1 My servant whom I sustain,my chosen one in whom I delight,him I have endowed with my Spirit;he will dispense justice to the nations.a
2 He will not shout or raise his voiceto make himself heard in public.
3 Even a bruised reed he will not break;a dim wick he will not snuff out.He will perform the work of justicein the cause of truth.
4 Neither shall he himself grow dim or be bruiseduntil he has brought about justice in the earth.The isles await his law.
5 Thus says Jehovah, God,who frames and suspends the heavens,who gives form to the earth and its creatures,the breath of life to the people upon it,spirit to those who walk on it:
6 I Jehovah have rightfully called youand will grasp you by the hand;I have created you and appointed youto be a covenant for the people,a light to the nations,b
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
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7 to open eyes that are blind,to free captives from confinementand from prison those who sit in darkness.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
8 I am Jehovah; that is my name.I will not relinquish my glory to another,nor my praise to wrought idols.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
9 The prophecies of the former eventsindeed came to pass,but new things I yet foretell.Before they spring up I declare them to you.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
10 Sing to Jehovah a new song;sing his praise from the end of the earth.cLet the sea roar,c and all that lives in it,the isles and they who inhabit them.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
11 Let the desert and its cities raise their voice,and the villages where Kedar dwells;let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joyand cry out from the tops of the mountains.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
12 O let them give glory to Jehovah,and in the isles speak out in praise of him.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
13 Jehovah will come forth like a warrior,his passions aroused like a fighter;he will give the war cry,raise the shout of victory over his enemies.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
14 For a long time I have been silent,keeping still and restraining myself.But now I will scream like a woman in laborand breathe hard and fast all at once.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
15 I will lay waste mountains and hillsand make all their vegetation wither;I will turn rivers into dry land and evaporate lakes.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
16 Then will I lead the blind by a way they did not know,and guide them in paths unfamiliar;the darkness confronting them I will turn into light,and the uneven ground make level.These things I will not fail to perform.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
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17 But those who trust in idolsand esteem their images as godsshall retreat in utter confusion.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
18 O you deaf, listen; O you blind, look and see!
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
19 Who is blind but my own servant,or so deaf as the messenger I have sent?Who is blind like those I have commissioned,as uncomprehending as the servant of Jehovah—
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
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20 seeing much but not giving heed,with open ears hearing nothing?
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
21 It is the will of Jehovah that,because of his righteousness,they magnify the law and become illustrious.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness in a time of wickedness and prepares an elect people for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
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22 Instead, they are a people plundered and sacked,all of them trapped in holes,hidden away in dungeons.They have become a prey, yet no one rescues them,a spoil, yet none demands restitution.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness in a time of wickedness and prepares an elect people for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
23 Who among you hearing thiswill take heed of it hereafter,and be mindful and obey?
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness in a time of wickedness and prepares an elect people for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
24 Who is it that hands Jacob over to plunderand Israel to despoilers, if not Jehovah,against whom we have sinned?For they have no desire to walk in his waysor obey his law.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness in a time of wickedness and prepares an elect people for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
25 So in the heat of his angerhe pours out on them the violence of war,till it envelopes them in flames—yet they remain unaware—till it sets them on fire;yet they take it not to heart.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's covenant, who acts as its mediator as did Moses and who administers its ordinances to Jehovah's elect.
blue
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of darkness and who instructs them in Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness from which Jehovah's servant releases Jehovah's people who repent.
red
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who typifies the powers of darkness and confusion and who deceives Jehovah's alienated people and the nations.
red
A creation motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who personifies Jehovah's light to the nations in a time of apostasy and who teaches the true points of Jehovah's law and word.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness in a time of wickedness and prepares an elect people for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who burns up Jehovah's apostate people and the nations in a Sodom-and-Gomorrah type of holocaust in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's anger toward his apostate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
Apocalyptic Commentary
Isaiah 42
Jehovah sustains and endows with his Spirit his servant (Isaiah 11:2; 48:16; 61:1), who here appears under his spiritual (and often suffering) persona (Isaiah 49:7; 50:7-10; 52:14; 53:11). Jehovah commissions him to restore justice to the “nations” or “Gentiles” (goyim), inferring that there is no justice or only a façade of justice among his people and the nations (Isaiah 5:7; 10:1-2; 59:11, 15). Types of Jehovah’s “servant” or vassal include Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3), Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20), Cyrus (Isaiah 44:26-28), Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:15-20; 38:2-6), Moses (Isaiah 63:11-14), and David (Isaiah 55:3-4).
Because no one type covers all the end-time roles Jehovah’s servant fulfills, Isaiah presents him under different personas. Consistent with persons in the seraph category, his mission, like those of Moses and Elijah, is international in scope (Exodus 3:16-22; 1 Kings 19:15-16). At first directed to the Jacob/Israel category of Jehovah’s people dispersed among the nations (Isaiah 11:10-12; 41:8-9; 43:1-8; 49:8-12), the servant’s task is to bring as many as will repent to renew the covenant with Jehovah and to ascend to higher spiritual categories (v 21; Isaiah 44:1-5, 21-22; 45:19-25; 46:12-13).
