Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 52

Verses 1-12

XXI

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 13

Isaiah 49:1-52:12

The general theme of Isaiah 49-57, is the servant of Jehovah as an individual and his offices, or salvation through the servant of Jehovah. In this section the collective sense of the Servant of Jehovah falls into the background. It is the individual Servant, the Servant in the highest, or most restricted sense, with whom we have to do in these chapters. His individuality is indicated by his already having been given a name and having been called from birth.

This section divides itself into three parte, as follows: (1) Isaiah 49:1-52:12, his prophetic office; (2) Isaiah 52:13-54:17, his priestly office; (3) Isaiah 55:1-57:21, his kingly office. More fully the theme of Isaiah 49:1-52:12 is the prophetic office of the Servant and his awakening calls. The Servant, as an individual represents what Israel ought to have been collectively in the theocracy, executing the offices of prophet, priest, and king, through the Holy Spirit.

This section opens with a call to the isles and peoples from far, the significance of which is that the mission of the Servant of Jehovah is worldwide in its application.

The Servant tells us here (Isaiah 49:1-4) that he was called and named before he was born; that his mouth was prepared by Jehovah, as a sharp sword; that he was hid in his hand and that he had been made a polished shaft. Nevertheless, the Servant felt depressed. His labor seemed all in vain. Yet his confidence in his God was unshaken and well founded.

The Servant’s worldwide mission is again emphasized in Isaiah 49:5-6. Jehovah here says that raising up and restoring Israel would be too light a thing for his Servant and so removes the depression of his heart by promising that he should be a light to the Gentiles and his salvation unto the ends of the earth.

There are three peculiarities in Isaiah 49:7 which indicate how deeply the Servant was affected by the difficulties to be met, but Jehovah encourages his Servant in them. These peculiarities are: (1) He would be despised by man; (2) abhorred by the nation; (3) a servant of rulers. These all find fulfilment in Christ. "He was despised and rejected of men"; he was abhorred by the Jewish nation and rejected; he was truly the servant of kings and rulers. "He came not to be ministered unto but to minister." The encouragement here offered in view of these characteristics is that kings and princes shall honor him. This has been fulfilled in many instances and is being fulfilled now. Every king who has been converted since the days of Christ’s earthly ministry has done him honor. Many a king has seen and stood up in wonder, just as the prophet here indicates.

Our Lord is here (Isaiah 49:8-13) presented in special relation to the covenant. But before he could occupy such relation, as the basis of the covenant with Jehovah’s people, he had to suffer, which is here intimated in Isaiah 49:8, which also should be taken in connection with Psalms 22:21, where he is said to cry out for deliverance from the lion’s mouth and the answer came. This was fulfilled in the suffering of our Lord on the cross. So through suffering he became the basis of the covenant whose blessings are here enumerated. These blessings are the raising up of the land, the inheritance of the desolate places, the liberation of the captives, a supply of food and drink, protection from the sun, and a highway for their journeys all of which has fulfilment in the supply of spiritual blessings to Jehovah’s people through the Lord Jesus Christ. "Whosoever believeth on me shall never hunger; he that believeth on me shall never thirst." The blessings of the everlasting covenant are sufficient for every need of his covenant people. Not only are they described as ample but they are for all people. They shall come from far; from the north, from the west, and from Sinim which is China. The sight of all this causes the prophet to call for the outburst of joy in heaven and on earth which reminds us of our Saviour’s parables setting forth the joy of heaven when the sinner returns to God.

Zion here (Isaiah 49:14-23) complained that Jehovah had forsaken her; that he had forgotten her to which Jehovah gives the matchless reply found in that passage which has become a classic: "Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, these may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." Then the prophet goes on to show how Zion shall possess the world, and in complete astonishment at her success and enlargement, she then will reverse her questions and say, "Who hath begotten me all these children?" Jehovah responds again that he is the author of her success and that all who wait for him shall not be put to shame. This is a glorious outlook for Zion and removes all just cause for complaint.

The passage (Isaiah 49:24-26) alludes to a series of mighty transactions, involving vast and eternal interests. It reveals the most astounding tyranny, the most appalling captivity, the most signal deliverance and by the most eventful tragedy known to the universe. The persons of the great drama, their several parts and their destiny, claim our chief attention. But who is the mighty one of this passage and how did he bring these captives into this captivity? In many places in the Scriptures he is declared to be the "prince of this world." He is that one who obtained possession of this world by conquest, guile, and conquest. He obtained possession of it in the garden of Eden, through enticement to sin. He captured the first pair, the man and the woman, from whom all of the people of this world are descended; and by that one man’s disobedience, in that first great crisis of this world, there came upon all men death. We died then. All the posterity of Adam and Eve born hitherto or yet to be born died in that great battle by which Satan, the prince of demons conquered this world.

