The Servant of the Lord - Part 01

Chris Rodriguez: Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctively first-century Jewish point of view. Today, our Bible teacher Stephen Ger begins his five-part series on the Servant of the Lord. And now with today’s teaching, here’s Stephen Ger.
Stephen Ger: In this series, we're going to examine a set of prophecies that are found in the second half of the large book of the Prophet Isaiah. And this set of prophecies are called the "Servant Songs"—not because they're snappy, peppy tunes, but because they all concern a figure called the Servant of the Lord. Beginning in chapter 42 and going all the way to the end of the book, these passages are studded throughout Isaiah's writing like Messianic diamonds. And right now, I'm in the mood to go mining for diamonds. And we're going to begin in Isaiah 42. Verses one through six read as follows: "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold." Well, before we go any further in reading this passage or any of the other servant passages, it will do us in good stead to be mindful to apply the basic rules that we learned when we were children in elementary school as to how to read any piece of literature. Diagnostic questions that we must apply and ask each book, article, or biblical passage that we read. Those diagnostic questions are very simple: Who, What, Where, When, How, Why. If we forget those questions, it will be easy later on in the servant passages to become confused. Let's not be confused. Let's understand who's speaking and who's being addressed. First of all, the one who's speaking is the Lord. Who is He addressing? "My Servant, whom I uphold." And we'll take it from there: "My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon him. I have put My Ruach (Holy Spirit) upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the nations." So we have Who, we have What, we have a Why, we have Where, How. We don't have When, but that is the question, isn't it? When is always the question regarding the Messiah. But let's continue. Verse two: "He will not cry out or raise his voice, nor make his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice." I'm only in verse three, and I've heard already the term "justice" twice. When something is repeated, is reiterated in a short span of text, we can be certain that that is the issue that the author wants to emphasize or the speaker. In this case, remember who the speaker is? The Lord Himself. So, apparently, justice is going to be a big part of what this servant is going to be all about. "He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established"—uh oh, third time—"justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for his law." "Coastlands"—by which I wonder if they mean Tel Aviv, or could they possibly be intending for us to understand other coastlands, other nations? Let's see. "Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out"—pretty good resume—"who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it"—you got my attention—"and spirit to those who walk in it." "I am the Lord. I have called you"—Who? The one He's addressing, My Servant—"in righteousness. I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you. And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, and as a light to the nations." To the nations? I guess "coastlands" must be referring to something a little bit further afield than Tel Aviv. So what we see here is that the Messiah is going to be personally anointed by the Ruach HaKodesh. And we see that he himself is a covenant to the people. He's not writing a covenant, he's not bringing a covenant, he's not signing a covenant. He himself is a covenant, the embodiment, the terminus point of all other covenants. And we also see that his ministry extends beyond the borders of Israel to the nations, to the people, to the Gentiles as well. So whether you're Jewish or whether you're Gentile, you can find some good news in this passage regarding the Messiah. How should this passage be understood? I, of course, am going to explain that it refers to Jesus. That's my position as a follower of his. But you may be listening and saying, "Well, yeah, that's your agenda. You've got an axe to grind. You're reading more into it than needs to be there. That's certainly not the Jewish position on this particular passage." Well, let's take a look at what the Jewish position is. I'm not talking about the contemporary 21st-century Jewish position on this passage; I'm talking about the first-century Jewish position. Let's refer to the Aramaic Targums. Remember what the Targums are—not a store to shop in like Walmart, but the Targums are an Aramaic paraphrase, interpretive paraphrases that were written to the people of the first century in Judea, in Israel, who were more familiar with reading Aramaic than they were in Hebrew. So these are interpretive paraphrases—not a straight translation, but a creative interpretation. Targum Jonathan to the Prophets reads as follows: "Behold My Servant, the Messiah. The Messiah!" You stuck that in there, didn't you? "Yes, I did," says the author of Targum Jonathan. "Whom I bring near, My chosen one in whom My Memra takes delight." That's the Aramaic concept of the "Logos." Okay, remember the concept Logos that might be familiar to you from John chapter one, verse one. "I will place My Holy Spirit upon him, and he shall reveal My law to the nations." "I the Lord have anointed you in righteousness and have firmly taken you by the hand and established you, and I have given you as a covenant of the people, as a light to the nations." He goes on to say, "To