ISAIAH 49:

OPENS WITH...THE MESSIAH'S MISSION.

AND WE KNOW, THAT STARTING WITH Isaiah chapter 49, THE LORD'S FOCUS, ONCE AGAIN SHIFTS TO THE FAR/NEAR PROPHETIC FUTURE OF ISRAEL AND THE GENTILES.

EVEN AS THERE IS NO LONGER a mention of Cyrus, now the focus is on the ultimate deliverer, the Messiah. Though there is still reference to the deliverance from Babylon's captivity, the real focus is on the ultimate deliverance the Messiah will bring.

THE MESSIAH'S MISSION

This chapter is full of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the words quoted could not possibly have their complete fulfillment in any other save in our Savior.


Verses 1-2 tells us The call and the preparation of the Messiah.

"Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me."

Listen, O coastlands, to Me...

As the context will show, these words come prophetically from the Messiah, the Servant of the LORD revealed in previous chapters. Here, He commands the coastlands - the distant lands of the Gentiles -to listen to Him.

The LORD has called Me from the womb...

The Messiah, later revealed as Jesus Christ, was called from the womb. Actually, as shown in Micah 5:2, Jesus was called even before He was in Mary's womb, yet here He starts at the point which any man could most readily relate to.

From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name...

This was fulfilled in Luke 1:31, where the LORD, through the angel Gabriel, declared the name of Jesus BEFORE the conception in Mary's womb.

He has made MY mouth like a sharp sword...

This means that the VERY WORDS of the Messiah have power and authority. While some might need to brandish a weapon to show their authority, the Messiah needs only to SPEAK.

In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me...

JESUS CHRIST prophetically proclaims that He is like a carefully made and polished arrow in the service of the LORD, ready to be used at the right time. This probably has reference to the "hidden" years of Jesus, when He lived in obscurity, as a polished shaft waiting in the quiver of the LORD.


Verses 3-4 tells us The Messiah's confidence in the LORD.

"And He said to me, "You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Then I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, and my work with my God."

You are My servant, O Israel...

Since the rest of the context of this chapter indicates that this passage speaks of the Messiah, it is best to regard Israel as a reference to the Messiah.

WAITAMINNIT YOU SAY...How can the LORD speak of HIMSELF the Messiah as Israel?

FIRST, because the Messiah comes from Israel, and is a representative of the nation.

SECOND, because the Messiah fulfills the name Israel, which means, "governed by God."

On the surface, the statement 'You are my servant, Israel,' explicitly identifies Yahweh's Servant as the nation Israel. But if that were the case, an apparent contradiction would arise in verses 5-6, in which the Servant's task is to bring Israel back to Yahweh and to the land … the view that 'Israel' is a title of the individual messianic Servant harmonizes most satisfactorily with the passage and context.

Then I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the LORD."

The translators of the New King James do not believe these words belong in the mouth of the Messiah, because they do not capitalize the pronoun MY, as they would if they believed it spoke of the Messiah. Yet these words can be set prophetically in the mouth of the Messiah, because surely Jesus was tempted by the discouraging thought that all His work was in vain and for nothing. Yet He triumphed over such temptation by declaring, my just reward is with the LORD.

AND RIGHT HERE, A QUESTION I HAVE HAD, WAS CLEARLY ANSWERED BY JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. WE KNOW FROM READING THE NEW TESTAMENT, THAT JESUS WAS TEMPTED IN ALL WAYS THAT ARE COMMON TO MAN, RIGHT?

BUT RIGHT HERE, JESUS TELLS US THAT HE FACED AND FOUGHT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT...AND HE KNEW WHEN HE WALKED AMONG MEN, DURING HIS MINISTRY ON THIS EARTH THAT HE KNEW HE WOULD FACE DISCOURAGEMENT AGAIN.

When we consider WHAT - and WHO -the Lord Jesus had to work with on this earth, we certainly must believe that one of the great temptations He faced was discouragement. This passage shows that even though He ministered in difficult and discouraging circumstances, He NEVER gave into discouragement, but ALWAYS put His trust in the LORD.

Verses 5-7 tells us The Messiah blesses Israel and the nations.

"And now the LORD says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My God shall be My strength), indeed He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth." Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You."

To bring Jacob back to Him...

RIGHT HERE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, JESUS IS TELLING US AND SHOWING US an important aspect of the Messiah's mission was to bring Israel BACK to the LORD. This shows that ethnic Israel has an enduring place in God's plan, and that plan WILL BE fulfilled when all Israel WILL BE saved...as PAUL confirms to us in Romans 11:26.

It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob … I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles...

AND RIGHT HERE IS ANOTHER REASON JESUS WOULD WALK AMONG MANKIND...JESUS PLAN IS ALSO TO BE A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES...WE, WERE IN HIS HEART AND MIND AND A FOCUS OF HIS MISSION....LONGGGGGG BEFORE HE WALKED AND TAUGHT AMONG LOST MANKIND.