His captives are those beings whose creation was the culmination of the work of God. While incidentally his domain obtained by the Eden-conquest stretches over the material world and the mere animal world, directly and mainly it extends over the intelligent, moral, accountable agents into whose hands God had given this dominion over the earth. When God made man he gave him dominion over the fowls of the air and the fish of the sea and the animals of the forest and he commanded man to multiply and fill the earth with inhabitants, and to subdue all the forces of nature, making them tributary to him and to the glory of God. This delegation of dominion to man was wrested by guile and violence from his feeble hands, and passed by right of conquest into the hands of Satan; so that the captives, the prey of the terrible one, are the people of this earth, and all of them, without any exception of race, or nation, or family, or individual; without any regard to the artificial distinctions of class and wealth and society; without any reference to the distinctions in intellect and culture. The whole of them, even the millionaire and the pauper whom he grinds, the king and the subject whom he oppresses, the gifted orator, the genius of art, the far-seeing statesman, the beautiful woman, the prattling infant, the vigorous youth, all of them are under the dominion of Satan, and his government extends over them by that original conquest.

They are lawful captives and there is a difficulty suggested by the inquiry, "Shall the lawful captives be delivered?" This difficulty can be apprehended in a moment. If one be held in bondage unlawfully it is easy enough to anticipate that there shall be deliverance from that unjust captivity, provided that the law has power to vindicate itself; but if the captive is lawfully a captive – mean to say that if it is the law itself that forges his fetters – then indeed does it become an inquiry of moment, "Shall the lawful captive be delivered?" It is true that the sting of death is sin, but it is also true that the strength of sin is the law, and a lawful captive is one whose bonds are just as strong as the sanctions of the law which he is violating. And how strong is that law? We have the testimony of inspiration that not a jot or a tittle of it shall fail, even though the heavens fall. And what is the scope of this law? "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy strength and all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself."

That law is an expression, a transcript of the divine mind, in its intent when man was made; and by so much as it is strong, and by so much as it is broad, by that much will it hold the transgressor. Satan knew that it was out of his power to go into that garden of delights and seize by violence alone these moral agents into whose hands had been entrusted the dominion of this world. That would have made them unlawful captives. So he addressed himself to stratagem and guile. It became necessary that though he was the tempter they should consent and by their own act of disobedience should array against themselves the awful law of God. And while sin is the sting of death, the law of God should be the strength of sin. But who shall deliver these lawful captives? This passage is messianic and the Jehovah of this passage we find in Isaiah 49:26 to be the Saviour, Redeemer, and Mighty One of Jacob which could refer only to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is revealed as the destroyer of the works of the devil.

Then how is he to deliver them? The answer to this also is very explicit. The Scriptures show that he is in some way to deliver these lawful captives by his own death. "When thou shalt pour out thy soul unto death I will divide thee a portion of the great." "Thou shalt despoil the strong." And the passage in Hebrews is pertinent: "That forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood he likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death, even the devil." Through his death he is to bruise the head of Satan. Hence, just before he died he said to his disciples in the language of the Scriptures, "The prince of this world cometh and findeth nothing in me. Now is the crisis of this world, and I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Not a man can be saved except this one be lifted up on the cross.

Not a man can be delivered from the bondage of Satan, not one groaning captive who is the prey of the terrible one, shall be plucked out of his hand, except by the death of this substitute. Then he shall see his seed. Then he shall see of the travail of his soul. Then deliverance shall come because that death takes away Satan’s armor, in which he trusted. What armor? That armor of the law. But that death paid the law’s penalty. That death extinguished the fire of the law. That death blunted the edge of the sword of justice. That death exhausted the penal claims of God against the man for whom he died. It is by death that he is to deliver us, sacrificial, substitutionary, vicarious death, "He being made sin who knew no sin, that we may be made the righteousness of God in him."

Moreover by that death is secured regeneration, which defeats depravity, and sanctification, which breaks the power of evil habits by perseverance in holiness. And that is why a preacher of this good news declares that he knows nothing but the cross; no philosophy for me; no weapon could have been forged strong enough to smite Satan; no leverage mighty enough to roll off of crushed humanity the ponderous incubus which bondage to Satan had placed upon them. No, I preach Christ and him crucified. "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." And hence how infinitesimal does that preacher become, how contemptible in the sight of God and man, who goes out where sin and sorrow and death reigns through the power of the devil, who goes out where men are in bondage, where they are captives, where they are under the power of Satan and in darkness, and would try to charm their captivity by singing his earth songs, by talking of geology and of evolution, or of any fine-spun metaphysical disquisition. Away with it all, and present only the death of Christ; for it is by the death of Christ that this deliverance is to come.

