Prophetic Studies

Isaiah     The Servant Songs

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

15 October 2011

         Isaiah had a very good reading knowledge of the works of Moses. One collection of poems written by Isaiah dealt with the Servant Songs. Scholars are saying, and John L. Mackenzie of the Anchor Bible is one of them, that the first servant song is in Isaiah 42. The servant is the main topic in vv. 1-4 with His announcement of His mission. In vv. 5-9 God is the main topic with His explicit mission thoughts. In vv. 10-17 is a Warrior song and God's eschatological destruction of the wicked. In vv. 18-25 Isaiah concluded that Israel is not the servant. Israel is not the servant but God called them by another name. It is because the servant is the Messiah. In Luke 4:18-19 is a summary of Isaiah 61:1-2 which summarizes also Isaiah 42:5-9 speaking about Christ. Verse 7 is fulfilled in Christ. He was the despised one. This servant would not be a loud suppressor, not an oppressor, His world mission is teaching, to the nations since He is a light to the nations (v. 6). In fact, Jesus becomes the Covenant in the process of salvation (verse 8). From vv. 10-17 we have the Warrior God motif. From vv. 14-16 we have a description of probably what will happen during the Time of Great Tribulation mentioned in Daniel 12:1. Our suspicion is that it will last no longer than 9 months as the expression "a woman in labor" is also used here as one finds in Amos 5:2. In vv. 18-25 Isaiah realizes that Israel is the deaf and blind servant. Israel does not qualify to be the servant of which the Lord spoke in the beginning. "You have seen many things, but you do not observe them" and "your ears are open, but none hears". The Lord wanted to make His law great and glorious but they are a people that plunder (vv. 21-22). Isaiah measured Israel to the qualities of the first servant, but they do not match Him just like the church of Laodicea in Revelation. Himself and Israel is not this first servant. The first servant was far superior than them.          Mackenzie felt that the second servant is in Isaiah 49 but that is not correct. There are two other servant songs in Isaiah 45:4 and 44:21. This second servant song refers to Christ. The Father cites the words of Isaiah 49:3 at the baptism of Jesus in 27 CE. The Israel who is the servant in this verse is a single person. The person's self-concept is His locus standi in verse 5, He is formed by God in the womb. That is a situation that we also find in Mary and Jesus. His mission is to be a light unto the nations. "I have given You unto a light of the nations". This is not the church but Christ. Lumen Gentium is only Christ. No other human agency, no matter how saintly or church connected, can fulfill this role. It is divine. He will be despised and rejected by the nation but eventually kings will bow to him (verse 7). It is fulfilled in Christ. In vv. 8-13 we have Psalm 23 in reverse with God as Shepherd. In v. 14 we have a Time of Trouble scene until verse 21. In vv. 22-26 we have the Warrior God of Psalm 24 showing up to turn the table around.

         In Isaiah 50 there is the word about the fifth servant song. A number of points indicate that it is Christ that is in mind here. In verse 4 it states, "the Lord Yahweh gives to me a tongue of disciples". Again in verse 5 is repeated that "the Lord Yahweh opens to me an ear". This is a very similar statement that we find in Psalm 40:6-8 that was cited by Paul in Hebrews 10:5 with a change from ear to body and cut or prepare to prepare in Greek. In verse 9 it reads "if the Lord Yahweh will be a help to me, who is he who will do evil to me?". Christ was the perfect One who overcame all evil temptations. Scholars may ask why Paul is changing ear into body but in essence, the Servant was prepared holistically for His task. His body was given as a sacrifice. He gave Himself as a ransom.

         The famous and well known Servant song is the sixth one in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. It is giving us the Messiah as Shepherd, Lamb, and Warrior. As verse 11 says: "He shall declare my servant righteous unto many". This is Christ. A literal translation of the original of Isaiah will be the Hebrew form of Isaiah which reads: "And He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, He has no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him". The Targum Jonathan to the prophets took these words and changed it into: "And the righteous shall grow up before Him, yea, they shall grow like the budding scion and like a tree that sends down its roots to rivulets of water; thus will they flourish, a holy generation in the land that has need thereof. His countenance is no ordinary countenance and fear of him is not the fear of an ordinary man. His appearance will be a holy appearance and all who look upon him will look at him yearningly." What is a description of the birth and incarnation of the Messiah is changed by the Targum Jonathan to the Prophets into a description of Israel. It is Israel that will grow according to the Targumist.

         In Christ the three functions of prophet, priest and king finds their fulfillment. It was also the way S. R. Driver explained it in his commentary on Isaiah page 180-184.

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