Originally Posted by
kudzu
“But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you” (Isa. 41:8–9). Notice that here the servant consists of the descendants (plural) of Abraham.
• “ ‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me’ ” (Isa. 43:10). God clearly identifies his servant as his witnesses (plural).
At times, however, this servant is nonresponsive to the purposes of God:
• “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the Lord? You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing” (Isa. 42:18–20).
In fact, even as God’s servant—the Jewish people—is being led out of Babylonian exile, the servant is still deaf and blind: “Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf” (Isa. 43:8). This hardly sounds like the righteous servant of the Lord who elsewhere opens the eyes of the blind. The contrast is quite stark:
• “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.… I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Isa. 42:1, 6–7).
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