The servant’s mission is one of compassion for all, including those who typify a “bruised reed” and “dim wick.” Word links identify these terms with Egypt and Babylon (Isaiah 36:6; 43:14-17), signifying the scope of the servant’s mission from one end of the world to the other. The emphasis on “justice” (vv 1-4)—justice based on the “truth,” not on parodies of justice (Isaiah 1:17; 29:21; 48:1; 58:6, 9; 59:12-16)—accords with its twin term “righteousness” (sedeq/saddiq/sedaqa) (Isaiah 1:21, 27; 16:5; 28:17; 32:1; 56:1), which Jehovah’s servant exemplifies (Isaiah 11:5; 41:2, 26; 45:19; 46:11-13; 58:8).
The idea of a person who doesn’t grow dim or bruised alludes to the servant’s attaining seraph status, as did Moses, whose “his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated,” when, at the age of a hundred-and-twenty, he passed on from among his people (Deuteronomy 34:7). Like Moses, the servant is a lawgiver to Jehovah’s people among the nations: “Give ear and come unto me; pay heed, that your souls may live! And I will make with you an everlasting covenant: [my] loving fidelity toward David. See, I have appointed him as a witness to the nations, a prince and lawgiver of the peoples” (Isaiah 55:3-4).
References to Jehovah as the creator of the heavens and the earth frequently accompany Isaiah’s predictions of Jehovah’s servant (Isaiah 45:4-8, 12-13; 46:9-11; 48:13-15). The inference is that it is the God of heaven and earth, no purely human authority, who “appoints” his servant. In view of the opposition the servant receives from his own people and their leaders (Isaiah 49:7; 50:8-9; 52:14), Jehovah anticipates and thus preempts their opposing arguments. Additionally, Jehovah “creates” or “re-creates” his servant, implying that the servant experiences rebirth to a higher spiritual category.
Jehovah’s “rightfully calling” his servant and “grasping [him] by the hand” denote royal accession—an emperor’s investiture of a loyal vassal to royal status, signifying the servant’s ascent to a higher spiritual level. Jehovah’s appointing his servant as a covenant and light to the nations implies that he personifies and mediates those things (Isaiah 49:6, 8-9; 55:3-5). The servant delivers from spiritual blindness, from physical captivity, and from darkness—the king of Assyria/Babylon—those who renew their covenant relationship with Jehovah (vv 18-21; Isaiah 9:2; 43:8; 49:24-25; 50:10; 60:1-4; 61:1).
The name Jehovah, which consists of a unique form of the Hebrew verb “to be” (cf. Exodus 3:14), contains the idea of a God who is self-existent and who therefore doesn’t resemble the false gods or material objects people adore (Isaiah 40:18; 46:9). By creating their “wrought idols,” his people may even attempt to simulate his likeness, but such efforts dishonor him who said, “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself any graven image or any likeness of what is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth” (Exodus 20:3-4; cf. Deuteronomy 4:23).
Unless and until Jehovah’s people cease worshiping material things and instead “love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5), they can’t attain a true perception of God nor praise or glorify him. The very nature of spiritual blindness that comes from yielding to substitutes of God is such that, while people are unable to perceive the truth of God, they may nevertheless believe that what they have learned of God is sufficient, or that it is all that is possible to know about him, in that way sabotaging their own relationship with him.
From a historical perspective, the events Isaiah predicted “indeed came to pass.” As determined by the synchronous literary structures that transform the events of Isaiah’s day into an allegory of the end-time, however, a second fulfillment is imminent. Not only does Jehovah “foretell” and “declare” this in the historical fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy itself—wherein Israel’s history serves as a series of types and foreshadowings of the end-time (Isaiah 44:7; 46:10)—but Jehovah’s servant additionally foretells “new things” before they occur as a proof that Jehovah is with him (Isaiah 44:26; 48:3-16).
As Israel sang a Song of Salvation when Jehovah delivered his people from bondage in Egypt, so do those whom he delivers in the end-time—“Then sang Moses and the people of Israel this song to Jehovah and said, ‘I will sing to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously. Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. Jehovah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation’” (Exodus 15:1-2). Whereas Moses led Jehovah’s people out of Egypt, the servant leads them from the end of the earth, the isles of the sea, the desert and its towns, and the tops of the mountains (Isaiah 49:8-13; 60:3-9).
