Isaiah - The Poet

The Book of Isaiah is challenging, one could say difficult, to read and to understand.  Most Isaiah is written in poetry, including the 4th Servant Song, which foretells the death and resurrection of the suffering servant, who suffers and dies for the sins of others.  This will be an interesting look at poetry.

Creators & Guests

Host

Andrew

Andrew is a master storyteller. Having flown multiengine, bomber planes; practiced law; and earned a seminary degree, he draws upon a deep bank of experience and knowledge. Yeah, he is one of those guys who knows Greek. But coming out of a working-class home, he speaks plainly and clearly. His podcasts are thought-provoking and entertaining. His passion for God’s Word comes out in every episode.

Producer

Tom Kjeldgaard

Follower of Christ, Maker, Business Consultant, Husband, Father

What is Biblical Reflections?

Join host Andrew as he walks us through sections of scripture allowing us to reflect on what God is telling us. Yeah, he is one of those guys who knows Greek. But coming out of a working-class home, he speaks plainly and clearly. His podcasts are thought-provoking and entertaining. His passion for God’s Word comes out in every episode.

Andrew: 00:01

Greetings. Welcome to the podcast series, the gospel of basic truth. We're looking at places in scripture where we can find the gospel message in addition to John 3 16. And our purpose is to increase and improve your faith, deepen it, and to give you tools that you can use when you are witnessing to family and friends. Now the gospel message never different aspect, and this can be helpful as you are talking with somebody about the Lord.

Andrew: 00:36

I have been in the New Testament, and today we're are gonna look at some scripture in the old testament that gives the gospel message. Now I have referred to this several times, and today we're gonna dive into it. And it is Isaiah chapter 52 and 53. But before we do, let's look at the book of Isaiah. There are 12 prophets in the Old Testament, 3 major prophets, 9 minor prophets.

Andrew: 01:05

3 major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Everyone would agree that the greatest of the major prophets is Isaiah. He writes a very long book. It's 66 chapters long. It is broad in in in what material it covers and it's very deep in what it presents, and we see so many of the Messianic prophecies just flowing out of Isaiah.

Andrew: 01:37

Isaiah is often said comes in 2 parts, chapters 1 through 39 and chapters 40 through 66. Now some of the liberal scholars will say, oh, well, that means there were 2 different people writing this book, and, Isaiah, and I'll call him Proto Isaiah, 1st Isaiah, wrote, the first part, 1 through 39, and a different person, and they call him Deutero, Isaiah wrote the second part. Well, when people say things like that we have to look and see what the book says. In both parts of Isaiah all through it Isaiah refers to God as the Holy 1 of Israel. Now that is a title and it's used nowhere else in in scripture, only in Isaiah, the Holy 1 of Israel.

Andrew: 02:32

And there are many other words that and phrases in both parts that are very unique to Isaiah and not used or hardly ever used in any other book. So it seems pretty clear to serious scholars that indeed 1 person wrote this. Isaiah is about judgment and hope. God calls let's see. Excuse me.

Andrew: 02:57

Isaiah is a book that unveils the full dimension of God's judgment against his covenant people and then later salvation, hope for for a surviving remnant. The Holy 1 of Israel must punish his people but will afterwards redeem them, and that is their hope, so judgment and hope. I think something that would be helpful to us As I keep going, you'll see it's it's it's difficult sometimes to be able to read, Isaiah and put everything in perspective, but actually he follows the format that we see, that Moses used in the book of Deuteronomy. Alright. Some background here.

Andrew: 03:42

Background to the background. Right? Moses wrote 5 books, the first 5 books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. This last book is Deuteronomy. Now, Deuteronomy you can read Deuteronomy and get kind of an abbreviated but a full story of what Exodus and Numbers say, but in a much easier fashion to read.

