purged, and then God says, "Make way for the way of the Lord."

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: "Make way for God to act in a new way in this new season." So, and the reason I say you've probably heard it before, this is what John the Baptist says about himself before Jesus arrives on the scene.

David: Right. So you- is this supposed to cue the listeners into the fact that God is sending a servant or a king-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... or the Emmanuel, or-

Seth: Yes

David: ... what is this the way of the Lord? Prepare the way for the Lord.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So it's like, does that mean God is coming?

Seth: That's right, God is coming.

David: God is coming, so get the way ready.

Seth: Yes. God is coming to rescue his people out of Babylonian exile. He's coming to redeem them and return them to their land.

David: Oh, so the way of the Lord-

Seth: Yes

David: ... would be a path out of Babylon back into Israel?

Seth: Yes, to reclaim their title as God's servants-

David: I see

Seth: ... once again.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's right.

David: And so what would it look like for the Lord to come to Israel in their exile?

Seth: Yes. So Isaiah gives two answers, and they're kind of butted up against each other.

David: Okay.

Seth: So there's a historical answer. Isaiah gives two answers. In chapter 45, Isaiah says that he has an- anointed a man named Cyrus, that there is a Messiah named Cyrus, who will come, and he will defeat Babylon and send Israel back home.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: So in a very geopolitical sense, Isaiah is prophesying a future on how God's people physically move from their place in Babylonian exile back home. This anointed one, this Messiah, will come and send God's people back home. That's one way-

David: And that is a king of Babylon named Cyrus.

Seth: A king of Persia.

David: Persia-

Seth: Yes

David: ... named Cyrus-

Seth: Yes

David: ... who is going to prepare a way, allow God's people to go back home.

Seth: Mm-hmm. He'll defeat Babylon. Like, whatever's preventing them from going back now, he'll make it all clean.

David: Okay.

Seth: And then-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... send his people back.

David: Chapter 45, verse one: "This is what Yahweh says to his Messiah."

Seth: Yes, to Cyrus. [chuckles]

David: To Cyrus.

Seth: Yes. [chuckles]

David: Which is like... I think the first time I read that, and, and, and, you know, put in the actual Hebrew words, you know, [chuckles]

Seth: Yes. Oh, yeah. [chuckles]

David: I was like, that kind of threw me for a loop.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So I think a lot of people might be thrown for a loop. Like, the Messiah is Jesus-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... so why is he calling C- Cyrus the Messiah?

Seth: So-

David: Right, like-

Seth: Right, right

David: ... what's happening here?

Seth: I mean, the, the simple answer is, so Messiah is, means anointed one.

David: Yep.

Seth: It means anointed one.

David: And what does anointed one mean?

Seth: It means somebody chosen by God and commissioned for a special purpose.

David: Yep, and particularly, like, kingship.

Seth: Normally kings.

David: Yeah.

Seth: That's right, yeah. Uh, priests and kings-

David: Priests and kings

Seth: ... are generally the ones that are anointed for a particular task.

David: Okay.

Seth: And so, you know, if you go back all the way, David is anointed.

David: Yes.

Seth: One of the first kings of Israel.

David: Yep.

Seth: And so God has anointed Cyrus for this particular purpose, to restore Israel back to their homeland, and to, uh, hopefully restore the calling as God's servants, to be a light to the nations and bring people- extend God's reign of justice and peace throughout the world.

David: Okay, so in a sense, can I... Let me just try something here.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Is Cyrus the first John the Baptist? [chuckles]

Seth: It is interesting.

David: [chuckles]

Seth: I, I, I've been wrestling with how to understand, like, make straight the paths of the Lord.

David: Right, 'cause that could be like an internal reform for the people-

Seth: Yes

David: ... to get their hearts ready.

Seth: Mm.

David: That's how John uses it in a sense.

Seth: That's right. That's right.

David: And so it could be that. It could also be geopolitical, open up a, a safe highway for Ezra and Zerubbabel and-

Seth: To all go back

David: ... Nehemiah to travel back on.

Seth: Yeah. As with a lot of Isaiah's language, it seems to have multiple-

David: Yes

Seth: ... horizons to it-

David: Absolutely

Seth: ... and multiple ways to understand it. And it's like, in a very real political sense, and, like, just the movement of people sense, Cyrus seems to be some sort of fulfillment of this prophecy.

David: Yeah, definitely.

Seth: The political situation is one problem-

David: Mm

Seth: ... but Isaiah has been talking about, since the beginning, a much more deeper and, like, motivational problem within Israel's leadership. They don't trust God, and that problem also needs to be fixed within Israel-

David: Right

Seth: ... because that's the cause of their exile in the first place.

David: An external political reform is needed, and an internal spiritual reform is needed.

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's right, and so Cyrus solves this-

David: External, political

Seth: ... this external one.

David: Yep.

Seth: But in this same passage of scripture, 40 to 55, we also start getting all these prophecies of a new and better servant.

David: Mm.

Seth: So when we talked about how Isaiah is this, this ideal servant for Israel, he confesses his sin, admits his guilt, is cleansed by God, and is sent out on a mission. Ahaz is this failed servant for Israel. He rejects God, and he's destroyed. But Hezekiah is a faithful servant, at least for a time.

David: Yep.

Seth: And we're left wondering at the end, like, "Who can be the servant Israel needs?"

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so it seems as if that problem is gonna be solved by this servant figure. Does that, does that make sense, that follow?

David: Yeah, and is that servant Cyrus?

Seth: He solves the political problem-

David: Okay

Seth: ... of Israel.

David: D- Is Isaiah doing that double thing here? Like, I, I haven't read it recently-

Seth: Yeah.

David: So it's like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... is he doing that thing where it's like, "Wait, is that servant still talking about Cyrus?" Or does he clearly say, "Okay, it's not Cyrus. Let me talk about somebody else"?

Seth: He, he never says it, but he also never calls Cyrus a servant.

David: He calls him the, the Messiah.

Seth: He calls him the Messiah.

David: Which, like, I feel like those could-

Seth: Which is close

David: ... close, yeah.

Seth: Right. But again, like, remember, servant, as we've talked about it, is one of God's special terms for his people-

David: Mm, yeah

Seth: ... and how they will extend his kingdom throughout the world. So yes, Cyrus can be an anointed one to help-

David: Mm

Seth: ... Israel, but he can't be the, the servant in the way Adam or Abraham or Moses or the kings of Israel were meant to be. They're supposed-

David: Because... And that's because he does not carry-... the blessing of God, the Word of God-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... the Torah, the Abrahamic blessing-

Seth: Right

David: ... or Davidic blessing.

Seth: Right.

David: He doesn't carry that, so he can't give it away.

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's right.

David: I buy that.

Seth: So something like that-

David: I get that

Seth: ... but it's also, like, the way that, that, uh, the prophecy about Cyrus is in chapter 45, and the first prophecy of a servant is in chapter 42, three chapters before it.

David: Mm.

Seth: So as you're reading through it, it's like, "Well, maybe-"

David: Maybe this is?

Seth: "Maybe that is one." But let's read this first servant, 'cause we're hoping for this servant. Uh-

David: Is this 42?