The import of Isaiah 50:1-3 is that Israel had suffered through her own sin, yet she was to be delivered by almighty grace. It is introduced by a series of questions referring to Israel’s relation to Jehovah under the figure of a marriage. Israel was challenged to show a writing of divorcement, but none could be found, or to find one of Jehovah’s creditors to whom he had sold her, but no creditor could be found, because Jehovah owed no one anything. Since this was true and Israel could produce no writing of divorcement showing that Jehovah had put her away, therefore she was desolate and separate because of her own sins, and Jehovah could redeem her by his mighty arm as he delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt.

In Isaiah 50:4-9 we find that the Servant was subjected to a painful training for his great work. This consisted in giving him the tongue of a disciple, an ear to hear, his back to the smiters, his cheek to those who pluck off the hair and his face to shame and spitting. All this was for the training of the prophet whose mission it was to speak, to hear, to suffer, and to sympathize. These are all to be found in much evidence in the life of our Lord. But he goes on to speak of his confidence of victory in it all because God would help and justify him, turning the wickedness of his persecutors upon their own heads.

In Isaiah 50:10-11 we have a twofold application of these principles, an encouragement to the faithful and a warning to the self-sufficient. The former were promised guidance through the darkness if they would trust in Jehovah, while the latter trying to make their own light, were endangering themselves and their neighbors and coming to sorrow in the end.

The passage (Isaiah 51:1-52:1) consists of a series of prophetic calls. The prophetic character of the Servant having been made sufficiently prominent in the preceding paragraphs, this section gives a series of prophetic calls introduced by such words as "Hearken," "Awake," "Attend."

The first call is a call to the followers of righteousness and the seekers of Jehovah. They are exhorted to take a backward look at their origin and to God’s dealings with them from Abraham to the present. Then he encourages them to look forward to the future when all the waste places and the wilderness shall be like Eden, the garden of Jehovah. This ideal state will not be realized until the millennium.

The second call is a call to the nation to consider the law, the law of the gospel, which was to go forth to bless the nations, the consummation of which is the winding up of the affairs of the earth and the establishment of everlasting righteousness. The third call is a call to them that know righteousness, the ones who know God’s law in their hearts, to fear not the reproaches of men. Many of the very best people do fear the reproaches of men and therefore our Lord gives a like encouragement in the beatitudes to those who are reproached for righteousness’ sake. The reason assigned is that they shall die and be eaten by moths and worms yet the righteousness of Jehovah is forever and his salvation unto all generations. Men may come and men may go But the righteousness of Jehovah goes on forever.

The fourth call is a call to Jehovah to put on strength, as in the days of old, and prepare the way for his people to return with everlasting joy upon their heads. The reply comes to upbraid the people for fearing man who is only transient and forgetting Jehovah their maker who had exhibited his power, not only in their past history, but in all times since the creation. From this they might take courage, for he who did all this would liberate the captives and bring salvation to his people. The Saviour of the people is Jehovah, whom the waves of the sea obey. This finds its happiest fulfilment in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The fifth call is obviously the counterpart to the call in the preceding paragraph. This was a call to the arm of Jehovah, this is a call to Jerusalem; that, to put on strength, this to awaken from the effects of the drunkenness from the cup of his wrath, in which condition her sons were like an antelope in the net. But Jerusalem is now bidden to look for favors from Jehovah since his wrath has been transferred from her to those who afflicted her.

The sixth call is to Zion to put on her strength, and beautiful garments. She is assured that her captivity was ended. While this is cast in the mold of the Jewish conception, yet the language looks to a fulfilment which is found only in conditions of the new covenant.

The personal knowledge referred to in Isaiah 51:6 is the experimental knowledge of the new covenant. It was our Lord Jesus Christ who fulfilled the last clause, "It is I," or as the margin has it "Here I am." He said on one occasion, "Before Abraham was, I am," on another, "Be not afraid; it is I," and again, "Lo, I am with you all the way." He alone makes possible the personal, experimental knowledge and abiding presence of Jehovah.

The seventh call, in view of what has gone before, is very significant. There can be no doubt that this applies to the evangels of the cross. Paul quotes it and so applies it in Romans 10. They are here called watchmen and may refer to the prophets of the Old Testament as well as the preachers and missionaries of the New Testament. But the prophet sees a day far beyond his, when the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. The joy of the new day for Zion is pictured in glowing colors. They shall sing; they shall see eye to eye; they shall exalt the holy one of Israel as the God of their salvation.

