Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

49:1-13 The servant of the Lord will restore Israel and save the nations. This is the second of four Servant Songs, describing the Messiah (see note on 42:1-9).

49:1 Listen to me. The servant of the Lord demands a worldwide hearing. O coastlands . . . you peoples from afar. Compared with "comfort, comfort my people" (40:1), the prophetic horizon is broadening to reveal more and more nations claimed by God's grace--an empire far greater than that of Cyrus. He named my name shows God's personal care for his servant (cf. 43:1; 45:3-4).

49:2 God alone prepared and equipped the servant. my mouth like a sharp sword. Unlike Cyrus, the servant conquers by the truth of his word (cf. 11:4; Rev. 1:16; 19:15, 21). The servant is a match for enemies both near and far ("sword," arrow).

49:3 my servant, Israel. Comparing vv. 5-6, this servant Israel restores the nation Israel. The servant is the true embodiment of what the nation failed to be, namely, the one in whom I will be glorified.

49:4 The servant confesses his sense of failure due to Israel's poor response (cf. v. 7; 53:1). yet. The servant does not turn from God in cynical unbelief; he accepts emotional suffering and frustrating toil with confidence that God will reward him.

49:5-6 It is too light a thing. It is too small a task to redeem only the tribes of Jacob (ethnic Israel). It is clear here that the servant, though he embodies Israel (v. 3), is nevertheless distinct from Israel, and has a calling to serve Israel and beyond. Far from failing, the servant is declared by God to be the only hope of the world. a light for the nations. See note on 42:6-7. that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. A clear statement of salvation's worldwide scope, a theme that Acts develops by quoting this text (see Acts 1:8; 13:47).

49:7-13 The servant of the Lord triumphs worldwide.

49:7 Unlike the kings of this world, the servant of the Lord conquers by his sufferings (cf. 50:6; 52:14-15). because of the Lord. The triumph of the servant's mission is not due to any facile human idealism but to the purpose of God alone (cf. 9:7).

49:8-12 The servant's faith is vindicated at the time of God's choosing. The day of salvation is now, as the gospel is being offered (as cited in 2 Cor. 6:2). a covenant to the people. See note on Isa. 42:6-7. Isaiah 49:8b-12 describes, with the "prisoners" imagery of 42:7, pilgrimage into the promises of God (cf. Rev. 7:9-17). Syene. I.e., Aswan in southern Egypt (cf. Ezek. 29:10; 30:6).

49:13 The servant's triumph inspires unprecedented joy (cf. 44:23; 55:12-13; Rom. 8:19-21).

49:14-26 Human despair is more than offset by divine grace.

49:14 The joy of v. 13 contrasts with the gloom of the Jewish exiles (cf. 40:27).

49:15-17 The Lord counters the despondency of his people. His attention to them is keener than a mother's to her child. Behold, I have engraved you. As if calling them to gaze upon his open hands. your walls. The rubble of Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians (cf. Ps. 74:3; 102:14). But God intends to rebuild Zion (cf. Isa. 44:26, 28).

49:18 Isaiah sees the restoration of Zion as a mother welcoming her children and as a bride putting on her wedding gown. The prophet's vision extends to the worldwide growth of the people of God (cf. 54:1-3; Col. 1:3-6).

49:19-21 God's restored people are astonished at the number to which they have miraculously grown. This promise contrasts with the doom of Babylon (47:8-9).

49:22-23 God moves history for the benefit of his people (cf. 45:14; 60:10-14). I will lift up my hand . . . and raise my signal. With ease, God's gesture causes the nations to do his will. you will know. The faith of God's people will finally be personal and rewarding. Kings . . . queens. Even those of highest status in other nations will serve God's people.

49:24-26 The people's skeptical question in v. 24 is answered by the Lord's strong assertion in vv. 25-26. eat their own flesh . . . be drunk with their own blood (as if under siege conditions). Defying God's purpose of grace is self-destructive (cf. Phil. 1:27-28). Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. This is God's ultimate purpose. This "recognition formula" ("all flesh shall know"), deriving from Ex. 6:7 and 14:18, occurs elsewhere in Isaiah (e.g., Isa. 7:20; 45:3, 6; 49:23; 60:16).

50:1-3 God challenges the despondency of his people.

50:1 The Jewish exiles feel abandoned (cf. 40:27; 49:14). But their hardships are not due to failure in God. They sinned their way into exile.

50:2-3 Why . . . was there no man? God's people snubbed the approach of his saving word. I dry up the sea. Cf. Ex. 7:21; 10:21-22; 15:8.