Seth: Chapter 42: "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice on the earth, and the coastlands wait for his Torah-

David: Mm

Seth: ... his law." So we have the failure of Hezekiah, the obliteration of Israel, the ending of the Davidic line, and the, the question: How is God going to restore Israel's servant calling? And it seems as if chapter 42 is the way that God's gonna do that. God is gonna provide a servant-

David: Mm

Seth: ... who is gonna bring justice to the nations and bring the Torah of God to the whole world.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And if you remember all the way back in Isaiah 2, when the nations stream to, to Israel and hear the law-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... they turn their swords into plowshare.

David: And there's peace and justice in the land.

Seth: And there's peace and justice in the land. So this servant is the one through whom Isaiah 2 comes true.

David: Yes, and there's something really unique about him, I noticed, that God puts His Spirit on him.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Is that a theme throughout Isaiah? Is that unique- Is this unique in Isaiah?

Seth: It begins to get picked up in the-

David: Okay

Seth: ... servant songs, yes.

David: What... I mean, what would Isaiah mean by-

Seth: Mm

David: ... Spirit? What would his people be thinking? 'Cause I'm thinking immediately, just, like, if I'm answering my own question-

Seth: Yes

David: ... leading the witness.

Seth: Yes.

David: I'm, I'm thinking, "Well, if I'm supposed to think that this servant is Adam-"

Seth: Okay.

David: "... Adam had ruach breathed into him-

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: ... the spirit, the breath of God breathed into him-

Seth: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm

David: ... in creation." And so he's... Is he, is he kind of going like, "I'm going to breathe into someone else, new creation"?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Is that it? Is it just like, "They're gonna have my animating life, and they're going to be a living nefesh, a living being?"

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Or is it something else? Like, the, uh... Are we supposed to think the person of God, the Holy Spirit? I'm just curious here.

Seth: Yeah, I... It's a good question, and it's not something I've necessarily thought about deeply. But no king in Isaiah has been described as somebody who has the Spirit-

David: Mm

Seth: ... that is placed on him, and I don't even believe Isaiah is described that way within Isaiah's work. So while it probably could mean, like, there's this animating spirit within all of us, but the fact that it's, "I put my spirit"-

David: My

Seth: ... makes me think that there's something special.

David: Something Immanuel.

Seth: Something Immanuel about God. There's a unique way that God is with this servant-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... that He hasn't been with others so far.

David: Super interesting.

Seth: And just so you know, like, later on, that same spirit will get poured out on all of Israel as well in the coming chapters, but yes.

David: Well, okay, that makes a ton of sense.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So it's like... Oh, let me, let me, let me make one observation with that-

Seth: Yes

David: ... and then I have another question. [chuckles]

Seth: Yes.

David: Uh, so that we talked, I think last episode, about that tension between chapter 7 and chapter 9 of Isaiah-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... where you had this human son being born who's called Immanuel.

Seth: Yes.

David: But then in chapter 9, it's a clearly more than human son-

Seth: Mm

David: ... who will be the King of Israel that they actually need.

Seth: Yes.

David: Mighty God-

Seth: That's right

David: ... Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Seth: That's right.

David: So we need, we need God-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and we need an earthly king.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And there seems to be this swirling of the two.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Then here, that kind of gets developed more, where you have the servant-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... who is probably going to be the King of Israel-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... has God himself in him.

Seth: Yes.

David: So this seems to be a, a future development of that.

Seth: Yeah, I think that's exactly right.

David: So that's, that's interesting.

Seth: And so... And I think, too, he comes, like, really gently.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Seth: He doesn't lift his voice in the street. He doesn't break a reed. He doesn't quench a wick. And remember how the Immanuel prophecies... Well, we didn't really talk about this, but they were all children.

David: Yeah.

Seth: The prophecies about the rest- the rescue of Israel were all put in the hands of children.

David: Mm.

Seth: Well, let me go back, actually. There is one prophecy we didn't talk about in the very first part of Isaiah. Uh, we have the prophecy of Immanuel, or the sign of Immanuel-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and the sign of Mahershalalhashbaz. We have that, this, the prophecy of a child, "and the government will rest on his shoulders, and he'll be Mighty God and Prince of Peace."

David: Yep.

Seth: And in Isaiah 11, we have a prophecy about w- what will come out of that dried-up and judged stump of Israel.

David: Right.

Seth: After God judges Israel down to a smoldering stump, a shoot of life will come out of it. There's this prophecy about what will happen from that shoot of life, and it says this in verse two: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge by what he sees or decide disputes by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth." So we do have a prophecy all the way back in the early parts of Isaiah, where he's discussing the future redemption and restoration of Israel in terms that don't seem to match anything in Isaiah's current political life-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... time or, like, lifespan.... and it does seem to be he's picking up on those themes here-

David: Right

Seth: ... and saying, "In the future, there will be this coming son who's-

David: Who's spirit-filled.

Seth: Who's spirit-filled, who will rescue God's people."

David: Mm.

Seth: And now, remember, Isaiah's writing 100 years before the events he's describing here.

David: Right, yeah.

Seth: And so he's saying, "Hey, Babylon's gonna come, but don't worry. Even if Babylon comes, even if the king's line is wiped out, God can still rescue you." How is he gonna rescue you? He's gonna rescue you through a servant.

David: Mm.

Seth: And so I think it makes sense it's a little more vague, especially if he's still speaking to his audience during his lifetime.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, he's still speaking. He's like, "How, how will the ultimate res- restoration of God's people happen?" Will happen in terms we understand, servants, spirits, but it- the, the horizon's so far away, at- it's not as specific as it was before. Does that make sense?

David: Yeah, definitely.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And I, and I think probably the, the English isn't helping us with this-

Seth: I think

David: ... phrase, "Here is my servant."

Seth: "Behold my servant."

David: Yeah, "Behold my servant"-

Seth: Yes

David: ... or, "Let me tell you about my servant."

Seth: Yes.

David: Is probably a, a, a more helpful translation [chuckles] there.

Seth: Yes.

David: Anyway, so okay, my questions are answered.

Seth: Yeah, interestingly, the last time that word "behold" is used, if you, if you just go back, um, it, it, it's used to describe idolatry.

David: Mm.

Seth: It's say, "Hey, look at how impotent the idols of the world are."

David: Mm.

Seth: "Look at how little salvation they've affected for God's people. But behold-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... my servant." So there is something that he's doing within the text itself. He's showing, like, "Hey, look at how-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... little idols have done for you, but look at how much my servant will do for you instead."

David: Yeah. Examine your idols, examine the promised-

Seth: That's right

David: ... servant.

Seth: Yes.

David: Which one deserves your hope?

Seth: That's right.

David: Yeah, that makes sense.

Seth: Right.

David: Okay, cool.

Seth: So-

David: So there's this s- promised servant coming to-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... save the day.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Um, Cyrus is, is doing some kind of that servant work, but not all of it-

Seth: Mm

David: ... 'cause he can't heal the inner spiritual brokenness-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that has led Israel to idolatry again and again.

Seth: Yes.

David: So how does the servant theme get developed then beyond that?

