Isaiah 52

Isaiah 52:13-54

XXII THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 14Isaiah 52:13-54:17 The special theme of this section is the priestly office of the Servant and the happy results of his priestly work to Zion. Some have called it the “Great Passional.” Polycarp calls this section “the golden passional of the Old Testament Evangelist.” Delitzsch says, “It is the center of this wonderful book of consolation (Isaiah 40-66), and is the most central, the deepest, and the loftiest thing that the Old Testament prophecy, outstripping itself, has ever achieved.” Another has said, “Here we seem to enter the holy of holies of the Old Testament prophecy, that sacred chamber wherein are pictured and foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow.” This section contains the very heart of the gospel and the preacher who leaves it out of his preaching is a preacher of “airy nothings.” The success or failure of the preacher is determined as he relates his preaching to the truth of this great passage.

There are several different interpretations of Isaiah 52:13-53:12:

1. The earliest Jewish authorities, even down to Aben Ezra, A.D.1150, stood for the messianic interpretation of this passage. Their later writers abandoned this explanation on account of its bearing on the Christian controversy. It was assumed as indisputable by the Christian Fathers, and almost all Christian expositors down to the commencement of the nineteenth century took the same view.

2. The later Jews under the pressure of the Christian controversy abandoned the traditional interpretation and applied this prophecy to Jeremiah, Josiah, or to the people of Israel.

3. In the present century a number of Christian commentators have adopted one or the other of the later Jewish theories, either absolutely or with modifications.

The argument for the messianic theory and against the later Jewish theories is as follows:

1. The portraiture of the “Servant of Jehovah” here has so strong an individuality and such marked personal features that it cannot be a mere personified collection, whether Israel, faithful Israel, or ideal Israel, or the collective body of the prophets.

2. That it could not be the nation at large appears from the fact that the calamities which Israel suffered are always spoken of as sent upon them for their own sins.

3. That it could not refer to their prophets or righteous men, who made expiation for the nation’s guilt, appears from the following considerations: (1) Such a position is against the whole tenor of Scriptures. (2) Their most righteous in their prayers did not plead their own merit but Jehovah’s righteousness and mercy. (3) Many parts of this section are manifestly such as cannot be applied to either the nation or any body of men inside of it.

4. It goes so infinitely beyond anything of which a mere man was ever capable, that it can only refer to the unique man, the God-man, Christ Jesus our Lord.

The proof from the New Testament that this is the true interpretation is abundant. Passages from this section are quoted in Matthew 8:17; Luke 22:37; John 12:37-38; Acts 7:32-33; Romans 10:16 ‘and 1 Peter 2:24-25, all of which are unmistakably applied to Christ. This ought to settle the question once for all that this passage is distinctly messianic.

This great passage divides itself into five paragraphs of three verses each, as follows: (1) Isaiah 52:13-15, the introduction, a general view of the whole subject; (2) Isaiah 53:1-3, the prevailing unbelief and his unpromising appearance; (3) Isaiah 53:4-6, a substitute for sinners; (4) Isaiah 53:7-9, his submissiveness and his purity; (5) Isaiah 53:10-12, the glorious success of his completed propitiation and also his intercession.

We have the general view of the whole subject presented in Isaiah 52:13-15. This passage is a prelude to Isaiah 53 and is closely connected with it. In these three verses we have, (1) the Servant’s exaltations, (2) his humiliation preceding, (3) the far-reaching blessings which shall result to the whole world. This includes the whole of his redemptive work, stated generally. In Philippians 2:5-11 we have our Lord’s humiliation, exaltation, and success, in which there is a graphic picture of his suffering on the cross. The prophet here gets three views of the Servant of Jehovah: First, he sees him exalted, lifted up, very high; secondly, he sits at the foot of the cross and there sees the Lord as he hung upon the accursed tree, after he had been buffeted, crowned with thorns, smitten, scourged, crucified, his face covered with bruises and with blood, and his frame and features distorted with agony, so that “his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men,” but the picture changes and, thirdly, the prophet sees this suffering Christ as he startles many nations and receives honor at the hands of kings. This is a brief view of a preview or introduction to the more clearly outlined picture in the next chapter.

