52-53. Isaiah Chapters Fifty-Two and Fifty-Three

Isaiah Chapter 52 and 53

Again the call of the Lord comes to Zion to awake and put on her strength and to Jerusalem to put on her beautiful garments. Here, as in the two preceding instances, the call is the result of what precedes. She has been in a state of utter prostration and covered with dust, powerless under the fury of her enemies and robbed of her royal and priestly robes, wearing instead the chains of captivity around her neck. From all those who had defiled and degraded her she would be delivered. But she was not only to arise but was to take her seat in a position of restful dignity and authority. Strangers will not be allowed to pass through her any more (cp. Joel 3:17; see also Nahum 1:15, where the r.v. rightly translates “the wicked one,” i.e., the Antichrist). Babylon has sat as a queen but would be brought down to the dust; Jerusalem would be raised from her dust and sit upon her throne of glory (Isaiah 52:1-2). The promises which follow in Isaiah 52:3-6 are set, with their comfort, in the background of past misery. The Lord’s people are reminded that they “were sold for nought” (r.v.), they were handed over to Gentile powers; not that the Lord might gain any advantage from that; His sole purpose was to bring them to repentance under His chastening rod. No money would be paid for their redemption. That would be accomplished by His sovereign grace and almighty power. Their deliverance would emanate from Himself solely and absolutely. So with redemption from the power of sin and Satan. Man can do nothing to effect it. It must be “according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19). As illustrations, the oppression of two Gentile powers is mentioned, Egypt and Assyria. For though the actual oppression is recorded only of the latter, it is evidently intimated in regard to the former, according to the principle of parallelism. Israel went down to Egypt “at the first” (r.v.) simply to sojourn there until the famine in Canaan was over. After their bondage, their deliverance was wrought by the outstretched arm of the Lord. They are reminded of this again and again throughout their history. On the other hand, the Assyrians invaded their territory and drove them into captivity as the instruments of God’s disciplinary dealings. Let them remember each case, now that similar trouble had come upon them by Babylonian aggression. The rhetorical question asked by the Lord Himself in Isaiah 52:5, “What do I here?” has been interpreted in several ways. The right meaning seems to be “What advantage do I gain in the midst of My people?” as is indicated by the next clause, “seeing that My people is taken away for nought.” And then as to the enemy themselves, “they that rule over them do howl.” This is not the howling of misery (that idea seems to have led to the a.v. rendering “make them to howl”); here the verb is used of the blustering war cry of the oppressors and it was in that spirit that the Name of the Lord was blasphemed continually by them. The shrieking and the blaspheming would be made to cease by the direct power of God. The Name so despised by the Gentiles will be made known to His people. His nature, character and power as represented by His Name will be revealed to them in the day of their redemption. His self-manifestation will cause them to know the voice of their Redeemer; see Isaiah 63:1, where, in answer to the astonished question of His people as to who He is, He replies, “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Here in Isaiah 52:6, in view of that assured event, He says “Behold, it is I,” or, as in the margin, “Here I am.” He will make known not only the character of His Person and attributes, but His very presence as their Deliverer. This is how the Lord reveals Himself in our times of tribulation and difficulty. He uses such circumstances by way of increasing our knowledge of Himself, His character, His power and His grace. It is when we come to an end of ourselves that He makes Himself known to us. Wits’ end corner provides the turning at which the Lord manifests to us not only our own helplessness but His almightiness. We may be like Peter, who, finding himself going down to a watery grave, cried out “Lord, save me.” Christ planned the whole circumstance so that His ardent follower might know the strength of His arm and His power to do more than deliver. How often in the midst of the troubles of His disciples He said (that with which this passage in Isaiah ends) “It is I!”

Isaiah 52:7-10 consist of a triumphant exultation consequent upon the news of the great deliverance wrought for the Lord’s people in the eyes of all nations. Wars will have been made to cease to the ends of the earth. Peace will prevail because God reigns and Jehovah is returning to Zion.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him [or “them”—the pronoun is collective] that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!” The feet of the messengers are lovely to behold (not the sound of the footsteps but the appearance of their feet), beautiful not only because of their buoyant rapidity, but because of the rapture of heart which lends character to their movement, and the very nature of their errand. The mountains are those of the Land, and especially those north of Jerusalem. What are natural obstacles are made highways for God’s heralds. He had declared “I will make all My mountains a way.” The world will cry “peace and safety” (1 Thessalonians 5:3)—the old delusion, that man is his own savior! Destruction will come upon them, confounding their politics and chasing away their cherished dreams. God’s Christ alone can bring deliverance, and at His Coming the messengers publish “peace and salvation.” Not the “safety” of an imagined security, but the salvation wrought by the arm of the Savior Himself! So it will be. But so it is now in respect of the messengers of the Gospel and its good news; and for this we have the confirmatory quotation in Romans 10:15, where “the mountains” is omitted, for the emblematic becomes the actual in the Gospel. The apostle exults in that in which he was himself such an assiduous messenger! And it is ours to share in the activity and the joy. The feet of one who goes forth with the evangel, at home or abroad, are lovely in the sight of Him who died to provide both the message and the messengers.

