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ISAIAH CHAPTER 49
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the
normative rules of language, context and logic 
which limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Isaiah.
This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more
importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective
comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
(Isa 49:1 NKJV) '''[Isaiah writes that the LORD's Servant has said] "Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the [womb] of My mother He has made mention of My name.
(Isa 49:2 NKJV) And He [makes] My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And [the LORD] [makes] Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me.
(Isa 49:3 NKJV) And He [the LORD] [says] to Me, 'You are My servant, O Israel, In Whom I [manifest My glory].'
(Isa 49:4 NKJV) Then I said, 'I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely My just reward is with the LORD, And My work with My God.
(Isa 49:5 NKJV) [Whereupon the Servant declared] And now the LORD ... Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob [Israel] back to Him [has said that], Israel will be gathered to Him [the LORD], and I [the Servant] shall be [glorified] in the eyes of the LORD, And My God [shall have been] My strength'
(Isa 49:6 NKJV) Indeed He [the LORD] 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.' "
(Isa 49:7 CBL Interlinear) [Isaiah writes of the LORD]: Thus [has said] Yahweh [the LORD], the Redeemer of Israel, His [Israel's] Holy One; to the despised One [the LORD's chosen Servant]; [the LORD has said] to the abhorred One [the chosen Servant] of the nations [the Gentiles], to the Servant of rulers [of the world], [all speaking of the LORD's chosen Servant - the LORD said to Him]: "Kings, they will see, and princes, they will rise up; and they will bow down because of Yahweh [the LORD] Who is faithful - the Holy One of Israel; And [Isaiah wrote] "He [the LORD] chose You" [to be His Servant - to provide salvation to the world unto everlasting life in the Eternal Kingdom of God, ref. v. 8].
(Isa 49:8 CBL Interlinear) Thus the LORD has said [to His Servant], "In the time of favor [in the sense of in the acceptable time] I will have answered You, and in the day of salvation I will have helped You; I will have preserved You and I will give You as a covenant to the people to raise up [in sense of to restore] the earth, to inherit the desolate inheritances.
(Isa 49:9 NKJV) 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.
(Isa 49:10 NKJV) They shall neither hunger nor thirst, Neither [scorching wind] nor sun shall strike them [down]; For He Who has mercy on them will lead them, Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
(Isa 49:11 NKJV) I will make each of My mountains a road, And My highways shall be elevated.
(Isa 49:12 NKJV) Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim.
(Isa 49:13 NKJV) 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." '''
(Isa 49:1 NKJV) '''[Isaiah writes that the LORD's Servant has said] "Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the [womb] of My mother He has made mention of My name. (Isa 49:2 NKJV) And He [makes] My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And [the LORD] [makes] Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me. (Isa 49:3 NKJV) And He [the LORD] [says] to Me, 'You are My servant, O Israel, In Whom I [manifest My glory].' " ''' =
Chapter 49 begins with a command by the LORD's Servant to the peoples of the world - from the "coastlands" referring to the nations of peoples living on coastlands to those "peoples from afar" expressions which overall convey the concept of all the peoples of the world - evidently including Gentiles as well as Jews - to listen to One Who has been called by "Yahweh," the LORD God to be the LORD's Servant. The message of the LORD's Servant is being conveyed through the prophet Isaiah. It is evident from the phrase in the first verse, "The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the [womb] of My mother He has made mention of My name," that this Servant was to be born a Human being in the future because it is implied that the Servant had not yet made His presence in the world known up to that time; and the promises that are made relative to the Servant are indicated as future ones. The Servant is both identified with and yet distinguished from Israel throughout chapter 49 in the first and third person singular; hence neither the nation Israel nor a remnant of Israelites is in view - as some have contended, (Isa 49:1).
The next verse indicates that the LORD's Servant's mouth was made "like a sharp sword" - a weapon which would bring sharp judgment upon men with the words that He would speak. The phrase, "In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me," indicates that the LORD God would provide protection and concealment for His Servant until it was time for the Servant to bring that judgment upon all mankind. The next phrase, "And [the LORD] [makes] Me a polished shaft" refers to the Servant as a polished arrow shaft conveying the Servant wielding judgment upon mankind. The word rendered "polished" conveys no defects in order to make the path of the arrow true, in the sense that the Servant is to be without sin - His judgment therefore being True and Righteous. The arrow is stipulated as hidden in the LORD's quiver implying that the Servant will be secure and hidden until judgment time, (Isa 49:2).