Seth: Yeah, the next time we hear about the servant is in Isaiah 49:1-6. Um, and we get a development on what this servant will do and how he will restore God's people. He says, "Listen to me, O coastlands." Coastlands were the same people that came to listen to his Torah-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... in 46, "and give attention, you people from afar. The Lord called me from the womb." Interesting, we're going back to the Immanuel themes.

David: Yep.

Seth: "From the body of my mother he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me. He made me a polished arrow, and in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, 'You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'" Isn't that interesting?

David: Mm.

Seth: He's now identifying Israel as the servant.

David: Yes.

Seth: Even at the same time, it seems to be an individual person. So look what the servant's doing here. The Lord's calling the servant from the womb. His mouth is speaking, uh, truth, like a polished arrow cutting to the, the, the heart of the matter, and he, he said to me, "You are my servant." Uh, and then he says, "Israel, in whom I will be glorified." There's, like, this, like, expanding almost-

David: Mm

Seth: ... but, like, I just wanna talk about that for a second. Yeah.

David: So what you're saying is there wa- it seemed to have this individual kind of-

Seth: Mm

David: ... Adam was a servant, Abraham was a servant-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... but now you're saying that Israel as a whole, who was this kind of thing that needed to be cleansed and judged, has now kind of become this precious, polished arrow, or I don't know if I'm fa-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... past or future, but-

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah

David: ... that shoots and gets to the heart of the matter, and as they do, they display the glory, the splendor of God to the world or something.

Seth: I-

David: I don't know

Seth: ... we're so close.

David: Okay.

Seth: We're so close, but I think what's happening here is in the same way that Isaiah was a representative for what Israel should do-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and how Ahaz was the king of a people, and how Hezekiah was the king of a people, who was supposed to lead his people in a certain way, the servant's doing the same thing. The servant has been specially chosen by God, called from his mother's womb, to lead not only himself, but all his people to a certain task.

David: Mm.

Seth: He, as the servant, is called to create a, a nation of servants that come along with him. Does that make sense? Like, his mission isn't to do it all himself.

David: I see.

Seth: He, he, he's a king who is the ultimate servant, calling his people to serve alongside of him.

David: Yes.

Seth: Does that make sense?

David: Uh, that does make sense-

Seth: Yes

David: ... that the ultimate servant of the Lord isn't a lone ranger, isn't one arrow.

Seth: That's right.

David: But he's the firstfruits of arrows that fill a mighty quiver. [chuckles]

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay. [chuckles]

Seth: But in this mission to make a nation of servants, I have labored in vain.

David: No matter who I gave you as a servant leader-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... it, it was never able to create a nation of servants.

Seth: Yes, and maybe this is still speaking future. It's like-

David: Mm

Seth: ... this servant that's coming that will attempt to create a nation of servants will labor in vain. "I have spent my strength for nothing-

David: Mm

Seth: ... in vanity, yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense is with God. My justice will be with God." He is still-

David: It is interesting that he keeps talking about things in terms of birth language.

Seth: Isn't it?

David: You know, uh, you know, the psalmist-

Seth: Mm

David: ... talks about children as, uh, arrows in your quiver.

Seth: Yes.

David: And so he talks about it that way, and then, but he's like, "Oh, I've labored in vain. I've actually not been able to give birth-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... to what I wanted to," and then, "spent my strength" is a euphemism for-

Seth: Oh, yeah

David: ... impregnating a woman.

Seth: That's right.

David: And like, uh, it didn't, didn't take.

Seth: Yeah, and look at the next verse, "And now the Lord says, 'He who formed me from the womb to be his servant-

David: Yep

Seth: ... to bring Jacob back to him, that Israel might be gathered to him.'"

David: So here's something else that's interesting.

Seth: Yes.

David: Is, again, this seems to be like that need for a virgin again [chuckles]-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that we talked about.

Seth: Yes.

David: Where it's like, well, we, we weren't able to-... conceive of the servant we needed.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So apart from the normal constraints of biology, God formed me-

Seth: Yes

David: ... almost-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... you know, a- alone-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... to be the servant that he needs. That's interesting.

Seth: Isn't it fascinating?

David: Yeah, it's fascinating.

Seth: And then in verse six, he goes on. It's like- and he says this: "Is it too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved, the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Israel? I will make you as a light for the na- nations, that my salvation may reach the end of the earth." So I just wanted to, to name here the idea that this servant will come, purify his people, gather a nation of servants to go out, is still the goal.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: We're still working for an Isaiah 2 type outcome, where all the people of the earth will flock to God's people and learn justice and peace.

David: Mm.

Seth: However, the development here is that as this servant undertakes this task, it will be attended with some level of vanity and futility.

David: Mm.

Seth: Did you see that? "But I have labored in vain."

David: Right.

Seth: "I've spent my strength for nothing." It's like I'm trying to give birth, but it won't be fully developed.

David: Mm.

Seth: And so I think what Isaiah is doing, as you see, he's going through these prophecies, is he's introducing us to this, the servant, the eschatological servant, the messianic servant, Jesus.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And he's saying, he's gonna restore us to the Adamic call. He's gonna make Israel who it's meant to be, this light to the nations.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: But it's gonna come about with a little bit of vanity.

David: Mm.

Seth: It's not... Not everyone's gonna listen to him. The nation that's called to be servants is going to reject him. Like, that's what he's saying.

David: Yep.

Seth: That's what he's saying, right?

David: Okay. Yep, so there's this rejection that comes with the servant.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: I- I'm guessing that's leading us somewhere. [chuckles]

Seth: It is leading us somewhere.

David: Okay. Okay.

Seth: That's right.

David: So yes, I think I follow. There's a servant, the- like, the, the... God's servant-creating project hasn't ended-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... despite all the failure.

Seth: Yes.

David: He's gonna keep trying-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and he's going to form a servant-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... but it is always tinged with this struggle, this-

Seth: Yes

David: ... vanity, this fruitlessness.

Seth: Yes.

David: Um, uh, uh, or maybe that the servant is gonna rub up against something the wrong way or-

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah

David: ... yeah, there's always contention.

Seth: There's always some sort of contention.

David: Okay. Okay, yes.

Seth: And you, and you notice, like in verse two, "He's made my mouth like a sharp sword."

David: Yes.

Seth: There's a... He's gonna come with a message.

David: Uh-huh, like Isaiah.

Seth: Like Isaiah.

David: Yep.

Seth: Uh, that's gonna be resisted-

David: Yep

Seth: ... in some way.

David: What, what's this message like to the people of Israel-

Seth: Yes

David: ... at this time? Why, why is this helpful? Is he just-

Seth: What is the message of the, of the servant?

David: Yeah, is he just saying like... G- 'cause it kind of sounds like he's talking about himself.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Isaiah kind of sounds like he's talking about himself.

Seth: Yeah. What's really funny is that whenever the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... reads through these servant prophecies-

David: Yes

Seth: ... his first assumption is that Isaiah is talking about himself.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Is he talking about himself or someone else?

Seth: That's right.

David: Is what he asks.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Yeah. It's like, it's what it sounds like.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And, and so it's like, I'm kind of like, "Where's the hope? What's the promise?"

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: If Isaiah was the servant who was doing fruitless, vain labor, which God told him he was gonna do-

Seth: Yep

David: ... then I guess this book doesn't offer me much, and I'm just as frustrated as the Ethiopian eunuch was. [chuckles]

Seth: Yeah.

