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Isaiah 49 Commentary

My Servant, Light To The Gentiles

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KEY THOUGHT: “And He said to me,
‘You are My servant, O Israel, [Isaiah 49:3a NKJV]

Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!

Isaiah 49 NKJV
The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles

49 “Listen, O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the [a]matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”

3 “And He said to me,
‘You are My servant, O Israel,
In whom I will be glorified.’
4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my [b]just reward is with the Lord,
And my [c]work with my God.’ ”

5 “And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is [d]gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

7 Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, [e]their Holy One,
To Him [f]whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”

8 Thus says the Lord:

“In an acceptable[g] time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will [h]preserve You and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate [i]heritages;
9 That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”

13 Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.

God Will Remember Zion

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
[j]And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your [k]sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.

19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children you will have,
After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’ ”

22 Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My [l]standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their [m]arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”

24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives [n]of the righteous be delivered?

25 But thus says the Lord:

“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.
26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine.
All flesh shall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 49:1 Lit. inward parts
b. Isaiah 49:4 justice
c. Isaiah 49:4 recompense
d. Isaiah 49:5 Qr., DSS, LXX gathered to Him; Kt. not gathered
e. Isaiah 49:7 Lit. his or its
f. Isaiah 49:7 Lit. who is despised of soul
g. Isaiah 49:8 favorable
h. Isaiah 49:8 keep
i. Isaiah 49:8 inheritances
j. Isaiah 49:15 Lit. From having compassion
k. Isaiah 49:17 DSS, LXX, Tg., Vg. builders
l. Isaiah 49:22 banner
m. Isaiah 49:22 Lit. bosom
n. Isaiah 49:24 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Syr., Vg. of the mighty; LXX unjustly

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Isaiah 49 Commentary

“A light to the Gentiles,… Salvation to the ends of the earth.” Verse 6.

“And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3

Israel is the servant of the LORD, called to be a blessing to the nations.

Then Verse 9 says it: “say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’”

The Servant isn’t plan B; he has always been plan A. The Servant’s appointment to His role came long before the Servant’s birth. Indeed, immediately after the fall in Genesis 3, the LORD spoke of the seed of the woman.

The promise was repeated when the LORD singled out Abraham, but it was actually through Abraham’s seed that the nations would be blessed.

But who exactly is this servant who kings rise to show respect to? The princes bow low to honor him. At the same time, as we shall read, he is stricken and suffers at the hands of men.

Isaiah’s vision of the Servant is truly complex! No wonder the Pharisees failed to get it. No wonder believers hardly get it. No wonder wicked men and women simply cannot understand it.

It takes the grace of God to begin to appreciate the role of the Servant in the sinner’s life. It takes even greater grace for the believer to appreciate that the Servant still gathers His own back to a life of holiness. It is a continuous process. As we have seen in this chapter, the Servant’s dual role involves the gathering of scattered Israel as well as providing light to the Gentiles.

“In the time of my favor, I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you.” We are living in the times declared by the LORD Jesus Christ as the year of God’s favor. We can find forgiveness, experience restoration, and become a covenant people.

And in a twist of events, the saved seem to join the Servant. They become a covenant people. Verses 8 and 9. Together they say to the captives, “Come out,” and to those in darkness, “Be free!”

Then the LORD speaks tenderly to His own people. He hasn’t forgotten them. He will rescue them.

Can plunder be taken from the strong? Yes, it is possible because it is the doing of the LORD.

Loving Scripture….

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25 thoughts on “Home”

  1. It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

    God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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  11. Profound. My life needs a new introduction to God. Not that I have been right, but because God desires to help me… I see an amazing Grace here. Having broken the first commandment, still God looks for me and helps me to build up with him… And live for him. A littles knowledge of the Lord will ignite my passion and desire to serve him. This morning I pledge to seek, live and serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His purposes everyday of my life.
    Beautiful lesson

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  12. The Lord reintroduces himself and shows Israel, He is all they need. Some boast in horses and others in chariots but we’ll boast in the Lord. He is able and the only one worthy of our trust. Lord teach me how to always look up to you at all times and not focus on my strength or capabilities. This is my prayer

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  14. This far too common today. Just do something that seems like true worship yet it’s intent and actual practice is not even close to the set standard by the Lord. I personally feel challenged of some things we do in our personal lives, the focus of many churches and ministries today. We’ll need to realize the Lord must be worship as he has personally guided. Provides a good start of my reflection today

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  15. In those days when there was no King everyone did as they pleased. This is a good reminder to us that we are on own when the King of Kings isn’t leading our lives we’ll be doing what is not right and the results will show clearly how life without Christ looks like. We thank God that even when it looks like he’s not there, he’s behind the scenes working. I have learnt to trust in the Lord always.

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  16. Iam seeing this being stressed… There was no King in Israel… So lawlessness is the order of the day. This shows how heartless and wicked man can be with out the right King in his life. He can do anything. May the Lord help us to allow Christ in our lives that every aspect of our lives is changed and we yield ourselves to him alone.

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  17. I’m sure as the two daughters in-law stayed in Naomi’s home they learned about the God of Israel and appreciated His works among his people. Ruth’s determination and what she says moves my heart. She’s convinced she must go with Naomi and wants to spend her life with her, this relationship was strong especially between a mother inlaw and a daughter in-law. Yet Ruth stays and how she puts it shows the depth of her heart, I’ll go with with you, your people will be my people, your God will be my God…

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