A Hidden Savior

“Coastlands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The Lord called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. He made my words like a sharp sword; He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; He hid me in His quiver. He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; I will be glorified in him.” But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God. And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him so that Israel might be gathered to Him; for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength — He says, “It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to one who is despised, to one abhorred by people, to a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and stand up, and princes will bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel — and He has chosen you.” This is what the Lord says: I will answer you in a time of favor, and I will help you in the day of salvation. I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances, saying to the prisoners: Come out, and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves. They will feed along the pathways, and their pastures will be on all the barren heights. They will not hunger or thirst, the scorching heat or sun will not strike them; for their compassionate One will guide them, and lead them to springs of water. I will make all My mountains into a road, and My highways will be raised up. See, these will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth, rejoice! Mountains break into joyful shouts! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.” (Isaiah‬ ‭49‬:‭1‬-‭13‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

I don’t know about you, but I’m not crazy about surprises. It doesn’t matter whether they’re intentional – like a surprise birthday party – or unintentional – like a critical task your boss springs on you at the last minute. I even tried to figure out what my Christmas presents were before Christmas morning. I’d try to open one end of the gift wrapping and then tape it back so my mother wouldn’t notice. In fact, I usually can’t keep the gifts I buy for my wife a secret. I always seem to give them to her before I should.

As we’ve studied these last few chapters of Isaiah, we’ve been confronted with God’s plan to redeem Israel from Babylonian captivity and to restore them to their “land of promise”. But God’s vision of restoration and redemption is much, much bigger than theirs. Not only is God’s vision bigger than expected, it takes an unexpected turn and has an unusual hero – a gentile king, Cyrus the great of Persia. But as we saw last week, often our faith struggles with the daily details of walking faithfully with God. When things aren’t going as expected, we question the path. When we don’t get what we’re expecting, we question His graciousness or kindness. This week, we find out that the deliverance we need is not the kind of deliverance we seek.

The opening words of our focal passage have a unique design that is easily overlooked, but really sets the tone for what we’re about to experience: “Costlands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention.” The speaker is much more holy and noble and the audience much broader than we might have expected. The words are not being spoken by the prophet, he’s simply conveying what he is seeing and hearing from God. In fact, it can’t be the prophet speaking because the phrase “listen to me” in Isaiah is NEVER attributed to anyone but God. However, the one speaking appears to be the same one who spoke in verse 16 of last week’s focal passage, the Servant of the LORD.

As you may recall from last week, the intent of the call to “hear” or “listen” implies that God is speaking divine truth and it demands not only our attention but also our absolute obedience. If you didn’t catch it, that means that the ONE speaking – the Servant of the LORD – is also God, wholly divine and worthy of our obedience. We will hear and learn more of just who He is and what He will do in the following verses. But for now, notice He calls the coastlands (islands) and distant peoples – not just the nation of Judah, not just the recognized “people of God” but the entire world’s population – to “listen” and give “attention” to His words.

The scope of God’s love, His redemption, His promises and His plan of salvation has always been larger than His people realized. Israel became so focused on God’s love for themselves, they overlooked God’s love and compassion for everyone else. It is easy for us to forget that God’s scope of saving work is bigger than our own lives, our own family, our own church and our own people. Listen to the words of His Servant: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”(John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

The Servant’s description of Himself must have sounded strange in the people’s ears. Listen, it gets even stranger…

“The LORD called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. He made my words like a sharp sword; he hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; he hid me in his quiver.”

The Servant that God will use to bring redemption to His people demands that they “listen” to Him and that implies divine authority. But then he speaks of being in his mother’s womb and that the LORD called him to divine service before his birth. This either means we’ve misunderstood who is speaking and the speaker is not divine, or the divine somehow becomes human and is born of woman. Remember, in the context of Isaiah’s audience that would be a RADICAL concept. Something odd, really strange, and entirely new. Something that God HAS NEVER done before. Hmmm, didn’t He tell us to expect something unexpected?

Then the Servant describes Himself as having “words like a sharp sword” and “made me like a sharpened [or polished] arrow” that is hidden in the palm or shadow of God’s hand and hidden in God’s quiver. It’s extremely important to note, the Servant’s mode of battle is unconventional. His sharp sword are the words that He speaks, the very truth of God, and He delivers justice, the restoration of God’s good order, like a sharp arrow that strikes its target precisely how and where God intended. He’s promised, He’s coming, He’s going to achieve God’s will, but not just yet. He’s out of sight, hidden in God’s hand, for now.