The first question in Isaiah 53:1 “Who hath believed our report?” seems to sound a discouraging note from the standpoint of the prophet. The messengers have gone forth to publish peace (Isaiah 52:7), and many nations have received the tidings with reverence (Isaiah 52:15), but Israel in the midst of whom this wondrous work of atonement has been effected, refused to believe the message. While the immediate reference is doubtless to Isaiah 52:7 this complaint is applicable to the whole revelation of the prophet. He had brought them the good tidings concerning “Immanuel,” the “Prince of Peace,” the “Rod out of the stem of Jesse,” the “Sure Foundation,” the “Righteous King,” and the “ revealed glory of the Lord.” He surely felt that he spoke, mainly, to unbelieving ears, and this unbelief was likely to be intensified when so marvelous a prophecy was delivered as that which he was now to put forth. There is, of course, a rhetorical exaggeration in the question, which seems to imply that no one would believe.

The prophet’s second question, “To whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed” raises the question of the recognition of Jehovah’s displays of power in behalf of Israel. He has made bare his holy arm before all the nations and the ends of the earth are made to see the salvation of Jehovah, but where is the spiritual discernment of these things in Israel? Many Jews had failed to recognize Jehovah’s marvelous dealings with them and the nations around because of their unbelief. But there is a more far-reaching application of these questions to Israel, as indicated by Paul in Romans 10:16. They did not recognize the “Arm of Jehovah,” the Lord Jesus Christ, as their Messiah. His mighty works were not recognized by them as attestations of the One that was to come, but with blinded eyes they rejected him, as the prophet here foresaw.

Here it is said that he grew up as a “tender plant” before Jehovah, i.e., the Messiah was a fresh sprout from the stump of a tree that had been felled, the tree of the Davidic monarchy. Yet he was before Jehovah with his loving favor upon him. He was also as a “root growing up out of dry ground,” just like the tall succulent plant in the east, growing from the soil utterly devoid of moisture. The roots of such plants in the desert are full of fluid, though the surrounding air is very dry. The “dry ground” here refers to the corrupt age and nation, and the arid soil of humanity in general.

“He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.” He had no regal pomp nor splendor, nothing to attract the multitudes, but his attractive qualities were to the spiritual rather than to the carnal. The spiritual beauties of a holy, sweet expression and a majestic calmness could only have been spiritually discerned. “He was despised”; men had contempt for his teaching and verily they hated him because his teaching and life were BO contrary to them. “He was rejected,” by the Jewish nation and was not reckoned with men by them. “A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”; his whole ministry illustrates this. His sorrows appear on every page of the Gospels. Men hid their faces from him when they met him, because they saw only the external expression of sorrow and grief. Thus he is pictured as a “tender plant, a root growing up out of dry ground, without comeliness, no beauty, despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” men hiding their faces from him as one despised and not esteemed.

In Isaiah 52:4-11 we have the very heart of the vicarious work of our Lord, but there are other expressions in the passage that bear on this phase of his work. So we will consider them all together. There are eleven of these unmistakable expressions of our Lord’s vicarious sufferings: (1) “He hath borne our griefs”; (2) “he hath carried our sorrows”; (3) “he was wounded for our transgressions”; (4) “he was bruised for our iniquities”; (5) “the chastisement of our peace was upon him”; (6) “with his stripes we are healed”; (7) “Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all”; (8) “he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people”; (9) “when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin”; (10) “he shall bear their iniquities”; (11) “yet he bare the sins of many.”

In the ninth item above, the sacrificial nature of these sufferings is directly stated. To a people whose approach to God was limited throughout by the indispensable condition of the expiatory offering, all these sayings were calculated to suggest to them that in such a one they might realize all their hopes of righteousness. The terms, “iniquities,” “transgressions” and “sins” which occur here, gather around the work of the high priest on the ‘“day of atonement,” and indicate the priestly work of Christ, which is the theme of this section. This doctrine thus taught in the Old Testament is set forth with equal distinctness in the New Testament, and forms the hope, the trust, and the consolation of all Christians.

While thus suffering for a lost world his suffering was regarded by those who witnessed it as a smiting from God for his own sin. Hence they scoffed at him and reviled him in his greatest agonies. To one only, and him not one of God’s people, was it given to see the contrary, who declared aloud, “Certainly this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47).

The prophet here shows that he was oppressed and afflicted, though he did not open his mouth. Like the Passover lamb led to the slaughter, he was dumb, which has a remarkable fulfilment in the deportment of our Lord under trial.

