1. Celebrating the Servant-Savior
The Gospel of Isaiah
Jason S. DeRouchie, PhD
Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology
Bethlehem College & Seminary
Bethlehem Baptist Church, 2017

2. Celebrating the Servant’s Saving Mission
The Servant Calls the Coastlands to Receive His Mission (49:1–12)
God Declares the Servant’s Mission (49:1c–6)
God Clarifies How Some Rulers Will Receive the Servant’s Mission (49:7)
God Describes the Servant’s Mission (49:8–12)
The Servant Calls the Universe to Rejoice in His Mission (49:13)

3. I. The Servant Calls the Coastlands to Receive His Mission (49:1–12)
God declares the Servant’s mission (49:1c– 6)
“Coastlands” (49:1ab)
God’s preparation of the Servant (49:1c–2d)
Pairings:
Service: called … mouth … arrow … servant
Identity: name … hid … hid … Israel/glorified

4. “From the womb … mother”
Isa 7:14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Gen 3:15. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Psa 22:9–10. Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Significance?

5. “From the womb … mother”
Isa 7:14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Gen 3:15. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Psa 22:9–10. Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Significance: He is fully human, and his the the one God promised would come as a servant of God to fix a human problem.

6. Mic 5:2–4. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. 3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

7. “sword … arrow”
Isa 11:4. But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Rev 1:16. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Rev 19:15, 21. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty…. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

8. God’s identification of the Servant and the Servant’s confidence (49:3–4)
This “servant Israel” in 49:3 is not the nation.
The “servant nation” includes multiple people and bears a spiritual disability (42:18–22; 43:8, 10).
The “servant Israel” in this text will actually save “Israel” the nation (49:3, 6).
Isa 49:3, 6. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified…. 6 It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel.
The servant’s mission seems vain, but he remains confident in God (49:7; 53:3)

9. God’s commission of the Servant as a saving light (49:5–6)
“Jacob … Israel” (“to betray … to strive with God”)

10. God’s commission of the Servant as a saving light (49:5–6)
“A light for the nations”
Isa 42:6–7. I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
Isa 9:2, 6. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone…. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [cf. Matt 4:15.]
John 8:12. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

11. The Significance of the Servant’s Identity as “Israel”
Isa 41:10. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
God makes promises to Israel. ➤
As king, Christ represents the people; he is “Israel.” ➤
All God’s promises find their Yes in Christ. ➤
Faith unites us to Christ. ➤
All those united to Christ will enjoy the promises God gave to Israel.

12. The Significance of the Servant’s Identity as “Israel”
Isa 43:1–3. Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD, your God.
God makes promises to Israel. ➤
As king, Christ represents the people; he is “Israel.” ➤
All God’s promises find their Yes in Christ. ➤
Faith unites us to Christ. ➤
All those united to Christ will enjoy the promises God gave to Israel.

13. Isaiah 49:3, 6. You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified…. It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
Acts 26:22–23. I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.
Acts 13:47. The Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (see also Isaiah 52:7 in Romans 10:15).

14. God Maintains the Promise of Serving as a Light to the Nations (with Extension)
God promises that his servant would be a light to the nations. ➤
Christ is this servant-light. ➤
Faith unites us to Christ. ➤
Union with Christ makes us servants with him. ➤
We join Christ as lights to the nations.

15. Every Promise “Yes” in Christ