There are three blessings pronounced in the message, peace, good, and salvation; peace with God through the blood of Christ, instead of alienation; good, that which benefits and profits, instead of evil, the blighting effect of sin; salvation, which not only saves from death and judgment, but ministers continual preservation, with its eternal realization, instead of doom and eternal perdition. The “watchmen” (or watchers) in Isaiah 52:8, who “lift up the voice together,” rejoicing with singing, are the prophets (Isaiah himself being one), like those who look out into the distance as from a watch tower. They are distinct from the messengers just mentioned, who will bear the news of the Kingdom when Christ’s Millennial reign is ushered in. Contrast the blind watchmen, the false prophets, in Isaiah 56:10. These faithful watchers, who saw future events from afar, are described in 1 Peter 1:10-12 (cp. Isaiah 21:8, Isaiah 21:11 and Habakkuk 2:1-3). The day is coming when they will “see, eye to eye, when [or, rather, “how”] Jehovah returns to Zion,” lit., “makes Zion to return” (the same construction as in Psalms 85:4). They will see the Lord restoring Zion, as vividly as one person is to another when he looks straight into his eyes (see Numbers 14:14, r.v. margin). No wonder they will join in a chorus of praise. Those who foretold these things apart from one another during the course of many centuries will, in one great company and in bodily presence, utter their joy before Him who has been the great Subject of these prophecies. In Isaiah 52:9 the ruins of Jerusalem are called upon to do the same. The language is vivid, it visualizes and depicts the glory of restoration after the long periods of desolation: “Break forth into jubilation, join in singing, ye ruins of Jerusalem.” And the reason is twofold, God’s word and work: the word of consolation, “The Lord hath comforted His people”; the work of delivering power, “He hath redeemed Jerusalem.” His word has been carried out in act. “Jesus … was mighty in deed and word” (Luke 24:19). Moses “was mighty in his words and works” (Acts 7:22). Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:17.

Comfort and deliverance, these are the constant ministration of the Holy Spirit in our sorrows and distresses, our trials and dangers: comfort amidst them, deliverance from them! We may rejoice in the consolation, and be confident of the deliverance.

Isaiah 52:10 first looks back from future fulfillment. “Jehovah hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations.” The metaphor is that of a warrior, removing all coverings and accoutrements from his arm so as to exert his power to the utmost. The foolish misconceptions the nations have had about God will be mightily dispelled. Their refusal to acknowledge the Person, facts and claims of His Son will meet the force of His direct interposition. “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

Isaiah 52:11-12 deal with another side of the circumstances, and give a view of the setting free of the exiles. They are bidden to go out from the scene of their captivity. The language of the command bears reference to Babylon, but Babylon here stands for more than the city itself, it speaks of world conditions, as the preceding context shows. They are commanded to touch no unclean thing. They are not to take with them the Babylonish gods, as they did when they took of the spoils of Egypt. The vessels they are to carry home are “the vessels of the Lord.” This points to the return under the decree of Cyrus, when the vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar were to be restored (Ezra 1:7-11). Again, unlike the exodus from Egypt, they would not go out in haste nor by flight. Their attitude, instead of that of fugitives, was to be one of complete preparedness for the resumption of the worship of the Lord in His Temple. For this the requisite is absolute purity.

Yet they would need His guidance and protection, and of this they are assured: “for Jehovah will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.”

All this has its direct messages for those who, themselves vessels, set apart to the Lord for His use (2 Timothy 2:21), have a holy responsibility to keep themselves unspotted from the world, and to cleanse themselves “from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.” And as to the promises, all that is here assured and much more, is gathered up in the pledge, “I will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to Me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” The relationship divinely established at the new birth finds its practical expression on His part in our experiences and circumstances in a manner impossible if the condition is not fulfilled.

Chapter 52:13-15 and Chapter 53 The division into chapters requires that what is marked as chapter 53 should begin here. These three verses and the twelve which are marked as chapter 53 comprise one great theme of the suffering, rejected, atoning and exalted Servant of Jehovah. The opening words “Behold My Servant” speak not of Israel but of Messiah, as in Isaiah 50:10. The connection with what has just preceded is significant. Deliverance from captivity has just been in view, deliverance from Babylon, and deliverance yet future and final. Babylon itself was not actually mentioned and is not spoken of again in Isaiah.