There’s a pattern in this passage of the Servant speaking and the LORD responding. But it becomes just a bit confusing if you’ve not been listening well… “He [the LORD] said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’” The Servant is named and His name is Israel? This is where the “nation’s spiritual leaders” stumbled and saw themselves as the redeemer of the people; Israel would redeem itself. But everything Isaiah has been saying up to this point refutes that idea. “Then I said: Woe is me  for I am ruined  because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips,  and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.” (Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Israel is just incapable of saving themselves. Unholy people simply cannot redeem themselves and sinful people are unable to provide the complete and perfect atonement for their own sins.

You simply can’t save yourself by your own goodness!

So, the suffering Servant cannot be the nation of Israel, collectively. Unfortunately, the Jews have struggled to understand this juxtaposition for centuries and continue to struggle with it to this very day. God calls the Servant by the name Israel, but it is not the Israel we expect. If you’ll recall, the focal passage from last week began like this: “Listen to this, house of Jacob — those who are called by the name Israel and have descended from Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and declare the God of Israel, but not in truth or righteousness.” (Isaiah‬ ‭48‬:‭1‬ ‭CSB‬‬) 

They are called Israel and are descended from Judah, but they are not Israel “in truth and righteousness.” They have failed to be the people of God in truth and righteousness, but this is NOT surprising to the LORD. God wants a people who are His “in truth and righteousness” but Israel has continually failed to be that people. God’s plan was never contingent upon Israel being capable of being people capable of saving themselves. He knew they would fail and had always planned to send His Servant to redeem them. But don’t forget, God’s vision of redemption is much larger than Israel’s. God’s vision of redemption is: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting ANY to perish but ALL to come to repentance.” (Emphasis added, 2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

But we need to hear the words of the Servant, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God.” Stop for a second, read those words again. The Suffering Servant is frustrated at the response of God’s people to His work, His saving efforts on their behalf. It has been in vain, the strength He expended has been for nothing, futile in its effects upon these stiff necked and hard headed people (see Is. 48:4). Everything God has done for them has been in vain. His words have fallen upon deaf ears, the fulfillment of His promises are unseen by blind eyes. His redemption efforts are resisted by sinfully stubborn people, hard headed and unwilling to submit themselves fully to His grace. 

But again, God is not surprised or thwarted in His plans by our failures in obedience. The Servant expresses His holy frustration at Israel’s lack of faith and obedience, but God responds: “He says, ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Isaiah‬ ‭49‬:‭6‬ ‭CSB‬‬) God will use His Servant to gather His people from among the nations, He will proclaim His salvation to the ends of the earth, He will gather His people from every people group, every nation, every tribe, every language and ethnicity.

God desires faith and obedience from us, but His purpose and His plan will not be thwarted by our failures. Please, don’t misunderstand me. God WANTS and calls you to be faithful and obedient, but He will NOT be limited, hamstrung or stopped by your sinful disobedience. We get hung up on the idea of God’s foreknowledge and our free will. How can God possibly know our future choices, both right and wrong, without impacting that choice? In other words, if God knows in advance that I would choose to disobey then is He somehow responsible for my disobedience? As the Apostle Paul would say in Romans, “God forbid!” IMPOSSIBLE!

I’m a simple man, so let me tell you how my simple mind tries to understand this deeply, complex theological question. Our universe is time based. We are governed by the passage of time, 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365.25 days in a year (remember, leap year), and a limited number of years (average of about 80) in a lifetime. But God is NOT time bound. He doesn’t exist within the universe, He exists above and beyond this universe. He is eternal. Time to God is not linear, it is encapsulated entirely in our universe and our existence but He exists outside of those things. He can know our past, present and future because He exists eternally outside of them. 

Because of this, He knows our choices before we make them but He doesn’t cause them and is not responsible for them. As a wise, old Baptist preacher of the past said, “Foreknowledge of an event is not cause of an event.” Oh, He also doesn’t intervene and prevent them because He has given us the option to choose – to choose right from wrong for ourselves (remember that event in Genesis 3?) and to choose whether we will love Him or not. By the way, I said we have the option to choose for ourselves but we also have the option to choose what He tells us is best, what’s truly right and wrong.