The exhortation in Isaiah 52:11-12 is primarily an exhortation to depart from Babylon in which the Jews are now represented as being held in captivity, and the description of their going out without haste, etc., fits minutely the exodus from Babylon, cast in the mold of the deliverance from Egypt. But as remarked before, the deliverance from Babylon and Egypt are typical of a greater deliverance of God’s chosen. The deliverance from sin and the Babylon of this world is a far greater deliverance than either of these. This is all in view of the work of the Servant in his prophetic office, which has for the basis of all his success his vicarious suffering, at which this section barely hints.

QUESTIONS

1. What the general theme of Isaiah 49-57?

2. What the threefold division of this section (Isaiah 49-57), and what the special theme of each division?

3. What, more fully, is the theme of Isaiah 49:1-52:12?

4. How does this section open and what its significance?

5. How is this servant of Jehovah equipped for his success and what the state of mind toward the outcome of it all (Isaiah 49:1-4)?

6. How is the Servant’s worldwide mission again emphasized (Isaiah 49:5-6) ?

7. What three peculiarities in Isaiah 49:7 which indicate how deeply the Servant was affected by the difficulties to be met and how does Jehovah encourage his Servant in them?

8. In what special relation is our Lord here (Isaiah 49:8-13) presented and what the blessings of that relation as pictured by the prophet?

9. What Zion’s complaint and what Jehovah’s response to it (Isaiah 49:14-23)?

10. What the importance of the passage, Isaiah 49:24-26?

11. Who is the mighty one of this passage and how did he bring these captives into this captivity?

12. Who are his captives, i.e., his prey?

13. Why are they lawful captives and what the difficulty suggested by the inquiry, "Shall the lawful captives be delivered?"

14. Who shall deliver these lawful captives?

15. How is he to deliver them?

16. What the import of Isaiah 50:1-3?

17. What is the painful training of the Servant of Jehovah which assured him of success?

18. What are the twofold application of these principles?

19. Of what does Isaiah 51:1-52:12 consist and how are the parts introduced?

20. To whom the first call, and what was involved in it?

21. To whom the second call and what the import of it?

22. To whom is the third call and what the import?

23. To whom the fourth call and what the response?

24. To whom the fifth call and what its import?

25. To whom the sixth call and what the import?

26. What is the seventh call, who calls and what the import of this call?

27. What is the exhortation in Isaiah 52:11-12?

Verses 13-17

XXII

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 14

Isaiah 52:13-54:17

The special theme of this section is the priestly office of the Servant and the happy results of his priestly work to Zion. Some have called it the "Great Passional." Polycarp calls this section "the golden passional of the Old Testament Evangelist." Delitzsch says, "It is the center of this wonderful book of consolation (Isaiah 40-66), and is the most central, the deepest, and the loftiest thing that the Old Testament prophecy, outstripping itself, has ever achieved." Another has said, "Here we seem to enter the holy of holies of the Old Testament prophecy, that sacred chamber wherein are pictured and foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow." This section contains the very heart of the gospel and the preacher who leaves it out of his preaching is a preacher of "airy nothings." The success or failure of the preacher is determined as he relates his preaching to the truth of this great passage.

There are several different interpretations of Isaiah 52:13-53:12:

1. The earliest Jewish authorities, even down to Aben Ezra, A.D.1150, stood for the messianic interpretation of this passage. Their later writers abandoned this explanation on account of its bearing on the Christian controversy. It was assumed as indisputable by the Christian Fathers, and almost all Christian expositors down to the commencement of the nineteenth century took the same view.

2. The later Jews under the pressure of the Christian controversy abandoned the traditional interpretation and applied this prophecy to Jeremiah, Josiah, or to the people of Israel.

3. In the present century a number of Christian commentators have adopted one or the other of the later Jewish theories, either absolutely or with modifications.

The argument for the messianic theory and against the later Jewish theories is as follows:

1. The portraiture of the "Servant of Jehovah" here has so strong an individuality and such marked personal features that it cannot be a mere personified collection, whether Israel, faithful Israel, or ideal Israel, or the collective body of the prophets.

2. That it could not be the nation at large appears from the fact that the calamities which Israel suffered are always spoken of as sent upon them for their own sins.

3. That it could not refer to their prophets or righteous men, who made expiation for the nation’s guilt, appears from the following considerations: (1) Such a position is against the whole tenor of Scriptures. (2) Their most righteous in their prayers did not plead their own merit but Jehovah’s righteousness and mercy. (3) Many parts of this section are manifestly such as cannot be applied to either the nation or any body of men inside of it.

4. It goes so infinitely beyond anything of which a mere man was ever capable, that it can only refer to the unique man, the God-man, Christ Jesus our Lord.

The proof from the New Testament that this is the true interpretation is abundant. Passages from this section are quoted in Matthew 8:17; Luke 22:37; John 12:37-38; Acts 7:32-33; Romans 10:16 ’and 1 Peter 2:24-25, all of which are unmistakably applied to Christ. This ought to settle the question once for all that this passage is distinctly messianic.

