In Isa. 49 we have a beautiful unfolding of the purposes of Jehovah, notwithstanding the refusal of the people of Israel to welcome their Messiah when He was presented to them.
The chapter opens with our Lord Himself—for it is He who speaks, as we shall see—calling to the isles and the people afar off to give ear to what tie was about to proclaim. It was something that concerned the wide world. “Listen, Ο isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.” (Ver. 1.)
Our Lord’s name was prophesied of both in the Old Testament and the New, before He was born. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:1.4.) The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:20, 21.). Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.” (Luke 1:31, 32.)
This is the one who calls upon the inhabitants of the isles and those at a far distance to listen. And His miraculous birth was the sign given to Israel that they might know the One whom Jehovah was sending to them. No one but the blessed Lord was ever born of a virgin; it was above nature. It was by the Holy Ghost; He was Jehovah’s sent One.
The prophecy then proceeds to point out some of the characteristics of this sent One. “He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft: in his quiver hath he hid me.” The sharp sword and the polished shaft speak of judgment. We find precisely the same in the New Testament, both in connection with Israel and with the church. When our Lord was born, the angel that appeared to the shepherds said, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people..... And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:10; 13; 14)
Here were good tidings for Israel and not a word about judgment. It is to bring glory to God, peace to the earth, and goodwill to man.
Well, we know that all this will be accomplished in a future day in the millennium; but in the meantime, soon, there was a great change. To the very same people our Lord declared, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34; see also John 9:39.) We know why there was this great change: one little sentence explains it all, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” This is what we get farther on in our chapter.
In reference also to the professing church, we find the Lord prepared for judgment, for “judgment must begin at the house of God.” Examine well the appearance of our Lord in Rev. 1 John says, “In the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” Is it to be wondered at that John, who in former days had leaned his head on the bosom of our Lord, should fall at His feet as dead! That meek and lowly One is transformed to One ready for judgment; and, alas, “judgment must begin at the house of God,” for evil and apostasy cannot be tolerated there by Him that is holy and Kim that is true.
To return to Isaiah, Jehovah says, “Thou art my servant, Ο Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” It may seem strange that our Lord should be called “Israel;” but the passage as a whole makes it quite plain that it can refer to no one else. Israel is interpreted as “Prince of God” or “one prevailing with God.” When Jacob’s name was changed to that of Israel, we read that the one who wrestled with him said, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Gen. 32:28.) Our Lord answers to both significations. He is a Prince with God, and He is the One that prevails.
Our Lord being here called “Israel” throws light upon another passage. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” (Hos. 11:1.) The literal Israel was as a nation in its infancy in Egypt, and it is Jehovah who calls it His son, and brings it out of Egypt. But this passage is also referred to our Lord, when Joseph tied into Egypt, “and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.” (Matt. 2:15.)
The prophecy in Hosea was given after the people had been declared by God to be Lo-Ammi, “not my people.” Were then all the prophecies respecting Israel to fail? No, our Lord identifies Himself with them, enacts their history (not their failure) as it were, over again; He goes into Egypt, and is called from thence by God, as was Israel in by-gone days. In our Lord’s death also we get the antitype to the passage of the Red Sea and the Jordan; and it will only be when Israel owns and bows to the Lord Jesus that they will be brought into future blessing.
In respect to Jehovah being glorified in the Lord Jesus, compare John 13:31, 32; 14:13; 17:1, 4. He was obedient unto death. Our Lord answers, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with Jehovah, and my work with my God.” We see at once, by this verse, the mistake of applying such a prophecy as this to the church. Our Lord does not say, respecting His work and labor for the church, that it was vain; but when presented to the Jews as Messiah, was it not in vain? Was not His strength spent for naught? This is testified of in both the Old and New Testaments. In the prophecy of the seventy weeks, we read, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing” (Dan. 9:20, margin.) “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Their conduct is compared to husbandmen who say, in reference to our Lord, “This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” (Matt. 21:38, 39.)
Listen again to the lamentation of our Lord: “ Ο Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” (Matt. 23:37.) It was here that our Lord labored in vain, and spent His strength for naught. He was cut off and had nothing. Yet in the midst of this treatment, our Lord says, “My judgment is with Jehovah, and my work [or reward] with my God.” He refers all to God.
That the “labor in vain” refers to Israel is quite plain by the next verse, wherein our Lord says, “Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God shall be my strength.”
To this Jehovah answers, “It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.’’ This opens up a much wider field for the gospel and the reception of God’s sent One. In comparison to that which was before God, to send His gospel to the end of the earth, to every creature indeed, it was a small thing to be the means of gathering the remnant of Israel; yet this will not be forgotten. The restoration and blessing of Israel rests upon the infallible word of God, as is plainly stated in many passages.
The “labor in vain” of our Lord was only temporary, though His rejection brought about the destruction of Jerusalem and the final scattering of the people; yet Jehovah calls Himself their Redeemer, notwithstanding their rebellion. “Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of Jehovah that is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.”
Yes, the despised and abhorred One will return surrounded with glory, and be owned King of kings and Lord of lords. Jehovah has glorified Him, and will yet glorify Him on this very earth where, alas, because of the perversity and sin of man, He labored in vain, and spent His strength for naught: where He had to say, “Reproach hath broken my heart.”
How good to look forward to that time, not simply because we shall be delivered from all our groaning and pain, and be with Him and like Him forever; but the prayer of our blessed Lord will then be fulfilled, when He said, “Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which, thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24.) Hasten it, Ο God, in thine own time.