David: You know what I mean? [chuckles]

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: So it has to be talking about someone else.

Seth: It has to be talking about someone else.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yeah, I mean, there's a whole bunch of scholarly debate about who the servant is-

David: Right

Seth: ... and how Isaiah understands himself in relationship to the servant. And what's interesting is th- the servant is sometimes Israel.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Sometimes Isaiah uses the word servant to describe himself.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Sometimes he uses it to describe, like, this future coming servant-

David: Right

Seth: ... who will right Israel and return them to their calling as God's princes on the earth.

David: Mm.

Seth: And sometimes they overlap with one another.

David: Right.

Seth: Um, and I think that's all intended because we... You know, a couple episodes ago, we talked about, like, this biblical theme of servant, and there's a whole bunch of other people called servants, and many times they're the prophets of God.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, many times throughout the Bible, those who speak on God's behalf are called God's servants, and generally, they're attended with some sort of rejection.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Their message is not normally received well. So what's interesting is what he seems to be saying is like, "Hey, even in the depths of exile, with the Davidic line cut off and Israel in a hole in a Babylonian prison camp-

David: Mm, mm ... there's gonna be an ultimate servant who's gonna come, kind of like the prophets of old, whose message will come, and it'll be rejected for a time." He's giving Israel an expectation of what the Messianic return is going to look like. Okay, I think I'm finally on-

Seth: Yes

David: ... your page. I... Let me say it this way. I, I think what's happening is from the beginning-

Seth: Mm

David: ... of Isaiah, his prophecy has been, "Look, God's gonna have to cleanse and kind of-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... kill the land."

Seth: Yes.

David: "But there'll be this little smoldering stump left-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and life will flourish out of it."

Seth: Yeah.

David: Um, and he, he asked Ahaz to do the same thing: "Hey, just chill.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Wait. I know Assyria's coming. It might mean some death, but life's on the other side." Hezekiah: "Just wait. I know they're at your footstep or they're at your doorstep. The, the Assyrians are coming. Just wait, and then God handles it. And he's on his deathbed, 'Just pray,' and he raises him out of it."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And now there's... And all these servants have been going through this-

Seth: Yes

David: ... right?

Seth: Yes.

David: And now, um, Israel, as the corporate servant of God-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... is said that they're going into exile.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: They're gonna experience a death.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And what it seems like you're saying is Isaiah is saying, "Yes, exactly. God's servants are always attended with death."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: "And the way we prove to be his servant to the world and actually bring a blessing to the world is by remaining faithful through that death-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... through that, um, contention with the world and its objectors.

Seth: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

David: And we actually die, and then life comes out of it again."

Seth: Yes.

David: "And that's gonna happen corporately in an exile-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... but-... that's the way things are supposed to happen.

Seth: Yes.

David: And so much so that paradigmatically, when this eschatological servant comes, he will be attended with death-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... with rejection, with vanity.

Seth: Yes.

David: Um, but that doesn't mean he's not the servant. In fact, that's how it's-

Seth: It's-

David: -always been.

Seth: It's always been that way.

David: That's-

Seth: Yes

David: ... what's being developed.

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Israel's doing this thing-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and there's gonna be a new servant, the ultimate servant, who will bring about the Isaiah 2 promise of restoring-

David: Yep

Seth: ... Israel to their calling, to be princes under God and restore peace to the world. But his ministry is gonna look like Israel's ministry.

David: Yep.

Seth: He's gonna do what Israel was supposed to do, teach the law, bring about peace, but he's also gonna be met with futility and hostility-

David: Yes

Seth: ... just as Israel's servants have throughout the world.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yes.

David: That makes sense.

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay, cool. I'm tracking.

Seth: So you're exactly right to be tracking the idea of Israel's a corporate servant-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... on top of it, this ideal servant that Isaiah seems to be describing, and we kind of get that in the next servant song, Isaiah 50:4. Here's what Isaiah says in Isaiah 50:4: "The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary." So we have that emphasis on that message again.

David: Mm.

Seth: "Morning by morning, he awakens me. He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught." And remember how God described Israel previously? As people who had ears but could not hear. So now we have this ideal servant who has an ear that can hear God's teaching. "The Lord has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. I turned not backwards, and I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard. I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me, therefore, I have not been disgraced. I've set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near." Then he goes on. So what I wanted you to see here is that we have this servant coming up again, who listens to God as Israel hasn't listened in the past. He's receptive to God in a way that Israel hasn't been in the past, and what that listening does, it drives him now not just to a message that will be confronted and met with hostility, but a message that's gonna be led into suffering.

David: Mm.

Seth: It will lead him into be- his beard being pulled out.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Isn't that... Yeah, and like-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... these are all things that happened to Jesus.

David: Yes.

Seth: Right?

David: Right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Yeah, and to corporate Israel.

Seth: And to corporate Israel.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yes.

David: In the exile.

Seth: That's right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And but the Lord God's gonna help him, and then we have these really fun verses, which Paul picks up on in Romans 8.

David: Mm.

Seth: He says, "Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me. Who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment. My adversaries will be eaten up." And so he's just... Uh, anyway, I thought that was always fun-

David: Mm

Seth: ... that Paul is riffing on this servant song as the way that he talks about the experience of believers.

David: Right. We are disgraced, we are beaten, we are rejected, just like Paul was.

Seth: Yes.

David: He's like, "But I was told that's, that's the way God's servants are treated."

Seth: That's right.

David: "So I'm not disgraced."

Seth: That's right. Okay, and this all leads us to the last servant song.

David: Okay.

Seth: So, and this is the big one.

David: Oh, the big one.

Seth: The big one. This is in Isaiah 52:13. So Isaiah has been consistently prophesying throughout this section, telling Israel not only what they should expect in, in and of themselves, but of what they should expect in the ideal servant who is to come-

David: Mm

Seth: ... who will finally rescue them from their, their sin and their separation from God. And here he goes: "Behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance." And look, just like you've been saying, "As many were astonished at you," Israel in exile.

David: Yeah, yeah.

Seth: Right? "His appearance will be so marred beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. And so he- shall he..." And there's, like, a translation word here, "But he'll startle many nations." He'll shock nations with, uh, the depth of his disfigurement.

David: Mm.

Seth: "And kings shall shut their mouths because of him. For that which has not been told, they will see, and that which they have not heard, they understand."

David: Mm.

Seth: So the servant's gonna come, and when he comes, he's going to, like Israel, not the same as Israel, but like Israel-

David: Mm

Seth: ... be s- suffer dramatically.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And the first people who are gonna respond and understand what they're seeing are the foreign nations of the world.

David: Mm.

Seth: The nations that are gonna be streaming to Israel.

David: Right.

Seth: So it seems as that somehow, in the suffering of this servant, the Isaiah 2 hope, where the nations begin to stream to Israel-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and look to it for hope, and peace, and understanding, begins to come true.

David: Mm.

Seth: What Israel hasn't been able to see, Isaiah told them that they weren't gonna see and they weren't gonna understand. The nations are now understanding.

David: Right.

Seth: Do you see it?