What will the Messiah do for the Gentiles? That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. The Messiah would not simply bring salvation; He would be … salvation to the ends of the earth.

GROGAN says it well, "Israel has light but needs restoration, while the Gentiles need both light and salvation."

Thus says the LORD … to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors...

The LORD, as ALMIGHTY GOD THE FATHER speaks to His Messiah, and reveals TO ISAIAH that HIS PRECIOUS SON, JESUS CHRIST will be One whom man despises, and whom His own nation abhors.

This is an important - yet lightly noted - prophecy of the rejection of the Messiah, by mankind in general and by Israel specifically.

ALMIGHTY GOD TOLD ISAIAH AND ISRAEL RIGHT HERE, THAT HIS MESSIAH WOULD COME AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL SPECIFICALLY AS A WHOLE WOULD REJECT AND HATE HIM AND LOST MANKIND IN GENERAL WOULD HATE HIM TOO.

HOW PRECIOUS AND PRICELESS WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE OUR JESUS CHRIST LOVE FOR LOST MANKIND, AMEN?

THINK ABOUT IT, IN OUR LIVES, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE DECIDED TO GIVE UP OR NOT DO SOMETHING WHEN WE KNOW WE WILL BE REJECTED FOR IT? AND HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE HELD ON, STEPPED OUT, DONE WHAT WE KNEW WE SHOULD DO, ARE CALLED TO DO, EVEN KNOWING IN ADVANCE THAT WE WILL BE HATED AND REJECTED?

AT TIMES LIKE THAT, REMEMBER, OUR JESUS PERFECTLY UNDERSTANDS THE STRUGGLE, AND IT IS JUST ANOTHER PROOF THAT WE HAVE JESUS HEART AND WE ARE GROWING IN JESUS WHEN WE PRESS IN AND DO IT...EVEN IN THE FACE OF REAL REJECTION AND MAYBE EVEN HATE, AMEN?

Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship...

Yet in the end, the Messiah will not be despised or abhorred. He will receive the worship and honor He deserves, because He is the chosen of the LORD.

Verses 8-12 tells us the glory of the Messiah's ministry.

"Thus says the LORD: "In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; that You may say to the prisoners, 'Go forth,' to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them. I will make each of My mountains a road, and My highways shall be elevated. Surely these shall come from afar; look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim."

In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You...

RIGHT HERE, GOD THE FATHER IS PROMISING JESUS, JUST AS JESUS PROMISES US WHO LOVE HIM...HE WILL EXTEND His help and preservation to the Messiah all through His earthly ministry. Yet if there is any specific time that this promise was fulfilled, it was as Jesus died on the cross and trusted in the promise of resurrection, AMEN?

It is beautiful to imagine Jesus comforting and strengthening His soul with these promises as He anticipated and endured the ordeal of the cross. He could know, based on this promise, that the LORD GOD, HIS FATHER would hear, help, and preserve Him.

And give You as a covenant to the people...

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

ALMIGHTY GOD IS PROMISING AND PROPHESYING THAT Jesus, the Messiah, doesn't merely bring a covenant; He IS a covenant to the people.

That You may say to the prisoners, "Go forth"...

Jesus' ministry WOULD set people free from bondage and imprisonment.

AND EVERYTHING ALMIGHTY GOD PROPHESIES THAT HIS SON WILL DO...JESUS DID DO...PERFECTLY, AMEN?!

Jesus DID SET the demon possessed FREE from the bondage of chains and demonic torture told to us in Mark 5:1-15.

Jesus DID SET the sick and diseased FREE from the bondage of their infirmities told to us in Luke 13:16.

Jesus DID SET the righteous dead captive in Hades FREE from their place told to us in Ephesians 4:8.

Jesus DID SET those in bondage to sin and the law FREE told to us in John 8:33-36 AND Galatians 3:22-23.

For He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them...

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

In an immediate sense, this refers to God's supply and sustaining of the exiles returning from Babylon to Judah, through the UNSEEN hand of the Messiah.

BUT...In the larger sense, it speaks of mercy and provision of God for people as they return to Him in the LAST DAYS, as they shall come from afar.

I will make each of My mountains a road...

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

The mountains in the way of the returning exiles - both in near and far fulfillment - would seem to defeat the purpose of the LORD. But they will not.

AND RIGHT HERE IS ANOTHER REASON, I STICK WITH THE KING JAMES VERSION....SUCH SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT WORDS "EACH OR ALL...

"Notice it says EACH … mountain (or, as in the King James Version, ALL … mountains).
There is no exception in that great, but little word, ALL.