Our focal passage ends with two declarations from the LORD and the expected response to Him…

First, the Servant that the LORD will send for the redemption of mankind will be despised, abhorred by people and a servant of rulers. Then, paradoxically, “Kings will see, princes will stand up, and they will all bow down because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel – and He has chosen You.” Isn’t that an interesting description? He will be despised, abhorred and a servant to rulers but then kings and princes will bow before Him because the LORD is faithful and has chosen the Servant. He won’t conquer these kings and princes using man’s methods, He will conquer them using God’s methods – He will come as a servant, but because of the LORD they will bow before Him. So, God’s method of redemption is unexpected, despised and abhorred by the people because He comes as a servant and not as a conquering warrior.

Next, the LORD will answer or respond to the Servant’s concerns about laboring in vain and expending His strength for nothing and in futility. God’s response will come at just the right time, the “time of favor” and in the right way, “I will help you in the day of salvation.” It is hard for us to comprehend the struggle the Servant of the LORD faced in His redemption of God’s people. I noted above that God’s purpose and plan of redeeming His people would not, could not be thwarted by our disobedience. But the LORD’s Servant does express frustration about the people’s response to His work. 

Jesus’ frustration with the religious leaders response to Him, His work and His message, is well documented in the Gospels. He uttered his harshest criticisms in response to them and their rejection of God’s work in and through Him. To be honest, I’m certain He must also grow frustrated with our lack of faith and ongoing disobedience to His commands. 

But I need you to hear the terms God uses to describe what His Servant will accomplish for us and in us: “I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances, saying to the prisoners: Come out, and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.” It goes on to say that He will feed us along the way, and pasture us on the barren heights. We will not hunger or thirst, the scorching heat or sun will not strike us because the “compassionate One” will guide us and lead us to springs of water.

Finally, the LORD tells us, in words familiar to us, that He will make the path of salvation a road that we are able to traverse by leveling the mountains and filling in the valleys and ravines (v. 11). This is not meant to be understood literally but in the sense that God has done everything necessary for us to experience His redemptive salvation. We don’t have to be spiritual mountain climbers, we don’t have to travel long distances over dangerous paths to find Him, to know Him, to possess His salvation – He has done everything, He came to us. His people will come from far away, from the north, from the west and from Sinim. We don’t know where Sinim was [some think it might be China], but I think that may be the point. People flow to Him from every corner of the globe and even from places we’ve never heard of – people from every nation, tribe, people and language (Rev. 7:9). 

Now comes the proclamation of joy: “Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth, rejoice! Mountains break into joyful shouts! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.” (Isaiah‬ ‭49‬:‭13‬ ‭HCSB‬‬) Not only will we rejoice in His salvation but even His creation, the heavens, the earth and the mountains will break out into praise of God for what He has done through His Servant. 

Consider Jesus’ words: “Now He came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen: The King who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven! Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!’” (Luke‬ ‭19‬:‭37‬-‭40‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

God is doing something new, something surprising. Something that He has kept hidden, just out of sight. His plan of redemption forces us to see our inability to save ourselves. It forces us to see the impact our sin has on our own lives. God may sigh in frustration at our lack of faith, but He won’t abandon us. He won’t give up on us. He will discipline us through the challenges and struggles and He will continually call us to walk with Him in obedience. As we learn to do so, we will begin to realize that His will in our lives is really the better option, the best choice we could make.

As I prayed this morning, I was seeking God’s wisdom to be able to present this in the way He knows will be effective. But I caught myself praying in such a way that I asked Him for what I wanted, what I desired. As I did so, I paused realizing that my prayers were incomplete. In that moment, I was taken to the place where Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked for what He desired, that the cup He was to drink be removed and taken away. But then He prayed, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” (Lk. 22:42)

My prayer for you today is not that you get what you desire, but that you get what God has hidden for you. That you get exactly what He wants for You at exactly the right time. He was delivering Israel from captivity in Babylon, but that’s not the real deliverance they needed. It’s what they wanted, but the real deliverance God was sending through His Servant was still hidden from their view. 

When He came, the Servant would bring the truth and justice needed, not what was expected and wanted. When He brought the truth, He was despised, abhorred and rejected by the very people who claimed to belong to God. Don’t just seek what you want, what you desire from God. Submit your desires to His will and discover the secret things, the hidden things that God will put into your life that will elicit joy and praise from you and bring peace in you.

May you know Shalom, the peace of God that’s hidden in Christ and goes far, far beyond your desires and understanding…