David: I see exactly what you're doing-

Seth: Yes

David: ... but it does not make sense.

Seth: [laughing] Why?

David: I don't understand why the disgrace of a nation or the disgrace of a person-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... would cause the unbelieving pagans to disbelieve. In fact, or, uh, sorry, would, would cause the unbelieving nations to start believing?

Seth: Yes.

David: Because, in fact, you've shown me in Sennacherib-

Seth: Yes

David: ... the exact opposite.

Seth: Yes.

David: The more Israel suffered-

Seth: Mm, mm

David: ... the more Assyria boasted that their god was better.

Seth: Right.

David: And, uh, and so I'm just like-

Seth: Yes

David: ... I'm, I'm struggling to see how a suffering nation or a suffering servant-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... leads to the repentance of nations.

Seth: So historically, most Jewish scholars will see in the servant songs only a description of Israel.

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: And in the servant songs, this is always and only a description of Israel's plight among the world.

David: Mm.

Seth: ... and I think what you just said is probably a good reason to question how that could possibly be the only reading of what we're seeing. Because Isaiah's saying that, "No, there's gonna be a servant distinct from Israel-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... through whose suffering the Gentiles begin to trust in the promises of God and come into the kingdom." And so Isaiah, for as much as those themes overlap-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... he also says, "There's something unique. A unique servant is coming, who will cause the world to come to faith, and believe, and understand what's happening in Israel."

David: I think that helps a little.

Seth: Okay.

David: But as- I think right now, what I'm struggling with is why does suffering-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... of why does the suffering servant lead to any kind of good outcome?

Seth: Yes.

David: And the only category I have right now-

Seth: Yes

David: ... through Isaiah, is because it's obedience to God.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: That he asked, uh, he asked Isaiah to suffer the coal coming on his lips, right?

Seth: Yes.

David: He asked Ahaz to suffer the incoming Assyrian invasion.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: He asked A- uh, Hezekiah to suffer the night-

Seth: Yes

David: ... wondering if they were gonna barge in, and now he's asking the servant to suffer because the nations will somehow come to repentance.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And again, how did, how did Ahaz know-

Seth: Yes

David: ... how God was gonna work it out? How did Hezekiah know how God was gonna work it out? How do I know how God's gonna work it out, that a suffering servant actually makes the nations repent?

Seth: Yes.

David: I don't know, but the only logic I have internally in Isaiah right now is that it's because God said so.

Seth: Yes.

David: And so he's the God of history, and his prophet said it, and he's been proven trustworthy, so I should just trust it.

Seth: Yes. You're ac- you're actually asking the exact right questions [laughs].

David: [laughs] I feel like a maniac.

Seth: No, you-

David: Okay [laughs]

Seth: ... these are the questions Isaiah is begging you to answer.

David: Okay.

Seth: You- we've been told that Israel will go into exile, but there... A servant will rise up and provide justice against evil in the world, bring Babylon to its knees, and return Israel back home, and this servant will provide compassion to God's people.

David: Yep.

Seth: But we're also told he'll su- suffer.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Why?

David: Right.

Seth: What is he doing?

David: Yeah.

Seth: What is the suffering accomplishing?

David: Yes.

Seth: And that's exactly what the next part of the song answers.

David: Okay, great.

Seth: Uh, one of the, one of the commentators I was reading, he kinda said that, uh, chapters 49 and on, really the, the meat of the servant songs-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... don't talk so much about what the servant will do, but how he will do it.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so he'll bring justice to the world, and he'll restore God's people, but how is he gonna do it? The answer is, it is through suffering.

David: Mm.

Seth: But like-

David: Why?

Seth: ... why and how?

David: Yeah.

Seth: And this is where-

David: Okay

Seth: ... the next part of the servant song comes in. Chapter 53, I'll start in verse, verse two: "So the servant grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground." We're at that root language again, ba- all the way back at the beginning. "He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised. We, we esteemed him not." Uh, so again, we're just deepening the suffering of the servant.

David: Yep.

Seth: And then finally, in verse four, we get the answer to why the servant must suffer. "But surely, he has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, and upon him was a punishment that brought us peace, and by his wounds we are healed." So this is the big climax of Isaiah's servant theology. He's saying, "The servant's gonna come with a new message."

David: Mm.

Seth: "He'll be the ideal Israel, who will bring justice to the world, invite the... like, invite the world to experience God's kingdom. And the way that he's going to do it is by suffering as a substitute, or as, like, in place of-

David: Mm

Seth: ... Israel's sins themselves." Like, and that's- this is a big bomb to drop in the middle of it, but... 'Cause it's a, it's a radical-

David: It-

Seth: ... development.

David: I don't know. It only kinda feels like a bim- big bomb when, when you're making it a singular future person.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: But it sounds kind of like exactly what he's been saying-

Seth: Mm

David: ... since chapters one and two-

Seth: Yes

David: ... if I just take it as Israel.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Because Israel's gonna be carted off into exile, judged, and then God says, "Great. Comfort, comfort. They've been dealt-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... double with all their sins-

Seth: Yep

David: ... so now therefore, you guys are good to go. I'll bring you back in. I'll restore you."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Well, why? 'Cause they, he, corporate Israel, was pierced for our transgressions.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: The punishment was doled out, therefore, our chastisement was on them-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and now we get to come out as a cleansed remnant-

Seth: Mm

David: ... back into the land.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So it's like, oh yeah, that makes a ton of sense.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Like, upon them was our chastisement. The Babylonians and the Persians did that. Now we get to-

Seth: Yes

David: ... come back in, uh, and we get to have peace, and we're healed.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Because by their wounds-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... the judgment of God against Israel has been let out.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And now we, the new remnant, the shoot coming out of the smoldered stump-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... get to come back into the land, healed.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So it's like, it actually just feels like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... when you talk about it in terms of Israel the servant-

Seth: Mm

David: ... it actually makes a ton of sense.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So why should I... Uh, obviously, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just burying my head in Isaiah.

Seth: Yes.

David: And, like, obviously I believe this is Jesus. [laughs]

Seth: Right, right.

David: But I'm like, it actually helps me round out-

Seth: Yes

David: ... Jesus as the suffering servant, if I bury my head a little bit more-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and think about this as a Jew [chuckles]

Seth: Right.

David: And I'm like, this sounds like they would probably view this as a comfort. 'Cause as he's writing this to pre-exilic people-

Seth: Right

David: ... maybe-

Seth: Mm

David: ... as a comfort to them.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And he's like, "Hey, I know you're gonna go-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... into-... exile, but you're kind of going in as a suffering servant.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And you're gonna be wounded, but a future generation's gonna be able to look back and say, "By their wounds, we're healed." [gentle music]

Seth: I think you are right to recognize the parallels between-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... Israel's corporate experience-

David: Right

Seth: ... and the level of national revival that happened because of Israel's exile.

David: Yes.

Seth: Like, the idolatry of the past is not a, a problem in Israel-

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah

Seth: ... like it was before. However-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... after Israel's exile, and after they come back into the land, the root problem of being unable to be God's servants in the world-

David: Mm

Seth: ... persists.

David: Yes.

Seth: Even after Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the temple, it kind of goes downhill pretty fast. They start working on the Sabbath again.