This great passage divides itself into five paragraphs of three verses each, as follows: (1) Isaiah 52:13-15, the introduction, a general view of the whole subject; (2) Isaiah 53:1-3, the prevailing unbelief and his unpromising appearance; (3) Isaiah 53:4-6, a substitute for sinners; (4) Isaiah 53:7-9, his submissiveness and his purity; (5) Isaiah 53:10-12, the glorious success of his completed propitiation and also his intercession.

We have the general view of the whole subject presented in Isaiah 52:13-15. This passage is a prelude to Isaiah 53 and is closely connected with it. In these three verses we have, (1) the Servant’s exaltations, (2) his humiliation preceding, (3) the far-reaching blessings which shall result to the whole world. This includes the whole of his redemptive work, stated generally. In Philippians 2:5-11 we have our Lord’s humiliation, exaltation, and success, in which there is a graphic picture of his suffering on the cross. The prophet here gets three views of the Servant of Jehovah: First, he sees him exalted, lifted up, very high; secondly, he sits at the foot of the cross and there sees the Lord as he hung upon the accursed tree, after he had been buffeted, crowned with thorns, smitten, scourged, crucified, his face covered with bruises and with blood, and his frame and features distorted with agony, so that "his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men," but the picture changes and, thirdly, the prophet sees this suffering Christ as he startles many nations and receives honor at the hands of kings. This is a brief view of a preview or introduction to the more clearly outlined picture in the next chapter.

The first question in Isaiah 53:1 "Who hath believed our report?" seems to sound a discouraging note from the standpoint of the prophet. The messengers have gone forth to publish peace (Isaiah 52:7), and many nations have received the tidings with reverence (Isaiah 52:15), but Israel in the midst of whom this wondrous work of atonement has been effected, refused to believe the message. While the immediate reference is doubtless to Isaiah 52:7 this complaint is applicable to the whole revelation of the prophet. He had brought them the good tidings concerning "Immanuel," the "Prince of Peace," the "Rod out of the stem of Jesse," the "Sure Foundation," the "Righteous King," and the “revealed glory of the Lord.” He surely felt that he spoke, mainly, to unbelieving ears, and this unbelief was likely to be intensified when so marvelous a prophecy was delivered as that which he was now to put forth. There is, of course, a rhetorical exaggeration in the question, which seems to imply that no one would believe.

The prophet’s second question, "To whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed" raises the question of the recognition of Jehovah’s displays of power in behalf of Israel. He has made bare his holy arm before all the nations and the ends of the earth are made to see the salvation of Jehovah, but where is the spiritual discernment of these things in Israel? Many Jews had failed to recognize Jehovah’s marvelous dealings with them and the nations around because of their unbelief. But there is a more far-reaching application of these questions to Israel, as indicated by Paul in Romans 10:16. They did not recognize the "Arm of Jehovah," the Lord Jesus Christ, as their Messiah. His mighty works were not recognized by them as attestations of the One that was to come, but with blinded eyes they rejected him, as the prophet here foresaw.

Here it is said that he grew up as a "tender plant" before Jehovah, i.e., the Messiah was a fresh sprout from the stump of a tree that had been felled, the tree of the Davidic monarchy. Yet he was before Jehovah with his loving favor upon him. He was also as a "root growing up out of dry ground," just like the tall succulent plant in the east, growing from the soil utterly devoid of moisture. The roots of such plants in the desert are full of fluid, though the surrounding air is very dry. The "dry ground" here refers to the corrupt age and nation, and the arid soil of humanity in general.

"He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him." He had no regal pomp nor splendor, nothing to attract the multitudes, but his attractive qualities were to the spiritual rather than to the carnal. The spiritual beauties of a holy, sweet expression and a majestic calmness could only have been spiritually discerned. "He was despised"; men had contempt for his teaching and verily they hated him because his teaching and life were BO contrary to them. "He was rejected," by the Jewish nation and was not reckoned with men by them. "A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief"; his whole ministry illustrates this. His sorrows appear on every page of the Gospels. Men hid their faces from him when they met him, because they saw only the external expression of sorrow and grief. Thus he is pictured as a "tender plant, a root growing up out of dry ground, without comeliness, no beauty, despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," men hiding their faces from him as one despised and not esteemed.

In Isaiah 52:4-11 we have the very heart of the vicarious work of our Lord, but there are other expressions in the passage that bear on this phase of his work. So we will consider them all together. There are eleven of these unmistakable expressions of our Lord’s vicarious sufferings: (1) "He hath borne our griefs"; (2) "he hath carried our sorrows"; (3) "he was wounded for our transgressions"; (4) "he was bruised for our iniquities"; (5) "the chastisement of our peace was upon him"; (6) "with his stripes we are healed"; (7) "Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all"; (8) "he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people"; (9) "when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin"; (10) "he shall bear their iniquities"; (11) "yet he bare the sins of many."

