Promises of a Messiah – Isaiah 40-52

There are so many more promises of a Messiah that we could talk about, but we only have two weeks left before Christmas.  So we’re going to go back to the prophet Isaiah for these last two promises – about 750 years before Jesus was born.

This week we’re going to do a quick, sweeping overview of Isaiah 40-52.  There are many, many familiar passages here – as I read through I saw several passages that had been put to music, some that I sang as a child, others that may be familiar to those that know Handel’s Messiah.

God vs the idols

This passage of Scripture (and I encourage you to sit down and read it all, or listen to it here) has more than one major theme.  One of the biggest is the True God vs idols.

Over and over, God mocks the idols that could do nothing, that knew nothing, and that could not save.  God, on the other hand, was the Great Creator, the One who knows the end from the beginning, the only Saviour, the Good Shepherd:

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
(Isa 40:11)

I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.
(Isa 43:11)

… there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.  Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!  For I am God, and there is no other.

By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
(Isa 45:21-23)

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god."
(Isa 44:6)

God lovingly calls His people to return to Him – and promises deliverance for those who are truly His.  And over and over and over He affirms that He is the ONLY true God.

The Servant

In these chapters, Israel is personified as the servant of the Lord…

Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
(Isa 44:21)

But soon it becomes clear that there’s another servant being spoken of.  Perhaps most clearly, in chapter 49, we see the servant being sent to Israel, to restore it:

He says: "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."
(Isa 49:6)

This servant would not only bring salvation to Israel, but to the Gentiles.  Sound like anyone we’ve been talking about?

Promises of a Messiah

So there’s another Servant being talked about here – the Messiah Himself.  Now we see many passages speaking of the coming of this Servant.  Right at the beginning:

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
(Isa 40:3)

New Testament writers applied this passage to John the Baptist, a messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah (Mar 1:2-4; Luk 3:3-4; Joh 1:19-23).

Chapter 42:1-4 speaks of the Servant who would bring justice to the Gentiles, with great humility and tenderness.  Matthew quotes this passage in Mat 12:15-21.

Another fascinating passage comes in Isa 48:16:  Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.
(Isa 48:16)

Once again we see a hint of the Trinity here – the Servant (Jesus – who has existed from the beginning) being sent by the Lord God and His Spirit.

Stained glass window from Wolfville Baptist Church, Nova Scotia, Canada
You may have already noticed titles here that are given to exclusively to God, which are also give to Jesus – the Saviour (ie 2Pet 3:18), and the First and the Last (see Rev 22:12-16), and the reference to every knee bowing (see Phi 2:9-11).

This passage may also have some familiar rings:

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; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
(Isa 50:5-7)

Sound anything like the beating Jesus went through?  Check out John 19:1-3, and Mat 27:27-30.

Then Isaiah talks as Moses did of the Sent One that must be obeyed:

Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.
(Isa 50:10)

Description of the Messiah

So here we have this pre-existent Messiah, sent by God and His Spirit.  He would be announced by a voice in the wilderness.  He would come to bring salvation to Israel and the Gentiles.  He would be humble, and tender.  He was the One the people would need to obey.

And yet – as Israel suffered, so He would suffer.  Disgrace, beating, spitting.  How could this be?  And why?

Next week we’ll find out.

But for now, one more section of this passage – which speaks not only of The Servant, but anyone who is sharing the Good News of God’s Salvation.  Is this you?

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace,
who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
(Isa 52:7)