I. THE PROPHET'S IMPERSONATION OF GOD THE FATHER
IN CALLING ISRAEL'S ATTENTION TO THE SON (Isa. 42:1-4)

IN ISAIAH 42:1--43:13 we have one of the grand panoramic view of Messianic Times which begin with the first coming and ministry of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Hebrew Messiah, and which run throughout the great Millennial Age, when the glory of God shall encircle the earth as the waters cover the sea. By a careful study of this block of scripture we see that this period of time naturally falls into four sections which are the personal ministry of our Lord, the Christian Dispensation, the Tribulation Period, and the great Millennial Era. This period of time is properly called messianic, because it gives the outline of Messiah's redemptive career.

Verses 1 to 4 of this prophecy constitute an impersonation by Isaiah of the Almighty. Thus as he played the role of God the Father in this vision, he was transported by the Spirit to the first century of the Christian Era. In this view of the future he saw King Messiah after His baptism and cried out to the people, "Behold, my servant ... I have put my Spirit upon him." This was a graphic way which the prophet adopted in forecasting for Israel the beginning of Messiah's public ministry--the descent of the Holy Spirit at His baptism upon Him in the presence of the public. When this passage, especially verse 1, is read in the light of Matthew 3:13-17, it becomes evident that that event was the fulfillment of the prediction.

Messiah starts out with an objective in view, establishing justice in the earth. The old version says "judgment." While the Hebrew term does have that significance, its primary meaning is that of justice. The facts of this context demand this latter meaning. Thus the prophet declared that Messiah, when He begins His personal ministry, will have as His objective the establishment of justice and righteousness in the world.

In verse 2 we see that Messiah will not be a street preacher. He will avoid all possibilities of clashing publicly with His opponents. When one reads Matthew 12:18-21, one sees that this prediction was applied by Matthew to the personal ministry of our Lord.

As Isaiah saw in the vision and as we learn from the Jewish historian Josephus, there were many political agitators in Palestine in the times of our Lord. Jesus refused to engage in a public open-air ministry lest He should be identified as one of these revolutionists and should inevitably clash with the authorities. No one is to understand by this prediction that in our Lord's refraining from open-air work He opposed street preaching. He has in a marvelous way during the centuries blessed such a public testimony to the salvation of myriads of souls.

According to verse 4 Messiah will not fail nor be discouraged until He reaches His objective. We are not to infer that He will become discouraged after He is successful. No one would do that. This prediction simply means that He will press on in His work until He reaches His objective, and then, of course, He will continue to do the great work which He alone can accomplish. The fact that He will not fail nor be discouraged implies that the work which He launches will seem outwardly, to those who do not have spiritual insight and who do not know the plans of God, to be a complete failure; but we are assured that men are not to look at circumstances and judge from appearances.

Without question, this verse refers to the personal ministry of our Lord which at times seemed to be a failure. It also refers to the movement which He inaugurated, namely, historic Christianity. This prediction implies that to the men of the world the church will appear to be a failure. But God is emphatic and says that it shall not fail.

The success of an enterprise is to be judged by the objective in view. Before one can pass sentence upon Christianity, one must know first the methods to be adopted and the objective to be reached. Many have thought that Christianity is to convert the world. This is a sad mistake. The preaching of the cross is a testimony to the world. It is the throwing out of the lifeline to drowning, dying men. Those who wish may take hold of it and be pulled ashore. God never forces nor coerces any one but permits everyone to exercise his own volition and choice. On this point James at the Jerusalem conference stated the case this way: "Symeon hath rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name." Then Peter spoke of the gospel ministry of the present age. James said that this program of preaching the gospel is to take out of the nations a people for God's name. Let no one think that Christianity is a failure. It is not. It is a grand success and will continue to accomplish that for which it was intended. The prophet, therefore, was simply warning us against drawing an incorrect conclusion from outward appearances during the personal ministry of Christ and during the preaching of the gospel in the present age.

This movement (historical Christianity) launched by Christ and continued by his followers during the present dispensation, being not a failure but a success, will ultimately blossom forth into a grand consummation--at the second coming of Christ when He will establish justice and righteousness in the earth.

The prophet hastens to inform us that Messiah, when He makes His appearance after the Spirit has come upon Him, will not give His law to the isles. On the contrary, they will have to wait for it. In this connection we shall have to make a clear distinction between law and gospel. Law is a system of statutes for the regulation of the life and conduct of a people, which threatens punishment for every infraction of its legal requirements. On the contrary, grace is a manifestation of God's goodness in offering His blessings, the greatest of which is salvation, to men upon the condition of faith. The gospel was first preached by our Lord and by His apostles after Him. We are plainly told that the isles, that is, the nations, will not receive the Law of Messiah at the time of His first coming, but that they will have to wait for it. The period of their waiting for it is that which is known as the Christian Dispensation during which the gospel message is being proclaimed to all nations.