In the ninth item above, the sacrificial nature of these sufferings is directly stated. To a people whose approach to God was limited throughout by the indispensable condition of the expiatory offering, all these sayings were calculated to suggest to them that in such a one they might realize all their hopes of righteousness. The terms, "iniquities," "transgressions" and "sins" which occur here, gather around the work of the high priest on the ’"day of atonement," and indicate the priestly work of Christ, which is the theme of this section. This doctrine thus taught in the Old Testament is set forth with equal distinctness in the New Testament, and forms the hope, the trust, and the consolation of all Christians.

While thus suffering for a lost world his suffering was regarded by those who witnessed it as a smiting from God for his own sin. Hence they scoffed at him and reviled him in his greatest agonies. To one only, and him not one of God’s people, was it given to see the contrary, who declared aloud, "Certainly this was a righteous man" (Luke 23:47).

The prophet here shows that he was oppressed and afflicted, though he did not open his mouth. Like the Passover lamb led to the slaughter, he was dumb, which has a remarkable fulfilment in the deportment of our Lord under trial.

He was taken away by oppression and judgment, i.e., by a violence which cloaked itself under the formalities of a legal process. The people of his generation considered that this stroke fell upon him, not because of the transgression of God’s people, but thought that the stroke came because of his own sins.

His innocence and purity are set forth in Isaiah 52:9. The prophet shows that the intent of the executioners was to make his grave with the wicked, as was the case of all criminals who were crucified on the "Hill of Skull" and buried in a grave in the midst, but through the providence of Jehovah he had the rich man’s tomb because there was no violence done by him nor was any deceit found in his mouth. "Violence" here refers to his overt acts and "deceit" refers to the inward state of the heart. He was free from both the guilt of sin and the bondage of sin. He was pure both in life and in character.

It may be truly said that God bruised Christ and put him to grief, the explanation of which is found in Acts 2:23: "Him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay." The crucifixion of Christ was not an after-thought with God. It was divinely decreed, and permissively carried out by the hands of wicked men. He was put to death by the divine stroke, on the charge of sin.

But how shall we sufficiently realize all the significance of earth’s greatest tragedy? Even when we beggar language we but bring somewhat nearer the heights and depths of its import. If all the crises in human affairs since Adam first hesitated over the tender of forbidden fruit in the hand of his wife to the present crisis in the affairs of the Oriental nations could pool their hazards, they would not surpass the momentous issues involved when he said, "Now is the crisis of this world." Indeed there has never been and never will be but this one real crisis for this world. Since that time we use only relative terms when we talk about a crisis.

If all the cups of woe ever pressed to shrinking human lips since the first sad pair were banished from Eden to the wailing over the victims of the Eastland disaster were condensed into one measure of gall and wormwood, they would not exceed the bitterness enforced on our great substitute when he cried out in Gethsemane’s bloody sweat: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." If all the floods from Noah’s deluge to the last Mississippi overflow could merge their waters into one swollen tide of horror, we might not compare it with his baptism of suffering forecast by the prophets: "All thy billows have rolled over me. Deep calleth unto deep at the voice of thy waterspouts." If all the fires since sulphur and brimstone were rained on Sodom and Gomorrah to the burning of San Francisco were combined into one lurid conflagration "painting hell on the sky," its devouring flame could not be so intense and searing as the fire of which he speaks: "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" If all the wars since Abraham dispersed the foray of Chedorlaorner to the strife by land and sea now raging in the Orient were massed into one universal conflict, the shock of arms would make but on echo of his fight with principalities and powers in the realm of the Spirit and of death from which he emerged "leading captivity captive" and with head-crushed Satan chained to his chariot wheels. If all the darkness since in creation’s dawn, "darkness was upon the face of the deep," to the Egyptian darkness which might be felt and thence to the sun’s latest eclipse, or Byron’s poetic dream, was woven into one funeral pall of gloom, it might not equal that "hour of the power of darkness" which enveloped his cross. If all the loneliness of the exiled since Cain as a fugitive went away from the presence of God to Croly’s Wandering Jew, or to Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, were merged into one desert of solitude, it could not be compared to his isolation when "of the people there were none With him," and when he cried: "My God, why hast thou forsaken me." If all the tragedies since Cain slew his brother Abel, to the last victim of the Inquisition were grouped into one horrible auto de fe, this concentrated martyrdom of all time should not measure the vicarious expiation of him who died as a felon at the hand of God. Yes, "His soul, being made an offering for sin," because "He bear the sin of many," was poured out unto death.