ALMIGHTY GOD IS TELLING US RIGHT HERE...PROMISING US AND HIS PRECIOUS SON RIGHT HERE...

REDPATH SAYS IT WELL...."There is nothing in life - NO obstacle, NO loneliness, NO trial, NO sorrow - which may not be a way into God's richest blessing. There is NO situation of entanglement, NOTHING that you can possibly conceive, but this can be part of God's way to make HIS mountain a way of deliverance."

AND NOTICE...it says MY mountains.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

The mountains in the way are still the LORD's mountains, allowed there for a purpose. And the purpose is NOT to torment you, or because He hates you. There is a loving, wise purpose for every mountain, and God wants to make each of My mountains a road, AMEN?

AGAIN REDPATH says it well, "[When you make] the commitment of your life to Jesus Christ without reservation, then you can go to meet your mountains and meet obstacles in Jesus - not to meet them outside Him, but in Christ. If you do that, then the mountain between you and God's land of blessing becomes the way into it."

And these from the land of Sinim...

Where is Sinim?

INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH...Some identify SINIM with a place in EGYPT, and others SAY IT REFERS TO CHINA...EITHER OR BOTH CAN BE CORRECT...

WHY?

BECAUSE RIGHT HERE THE LORD GOD IS PROPHESYING AND PROMISING TO BRING BACK THE CAPTIVES (particularly in the far fulfillment) from every conceivable place.

AND THINK ABOUT IT...THEN, AS WELL AS NOW, THE NATION OF ISRAEL SAW AND BELIEVED THAT THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL WAS ONLY THEIR GOD...WAS ONLY INTERESTED IN AND HAD COVENANT WITH THEM...AND THEM ALONE...AND EVEN TODAY, THE NATION OF ISRAEL AS A WHOLE BELIEVES THE HOLY ONE IF ISRAEL IS JUST FOR THEM...

BUT ALMIGHTY GOD TELLS ISAIAH AND ISRAEL THAT HE IS FOR ALL PEOPLE AND WILL OFFER SALVATION...COVENANT RELATIONSHIP TO ALL PEOPLES OVER THE FACE OF THE EARTH...

Verses 13-14 tells us The LORD is praised for goodness to Zion - and an objection is raised.

"Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me."

Sing, O heavens! For the LORD has comforted His people...

It is simply assumed that the people the LORD has comforted WILL praise Him; here, the LORD calls for creation itself to add their voices in praise for all the Messiah has done.

AND CREATION DOES...THINK ABOUT PLANTS/TREES THAT SHOOT UP FROM THE GROUND...DO NOT THEIR FACES, THEIR STEMS, THEIR LIMBS LOOK AS THOUGH THEY ARE REACHING UP TO THE SKY? SEEK THE SUN? DO NOT PLANTS AND GRASSES AND FLOWERS TURN THEIR FACES AND FOLLOW THE SUN?

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me."

In the midst of this great praise for the Messiah and His saving work, Zion - speaking of the highest hill in Jerusalem, and the place of God's people by association - Zion (THE NATION OF ISRAEL) objects. Zion believes, "The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me."

AND AMAZINGLY ENOUGH AND MOST PRECIOUSLY...the rest of Isaiah 49 and Isaiah 50 will answer this question.

Because of their captivity in Babylon, ISRAEL wonders "Does God really care about us?" God will answer, with strength and insight, this question that many have asked since.

AND DO NOT SOME TEACH FROM THE PULPITS, AND THE MEDIA TALKING HEADS MOCK THE NATION OF ISRAEL TODAY?

BOY, IF THE NATION OF ISRAEL IS THE WIFE OF ALMIGHTY GOD, THE CREATOR GOD HIMSELF...THEN EITHER THEIR GOD IS NOT AS POWERFUL AS THEY THINK, OR THEIR GOD HAS FORSAKEN THEM...LOOK AT ALL THE CONSTANT STRIFE AND ATTACKS THEY FACE EVERY DAY...

BUT WE NEED TO REMEMBER ALMIGHTY GOD KNEW THE TALKING HEADS WOULD COME, THE FALSE TEACHERS, AS WELL SATAN GLEEFULLY WHISPERING IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL, AS WELL AS IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THOSE WHO CALL JESUS CHRIST LORD, SAVIOR, MASTER, AND FRIEND...

GOD HAS TURNED HIS BACK ON YOU....GOD HAS FORGOTTEN YOU...GOD DOES NOT SEE...DOES NOT HEAR...DOES NOT CARE...YOU ARE FOOLS TO THINK OTHERWISE...LOOK AT YOUR LIFE...LOOK AT YOUR HISTORY...YOU ARE FORSAKEN...GOD DOES NOT LOVE YOU...DOES NOT CARE FOR YOU...