Andrew: 04:10

When Moses wrote Exodus, not everything is in chronological order. Unless you have a study Bible, you sometimes go, where is he going? When in fact it's a parenthetical that may refer back to something else. But Deuteronomy is very clear, very chronological. God takes the Hebrew people out of Egypt, and they travel to Mount Sinai or called Mount Horeb, and they're there for about a year and they get the 10 Commandments, they get the law, they make the Ark, and Moses is busy, you know, working to get these whatever 3 and a half 1000000 people organized.

Andrew: 04:50

Alright. So after that year of preparation, they're now going to go into the promised land, but when the word comes back that there are giants in the promised land, the people become afraid and don't want to go in. So they're rebelling, and God says, okay, you don't want to go in, you don't have to go in, and so he leads them in a circle for the next 39 years in the desert, and he says, nobody above the age of 20 is going to go into the promised land. And so they wander for essentially all about 40 years until they're all dead. And so the children and grandchildren of these people are then taken into the Promised land by Joshua.

Andrew: 05:31

Now when they were at Sinai, as they came out of Egypt, God gave them 10 Commandments, and he said, will you be my covenant people or contract people? If you do, I will do this for you and and you will be obedient to me. Well, they rebelled for the entire 40 years that they were out there. Now before they go into the promised land, Moses is going to die soon, he's now taking this new generation, and he is going and he's asking them to recommit to the covenant. Just like their parents had done back in Mount Sinai, he's gonna ask them to do it again.

Andrew: 06:12

But this time, God sets out in Deuteronomy, very clearly, these are the blessings you will get as the contract people, and this is the judgments or punishments you'll get if you rebel and rebel against me. Now so that you don't think God is unfair, these they're called curses, but this is progressive discipline. So think of an employee. Okay. First time you're late, you get an oral reprimand.

Andrew: 06:41

If you're late a few more times maybe you get a written reprimand. If you continue having problems maybe you get 3 days off work without pay, maybe you get demoted, and then finally the final step is you get fired. Well, if you think about, and that's, you know, modern employment, how things work, That's what God set forth through Moses in Deuteronomy, these progressive discipline. Now the ultimate step, the capital punishment, would be exile. If you stayed rebellious after all these chances, god would send in a conquering army, kill most of you, destroy the city, the temple, and then take the remnant into exile.

Andrew: 07:26

So that is the format that Isaiah is following. So the first 39 chapters, he has access to the king. He has access to the priest. It is thought that he was a priest and that there was some thought that he had some connections with the family of a earlier king, perhaps through Uzziah. At any rate, he is constantly prophesying against the leaders, the king, the rich people, the priests, because they are rebelling against God, and they are treating the average citizen poorly.

Andrew: 08:12

There's 2 standards of justice. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And God, through Isaiah, is saying, stop it. You must treat the poor, the widow, as well as you treat the rich man, and and you gotta turn away from your idols. And he keeps prophesying about this all these judgments that will come upon you.

Andrew: 08:35

Alright. It culminates in chapters 36 through 39 are prose, and it gives you a historical look back. So, really, the history ends for the first part in the siege of Jerusalem. The Assyrians had conquered the northern kingdom Israel in 722 BC. They're now in 701 BC.

Andrew: 09:04

They have now surrounded Jerusalem. King Hezekiah sees this. He he knows he's gonna be killed. Most of the people killed and the nation destroyed. He humbles himself.

Andrew: 09:16

He gets on his knees and he prays God. I can't do it. Only you can do it. I was bad. Please save the city.

Andrew: 09:23

Word comes to Isaiah and so tell Hezekiah, I will save the city. They wake up the next morning, the army's gone. So it's a miraculous saving because Hezekiah humbled himself. That was in 7 1 BC. Best we can tell, Isaiah wrote this first part in 700 BC, and it's a look back with all the prophecies and a little bit of history.