David: Right, yep.

Seth: They start, like, inviting people in to buy and sell, and like, you know, things are not looking well-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... by the end of the Sabbath. And if we just pick up at the Bible, in the Book of Matthew, the way that religious traditions developed in Israel abandoned the justice that God commanded of Israel-

David: Mm, mm

Seth: ... in favor of, like, you know, of, of, like, corrupt practices that Jesus, like, you know-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... critiques throughout.

David: Yeah, definitely. The problem is the, the, the big problem is still there.

Seth: Even if-

David: Mm

Seth: ... this has a near reference-

David: Right

Seth: ... to the, the effects that the exile will have-

David: Yep

Seth: ... on Israel as a whole, it doesn't fundamentally change the problem that led them into the exile in the first place.

David: Right, it's... This prophecy is acting like so many of the prophecies inside-

Seth: Right

David: ... of Isaiah.

Seth: Yes.

David: It's like, well, Hezekiah was kind of Immanuel-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... but not really.

Seth: But not really.

David: Cyrus was kind of the servant.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Ah, but not fully. And, and now, oh, Israel is kind of the suffering servant, and they kind of did redeem-

Seth: Yes

David: ... the next generation of Israel through their suffering. Kind of like the first 40 years in the wilderness-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... redeemed the younger generation.

Seth: Yep.

David: Again, that's happening.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Ah, but not perfectly-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... because there's still this deep problem. We need a servant who will be God with us, [chuckles] who will obey His king-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... who will be the servant, be the Messiah, and be the true suffering servant-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... to do something that none of these other servants have been able to do.

Seth: Yes.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And I think what's interesting, even in these prophecies, even if you took a, a corporate approach to it-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... it doesn't explain some of the sacrificial language used.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, "Surely he has borne our griefs-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and carried our sorrows." These are words that are primarily found in the Book of Leviticus-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... the, to describe the way that sin is carried away from-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... from God's people.

David: I could see them bearing the iniquity of God's people into Babylon-

Seth: Right

David: ... being punished for it. Oh, yep, they've been dealt double with their sins. I mean, I d-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... I don't think we have to take that away-

Seth: No

David: ... from corporate Israel in order for it to be finally realized in the Messiah.

Seth: And that's all I'm trying to say-

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah

Seth: ... here, is, like, there is something fundamental-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... that is being communicated. It's like, this isn't simply the historic wiping out of an idolatrous practice across generations.

David: Mm.

Seth: This is a dealing with a primary separation between God's people-

David: Yes

Seth: ... and their king.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Between the princes and the kings.

David: Right. Well, and imagine, too, how kind of double-sided this is, if it is just corporate Israel.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So imagine that, that you've got... "Okay, great, I'm cordoning off an entire nation to pay for the sins of this nation. But hey, a remnant will return."

Seth: Yeah.

David: Right? Isaiah's son's name.

Seth: Yes.

David: There it is.

Seth: Yes, that's right.

David: Um, but then the problem's not dealt with. They start sinning again. What's the solution? Kill the whole nation again?

Seth: Right.

David: Then they get to come back.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: More idolatry, kill the nation again? It's like, what you can't ever do is fill up the quiver.

Seth: Yeah.

David: What you can't ever do is build a mountain that all nations stream to, because it's not just one, like, individual arrow that God's trying to do. He's trying to build a nation that's holy.

Seth: Mm-hmm. That's right.

David: And if that nation just keeps sinning, and then they have to atone for their own sins, in order for the next generation to try to get out-

Seth: That's right

David: ... it's a vicious cycle of death, and-

Seth: Yes

David: ... we can't escape it.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And so it's like, if Israel is the solution, it can only be for one generation.

Seth: Right.

David: And then it's not good news again. [chuckles]

Seth: Right. We need, we need a servant, an ultimate climactic servant-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... to be an ideal Israel-

David: Mm

Seth: ... not just for a generation, but for all time.

David: Yes, and not only to atone for the sins of our past, but to fix the sins of our future-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... to change us.

Seth: And not just to atone for the sins of Israel, but the whole world.

David: Yep.

Seth: Because the whole world is supposed to be a part of God's kingdom, that expands-

David: That's right

Seth: ... and bring blessing to the world.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Uh, so this is what the servant-

David: Yep

Seth: ... is coming to accomplish.

David: So cool. Yep.

Seth: And I mean, uh, we do not have time. I have a whole document here-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... of just every single time the New Testament authors pick up on Isaiah 52 and 53-

David: Mm

Seth: ... to talk about what Jesus has done on the cross.

David: Yeah.

Seth: This is... This ends up functioning as one of the primary ways that the New Testament authors understand what Jesus did-

David: Mm

Seth: ... for humanity when he died on the cross.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Like, his experience of suffering as, like, this representative taking away, experiencing our sin in our place-

David: Mm

Seth: ... is how the redemption of God is accomplished for his people.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Um, and again, I have so many verses [chuckles] that I could point to-

David: Yes, yes

Seth: ... to talk about that. [laughs]

David: Yeah, I think most Christians are quite familiar with them, too.

Seth: Yes. Yeah.

David: Yeah. So what does it mean, then? Let's just jump ahead. Je- okay, so we have Jesus. We already talked about him as this chosen servant, Immanuel, God with us.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Um, and he, he fulfills the suffering servant. He comes to bring-

Seth: Mm

David: ... a new kingdom as the one who listens to God's voice.

Seth: Yes.

David: And he's bringing peace, and equity, and justice, but as Isaiah prophesied, he's met with contention, and hostility, and ultimately violence and death.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: ... so how does that violence and death, if we just stay in Isaiah's world-

Seth: Okay.

David: How does the violence and death of Jesus-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that the servant is met with-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... how does that save a nation?

Seth: Oh, yes.

David: How does that save people? So, like, if this is one of the controlling ways that-

Seth: Mm

David: ... New Testament authors wanna talk about what Jesus's death accomplished, why are they tapping in to Isaiah 53-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... to talk about it?

Seth: Yes.

David: What is it doing? This is a bit like atonement theory-

Seth: Right

David: ... kind of thing, but w- what's, what's happening?

Seth: It's like... So again, Israel is meant to be this nation of servants, of princes under their king, God-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... who's expanding the borders of the Kingdom of God, bringing the nations in, teaching them the law of God, extending peace and prosperity.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: But servant after servant has failed to trust God properly.

David: Yeah.

Seth: There's some- been something internally wrong with every- even the best servant, like Hezekiah, that has made them unable to be the servants God has intended them to be.

David: Mm. Yeah.

Seth: And so when the servant comes, he is solving this deep, internal problem between the king and his princes, and solving it permanently-

David: Mm

Seth: ... so that God's people can become who they're meant to be all the way back in the Garden of Eden-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and be on mission with God again.

David: Yeah.

Seth: That's why this servant thing is so important, is because God's people have this, like, chronic problem, that they cannot be His servants. And the servant, the Servant, the Messianic Servant, comes to make a nation of them.

David: Yep, that's helping.

Seth: That's... Yeah.

David: Another piece of the puzzle that, that made me think of was, as we talked about what is the servant-

Seth: Mm, mm

David: ... and we're tracing that through the Bible, like, you had the servant, Adam, in the Garden of Eden, attending to it, managing it.