He was taken away by oppression and judgment, i.e., by a violence which cloaked itself under the formalities of a legal process. The people of his generation considered that this stroke fell upon him, not because of the transgression of God’s people, but thought that the stroke came because of his own sins.

His innocence and purity are set forth in Isaiah 52:9. The prophet shows that the intent of the executioners was to make his grave with the wicked, as was the case of all criminals who were crucified on the “Hill of Skull” and buried in a grave in the midst, but through the providence of Jehovah he had the rich man’s tomb because there was no violence done by him nor was any deceit found in his mouth. “Violence” here refers to his overt acts and “deceit” refers to the inward state of the heart. He was free from both the guilt of sin and the bondage of sin. He was pure both in life and in character.

It may be truly said that God bruised Christ and put him to grief, the explanation of which is found in Acts 2:23 : “Him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay.” The crucifixion of Christ was not an after-thought with God. It was divinely decreed, and permissively carried out by the hands of wicked men. He was put to death by the divine stroke, on the charge of sin.

But how shall we sufficiently realize all the significance of earth’s greatest tragedy? Even when we beggar language we but bring somewhat nearer the heights and depths of its import. If all the crises in human affairs since Adam first hesitated over the tender of forbidden fruit in the hand of his wife to the present crisis in the affairs of the Oriental nations could pool their hazards, they would not surpass the momentous issues involved when he said, “Now is the crisis of this world.” Indeed there has never been and never will be but this one real crisis for this world. Since that time we use only relative terms when we talk about a crisis.

If all the cups of woe ever pressed to shrinking human lips since the first sad pair were banished from Eden to the wailing over the victims of the Eastland disaster were condensed into one measure of gall and wormwood, they would not exceed the bitterness enforced on our great substitute when he cried out in Gethsemane’s bloody sweat: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” If all the floods from Noah’s deluge to the last Mississippi overflow could merge their waters into one swollen tide of horror, we might not compare it with his baptism of suffering forecast by the prophets: “All thy billows have rolled over me. Deep calleth unto deep at the voice of thy waterspouts.” If all the fires since sulphur and brimstone were rained on Sodom and Gomorrah to the burning of San Francisco were combined into one lurid conflagration “painting hell on the sky,” its devouring flame could not be so intense and searing as the fire of which he speaks: “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?” If all the wars since Abraham dispersed the foray of Chedorlaorner to the strife by land and sea now raging in the Orient were massed into one universal conflict, the shock of arms would make but on echo of his fight with principalities and powers in the realm of the Spirit and of death from which he emerged “leading captivity captive” and with head-crushed Satan chained to his chariot wheels. If all the darkness since in creation’s dawn, “darkness was upon the face of the deep,” to the Egyptian darkness which might be felt and thence to the sun’s latest eclipse, or Byron’s poetic dream, was woven into one funeral pall of gloom, it might not equal that “hour of the power of darkness” which enveloped his cross. If all the loneliness of the exiled since Cain as a fugitive went away from the presence of God to Croly’s Wandering Jew, or to Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, were merged into one desert of solitude, it could not be compared to his isolation when “of the people there were none With him,” and when he cried: “My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” If all the tragedies since Cain slew his brother Abel, to the last victim of the Inquisition were grouped into one horrible auto de fe, this concentrated martyrdom of all time should not measure the vicarious expiation of him who died as a felon at the hand of God. Yes, “His soul, being made an offering for sin,” because “He bear the sin of many,” was poured out unto death.

And because “the chastisement of our peace was laid on him” it pleased the Father to bruise him and to put him to grief, “for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” and because when “found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, therefore hath God highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in heaven and beings on earth and beings under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The outcome of it all (Isaiah 52:10-12), and its bearing on the evangelization of the world are as follows: (1) “He shall see his seed,” i.e., his disciples, who are said in the Scriptures to be the begotten of the teacher, as Paul speaking of Onesimus, “whom I have begotten in my bonds.” (2) “He shall prolong his days,” i.e., he shall continue to live by the resurrection and thus extend the time of his work in the salvation of men. (3) “The pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand,” i.e., God’s ultimate aim and end with respect to the universe shall be accomplished through him as the instrumentality. (4) “He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied,” i.e., because of the travail of his soul he shall be satisfied. This is exactly parallel to Philippians 2:5-11 which emphasized the thought, “No cross – No crown.” (See the author’s sermon on this theme, Evangelistic Sermons, p. 15.) (5) “Shall justify many,” i.e., shall turn many from sin unto righteousness, which corresponds to Paul’s great discussion in Romans 5:18-19. (6) “A portion with the great,” i.e., he shall be a great conqueror, shall have a great kingdom and overcome the strong, making the kingdoms of this world his own, or it may refer to his mighty champions of evangelism with whom he will divide the possessions.