Andrew: 09:54

Alright. Now the second part, 40 through 66, is a looking forward, and he's particularly talking about how the nation is going to be destroyed, and the Babylonians are coming in. And, eventually, Cyrus, and he even names him, the head the king of the Persian, Medo Persians, are gonna then, you know, conquer the Babylonians, and there's gonna be this remnant. And there's a talking about the messianic age when this Messianic King is going to rule over a remnant of the faithful Jewish people, but also a remnant of the of the nations, and they will all be treated alike. And the wicked will be punished, but those who are God's servants and faithful whether Jew or Gentile will be in this incredible coming age.

Andrew: 10:55

But it's a look forward. Well, how does he do that? Right. So that is the challenge and why some scholars say, well, there's 2 different people. No.

Andrew: 11:04

It's the same person. It's just 1 is to look back. And, basically, we it looks like in about 681 BC, somewhere between 700 and and BC and 681 is when Isaiah wrote this second part. Historically, it's believed that after Hezekiah when King Manasseh, totally evil and cruel, stood up that he had Isaiah sawed in 2. That's how he died, and that was about 681, what we believe.

Andrew: 11:38

Now, so that is the background of the book of Isaiah. That's the easy part. Now we're going to get into the more challenging part for us. It is said that 1 third of the Bible is written in poetry. Well, if you read the New Testament, yeah, there's some poetry there but not much.

Andrew: 11:57

So really the Old Testament has got a lot more than a third poetry. We typically think of literature as coming in 2 forms, prose and poetry. So you can go on the Internet or maybe have a dictionary at home. Prose, and I did I'm not saying this. This is what I got out of an Internet dictionary.

Andrew: 12:21

Prose is plain or dull writing. You know, this is what you use to express medical or scientific facts. It's just a sequence of of 1 thing after another. It's a simple reporting. Poetry on the other hand is literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience, or it evokes an emotional response, and it does it through language.

Andrew: 12:51

Alright. So prose is the dull stuff, and and poetry is the more exciting, which can evoke this emotion or image. How does poetry do it? Well, every culture has poetry. Typically, in our English poetry, we have lines, and the last word in the line will rhyme with maybe the last word of the second or maybe the first and third lines will have the last word rhyming and then the second and fourth rhyming.

Andrew: 13:26

So every culture has a different way to put out poetry. Rhyming was not what Hebrew poetry was like. Hebrew poetry had meter. Alright. Well, English has meter too, so it'd be like, What need what needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones.

Andrew: 13:49

Romeo, Romeo, where for art the Romeo? So you've got this meter. We have that in English too, but we see that quite a bit in the Hebrew poetry. And typically there'll be everything is in lines, and the first line might say an idea, and the second line will expand upon it. And and then we have chiastic form of writing poetry.

Andrew: 14:17

So let's say you have 7 verses. The first verse and 7th verse will kind of say the same thing. The second verse and the 6th verse will kinda say the same thing. Okay? The, the third alright.

Andrew: 14:36

So it keeps going. You finally get to the middle verse, which is all by itself, and that is the main point of this poetry. Now in either case in poetry we have meter and we will have symbols Okay. We'll have metaphors, figures of speech. So everybody uses these figures of speech in their poetry to evoke something else.

Andrew: 15:07

Now what I like to do is to give you an example here. So why am I spending so much time on poetry? Because almost all prophecies are in poetry. So for instance in Isaiah, we'll see headings like an oracle or a song, you know, the servant songs. Well, whether it's an oracle or a song it's still poetry and we have all this imagery.

Andrew: 15:35

So I want to give you a couple of examples here. I'll give you a few. We could say in poetry and now this is maybe something that you would hear from, say, West Point. You know, sports is really important for training up young cadets because they learn how to work hard and to, to work as a team and and to go all out, you know, you know, to score a goal or something. Okay?

Andrew: 16:06

That's prose. I could say the same thing in poetry. I didn't make this up. Somebody else did. Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and other fields will reap the fruits of victory.