Deliverance can be wrought alone by Jehovah’s Servant, whether for Jew or Gentile. So the Lord calls attention to Him, first to His prosperous dealing, then to His exalted position itself (v. 13). There follows a brief mention of His humiliation as antecedent to the coming manifestation of His power and glory (Isaiah 52:14-15). And all this, in its condensed form, is the very theme which, having been thus introduced, is expanded in the twelve following verses.

“Behold, My Servant shall deal wisely.” Two meanings are contained in this word, wisdom (one feature of which is prudence) and prosperity. These might be combined in a fuller rendering, “shall deal wisely, with consequent prosperity.” Strikingly this describes His life on earth, in all that He said and did, with its prosperous effects, and in maintaining His testimony without surrendering His life till the appointed hour. No greater prosperity ever accrued from any act than from the giving up of that life in His voluntary and atoning sacrifice.

“He shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.” Three stages are in view, His Resurrection (the word rendered “exalted” signifies to rise up in exaltation), His Ascension (the thought is that of a glorious ascent), and His position at the right hand of God (see Acts 2:33; Php 2:9; Hebrews 1:3 and Hebrews 1:13).

“Like as many were astonished at Thee (with the change from a statement of fact concerning Him to an utterance addressed to Him; cp. Isaiah 49:7-8) … so shall He startle (r.v. margin) many nations.” The similarity of the verbs in these corresponding statements is to be noted. In the degradation and disfigurement which man inflicted on Him many were astonished; in the coming manifestation of His glory He will astonish (cause to leap and tremble in astonishment) many nations; “startle” is the meaning here, not “sprinkle” (as the grammatical phraseology makes clear). The fact that “His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men” was the cause of the astonishment of those who beheld Him. The soldiers hit Him with a mock scepter one after another on His face and His thorn-crowned brow, till His features were unrecognizable. The form of scourging administered was that by means of which the flesh was cut away from breast as well as back. So Psalms 22:17 foretold: “I may tell all My bones; they look and stare upon Me.” In the coming Day the astonishment at His power and glory will be so great that kings will be overpowered into speechlessness, struck dumb at the sight of what they had never heard of. More still, they will be made to grasp the reality and significance of the stupendous manifestation: “that which they had not heard shall they understand.”

There follows immediately the reason why they had not heard. The cause lay with Israel. They (not the prophet) are the mourning and repentant speakers in the next verse. They acknowledge with lamentation their unbelief. As a nation they had refused to believe the message proclaimed to them. That is the meaning of the rhetorical question rendered in our Versions, “Who hath believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1). See the r.v. margin. The word rendered “report,” means that which was heard, that which was declared, and the reference is to the Gospel preached at Pentecost and afterwards, which was persistently rejected by the nation. Witness Paul’s protests and lament (Acts 13:46; Acts 18:6; Acts 28:28; Romans 9:1; Romans 11:7-8; 1 Thessalonians 2:14-18). So with the manifestation of God’s power in Christ: “to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” is a prophetic question expressing the confession to be made in the coming day of repentance, that Israel had in its unbelief failed to recognize what God had wrought in raising Christ from the dead. All that follows is a full acknowledgment to be made of the great facts concerning Him when the nation is restored.

They did not realize that “He grew up before Him [Jehovah] as a tender plant, and as a root [a sprouting root] out of a dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2). The pleasantness of Christ in the eyes of Jehovah, in the days of His childhood and growth into manhood, as a tender twig and the verdant shoot, is set in contrast with the barren and enslaved condition of the nation.

They saw nothing in His appearance to make them feel naturally attracted to Him, nothing of comeliness or beauty to delight their natural senses. On the contrary, “He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). The special meaning of the word rendered “grief” is sickness, or disease. The former clause marks His life as one characterized by the inward smart of experiencing the effects of the sins and sorrows of those around Him; the latter clause marks Him as One uniquely capable of complete acquaintance with various forms of illness. The latter part of the verse expresses still more strongly the attitude of the people as a whole. It shows the character of their despisings: “and as one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Men hide the face from, or turn away from, that which is considered unbearable to behold. Their estimate of Him is put very strongly; they regarded Him as nothing. All this records the depths of remorse with which the nation hereafter will recall their attitude shown Him in the days of His flesh. In Isaiah 53:4-6, they enter into the subject more deeply, confessing that His sufferings were of quite a different nature from what they had supposed them to be. The sufferings of the Cross are now in view. The change of their ideas is marked by the opening word “Surely” or “Verily.” The statement “He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” expresses more fully what was mentioned in the preceding verse as to His being a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. It tells how the Lord bore in His own Person sufferings which were other than His own. Matthew quotes this in connection with His deeds of healing and deliverance (Matthew 8:16-17). Yet that statement does not speak of His making a substitutionary atonement.