The Servant then said that the LORD said to Him, "You are My Servant, O Israel, In Whom I [manifest My glory]." The LORD God named the Servant, "Israel," implying a single individual and indicated that in Him would the LORD God manifest His glory. Although neither the nation Israel nor a remnant of Israelites is in view, as some contend. He is portrayed as the perfect expression as an individual of what God intended all Israel to be like. The Servant is characterized as sinless - unlike the nation Israel or the remnant. In the following chapters, the LORD's Servant is taught, He suffers, He is vindicated, and He imparts God's truth to others, who are judged by their attitude toward Him. There is not, in fact, in these chapters a single expression necessitating or even suggesting that the servant is a group rather than an individual. Moreover, in chapter 53, His work is unique, for none other in the OT, either within or outside Isaiah, dies as an atoning sacrifice for human sins, (Isa 49:3).
(Isa 49:4 NKJV) ''' "Then I said, 'I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely My just reward is with the LORD, And My work with My God. (Isa 49:5 NKJV) [Whereupon the Servant declared] And now the LORD ... Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob [Israel] back to Him [has said that], Israel will be gathered to Him [the LORD], and I [the Servant] shall be [glorified] in the eyes of the LORD, And My God [shall have been] My strength' " ''' =
Then the Servant of the LORD declared, "I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and in vain," in the sense that His mission to bring Israel to repent and trust in the LORD would at first be in vain. His strength would be spent, implying the physical end of Himself. So the Servant would be rejected at first and then killed. Yet in all of this He declared, "Yet surely My just reward is with the LORD, And My work with My God," implying His trust in the LORD's plan through Him would finally be fulfilled. Note that the Humanity of the LORD's Servant as opposed to His Diety is in view in this chapter. Other chapters in Isaiah reveal that the Servant would be vindicated (50:8) and He would be rewarded after His death (53:8) and be resurrected unto His just reward, (53:10). For the Servant finished with, "Yet surely My just reward is with the LORD, And My work with My God," (Isa 49:4).
Verse 5 has the Servant of the LORD relaying the message that the LORD gave to Him: [The Servant declared] "And now the LORD ... Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob [Israel] back to Him [has said that], Israel will be gathered to Him [the LORD], and I [the Servant] shall be [glorified] in the eyes of the LORD, And My God [shall have been] My strength." Notice that the Servant is once again defined as one single individual formed by the LORD in the womb - an individual Human being but without sin and with a supernatural mission. The success of the Servant's mission which includes bringing Jacob, i.e., the tribes of Jacob - the people of Israel, back to the LORD is further confirmed. Since the mission of "Israel," the Servant of the LORD, was to gather Israel back to the LORD then the Servant could not be the people of Israel, but an individual named "Israel." Since none of this had occurred up to this time, then all of this was to have been accomplished in the future. The Servant therefore declared: "And I shall be glorified in the eyes of the LORD, and My God shall have been My strength," in the sense that the Servant of the LORD in His Humanity would complete His mission via the strength - the power of the LORD, (Isa 49:5).
(Isa 49:6 NKJV) ''' "Indeed He [the LORD] 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.' " (Isa 49:7 CBL Interlinear) [Isaiah writes of the LORD]: Thus [has said] Yahweh [the LORD], the Redeemer of Israel, His [Israel's] Holy One; to the despised One [the LORD's chosen Servant]; [the LORD has said] to the abhorred One [the chosen Servant] of the nations [the Gentiles], to the Servant of rulers [of the world], [all speaking of the LORD's chosen Servant - the LORD said to Him]: "Kings, they will see, and princes, they will rise up; and they will bow down because of Yahweh [the LORD] Who is faithful - the Holy One of Israel; And [Isaiah wrote] "He [the LORD] chose You" [to be His Servant - to provide salvation to all mankind unto everlasting life in the Eternal Kingdom of God, ref. vv. 8-13].''' =
And then the LORD declared to His Servant relative to the scope of His mission: "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." So the Servant shall not only be the Instrument by which the tribes of Jacob, i.e., of Israel - those whose physical lives at the time of the regathering have been preserved - will be gathered back to the LORD God, but also their salvation and the salvation of the Gentiles as well - to all mankind - for the LORD declared that He will give His Servant "As a light to the Gentiles," in the sense of providing revelation of the truth to all mankind about the LORD God, especially His salvation unto everlasting life in the Eternal Kingdom of God through His Servant, (ref. vv. 8-13).
Note that this
had been the LORD's message all along - that salvation was to be provided
for all mankind through a Descendant of Eve
;
and that Descendant would descend from Abraham ;
and that Descendant would be the LORD's
chosen Servant as testified to in the words of the LORD given to the
Prophet Isaiah, (Isa 49:6).