Andrew: 16:21

So you can see all the symbols, and, by the way, I had to memorize that at 17, and here I am a long time later in life, and I still remember it because it's poetry. I'm going to now read you a poem and give you a little background. This is another thing that I had to memorize at 17, and it's a poem, and it's called High Flight. The young man who wrote it was John Gillespie Magee junior, and he was 20 when he wrote this. He was, a Canadian fighter pilot stationed in England.

Andrew: 17:04

He came from a very well-to-do family. His father was a very well connected wealthy family in Pittsburgh. He went on to be an Anglican priest and missionary. His mother was from England, also from a wealthy connected family. She too was a missionary.

Andrew: 17:23

Mom and dad met in China. He John Junior was born in China, Nanking actually. When the Japanese invaded, the mother took all the kids, went back to England. John Junior got to do his first 3 years in an English boarding school. The family went to visit family in America.

Andrew: 17:46

The blitz happened, and so nobody could get back to England. And so now he's got to finish his last year in high school in a prep school in Connecticut. Again, wealthy family. It was clear from both high schools that he had quite an ability to write poetry. Okay.

Andrew: 18:07

By the way, John Gillespie Magee senior, you got to go look this guy up on the Internet, He is 1 of the heroes in the rape of Nanking in 1937. He was 1 of the people in the Western enclave who saved literally thousands of Chinese. You got to look that guy up, John senior. Alright. Let's get back to John junior.

Andrew: 18:30

So dad gets him so he's accepted to go into Princeton. Well, John Junior, gets on a train and goes to Canada, not to escape the draft, but to join up. And so he enlists in the Royal Canadian Air Force, gets to go to, Cadet Flight School, he gets his wings. He gets commissioned, and he's sent over in a Canadian fighter pilot squadron to England. This is now, you know, right after Pearl Harbor that he finally gets there.

Andrew: 19:10

Except, what do you tell your parents? Well, at some point he decides he's got to bite the bullet. That's a metaphor, by the way. And so he writes this letter home, especially to his father, but to his parents, to explain why he didn't go to Princeton and why he is now a fighter pilot. And he includes in the letter the slip of paper which gives this poem, and it's his way to try to explain to his parents how important flying is to him.

Andrew: 19:44

I'm gonna read it now. Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter silvered wings. Sunward, I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun split clouds, and done a 100 things you have not dreamed of, wield and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence. Hovering there, I have chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up, the long, delirious burning blue, I have topped the windswept heights with easy grace, where never lark or even eagle flew.

Andrew: 20:25

And while with silent lifting mind I trod, the high untrustpassed sanctity of space, put out my hand and touched the face of God. Oh my gosh, friends. You gotta play that again. Doesn't I mean, that's poetry. You cannot explain the joy of flying in prose, but you can in poetry, and he did it.

Andrew: 20:51

You know, there's 2 things you can do with there's excuse me. There's something else you can do with poetry. Not only can you evoke, imaginative awareness, not only can you evoke emotional response in poetry, you can say 2 things at the same time. Now on its face, this poem is about flying, and I I saw that when I was 17. You know, the last line or 2 kind of always troubled me why it was there.

Andrew: 21:31

Later in life, I was reading what some of the poetry scholars have said about this. Not only does it convey the joy of flying an airplane, it's an allegorical story of dying and going to heaven, walking the high untrespass sanctity of spades, putting out your hand and touching the face of God. This is about dying and going to heaven. You'll say, well, maybe you've taken some license there. Well, this is not me.

Andrew: 22:09

It's the scholars. John Gillespie Magee wrote this, put it in an envelope with his letter, sent it back to America where his parents were, and 3 months later, he died in an airplane accident. The Canadian chaplain was going through his effects, putting them in a box. He he found a copy of this and he was blown away. And he made sure he copied it, gave it to several people.

Andrew: 22:37

Within a year, this became the official poem of not only Royal Canadian Air Force, but also the Royal Air Force, the British Air Force. And it still is the official poem today of those 2 Air Forces. Now, when John Junior was in his last year in high school, he, you could see he had the makings of a fighter pilot. Okay? He drove fast cars, too fast, drank too much, and chased women.