Verses 15-18 tells us GOD'S ANSWER...God does care, and the LORD proclaims His love and faithfulness to Zion.

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me. Your sons shall make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you. Lift up your eyes, look around and see; all these gather together and come to you. "As I live," says the LORD, "You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, and bind them on you as a bride does."

Can a woman forget her nursing child...

Though bizarre accounts of unspeakable cruelty surface from time to time, ABOUT WOMEN ABANDONING, FORGETTING, REJECTING, AND EVEN WORSE KILLING THEIR BABIES...everyone knows that a woman will never forget her nursing child. Yet the LORD says, Surely they will forget, yet I will NOT forget you. The LORD's affection for His people is greater than the devotion a woman has for her nursing child!

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands...

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

This has obvious and beautiful fulfillment in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. As Jesus told Thomas in a post-resurrection appearance, look at My hands (John 20:27). When we see the nail-scarred hands of Jesus, we see how He has inscribed US on the palms of His hands. With such love, how could God ever forget His people?

Your walls are continually before Me...

The walls refer to the walls of the city of Jerusalem, which figuratively speak of the health, the strength, the prosperity, and the security of God's people. God is always mindful of the condition of His people, despite the objections of a doubting Zion.

Your sons shall make haste … you shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament...

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

The LORD WILL bring back the exiled and captive sons of Zion to the Promised Land, and this will be an ornament for God's people. The LORD's love and faithfulness for Zion/ISRAEL is also shown by His promise for their future. It isn't just demonstrated by the past and the present, but also by His FUTURE plans for them.

This promise was partially fulfilled in the return of the exiles from Babylon, but will be ultimately fulfilled in the regathering of Israel in the last days.

Verses 19-26 tells us God DOES care, and He promises and affirms blessing for Zion.

"For your waste and desolate places, and the land of your destruction, will even now be too small for the inhabitants; and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children you will have, after you have lost the others, will say again in your ears, "The place is too small for me; give me a place where I may dwell." Then you will say in your heart, "Who has begotten these for me, since I have lost my children and am desolate, a captive, and wandering to and fro? And who has brought these up? There I was, left alone; but these, where were they?" Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, and set up My standard for the peoples; they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders; kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me." Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of the righteous be delivered? But thus says the LORD: "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children. I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. All flesh shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

For your waste and desolate places … will even now be too small for the inhabitants...

As the LORD brings the sons of Zion back to the Israel, they will fill the land in a glorious way.

There I was, left alone; but these, where were they?

The great blessing of the returning sons of Zion - in both near and far fulfillment - will come as an astounding surprise. God's blessing will seem to come from NOWHERE. Though the promise seems too good to be true, God confirms it with an oath to the nations. God will rescue Israel from both their immediate and ultimate captivity.

"Lick up the dust of thy feet"...

ALMIGHTY GOD IS PROPHESYING THE great honor which the great ones of the world will give Israel & MESSIAH JESUS CHRIST.

BUT INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH...DID YOU KNOW...CATHOLICISM POINTS TO THIS AS GOD SPEAKING TO THEM, OF THEIR POPES, AS THE POPE BEING GOD HIMSELF IN HUMAN FORM, A MESSIAH, AND THEREFORE it is mainly on the basis of this phrase that there is the practice of kissing the pope's feet.

Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away...

Babylon, the mighty empire, had taken Zion captive. But even they shall be taken away. God will shows His strength and love for Zion/ISRAEL by giving unto Babylon what Babylon gave unto Zion, even though they thought it unlikely, as shown by the question of Isaiah 49:24.

This was true for Zion when freed from the Babylonian captivity; it is even more true for those set free from captivity to Satan.

REMEMBER...Jesus spoke of spoiling Satan in Luke 11:21-22: "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils."

JESUS SALVATION GIFT, THE WORLD'S SIN DEBT PAID FOR IN FULL ON THE CROSS AT CALVARY...FOR ALL MANKIND...BE THEY MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN...OF ALL NATIONS, TONGUES, AND TRIBES....SPOILED SATAN'S PLANS, HOPES, AND DREAMS FOREVER.

AND ALMIGHTY GOD, JESUS CHRIST, & THE HOLY SPIRIT TOLD THE NATION OF ISRAEL, AND THE GENTILE NATIONS OF THE WORLD...AS WELL SATAN AND ALL HIS DEMONS IN THE PIT OF HELL...IN ADVANCE....WHAT HE WOULD DO...AND OUR JESUS CHRIST FULFILLED IT PERFECTLY IN HIS LIFE, WALK, MINISTRY, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION.

ALMIGHTY GOD SAID HIS PRECIOUS SON WOULD COME, CARE, LOVE, HEAL, DEFEND, FEED, AND TEACH AND SAVE...AND OUR JESUS CHRIST DID EXACTLY THAT!