And because "the chastisement of our peace was laid on him" it pleased the Father to bruise him and to put him to grief, "for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," and because when "found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, therefore hath God highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in heaven and beings on earth and beings under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The outcome of it all (Isaiah 52:10-12), and its bearing on the evangelization of the world are as follows: (1) "He shall see his seed," i.e., his disciples, who are said in the Scriptures to be the begotten of the teacher, as Paul speaking of Onesimus, "whom I have begotten in my bonds." (2) "He shall prolong his days," i.e., he shall continue to live by the resurrection and thus extend the time of his work in the salvation of men. (3) "The pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand," i.e., God’s ultimate aim and end with respect to the universe shall be accomplished through him as the instrumentality. (4) "He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied," i.e., because of the travail of his soul he shall be satisfied. This is exactly parallel to Philippians 2:5-11 which emphasized the thought, "No cross – No crown." (See the author’s sermon on this theme, Evangelistic Sermons, p. 15.) (5) "Shall justify many," i.e., shall turn many from sin unto righteousness, which corresponds to Paul’s great discussion in Romans 5:18-19. (6) "A portion with the great," i.e., he shall be a great conqueror, shall have a great kingdom and overcome the strong, making the kingdoms of this world his own, or it may refer to his mighty champions of evangelism with whom he will divide the possessions.

These are not contingent promises. All their preceding conditions have been fully met. Hence they are absolute promises made by the Almighty Father to his divine Son. Every attribute of deity is pledged to their literal and complete fulfilment. We might doubt the stability of the material heavens, the indestructibility of matter, and the persistence of the law of gravitation, but these promises lie beyond the realm of question and peradventure.

The imperiousness of the "shall see" is the ground of positiveness in the "shall come," applied to all sinners given to our Lord by the Father. And the "shall be satisfied" guarantees and necessitates the salvation of all the elect. And though a thousand portents forebode a dissolution of the earth before his satisfaction be complete, it cannot be prematurely dissolved, for the messianic days of salvation shall be prolonged until his purposes be fully accomplished. Some Christians, indeed, consulting their own selfish desires to be relieved at once from trouble may cry out: "Come on, Lord Jesus, come quickly – the time of the second advent is at hand – do not tarry – do not be slack concerning thy promise to come quickly."

But the Lord, unwilling that any of his elect should perish and unsatisfied until they shall repent and live) prolongs his days. We may not propound to a weary and cowardly church the question, "Are you satisfied?" The church might consult its selfish greed and fear and stop the good work of salvation too soon. We may not carry the question to death and hell, "Are you satisfied?" But only one may answer that question, our Lord himself. Men must be saved and saved and saved until he is satisfied – men of all grades of personal guilt, men of all nations and tribes and tongues. Poor, outcast, wandering Israel must be saved. We may be assured he will not be satisfied until the redeemed constitute a host that no man can number, a host whose hallelujah will be louder than mighty thunderings, louder than the voice of many waters. If the "great" and the "strong" of this context refer to Satan, we may be sure Christ will not be content with the present division of these spoils. Though Satan’s goods be now at peace the stronger than he will bind him and despoil him. But if "strong" and "great" refer to Christ’s mighty champions of evangelism, it is equally sure he will make their portion far greater than their present possession. Thus the context illumines the text and makes it reasonable.

The last clause of Isaiah 52:12 gives us the intercessory work of Christ as priest. It began when he said on the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." But it has continued ever since and will continue until lie leaves the mediatorial throne and returns to this world to wind up the affairs of time and turn over the kingdom to the Father.

The special theme of Isaiah 54 is the vast growth and blessedness of Zion, as the result of the Servant’s work. From Isaiah 54:1-3, at Nottingham, England, May 30, 1792, William Carey sounded forth that bugle note of modern missions, "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God," which waked a sleeping world and whose echoes yet linger on every shore of time.

The mighty mandates of this passage stagger all reason, all probability, all philosophy, indeed everything but superhuman faith. And even superhuman faith must have some solid foundation on which to rest, otherwise it becomes blind credulity As the great commission, to disciple all nations and preach the gospel to every creature, rested upon the preceding assurance, "All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me," and the succeeding assurance, "Lo, I am with you all the days even unto the end of the world," so these mighty mandates must have a substantial predicate. That predicate lies in the context.

The verses immediately preceding the text declare: "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." This passage rests on that context.

There is no break in the thread of continuity between Isaiah 53-54. Isaiah 54 is unthinkable without Isaiah 53. Yes, let it be affirmed with uplifted hand and eyes and heart: This passage enjoins impossibilities apart from the awful tragedy set forth in the preceding context. But on that predicate of vicarious atonement all it enjoins is both easy and delightful.