Andrew: 23:08

Alright? Classic fighter pilot. And at some point, his dad, who who really you've got to look this guy up. He he's a pretty impressive guy. His father's sitting down.

Andrew: 23:18

It's like, okay, Junior. Listen. You you can't be driving a 100 miles an hour in these roads at night when you're drinking. You know? And John Junior said to his dad, dad, my generation isn't going to live very long.

Andrew: 23:35

Well, that statement came back to haunt his father because, of course, his son did die shortly after he got the letter. Did did John junior understand he was gonna die? He seemed like he had a premonition, and so somehow he puts that into the poem. Now why am I telling you all this? Because you can do that with poetry.

Andrew: 23:55

And that's why most prophetic utterances we see in scripture are in poetry. Most people who throw out, apocalyptic poetry or, you know, prophecies, They failed to realize this. So within the last 30, 40 years, there's been developed this this theory and kind of what we'd call 3rd wave dispensationalism of already not yet. K? So a prophecy is given through a prophet by God, and it will have an immediate fulfillment, or fairly soon, but it is also written in a way that will have a future fulfillment.

Andrew: 24:37

So, you can say essentially 2 things at 1 time through poetry, and that's why I like to use high flight. Not only is it Cecestoia flying, but it's also an allegorical story of dying and going to heaven. That is what you can do with poetry and that is why so much of prophecy in the Old Testament is in poetry, because it often says 2 things at once, something with an immediate effect and something with a future effect, and typically that future effect is in the fulfillment of the Christ, the first or second coming, or the messianic kingdom. So that is the positive side of using poetry. Let's look at the challenging or troublesome side of using poetry.

Andrew: 25:25

I'm going to go back here to the hyphlight. Oh, I slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the sky on laughter silvered wings. That phrase, laughter silvered wings, now it's a metaphor. Friends, what is he talking about? Well, you and I in our culture and anybody for the last, what, 100 years would know instantly what this refers to.

Andrew: 25:51

This is an airplane wing. You know, until recently, okay, you know, planes weren't painted. I mean, they're all made out of aluminum, right? Which is silvery color. He's referring to an airplane wing.

Andrew: 26:04

But let's go back in time before there were airplanes. If a person had had this poem, say, in the 1800 or or 1700 or or 700 BC, would he have any idea what these laughter silvered wings were? Now let's go to Isaiah chapter 18 verse 1. Woe to the land of the whirring wings. And then the next phrase is either among the rivers of Cush or beyond the rivers of Cush.

Andrew: 26:40

It depends how you interpret the preposition, but let's concentrate. Woe to the land of whirring wings. What is Isaiah referring to there? Well, it's not airplane wings, is it? Because there are no airplanes in 700 BC.

Andrew: 27:05

A lot of people think, well, Cush that's supper Egypt. And if the proposition means among the rivers of Cush, then these wings are insects, or maybe they're locusts. I read something here. I'm laughing. Some forum I was on, and somebody was referring to 18, Isaiah 18 verse 1.

Andrew: 27:29

He was saying, oh, beyond the rivers of Cush, whirring wings. This is Americans, and these are helicopter wings. Well, that's ridiculous. But, again, I'm using this to show that when we read a scripture, especially Isaiah, it was written 27 100 years ago, almost 3000 years ago, in a different language, in a different culture, you know. How do we interpret the metaphors that are used?

Andrew: 28:01

Do you see the challenge that we have in poetry? You know, I'm not going to read it. I was. But the little book of Jonah is 4 chapters long. Chapter 1 and chapter 3 are the historical parts.

Andrew: 28:16

They're written in prose. Chapter 4 is a little bit prose, a little bit poetry, but chapter 2 is entirely poetry. Why? Because chapter 2 is when Jonah has been swallowed by the giant fish. He's in the belly of fish for 3 days 3 nights.