Seth: Mm.

David: And that's the language that's given to priests. They serve and work-

Seth: Mm

David: ... in the temple-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... which was like a mini Garden of Eden.

Seth: That's right.

David: And it's where presence with God could occur, and it's out of that place that the Kingdom of God would grow and justice would be done.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And that's where sins were atoned for. And when the priests, the servants of the temple, were given their garments-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... it was so that they could bear the sins of the people, is what-

Seth: Oh, yeah, yeah.

David: And they-

Seth: That's right.

David: "And by this, you will bear the sins-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... of the people." And so now you've got a new servant, king, and priest, you know-

Seth: Mm, mm

David: ... like, trying to build a temple on the high mountain of God, where all nations could stream to Him.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He's functioning as a high priest-

Seth: Yes

David: ... bearing the sins of the people.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Right?

Seth: Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: But in a way that's completely different-

Seth: Mm

David: ... because he's not bearing the sins of the people, uh, through atonement of a goat or-

Seth: Right, but in his.

David: But, but by his own suffering.

Seth: Yeah.

David: By his wounds, we're healed.

Seth: Yes, that's right.

David: That's not... We're not healed by killing-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... Aaron. [laughs]

Seth: Right.

David: You know, like [chuckles]

Seth: Yeah, yeah.

David: We... So it's, it's like this huge escalation. Um, I'm like, w- yeah, I'm j-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... I'm just like, w- how... It's just such a crazy idea, but it's like, I think we have to go to... Like, you were trying to get us to kingdom.

Seth: Yes. Yes.

David: And I think there's also this priest thing-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... atonement through sacrifice.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And that's what the servant did.

Seth: Yes.

David: And it's like this priest-king role, who atones for the sins of his people, and I think that means two things as well, at least. That there's this... Israel had sins that must have been punished, and so they were sent into Babylon-

Seth: Mm

David: ... and they paid double for their sins-

Seth: Mm

David: ... so that a new remnant could come out.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So when Jesus is the new servant, he receives the punishment-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that our sins deserved-

Seth: Mm

David: ... so that we, a new remnant, could come out.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: But also, we need a cleansing.

Seth: Yes.

David: And it... And so that's what, like, the blood is supposed to do. It's supposed to sprinkle life all over our death and change us.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And Jesus does an internal cleansing through-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... da, da, da, da, the spirit that is upon him, that we talked about-

Seth: Yes. Yes

David: ... that the shoot of Jesse would have, and he does this cleansing work that no other priest could get to.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He doesn't just sprinkle... He doesn't put blood on our right earlobe, and our right thumb, and our right toe.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He gets it right inside of our hearts.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So it's like, I... Okay, anyway-

Seth: Yes

David: ... that's everything I'm thinking.

Seth: No, I mean, those are all the right... I mean, Isaiah, it feels like just a, a box of riddles. [chuckles]

David: Yeah.

Seth: Um, if you are l- a Jew living during the time of Hezekiah, and haven't seen Babylon's invasion yet, and you're reading all these prophecies about a coming, Babylon, a servant-

David: Mm

Seth: ... Israel's redemption, a shoot from Jesse, uh, an atonement by this individual servant, who also sometimes is called corporate Israel, but sometimes is an individual-

David: Mm, mm

Seth: ... like, you are, like, trying to tra-

David: Yeah.

Seth: I think we're doing the work Isaiah's calling us to meditate on.

David: Right.

Seth: And that Jesus gives us an ultimate unraveling, too.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, these are the things that we're supposed to be meditating on. How will God restore his people?

David: Mm.

Seth: It is, it is through Jesus, and before Jesus comes, it's really i- hard to see that in Isaiah.

David: Oh, yeah, definitely. Crazy. So that's where it climaxes?

Seth: At-

David: Bare kindness.

Seth: Yes and no.

David: Yes and no.

Seth: Yes and no. So at the very end of the servant songs, we get chapter 55, which is just this beautiful song of praise.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Uh, "Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy milk and wine, without money and without price." Uh, and it's just, it's just this celebration of all that God has provided for His people.

David: Mm.

Seth: And then, at the very end of that chapter, in verse 12, he says, "Israel, you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace, and the mountains and the hill before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." And then you have this reversal of, uh, the chaos of the wilderness. "Instead of thorns shall come up the cypress tree."

David: ... and so the briar shall come up with the myrtle, and it shall, and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. And you have a real sense of conclusion here.

Seth: Yep. Garden of Eden is back. The servant did his job.

David: The servant did his job.

Seth: Yep.

David: That's right, but you have 10 more chapters left. [laughing]

Seth: [laughing] And so you're like, "Wait, what- what's going on here?" The servant has come. If he's-

David: Mm

Seth: ... redeeming Israel through his actions, if he's cleansing them, like-

David: Ah.

Seth: Why are 10, there are 10 more chapters?

David: I know!

Seth: Why? Why?

David: I- you've trained me to know the answer-

Seth: Why?

David: ... to this question.

Seth: [laughing]

David: 'Cause the nations, right?

Seth: The na-

David: We don't have, we don't have the nations yet.

Seth: We don't have the nations yet, but we also don't have a description of the redeemed people of God.

David: Ah.

Seth: We have a description-

David: Of a, of a redeemed place?

Seth: ... of a redeemed place, and the ideal Israel-

David: Yep

Seth: ... who's come and on Israel's behalf.

David: Yep.

Seth: But we don't have-

David: The nation

Seth: ... the nation of Israel.

David: The citizens.

Seth: The citizens alongside God.

David: Citizen servants.

Seth: The citizen servants, and we get an admission of this in-

David: They're the ones that are gonna be the ones that people flock to.

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay, yeah, yeah.

Seth: That's right. We get an admission of this fact in chapter 59, verse 10. It's like, "We grope for the wall like the blind."

David: Mm.

Seth: "We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at noon as in the twilight. Among those in full vigor, we're like dead men."

David: Mm.

Seth: Uh, like, we have this real admission that, like, "Okay, God, thank you so much that this servant's gonna come."

David: Mm.

Seth: But there's this basic human inability that we still feel. We still feel blind, and dead, and unable to overcome this sin inside of us.

David: Ah, Eden might have come to earth, but we're outside of it.

Seth: That's right. And so verse 16, "So the Lord saw all this-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and it displeased Him that there was no one on earth to fulfill His will."

David: Oh.

Seth: "He saw that there i- was no man and wondered that there was no one to intercede. So then, His own arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on His head. He puts on garments of vengeance," and He says this in verse 20, " 'And a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from their transgressions,' declares the Lord. 'And as for me, this is my covenant with them, that my Spirit that is upon you-

David: Mm

Seth: ... my words that I put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouth of your offspring or your children's offspring,' says the Lord, 'from this time forth and forevermore.' " So Israel, excited about the prospect of this servant who will save them-

David: Mm

Seth: ... realizes that that doesn't fix the problem of their own internal sinfulness.

David: Yeah.

Seth: They admit it to God, and says, "Don't worry. My new covenant will send a spirit-

David: Mm

Seth: ... to be on your mouth-

David: There it is

Seth: ... forever."