Isaiah reports what the LORD (Yahweh) had conveyed to him: that the LORD, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel had said to His chosen Servant, His Servant of rulers [of the world] - His Servant Who would become the despised One and the abhorred One of the Gentiles - the LORD said to His Servant: 'Kings, they will see, and princes, they will rise up to acknowledge; and then they all will bow down to the LORD's chosen One because of the LORD - the Holy One of Israel - is faithful - the Holy One of Israel.' And Isaiah wrote about the LORD relative to His Servant, 'He chose You' [to accomplish this mission to fulfill the day of salvation for all mankind which it is implied the Servant of the LORD would successfully fulfill, (cf. v. 9)], (Isa 49:7).
(Isa 49:8 CBL Interlinear) ''' Thus the LORD has said [to His Servant], "In the time of favor [in the sense of in the acceptable time] I will have answered You, and in the day of salvation I will have helped You; I will have preserved You and I will give You as a covenant to the people to raise up [in sense of to restore] the earth, to inherit the desolate inheritances." ''' =
In Isa 49:8, Isaiah reports that the LORD, speaking to His Servant said, "Thus the LORD has said, 'In the time of favor...' - the time decreed by God for effecting His eternal plan of the regathering of Israel to the LORD, the eternal restoration of the earth, and the provision of eternal salvation for all those of mankind who choose to believe in the LORD's Servant for that unto the Eternal Kingdom of God.
'I will have answered You,' - in the sense of the LORD having answered His Servant's concerns which the Servant expressed in verse 4, ('I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain'), referring to the Servant's point of view that He had failed in His Human lifetime to restore Israel and the earth, and to gather His people to Himself as well as the world.
And the LORD's answer to His Servant which would be given "In the time of favor' was as follows:
'And in the day of salvation I will have helped You;
'I will have preserved You' - in the sense of preserving His Human life, (via resurrection unto a glorified body).
'and I will give You as a covenant to the people,' to fulfill God's covenant promises to Israel, (cf. Isa 42:6), to raise up [in the sense of restore] the earth, and to inherit the desolate inheritances' - in the sense of the Servant fulfilling the LORD's covenant with His people Israel to restore all things of the earth forever - especially the inheritances promised to them which had become desolate - the Promised Land, (Isa 49:8).
(Isa 49:9 NKJV) ''' "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. (Isa 49:10 NKJV) They shall neither hunger nor thirst, Neither [scorching wind] nor sun shall strike them [down]; For He Who has mercy on them will lead them, Even by the springs of water He will guide them. (Isa 49:11 NKJV) I will make each of My mountains a road, And My highways shall be elevated. (Isa 49:12 NKJV) Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim. (Isa 49:13 NKJV) 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." ''' =
'That You may say to the prisoners,' - those Israelites in captivity...
'Go forth' - in the sense of commanding them, and all mankind, to go forth from all over the world to the land of Israel, evidently to return to the Promised Land to be gathered there before the LORD's chosen Servant.
'To those who are in darkness,' - darkness in the sense of those who are Gentiles who needed the Light of God's revelation about Himself and His salvation - which is in His chosen Servant, (Isa 49:6) ...
'Show yourselves. They shall feed along the roads, And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights' in the sense of the LORD providing food even along the roads, and pastures on high ground, formerly desolate heights which would be restored - all implying unprecedented and eternal prosperity, (Isa 49:8-9).
The LORD continued to expound upon the time of "the salvation to the ends of the earth," (ref. v. 6): "They shall neither hunger nor thirst - [no more hunger or thirst anywhere on the Earth, implying major and eternal changes in the Earth's topography, climate, etc.]. Neither [scorching wind] nor sun shall strike them [down] - implying a worldwide beneficent climate]. For He Who has mercy on them will lead them, Even by the springs of water He will guide them. I will make each of My mountains a road, And My highways shall be elevated - [implying major restoration and beneficent changes to the Earth's topography that are everlasting in nature]. Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim - [implying coming to Israel to receive the blessings and the salvation of the LORD, (ref. Isa 49:5), corroborating that salvation is for all peoples]
Note that the country named Sinim is implied as very remote from Israel, yet known in Israel, suggesting Persia or some other country from afar.
In verse 13, the LORD declares for the heavens to sing, the earth to be joyful, the mountains to sing because He will have comforted His people, and will have had mercy on His afflicted - referring to Israel, (Isa 49:10-13). Note that the Everlasting Kingdom of God is in view!