Andrew: 28:36

And so he's trying to explain what it's like to be swallowed by a fish at the bottom of the sea. And he does it in a form of a prayer. He's praying to God. Please deliver me. You know, I'm in the belly of Sheol.

Andrew: 28:55

You know, the weeds are wrapped around my head. I I am down to where the bars of the earth have imprisoned me forever. I'm at the roots of the mountains. So all this stuff. Why?

Andrew: 29:10

How can you explain in prose something that nobody else has any experience in? Well, you can't because they're not gonna understand, so you write in poetry. Now I said poetry often has 2 meanings. On its face, this chapter 2 is Jonah's prayer to God, you know, I did bad, please rescue me, and so he honors God instead of running away. He admits he was wrong.

Andrew: 29:44

So verse 10 says, and the Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah upon dry land. Remember there's often you can say 2 things at once. What does this poem remind you of? This is Christ who died and in the grave for 3 days, and God takes him out of this impossible situation. He's dead and after 3 days he's alive.

Andrew: 30:14

So Jonah's prayer has an immediate meaning, but it also prefigures, we call this a type, of Christ being in the grave. In fact, Jesus even uses that. The Pharisees and the priests say, we want another sign. We want another sign. You know, another miracle.

Andrew: 30:36

And Jesus says, the only sign, the only miracle you're gonna get is the story of Jonah. Jesus understands that this prayer in Jonah prefigures him dying. So when Jesus comes out of the grave after 3 days, they're gonna remember, oh, that's Jonah and that's what he was referring to. Poetry is a challenge to us. We see in Isaiah some just sweeping things about not only chastising the leaders, but also this, especially in part 2, this this hope where a remnant of faithful Jews and and faithful Gentiles will be rescued and the wicked will be punished.

Andrew: 31:24

And I'm gonna read the first so chapters, chapter 9 and 11, talk extensively about the Messiah, the the son excuse me, the descendant of David who who will rule in this messianic age. So you've heard this. This is 9 of Isaiah 1 through 7. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. The former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali and in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea and the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

Andrew: 32:07

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has shown light. You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest, and they are glad when they divide the spoil.

Andrew: 32:26

For the yoke of His burden, the staff of His shoulder, the rod of His oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boots of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for fire. Now here we go. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, The government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Friends, this is the Messiah, and Isaiah is telling us that after all these bad things, then this good thing is gonna come because a child is born.

Andrew: 33:10

Of the increase of His government and of peace, there will be no end. This is an everlasting kingdom. And on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness, From this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Yahweh of hosts will do this. Again, poetry. The coming of the Messiah, we we read that often.

Andrew: 33:36

For unto us a child is given. To us the son is born. The government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This descendant of David is mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the Son of God, God come in the flesh.

Andrew: 34:01

Alright. Again, sweeping things that we see in Isaiah. Alright. Now I'm going to go to chapters 52 and 53. This states in poetry, and we got to work with it a little bit, but it states clearly why the Messiah had to die for sins.

Andrew: 34:26

Again, there are always challenges. So this is in part 2. This is chapters 52 and 53. And in part 2, there are what we call the 4 servant songs. What Isaiah does is he uses the term servant, but it's not always the same meaning.

Andrew: 34:50

So in 1 of the servant songs, when he says, my servant, he is clearly referring to the state of Israel or the state of Judah. In the last of the 4 the 4th and largest of the servant songs, it is now this Messiah, this suffering servant. It's a person. Why does he do that? I don't know.

Andrew: 35:15

He refers later in the book to his servants, meaning those faithful remnants of Jews and Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom. So we really kind of need to study Bible sometimes to say, okay, what servant is he talking about? Now this last of the servant songs, the main point is that this suffering servant, his suffering will lead to exaltation and glory, And this servant did the will of God voluntarily. And because of that, he now sits at the right hand of God. I'm gonna go through and read a section at a time and comment.