David: Yeah.

Seth: And then in the next chapters, do you know what we get?

David: Uh-

Seth: We g- in chapter 60-

David: No

Seth: ... and 61, and 62, after God says, "I will save you and put my Spirit on you."

David: Yeah.

Seth: Right? Chapter 61: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me-

David: [gasps]

Seth: ... because the Lord God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." These are the first words of Jesus' public ministry-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... when he bursts onto the scene in, uh-

David: In Luke 4

Seth: ... in Luke 4, Matthew 3. He's reading with all this in the back of his mind, the servant motif fully on board, the inability of God's people to be the servants that they need-

David: Mm

Seth: ... the hope of the promise of the Spirit, and then he says, "It's finally coming to pass-

David: Mm

Seth: ... in my ministry," Isaiah 61.

David: [lips fluttering]

Seth: Pretty cool.

David: Pretty, uh, bold.

Seth: Pretty bold. [laughing] Jesus is like, "I know what I'm saying!"

David: I know who I am. [laughing]

Seth: I know who I am. I'm doing what I, what I know I'm supposed to do.

David: Oh, my God.

Seth: And then a little bit later, and this is kind of like the end of the book, and it's like we just don't have time to talk about it, but basically, the, the servant says that he will be the one to bring about the new heavens and the new earth.

David: Mm.

Seth: And in that new heavens and new earth, guess who the central character is?

David: Mm.

Seth: It's Jerusalem, and all the gates of its city are torn down, and the nations of the world stream to it. And basically, everything that you read in Revelation 21 and 22 all comes from the end of the Book of Isaiah.

David: Yeah.

Seth: The redemption of God's servant people is finally accomplished when somebody comes and announces the year of the Lord's favor-

David: Mm

Seth: ... which is, which is Jesus.

David: Wow.

Seth: And that's the end of the servant theme as it goes through the Book of-

David: Incredible

Seth: ... Isaiah.

David: Okay, a few observations.

Seth: Yes.

David: Uh, one, it was really good to have that, like, well, what makes this servant so different?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And then for us to really land that it's because he is Emmanuel.

Seth: He is Emmanuel.

David: Because the spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon him. He is God with us.

Seth: Yes.

David: Um, and then, well, how are we going to fit into this family?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: How are we gonna fit into this new Eden? Well, he's gonna make a new covenant with you, and he's gonna put that same spirit on you-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... so you can be like him.

Seth: Yep.

David: And then you can be a prince, servant, citizen, [chuckles] doing your thing. And then the other, the, and then the other observation was, the reason he gives us his Spirit-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... is, uh, so that we can be like him, but so that we can be in this nation-

Seth: That's right

David: ... this remnant nation that-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... he's building, that actually does make the nations of the earth flock to Jesus.

Seth: Yes.

David: Um, and you have the, this church of transformed people, and they-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... make the world thirst for Jesus and want...

Seth: Mm.

David: And we've gotten to... Uh, we don't do it perfectly. I'm not saying that, all right?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: But we have gotten to see that over the last 2,000 years.

Seth: That's right.

David: That spirit-empowered people living like Jesus-

Seth: That's right

David: ... have changed the world.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Like, we've, we've- everything from, like, s- rescuing people out of sin and addiction, and-... you know, personal brokenness-

Seth: Yeah

David: -all the way to transforming how governments run, uh, building-

Seth: Yeah

David: - hospitals, and schools, and orphanages, and like-

Seth: Yes. In many ways-

David: Justice and equity is coming to the earth.

Seth: In many ways, the church acts like an Isaiah 2-

David: Yes

Seth: ... where the nations of the world flock to it in hope of justice and to learn peace.

David: Yes.

Seth: Uh, yeah.

David: So it's-

Seth: It's coming true.

David: Yeah, it's coming true, but then it will ultimately come true-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... when the servant comes back-

Seth: Yes

David: ... to bring his rule and reign to earth perfectly, and you have the new heavens and the new earth here, and he re- he, he finishes the Edenic project.

Seth: Yes.

David: That what Adam and Eve were supposed to do, be fruitful and multiply, cover the earth with the Garden of Eden so that all might experience a paradise with God.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Jesus finishes. He's the Adam [chuckles] who finally comes back-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and makes the whole earth the Garden of Eden, and we get to live with him forever.

Seth: Yeah. One of the central metaphors for... Not central, one of the, my favorite metaphors-

David: Mm

Seth: ... for how Isaiah talks about the restoration of the world-

David: Mm

Seth: ... to the Edenic state it's supposed to be in. The whole world is Eden.

David: Yeah.

Seth: It's that the children will play with cobras.

David: Yeah. [chuckles]

Seth: Uh, which is like, wow, that's weird, man.

David: [chuckles]

Seth: But it, it's- that was one of the, the primary characteristics of the curse, is that the children of Eve would be at war with the children of snakes.

David: Yep.

Seth: Uh, but in the new heavens and the new earth, that curse is just obliterated. Snakes and kids are friends. [chuckles]

David: Yes.

Seth: In the new heavens and the new earth-

David: So good

Seth: ... there is no curse anymore.

David: My five-year-old will love that.

Seth: [laughs]

David: He loves snakes and lizards and stuff.

Seth: When the servant's work is completed.

David: Yes.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Oh, that's so good. Isaiah.

Seth: Isaiah, man, it's a big book.

David: We, we left a lot on the table.

Seth: So much on the table. I've never felt like there was more things we could have talked about-

David: Yep

Seth: ... uh, than in this particular s- this series.

David: But I feel like you've guided us well through this, so thank you for that. I mean, this is why we have devotionals, and introduction videos-

Seth: Yes

David: ... and all of the bunch of other resources.

Seth: That's right.

David: Um, and so you guys can check those out as well as they become available. But until then, thank you very much for journeying with us through Isaiah. We're so grateful for all of you making this possible, listening along, encouraging us, praying for us, uh, helping make all this real.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: We're just so grateful to get to do it. So thank you, Seth-

Seth: Thank you

David: ... uh, for helping. Thank you, Christine, for all your help, and, uh, to all the team here at Spoken Gospel.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And thank you to you-

Seth: Thank you, guys

David: ... for being in our corner. We will see you next time. [upbeat music]

Outro: Thank you for listening to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Spoken Gospel creates short films, devotionals, and podcasts like this one. Everything we make is free because of generous supporters like you. To see our resources, visit spokengospel.com or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for listening. See you next time. [upbeat music]

Related Resources

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Isaiah's Servant Songs: How the Prophet Foretold a Suffering Savior Who Would Restore All Thing

Show Notes

A Turning Point in Isaiah's Prophecy

Cyrus the Anointed and the Promise of a Greater Servant

The Developing Portrait of a Suffering Servant

The Climactic Revelation of Substitutionary Suffering

The Promise of the Spirit and a Transformed People

The Servant's Work Completed in New Creation

Related Resources

Introduction to Isaiah

View our devotional on Isaiah 1:1-2:5

Ready to study a different book?

Listen to the Isaiah Overview podcast

Listen to the Isaiah Overview: The Servant podcast

Listen to the Isaiah Overview: Immanuel podcast

Listen to the Isaiah Overview: The Servant's Song podcast