There are seven of these mandates, as follows:

1. The barren are commanded to rejoice in heart over unborn children promised of God contrary to nature. In its spiritual application this does not refer to the active, working, fruit-bearing churches. The reason of their joy is evident and every way rational. They have not been barren hitherto. The call is to the barren churches, whose members so far have been as fig trees producing nothing but leaves. It implies a marvelous gift of faith to them, for the heart cannot break forth in praise over a blessing promised, unless it believe the promise. Yea, for such praise the faith must be the very substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. At such a promise the barren Sarai once laughed in derision until through faith she became Sarah and laughed now with joy and even named her child "Laughter."

2. They are commanded not merely to rejoice in heart, but to provide instant, and abundant house room for the coming of these multitudinous children of promise: "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations." This injunction reminds us of the vision of Zechariah: A young man went forth with a measuring line to lay off the site of the messianic Jerusalem. But an angel from God appears with the injunction: "Run, speak to that young man." Tell him, "Jerusalem shall be immeasurable. It shall expand until it takes in all the neighboring towns and villages. Let him roll up his insignificant tape line. That cannot measure this enlarged city of promise. No walls can enclose it. It shall be as big as the country itself."

3. In making provision for this enlargement there must be no regard for the cost. No miserly calculations. No selfish economy shall restrict the outlay: "Spare not; lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes."

4. Enlargement shall be in every direction: "For thou shalt break forth upon thy right hand and thy left." The heresy that giving to one object, or working in one direction precludes other gifts and objects must die out of the heart.

5. This enlargement in all directions must be without foreboding as to the outcome. The heart must not dread the humiliation of possible failure, for says the passage: "Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed."

6. There must be no premature dread of the possible character and destiny of the numerous progeny after they have come: "For all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children."

7. This great enlargement must be undertaken in absolute fearlessness of any fighting opposition or talking opposition. For, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that riseth against thee thou shalt condemn."

The imagery here employed is very suggestive and impressive to those of us familiar with tent life. We know that a little squad needs but a little tent, and it needs only a small place with small curtains, short cords and weak tent pins. But when we lay off a wide space, that means a big tent and broad curtains and long ropes and strong, deeply driven stakes to anchor it securely against storms. Then, with a little tent we need only a short central tent pole, but with a big tent we need a tent pole like the mast of a ship. This pole is the center of unity. When we suddenly and greatly increase our tent our tent pole must either grow to fit the new conditions or we must get out a new one.

We are commanded to sing – not to croak – sing for blessings past, sing more for blessings promised, sing if we suffer, as Paul and Silas at midnight in the jail at Philippi. Rejoice that God has counted us worthy to suffer for his name and cause. Let faith that never staggers at the magnitude of commands and promises fire our heart to expect great things from God and to attempt great things for God. Let us learn to make large prayers, prayers for mighty favors. Let us open our mouths wide and God will fill them. It ministers to the self-respect of a people to cut out a big piece of work for them to do. Let us heed these words adapted from Whittier: What Hell may be, we know not; this we know: We cannot lose the presence of the Lord: One arm, Humility, takes hold upon His dear Humanity; the other, Love, Clasps his Divinity. So where we go He goes; and better fire-walled Hell with Him Than golden-gated Paradise without.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the special theme of this section and how does it rank in importance with other scripture?

2. What is the different interpretations of Isaiah 52:13-53:12?

3. What is the argument for the messianic theory and against the later Jewish theories?

4. What is the proof from the New Testament that this is the true interpretation?

5. Give an analysis of Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

6. What is the general view of the whole subject as presented in Isaiah 52:13-15?

7. What is the import of the prophet’s double question in Isaiah 53:1?

8. Explain his unpromising appearance.

9. What is the proof from this passage that Christ was made a substitute for sinners?

10. While thus suffering for a lost world how was this suffering regarded by those who witnessed it?

11. How, according to this prophecy, did he deport himself under such trials?

12. What is the meaning of Isaiah 53:8?

13. How is his innocence and purity set forth in Isaiah 53:9?

14. How may it be truly said that God bruised Christ and put him to grief, and what the significance of this great tragedy?

15. What is the outcome of it all (Isaiah 10:12) and what its bearing on the evangelization of the world?

16. When was the last clause of Isaiah 10:12, "and made intercession for the transgressors," fulfilled?

17. What is the special theme of Isaiah 54?

18. What great sermon was preached from Isaiah 54:1-3, and what of its lasting effect?

19. What can you say of this passage, and what its relation to the preceding chapter?

20. What are the mandates enjoined in Isaiah 54 and what their application?

21. What can you say of the imagery here employed?

22. What is the chief note of exhortation in this chapter?