Although Jehovah may “go like a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7), when the need arises he is no pacifist. Should circumstances demand it when his covenants are honored—as when enemies threaten those who keep his law and word—Jehovah intervenes and comes to their aid. His role of divine emperor requires him to deliver a loyal vassal who faces a mortal threat. Those are the conditions Jehovah’s people face at the time his servant fulfills his mission. Anyone who assumes that Israel’s God won’t intervene on his people’s behalf because he hasn’t done so for a long time will be sadly mistaken.
Jehovah’s identifying himself with “a woman in labor” alludes to the rebirth of his people to higher spiritual categories, as when “Zion gives birth to her children” when world events come to a head (Isaiah 66:8-9). Because Israel’s deliverance from the Philistines wasn’t complete until David had subdued them (2 Samuel 3:18), so the end-time deliverance of Jehovah’s people isn’t complete until their enemies perish. While in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment both the archtyrant and natural disasters reduce much of the earth’s terrain to chaos, Jehovah’s “enemies” are represented metaphorically by that same terrain.
At the time Jehovah delivers his people from blindness and captivity, they again travel through the wilderness as Israel did anciently (Isaiah 35:1-10; 40:3-4; 43:19-20). Those who were blind but who renew their covenant relationship with him, return in the new exodus to Zion (Isaiah 43:5-8; 48:20-21; 52:11-12). In the same way Jehovah’s cloud of glory protected ancient Israel and additionally provided light, so it does again (Isaiah 4:5-6; 25:4-5; 60:1-4). When his people repent and return as a result of the servant’s mission, the light he typifies overpowers the darkness the archtyrant typifies.
Alternating motifs of chaos and creation here again proceed from creation—the “light” that lights up the darkness (v 16; cf. Genesis 1:3-4)—to chaos, namely the idolaters’ “retreat in utter confusion.” While those who repent of idolatry participate in the new exodus of Jehovah’s people (v 16), those who fail to repent—who remain spiritually blind—perish without ever experiencing Jehovah’s marvelous redemption. Oblivious to an entirely different scenario that happens for his elect, they encounter Jehovah solely in the pouring out of his wrath upon the wicked in his Day of Judgment (vv 17-25).
Dual meanings assist in identifying Jehovah’s blind and deaf “servant” or vassal in this incriminating verse as (1) Jehovah’s collective servant Jacob/Israel, to whom Jehovah sends his end-time servant as a light to deliver them from spiritual blindness and to lead them in the new exodus to Zion (vv 6-7, 16; Isaiah 41:8-10; 43:1-8; 44:20-22); and (2) Jehovah’s current individual servant, a “messenger” whom he has “sent”—signifying his apostleship—but whom Jehovah’s end-time servant displaces in the pattern of Eliakim displacing Shebna (Isaiah 22:15-25; cf. 56:10-12; Matthew 24:44-51).
Jehovah’s appointing his end-time servant as a lawgiver in the pattern of Moses (v 4; Isaiah 55:4) implies that the law his people are currently keeping has become corrupted (Isaiah 24:5; 48:1; 58:1-2)—so much so that a restoration is needed or they can never experience its fruits. That restoration occurs through Jehovah’s righteousness—his servant (Isaiah 11:4-5; 41:2; 46:11-13). As they “magnify the law,” they again see and hear (Isaiah 29:18, 24; 30:20-21; 51:4) and become “illustrious” as a people of God: “The nations shall behold your righteousness and all their rulers your glory” (Isaiah 62:2).
Those who don’t meet Jehovah’s conditions for deliverance—by keeping the law of his covenant, replacing their self-righteousness with his standard of righteousness—fall prey to the archtyrant and those who emulate him. Commissioned by Jehovah to “pillage for plunder and spoliate for spoil” (Isaiah 10:6), he humbles Jehovah’s people until a remnant turns back to its God (Isaiah 10:20-22). Because his people didn’t “rescue” those who needed rescuing, nor “demanded restitution” for those who were wronged (Isaiah 1:17, 23; 58:6-10), they experience this same plight as a covenant curse.
The two choices the Jacob/Israel category faces are deliverance through his servant—whom Jehovah appoints as lawgiver and restorer of justice (vv 1-4)—or destruction and servitude to the archtyrant and his cohorts, whom Jehovah appoints to punish the wicked (vv 24-25). Even when calamities come upon them, many don’t perceive that they themselves are the cause, that they brought covenant curses on their own heads. To “take heed” and “obey” doesn’t come easily to sinners who reject Jehovah’s law and repudiate his messenger, thereby setting limits on what Jehovah can do for them.
As a realization of how Jehovah blesses his people is acquired only by their experientially keeping his law, those who abort doing so remain “unaware” of why they suffer calamities. While the heat of his anger identifies the archtyrant’s burning up the wicked in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment (Isaiah 4:6; 10:5), the righteous live through it: “The sinners in Zion are struck with fear; the godless are in the grip of trembling: ‘Who among us can live through the devouring fire? Who among us can abide eternal burning?’ They who conduct themselves righteously and are honest in word” (Isaiah 33:14-15).