Isaiah 53:4 takes us directly to the Cross, for only to that could the statement apply, “yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” In their blindness they looked upon His sufferings as the punishment of His own sins, which they must have regarded as especially great. But now, under the power of the revelation of the great facts, there comes an entire reversal of their opinions. This is marked in a special way by the series of emphatic personal pronouns in the plural in what follows. “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him” (Isaiah 53:5). The words rendered “wounded” (or pierced) and “bruised” are the strongest terms to describe a violent and agonizing death. There is stress on the “our” in both statements. The chastisement which was administered to Him by God was that which makes for our peace (the word shalom is comprehensive and describes not simply a peaceful state, but well-being in general); “and with His stripes we are healed”—not the Roman scourging; the margin gives the literal rendering, “bruise” (so in the Septuagint, and see 1 Peter 2:24, margin). The expression conveys in condensed form the stroke of Divine judgment inflicted upon Him. The healing, the spiritual soundness which we receive, is expressly set in direct contrast to the bruising or Divine stroke to which He submitted.

Now comes the climax of conscience-stricken admission on the part of the penitent nation: “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way,” and then the grateful realization and recognition of the tremendous fact, “and Jehovah hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

What the nation will hereafter acknowledge is true of the whole human race. Man has substituted his own will for God’s will. Being granted the power of self-determination, a feature which, among others, marks him as made in the image of God, he has used that power to go “his own way” and make himself ego-centric instead of God-centric. In this universal condition of guilt and misery the grace of God has interposed. Sending His own Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin” (Romans 8:3, r.v.). He made to meet upon Him the whole weight of our iniquity and the righteous wrath due to it. The third paragraph, Isaiah 53:7-9, describes His sufferings, death and burial. “He was oppressed [“treated unsparingly”], yet He humbled Himself [i.e., He suffered voluntarily] and opened not His mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, He opened not His mouth.” This all expresses His voluntary endurance and is apparently set in striking antithesis to the straying away, in the first part of Isaiah 53:6. The scene passes next to the unrighteous judicial verdict passed upon Him, and from thence direct to Calvary. “By oppression and judgment [a hendiadys, i.e., one sentiment conveyed by two expressions, here signifying “by an oppressive judicial sentence”] He was taken away [Matthew 26:66; Matthew 27:22-31, and see Acts 8:33, which translates the Septuagint], and as for His generation, who among them considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living? for the transgression of my people was He stricken,” or “was the stroke upon Him.” This is preferable to the r.v. margin, “to whom the stroke was due.” The stress of the passage is what Christ endured. This section, which has described the character of His sufferings and the manner of His death, closes with a statement as to His burial: “And they [r.v.; i.e., “His generation”] made His grave with the wicked [“with sinners”], and with the rich [“a rich man”] in His death.” The first part of this would seem to refer to the intention of the rulers, who would have had Him ignominiously buried with the two robbers. The Roman authorities, however, granted the body to Joseph of Arimathaea, the “rich man” (Matthew 27:57). The Hebrew word rendered “death” is in the plural; this is expressive of the violent character, not to say the comprehensive nature, of His death. In what follows, the a.v. rendering “because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth” is probably correct, rather than the r.v., “although …” The clause is to be connected with what immediately precedes. The fact of His freedom from sin made it fitting that He should receive an honorable burial, instead of being cast into a criminal’s grave, to which his enemies would have committed Him. The last section of the chapter gives a threefold testimony concerning the experiences of His soul. We are taken into the inner sanctuary of His Being. Again, Isaiah 53:10 and Isaiah 53:12 speak of the dealings of Jehovah with Him, judicially in respect of His death and compensatingly in respect of His reward. Isaiah 53:11 speaks of the outcome of His Sacrifice and His own satisfaction therein and the justifying grace He ministers to others. The statement “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him” speaks of the determinate counsel of Jehovah in causing man’s sin to be subservient to the actings of His grace, in the suffering inflicted upon His sinless Servant on the Cross. That He “put Him to grief” speaks of the extreme distress brought upon Him.