The present Christian Age, as we learn from many passages of Scripture, will be brought to a conclusion by the rapture of the church. By this term we mean that event which is spoken of by the Apostle Paul and which occurs when the Lord Jesus Christ descends from heaven to the air. At that time, He will raise the dead in Christ and catch up the living saints to be with Him for ever and ever. According to I Thessalonians, chapters 4 and 5, this event occurs before the period that is known as the great Tribulation. Believers, having been translated out of the kingdom of darkness, have been brought into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. They are therefore not appointed unto wrath--in the Tribulation--but unto the obtaining of salvation, deliverance from the period of wrath. We, therefore, place the rapture of the church before the Tribulation.

In Isaiah 42:5-8 we have a special message which Jehovah the Father sends to Jehovah the Son when He is in the darkest hour of His earthly career. In these verses the prophet is no longer impersonating God but is presenting himself before his audience as an ambassador of Jehovah the Father to Jehovah the Son with words of encouragement.

God the Father, the prophet says, is the creator of all things and is the one who puts the spirit of man within him (vs. 5). The Father in one sense is the creator of the universe, but in another sense--as the immediate agent--God the Son is the creator. (For proof of this position see John 1:1-4; Hebrews 1:1-4.)

That this message is given to Messiah in His darkest hour is seen in the assuring words found in verse 6: "I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee..." Evidently there is a need for this message of encouragement, otherwise it would not be given.

Messiah's ministry consists of His becoming a bond uniting the people of Israel to Jehovah and His becoming a light to the Gentiles. He becomes, according to this program, the bond uniting Israel to God first; then He becomes God's light to the Gentiles. It is true that He has been a light to the Gentiles through the entire Christian Dispensation; nevertheless He has never been the light to them that He will be after Israel has been united to God. In other words, this prophecy yet awaits its complete fulfillment. When Messiah thus becomes the light of the Gentiles, He will open the blind eyes and bring out the prisoners from the dungeon and them that sit in darkness out of prison-houses (vs. 7). This prophecy will be fulfilled in Messiah's bringing life, liberty, joy, and happiness to all peoples. This promise will be fulfilled completely only in the Millennial Age, when wars will cease, when Satan will be bound. At that time there will be no prison-houses nor institutions for correction. The curse will be lifted and the regime of righteousness will be the order of the day.

God is steering history toward this ultimate goal. He has never been honored in this world as He should. Glory that is due His name has been given to idols. The Lord has tolerated this situation from the fall of man to the present day. But He will not permit this present situation to continue always. He will ultimately reach the goal when that morning without clouds--the Millennial Era--will dawn upon the world. Then will all glory and praise be given to God alone.

Hence in this special portion of Scripture God the Father speaks to God the Son in His darkest hour, reassuring Him of His protection and deliverance and of the wonderful results that will flow from His sufferings. Hope, joy, expectation, and confidence are the things that buoy individuals up during times of discouragement, despondency, and trial.

The assurances that are set forth in this paragraph found their completest fulfillment at the time the Saviour was in Gethsemane when the Father sent angels to strengthen Him and doubtless to deliver a message to Him.

In the next section, verses 9-13, we have a prediction of a world-wide revival. According to verse 9 the message to God the Son at the time of His deepest sorrow assures Him that the "former things"--things spoken concerning His first coming and His working out redemption for the human family--have, relatively speaking, been fulfilled. Then he makes a revelation concerning "new things"--before they spring forth. The new things mentioned in this verse are none other than the mighty revival described in verses 10-13. The prophet, who was at Jerusalem when he uttered this prediction, looked toward the west and saw messengers of salvation leaving Palestine, embarking at the ports of the country, and going across the seas to the nations of the western world. Then, in verse 11, turning toward the east and southwest, he saw messengers at the same time leaving the country and going to countries east of there with a message of hope and of salvation. Following these revelations, in verse 12, he called upon them to give glory to God and to declare His praise in the isles. For these missionaries to the nations the prophet threw out a challenge to give God the glory and to declare His praises to the inhabitants of the earth. Because, therefore, of this marvelous message that will go out from Palestine to the whole world, the prophet, in verse 10, urged all to "Sing unto Jehovah a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth"--a new song because they are to have a new opportunity, such as they have never had before in their lives. The facts are that the world, even in the time of the great Tribulation, when this prophecy will be fulfilled, will for the first time have an opportunity of hearing the Word of God preached in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The central theme of the message of these evangelists is that "Jehovah will go forth as a mighty man; he will stir up his zeal like a man of war: he will cry, yea, he will shout aloud; he will do mightily against his enemies." These words doubtless refer to the time when the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the Tribulation will come in mighty power to take vengeance on all who know not God and who obey not the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (II Thess., chap. 1).