Andrew: 36:02

If I read the whole thing, it just it's kind of hard to follow all the parts. So we got to do kind of 1 at a time to build on the others. Realize sometimes it's God speaking, sometimes it's it's the nation of Israel speaking, but it it is all woven into to 1 as as we go along. So this is chapter 52. I'm gonna start at verse 13, and we'll go through chapter 53.

Andrew: 36:33

So I'm now going to read chapter 52 verses 13 through 15. Behold, My servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up. He shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond semblance, his form beyond that of the children of mankind.

Andrew: 37:01

So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of him. For that which has not been told to them, they will see. And that which they have not heard they will understand. This first part God starts out by saying behold my servant shall act wisely.

Andrew: 37:26

In context he acts wisely because the servant does what God wants him to. Now because he does what God wants him to, the servant, it says he will be high and lifted up. He will be lifted up to set at the right hand of God. All right, now we turn in the same section here. Many were astonished at you.

Andrew: 37:55

So now we address the suffering servant. Now he goes back to the nations. This suffering servant, his appearance was marred beyond human semblance. Now we know Christ was locked. That's a pretty bad punishment.

Andrew: 38:14

A lot of people were killed in it. He was beaten up several times by several groups of people, guards, the Jews, several. So it's understandable that he would have had a badly beaten face. It says his form was beyond that of the children of mankind. But because of that he will be able to sprinkle the nations, right?

Andrew: 38:40

Now this is think of a priest sprinkling with blood to for purification. Because he was marred, he will later be able to now concentrate concentrate the nations. The text goes on to the prose here excuse me. Poetry tells us, the kings who thought nothing of him when He was alive as a man before the crucifixion will be stunned when He comes again. Their mouths will be shut.

Andrew: 39:20

Because even though they didn't see it, they now see it. Even though they didn't hear it, now they will understand when He comes again as King of kings and Lord of lords at the right hand of God. Now we're gonna read 53:1 through 3. And here, Israel is confessing that they did not value this servant and didn't understand what he was about the first time he came. Who has believed what he has heard from us?

Andrew: 39:52

To whom has the arm of the Yahweh been revealed? For he, this is the suffering servant, grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form of majesty that we should look at him. He had no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, as 1 from whom men hide their faces.

Andrew: 40:22

He was despised, and we seemed we esteemed him not. Israel is confessing here that she did not value the suffering servant. She rejected Jesus because she thought, you know, the group of Jews thought he was just an ordinary person. They didn't understand. So this is a confession.

Andrew: 40:44

Okay. Remember, we're in poetry now. Now we're gonna read verses 45 of chapter 53. Here, Israel finally recognizes who the servant is and why he had to die, and why his death results in their peace with God. So first part they confess, they were wrong and now they say now we got it, now we recognize it.

Andrew: 41:16

Again, Israel is speaking. Surely he, the suffering servant, has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows. We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Catch this.

Andrew: 41:30

He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought his brought us peace and with His wounds we are healed. How can this be anybody other than Christ? He was pierced for our transgressions.

Andrew: 41:48

He was crushed for our sins, for our iniquities. And His death on the cross brings us peace. With His death, we are now healed and we have peace with God through just gonna read 6. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Andrew: 42:17

Israel admits we are guilty of his suffering, and we are only at peace now with God because he did suffer. But his suffering is because of what we did. And then we continue with chapter 53. I'm gonna do 7 through 9. Israel now is going to give an account about the servant's death.

Andrew: 42:42

He, the suffering servant, he was oppressed. He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, like a sheep before its shears is silent, So he opened not his mouth. By oppression and a judgment, he was taken away. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

Andrew: 43:09

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence and there was no deceit in His mouth. Is this not the story of Jesus? He He goes silently. He appears before Pilate, before Herod, before the high priest. He does not speak other than they say, who are you?

Andrew: 43:32

And so, you know, yes, it is as you say, I am the king of the Jews or I am, but that's it. He makes no defense. He just goes silently. His death is willing. He is willingly giving up his life for the sins of others.