These are not contingent promises. All their preceding conditions have been fully met. Hence they are absolute promises made by the Almighty Father to his divine Son. Every attribute of deity is pledged to their literal and complete fulfilment. We might doubt the stability of the material heavens, the indestructibility of matter, and the persistence of the law of gravitation, but these promises lie beyond the realm of question and peradventure.

The imperiousness of the “shall see” is the ground of positiveness in the “shall come,” applied to all sinners given to our Lord by the Father. And the “shall be satisfied” guarantees and necessitates the salvation of all the elect. And though a thousand portents forebode a dissolution of the earth before his satisfaction be complete, it cannot be prematurely dissolved, for the messianic days of salvation shall be prolonged until his purposes be fully accomplished. Some Christians, indeed, consulting their own selfish desires to be relieved at once from trouble may cry out: “Come on, Lord Jesus, come quickly – the time of the second advent is at hand – do not tarry – do not be slack concerning thy promise to come quickly.”

But the Lord, unwilling that any of his elect should perish and unsatisfied until they shall repent and live) prolongs his days. We may not propound to a weary and cowardly church the question, “Are you satisfied?” The church might consult its selfish greed and fear and stop the good work of salvation too soon. We may not carry the question to death and hell, “Are you satisfied?” But only one may answer that question, our Lord himself. Men must be saved and saved and saved until he is satisfied – men of all grades of personal guilt, men of all nations and tribes and tongues. Poor, outcast, wandering Israel must be saved. We may be assured he will not be satisfied until the redeemed constitute a host that no man can number, a host whose hallelujah will be louder than mighty thunderings, louder than the voice of many waters.

If the “great” and the “strong” of this context refer to Satan, we may be sure Christ will not be content with the present division of these spoils. Though Satan’s goods be now at peace the stronger than he will bind him and despoil him. But if “strong” and “great” refer to Christ’s mighty champions of evangelism, it is equally sure he will make their portion far greater than their present possession. Thus the context illumines the text and makes it reasonable.

The last clause of Isa 52:12 gives us the intercessory work of Christ as priest. It began when he said on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” But it has continued ever since and will continue until lie leaves the mediatorial throne and returns to this world to wind up the affairs of time and turn over the kingdom to the Father.

The special theme of Isaiah 54 is the vast growth and blessedness of Zion, as the result of the Servant’s work. From Isaiah 54:1-3, at Nottingham, England, May 30, 1792, William Carey sounded forth that bugle note of modern missions, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God,” which waked a sleeping world and whose echoes yet linger on every shore of time.

The mighty mandates of this passage stagger all reason, all probability, all philosophy, indeed everything but superhuman faith. And even superhuman faith must have some solid foundation on which to rest, otherwise it becomes blind credulity As the great commission, to disciple all nations and preach the gospel to every creature, rested upon the preceding assurance, “All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me,” and the succeeding assurance, “Lo, I am with you all the days even unto the end of the world,” so these mighty mandates must have a substantial predicate. That predicate lies in the context.

The verses immediately preceding the text declare: “When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” This passage rests on that context.

There is no break in the thread of continuity between Isaiah 53-54. Isaiah 54 is unthinkable without Isaiah 53. Yes, let it be affirmed with uplifted hand and eyes and heart: This passage enjoins impossibilities apart from the awful tragedy set forth in the preceding context. But on that predicate of vicarious atonement all it enjoins is both easy and delightful.

There are seven of these mandates, as follows:

1. The barren are commanded to rejoice in heart over unborn children promised of God contrary to nature. In its spiritual application this does not refer to the active, working, fruit-bearing churches. The reason of their joy is evident and every way rational. They have not been barren hitherto. The call is to the barren churches, whose members so far have been as fig trees producing nothing but leaves.