When we read verses 9-13 in the light of related passages, such as Revelation, chapter 7, we see that Isaiah in vision saw the 144,000 Hebrew evangelists who will go forth in the first part of the Tribulation, proclaiming salvation to every nation, tribe, and language. While Isaiah does not give the results of this great gospel ministry, John, in Revelation, Chapter 7, does; for he tells us that an innumerable host from every nation, tribe, tongue, and language will come up out of the great Tribulation, will wash their robes, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. To wash one's robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb is to enter into an experimental knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. These people who thus are saved come to the Lord under the ministry of these Hebrew Tribulation evangelists. The revival therefore in which we are all interested and for which we are praying and laboring, will come in the first part of the great Tribulation. Is there any hope of a mighty world-wide turning on the part of sinners to God prior to the Tribulation? I have scanned the Word of God from cover to cover and have never seen such a promise. Nevertheless, it is our privilege to declare with all the power God grants us the gospel to men now.

In the next paragraph (vss. 14-17) the prophet again drops into his method of impersonation. On this occasion he plays the role of King Messiah who, at the psychological moment, when these evangelists have performed their world-wide task of proclaiming the gospel, will declare, "I have long holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry out like a travailing woman; I will gasp and pant together ..." Thus at the end of the Tribulation Messiah will come forth as a mighty warrior and He will bring judgment and destruction upon all the wicked and ungodly.

Once again the prophet changes his method of delivering his message and speaks as an ambassador to the nation of Israel. This is seen in verses 18-22. Though she is God's servant, she is nevertheless blind and does not understand the situation. At the time here foreseen the entire nation will be hounded by anti-Semites. Many of them will be in prison, others in the holes of the earth, and still others will fall a prey to the vicious spirit of anti-Semitism. To Israel thus, figuratively speaking, flat on her back, God will speak. He will speak, not only through His Word, but also through circumstances which He permits to come into the lives of individuals and nations.

In the concluding paragraph of chapter 42 (vss. 23-25), the prophet called upon the honest-hearted people in Israel to consider the condition of the nation and to ask themselves who has brought this condition about. Isaiah answers his own question by saying that it is God against whom the nation has sinned. He is the one who, through love and mercy, permits these conditions to arise.

In the first seven verses of chapter 43 is a special message which God will send to the nation as she lies prostrate in helplessness before the Lord. He begins this special message by calling attention, through the prophet, to the fact that He created the Jewish nation for a purpose and that He has redeemed her. When Abraham and Sarah were past the age of parenthood, God performed a biological miracle which made possible the birth of Isaac. Not only has He created the Jewish nation and preserved it, but He has wrought redemption for it. This salvation was worked out at Calvary nineteen hundred years ago.

According to verses 2-4 those of Israel at that time who heed His message are not to fear anything regardless of what may come into their lives; for the Lord assures her that He will be with her in her experience; that is He will be with those who accept the message and bring them safely to the other side of the Tribulation.

In verses 5-7 is a vision of the regathering of the faithful remnant through whom God will be glorified throughout the entire Millennial Age, for He has created them for His glory.

The message concludes with the paragraph consisting of verses 8-13. Here the prophet again calls for an ideal convocation in which idolaters are to present their reasons for their faith and for their worshiping idols. He likewise calls upon the people of Israel to present the case for the existence of God and for the truth of His revelation.

Finally the prophet, speaking to the faithful remnant, says, "Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: ..." God has chosen this remnant that they might believe Him, understand Him, and know that He alone is God. Though Israel is at the present time on the siding, figuratively speaking, the remnant will come back upon the main line of God's plan and purpose and be used of Him in the proclamation of the truth to all nations.

Back in the eternity of the past there was no God except Jehovah. He created the heavens and the earth and has sustained them through the millenniums of their existence. The present heavens and earth will pass away after the Millennial Age (Ps. 102:23-28; Heb. 1:10-13; Rev. 20:11). After the dissolution of the present material universe, God alone will exist. After that time He will create the eternal order (Rev. 21; 22).

The one Eternal God is Jehovah. But what is the meaning of Jehovah? Etymologically speaking, it means "He who causes all things to come into existence." Concerning Jehovah Moses declared, "Hear, O Israel, Jehovah, our Gods, is Jehovah a unity." Whenever we see the word Jehovah in the Old Testament, we may know that it has one of four connotations which are: (1) Jehovah the Father, (2) Jehovah the Son, (3) Jehovah the Holy Spirit, (4) or, Jehovah the Holy Trinity. We must consult each context to determine which of these meanings "Jehovah" has in a given case.

At the present time Israel does not believe the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. But God has chosen the remnant to understand that message and to declare it to the world. She is to witness to all nations that, since the beginning of time, God alone existed; that He is the one who is overruling in the affairs of men; and that, when He purposes to do anything, He will perform it, and no one can reverse it.

How can Israel testify to these marvelous and fundamental truths since she does not know them? She misunderstands her mission in the world. There is but one way by which she can get the truth: We who have it must give it to her. May the Lord God Omnipotent, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stir His church, which has the message concerning these great subjects, to give it to her now that she, in turn, may come into a knowledge of these great spiritual realities and proclaim them to the world in fulfillment of this prediction.

<<<< previous     next >>>>