Andrew: 43:52

Even though he himself is righteous to death, he's like the sheep that goes to the slaughter that has no idea. He is silent. Now we get to the last part, and this is 53 10-twelve. We see the Lord's promise about the blessing of the servant that he had to die to satisfy God's wrath and by knowledge of Him we are accounted right with God and He is exalted. Alright, here we go.

Andrew: 44:31

Yet it was the will of the Yahweh to crush him. He was put he put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days, And the will of the Lord, Yahweh, shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.

Andrew: 44:56

By his knowledge shall the Righteous 1, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with many. He shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for transgressors. Now verse 11 says, and I have the ESV here, by his knowledge shall the righteous 1 make many to be accounted righteous?

Andrew: 45:34

There is some debate as to how we interpret by his knowledge. Perhaps a better way that we would understand is if we said, by knowledge of Him we are accounted right with God. By knowledge of Him, by having faith in Him we are made right with God. He was accounted with the transgressors. He bore their sin, and he makes intercession for their sins with God the Father.

Andrew: 46:11

Transvista is again a a very deep complex we have a lot of symbolism here, but as you go through it, he he did the will of God voluntarily. He suffered because of the sins of the people, but he was righteous. And because he did, now he bears and makes intercession for those who have sinned. And we are counted right with God by knowledge of the suffering servant of Jesus. Friends, the book of Isaiah is is filled with poetry.

Andrew: 46:58

I think I've given you a taste of the challenges of poetry. Don't give it up though. I think this argues for why you need to study Bible. I'm gonna give a shout out here for a ministry that I found very helpful to explain stuff like this, and that is the bibleproject.combibleproject.com They have just done an excellent job, and so they will have these videos where they will explain a book in the Bible, and they do it with with drawing and and it's, animated drawing, and it's dialogue that goes back and forth. And they do Isaiah actually in 2 videotapes, part 1 and part 2, and you get done and you go.

Andrew: 47:53

They also have quite a good, section on poetry in in in the Old Testament, in the Bible, and and what to look for. I think these are tools that will help you. I have to tell you I did I have witnessed out of this. Years ago, shortly, a couple years after I got saved, I would run every day for lunch, and my running partner was an optometrist who who was Jewish, and I talked with him through these 2 chapters. He was blown away, and he talked to his wife, and he was very concerned.

Andrew: 48:33

And he it's like, that's Jesus. And I go because I never said who it was. I said, this isn't Isaiah. Who were they talking about? And he's like, well, that's Jesus, isn't it?

Andrew: 48:42

And I said, I think so. So he did die for our sins. And that at that point, he gets blown away, and he starts talking to, you know, other of his Jewish friends. And it's a group of young people, young couples, in early thirties and mid thirties. They finally get so upset they have to go to the rabbi.

Andrew: 49:03

Now, what the rabbi did was to say talk about all 4 of the servant songs in Isaiah and to show where at least 1 of them it's clear that the servant is the nation of Israel. And so in that way he could say, well, this isn't Jesus the Messiah. These are just all poetic ways of talking about Israel. Well, I never saw the man after that, and I don't know what happened. But you can witness to people, and you can even witness to your Jewish friends.

Andrew: 49:41

And and the more you know about the Old Testament prophecies, the more you can say to them, well, who is this? And they're not gonna have an answer, so we're thankful for this, and friends don't give up on poetry and things that you read from from the the prophets. It's all there to help us to understand. Alright. Let's let's go in prayer now.

Andrew: 50:09

Gracious heavenly Father, we we thank you for your word. We thank you that we can understand your word. We thank you that it's all here, Old Testament, New Testament. You you have shown us that our only hope is in Jesus Christ, the suffering servant with both god and man. Lord, we thank you for your blessings, and we praise you in Jesus' name.

Andrew: 50:34

Amen.

Tom: 50:41

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Tom: 51:16

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