It implies a marvelous gift of faith to them, for the heart cannot break forth in praise over a blessing promised, unless it believe the promise. Yea, for such praise the faith must be the very substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. At such a promise the barren Sarai once laughed in derision until through faith she became Sarah and laughed now with joy and even named her child “Laughter.”

2. They are commanded not merely to rejoice in heart, but to provide instant, and abundant house room for the coming of these multitudinous children of promise: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations.” This injunction reminds us of the vision of Zechariah: A young man went forth with a measuring line to lay off the site of the messianic Jerusalem. But an angel from God appears with the injunction: “Run, speak to that young man.” Tell him, “Jerusalem shall be immeasurable. It shall expand until it takes in all the neighboring towns and villages. Let him roll up his insignificant tape line. That cannot measure this enlarged city of promise. No walls can enclose it. It shall be as big as the country itself.”

3. In making provision for this enlargement there must be no regard for the cost. No miserly calculations. No selfish economy shall restrict the outlay: “Spare not; lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes.”

4. Enlargement shall be in every direction: “For thou shalt break forth upon thy right hand and thy left.” The heresy that giving to one object, or working in one direction precludes other gifts and objects must die out of the heart.

5. This enlargement in all directions must be without foreboding as to the outcome. The heart must not dread the humiliation of possible failure, for says the passage: “Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed.”

6. There must be no premature dread of the possible character and destiny of the numerous progeny after they have come: “For all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”

7. This great enlargement must be undertaken in absolute fearlessness of any fighting opposition or talking opposition. For, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that riseth against thee thou shalt condemn.”

The imagery here employed is very suggestive and impressive to those of us familiar with tent life. We know that a little squad needs but a little tent, and it needs only a small place with small curtains, short cords and weak tent pins. But when we lay off a wide space, that means a big tent and broad curtains and long ropes and strong, deeply driven stakes to anchor it securely against storms. Then, with a little tent we need only a short central tent pole, but with a big tent we need a tent pole like the mast of a ship. This pole is the center of unity. When we suddenly and greatly increase our tent our tent pole must either grow to fit the new conditions or we must get out a new one.

We are commanded to sing – not to croak – sing for blessings past, sing more for blessings promised, sing if we suffer, as Paul and Silas at midnight in the jail at Philippi. Rejoice that God has counted us worthy to suffer for his name and cause. Let faith that never staggers at the magnitude of commands and promises fire our heart to expect great things from God and to attempt great things for God. Let us learn to make large prayers, prayers for mighty favors. Let us open our mouths wide and God will fill them. It ministers to the self-respect of a people to cut out a big piece of work for them to do.

Let us heed these words adapted from Whittier: What Hell may be, we know not; this we know: We cannot lose the presence of the Lord: One arm, Humility, takes hold upon His dear Humanity; the other, Love, Clasps his Divinity. So where we go He goes; and better fire-walled Hell with Him Than golden-gated Paradise without.

1. What is the special theme of this section and how does it rank in importance with other scripture?

2. What is the different interpretations of Isaiah 52:13-53:12?

3. What is the argument for the messianic theory and against the later Jewish theories?

4. What is the proof from the New Testament that this is the true interpretation?

5. Give an analysis of Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

6. What is the general view of the whole subject as presented in Isaiah 52:13-15?

7. What is the import of the prophet’s double question in Isaiah 53:1?

8. Explain his unpromising appearance.

9. What is the proof from this passage that Christ was made a substitute for sinners?

10. While thus suffering for a lost world how was this suffering regarded by those who witnessed it?

11. How, according to this prophecy, did he deport himself under such trials?

12. What is the meaning of Isa 53:8?

13. How is his innocence and purity set forth in Isaiah 53:9?

14. How may it be truly said that God bruised Christ and put him to grief, and what the significance of this great tragedy?

15. What is the outcome of it all (Isaiah 10:12) and what its bearing on the evangelization of the world?

16. When was the last clause of Isa 10:12, “and made intercession for the transgressors,” fulfilled?

17. What is the special theme of Isaiah 54?

18. What great sermon was preached from Isaiah 54:1-3, and what of its lasting effect?

19. What can you say of this passage, and what its relation to the preceding chapter?

20. What are the mandates enjoined in Isaiah 54 and what their application?

21. What can you say of the imagery here employed?

22. What is the chief note of exhortation in this chapter?