What follows is probably rightly rendered as in the margin: “When His soul shall make an offering for sin,” i.e., a trespass offering, a sacrifice offered to God with the effect of clearing the sinner from his guilt. The sin offering was presented by the priest from the point of view of the offerer, but the trespass offering had especially in view the demands of God’s justice. That is what is indicated here. This is the first of the three statements as to His soul. This voluntary act of surrendering His life (a life with which God was ineffably pleased) to meet God’s righteous demands concerning man’s guilt, is shown to have the following results (in Isaiah 53:10-12) relating to Christ Himself:

1. “He shall see His seed.” An Israelite was regarded as conspicuously blessed if he had a numerous posterity, and especially if he lived to see them (Genesis 48:11; Psalms 128:6). Here then we have an intimation of the exceeding joy of Christ in seeing the results of His sacrifice in the countless multitude of His spiritual posterity from among Jew and Gentile.

2. “He shall prolong His days,” another blessing regarded as a high favor among Israelites (cp. Psalms 91:16; Proverbs 3:2, Proverbs 3:16). Here, however, the reference is to the unending resurrection life of the Lord, and to the joy that breathes through His words “I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:18).

3. “The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” That is to say, the predeterminate counsels of God shall have their joyous realization. The phrase “in His hand” points to His Mediatorial and High Priestly work, as well as to the exercise of His authority and power in His Kingdom.

4. “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” This is the second mention of the soul of Christ in the passage. All the glory that follows and will follow will be viewed by Him as the outcome of His atoning sufferings, which will never cease to be present to His mind as the all-necessary and all-sufficient means by which His heart is satisfied in the redemption of those that have become His own possession. This is true both in the progressive work of saving grace and in its entire fulfillment when the Church is complete and Israel is saved.

5. “By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many.” There is stress upon the word “righteous.” There could be no justification for others, no reckoning of righteousness, were it not for His flawless righteousness, by which alone He was competent to render Himself voluntarily as a propitiatory Sacrifice. The phrase translated “by His knowledge” may be rendered in two ways, either “by knowledge of Him” or “by His own knowledge.” Regarding the former, to know Him is life eternal (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20; cp. 2 Peter 1:3); this is the objective sense. The other is the subjective. In chapter Isaiah 11:2, one of the seven spirits which were foretold as resting upon Christ is “the spirit of knowledge.” Again, one of the qualifications of a priest is that his lips keep knowledge (Malachi 2:7), so that people may seek the law at his mouth. Further, in Matthew 11:27 the Lord says that knowledge of the Father belongs only to Himself and “to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him.” In the whole passage both the priestly and the mediatorial work of Christ is unfolded as well as the prospect of His regal glory (see Isaiah 52:15 and Isaiah 53:12). Because of what He is in His own Person as well as in this threefold office, and because of His absolute knowledge as the Son of God, He would effect the justification of many. That is to say, He would make righteous all that come unto God by Him. But only on the ground of His vicarious sacrifice, and this is why the statement “And He shall bear their iniquities” immediately follows. By reason of this He is an eternal Priest, qualified to dispense all that accrues from His offering.

There yet remains another glorious effect of His sacrificial death. Jehovah will “divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong.” The Septuagint renders it, “I will give Him the mighty for a portion.” The thought is not that of dividing into portions, but of assigning. “The great” and “the strong” are general terms, and do not specify particular individuals; they do not refer to specially prominent persons or those who are mightier than others, but to all who by reason of faithful adherence to His will are to be made sharers in His regal authority when His Kingdom is established. The Father and the Son cooperate, and the Son will “divide the spoil with the strong.” The latter are mentioned in Psalms 110:3 as volunteers in the day of His power, partaking with Him of the spoils of His triumph. The Septuagint renders this second statement, “He shall divide the spoils of the mighty” suggesting His triumph over His foes, and this meaning is accepted by many.

Again we are directed to the foundation work of His atoning sacrifice. The very establishment of His sovereign power in the earth will rest upon that finished work. It is here finally set forth in four statements. All the future glory, all that will accrue by way of reward to the faithful is because (1) “He poured out His soul unto death”; (2) “He was numbered with the transgressors”; (3) “He bare the sin of many”; (4) “He made intercession for the transgressors.” The last two of these are set in striking contrast to the fact that He was numbered with the transgressors, and this is accurately set forth by the r.v. “yet” instead of “and.” The former points to the unrighteous opinion of those who pronounced sentence upon Him and handed Him over to execution. Little did they realize that in what He endured on the Cross He was Himself the sin-bearer, and the closing statement refers especially to His intercessory prayer while He was being nailed to the tree. Then it was that He made intercession for the transgressors. For the third time mention is made of His soul, and now in connection with His own act in pouring out His soul unto death. Concerning this He Himself said “I lay down My life for the sheep” and “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:15, John 10:17-18). The details of this prophecy in chapter fifty-three grow in vividness and reach a climax in these last three verses.