Isaiah 42:5-7
The Servant Called and His Work
After the LORD has called the hearers to behold His Servant, He addresses Himself to His Servant in Isa 42:6. As an introduction He describes His omnipotence (Isa 42:5). He speaks of Himself as “God the LORD”, Names expressing that He is the Almighty and the Eternal. He declares that He is the Creator of heaven and earth and all that the earth produces. He is also the Giver of life and spirit to mankind. With this the LORD points out to His Servant the power He has to support Him. It sounds like the “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” with which the Lord Jesus encourages His disciples in His commission to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:18-19).This great presentation is the basis of what follows. This great Person has called His Servant (Isa 42:6). It is a calling “in righteousness”, that is to say, a calling that meets all the righteous demands of God and which a person must meet in order to fulfill that calling (cf. Mt 3:15). At the same time the LORD promises that He will help and watch over Him in the fulfillment of the task to which He has called. The holding of His hand points to His nearness, His favor and affection for Him, His counsel and guidance, and the strength that the Servant receives from Him as Man to do His work. Watching over Him means that He will protect His servant against attacks until it is the time when He is handed over to His enemies. The Servant has been made “as a covenant to the people”, that is Israel. This shows that a Person other than Israel is the Servant (cf. Isa 41:8-9). In Him all that the LORD has promised His people and to which He has committed Himself by a covenant will be fulfilled. He has also been made “a light to the nations”. The nations will also be blessed by Him. Here we see that this means much more than the restoration of Israel from exile. The Servant comes to bring light and salvation to the nations. The blessed effect of the position which the LORD has given Him will be realized in the realm of peace by the Lord Jesus, the Servant of the LORD. He will open blind eyes and give freedom and light (Isa 42:7); for Israel, as we see further on (Isa 42:18), is a deaf and blind servant of the LORD. The opening of the eyes of the blind is the testimony that the Lord Jesus has given to John the baptist when he asks if He is the Messiah (Mt 11:4-5). Never in the Old Testament have the eyes of the physically blind been opened. One of the characteristic signs of the Messiah is the opening of the eyes of the blind. The spiritual meaning of opening the eyes of the blind is to teach the ignorant and make them acquainted with God and the way of salvation (Acts 26:18). We may secondarily apply these things to ourselves as servants of God, as the Lord Jesus shows to Paul by quoting this verse in relation to his service (Acts 26:16-18). He Who has called us will hold our hand and protect us and make us servants of His gospel. He will enable us to bring light and freedom to those who are in spiritual darkness and captivity of sin.
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