open the eyes of the House of Israel who have been blind to the Torah, to bring back their dispersions from among the nations"—in other words, to regather the people of Israel—"they who are like prisoners, and to deliver them who are imprisoned like prisoners in darkness from the servitude of the empires." So, a little bit of extra that's added there, but no question that the Targum reads this passage explicitly—not implicitly, but explicitly—as speaking of a coming Messiah. What about Midrash? Remember Midrash? Midrash is the sermonic material that the rabbis collected on the scripture. Well, the Midrash on Psalms—specifically Psalm 43—reads as follows: "And Thy truth being the Messiah, son of David, as it is written: 'The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.'" That's Psalm 132. And then he adds another scripture to make his point that the truth is Messiah: "Likewise, scripture says, 'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet.'" That's Malachi 3. And he speaks of a redeemer in the verse, Isaiah 42:1: "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold." Great and famous Rabbi David Kimchi—not kimchi, but Kimchi—said, "Behold My Servant, this is talking about the Messiah." So I'm on firm footing when I say that the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 42 is referring to the Messiah. That is the traditional Jewish view, and it is certainly our view. And it is the New Testament view because this passage was specifically applied to Jesus in Matthew 12:18, Luke 1:72, Matthew 12:18-21, Luke 1:79 and 2:32, as well as Acts 13:47. Before we wrap up our time together, I want to introduce the next passage, and we're going to set the stage for the next passage so we can get right into it next time. But the next passage is just seven chapters away, Isaiah 49. And again, in Isaiah 49, verses one through 13, we're going to see the Messiah's role as the Servant of the Lord. This is the second Servant Song, Isaiah 49. And it is written in the first person. It is not God who is speaking; it is specifically the Messiah, the servant himself. Take a look. When we ask these diagnostic questions: Who, What, Where, When, How, Why, let's have a look. "Listen to me, oh islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar." So addressed first of all, not to Israel, but to the Gentiles, to the nations. Really? Well, I can pay attention to that. "Oh islands, pay attention, you peoples from afar." In other words, you non-Jews and you non-Israelites. "The Lord called me from the womb; from the body of my mother he named me." So the Messiah here explains his mission was given prior to his birth. "He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he has concealed me. And he has also made me a select arrow; he has hidden me in his quiver." So okay, you're a sharp sword, but that's not enough; I'm also an arrow. So whether you want to hit from short range or from long range, this Messianic figure has got the power to do so. Verse three: "He said to me, 'You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will show My glory.'" So what is being revealed here is that this servant, this Messianic figure, is the very personification of the nation of Israel. This is not referring to Israel the nation, but to an individual who is the very personification of the nation, and who will reveal God's glory through his identity and through his mission as the ultimate Israel. But verse four: "I said, 'I have toiled in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. Yet surely the justice due to me is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.'" So what we see in verse four is that the Messiah somehow experiences some discouragement. For some reason, his mission has not been successfully received. But even though his mission has not been successfully received by the recipients of his mission, such is his faith in God that he manages to retain the correct divine perspective. "My strength for nothing and vanity; I've toiled for nothing in vain. But I shall remember my reward is with God." I, for one, would like to hear more about what this servant has to say about himself. But I'm afraid for that, I'm going to have to leave you in suspense. We'll have to listen next time as we continue our teaching on Isaiah 49.
Chris Rodriguez: Thank you, Stephen. And thank you, listener friend, for joining us today. If you missed part of this series or would like to share it with a friend, you'll be glad to know that it's available on one convenient compact disc for the suggested gift of just $6. Just point your web browser to our online store at messianicspecialties.com and search for "Servant of the Lord" and place your order with our secure server. If you'd prefer ordering by phone, just call our toll-free order line at 1-800-926-5397, and our operator will be glad to assist you. Of course, you can still order by mail. Just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78215. And as always, when you're in touch with us, whether it's through the mail or by phone or even on the internet, if you would please mention the call letters of this station. If you listen to our program by logging onto our webcast on oneplace.com, we'd like to know that too. This is Chris Rodriguez. Join us tomorrow for another edition of "The Servant of the Lord" right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is heard Monday through Friday at this same time, right here on this fine station. This program is sponsored by CJF Ministries in San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the free-will contribution of our listeners in this area.