Islands, listen to me,
pay attention, remotest peoples.
The Lord called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,
I have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and all the while my cause was with the Lord,
my reward was with my God.
I was honored in the eyes of the Lord,
my God was my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him:
‘It is not enough for you to be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth’
(Isaiah 49:1-6)
This second of the Servant Songs further defines the Servant’s mission. The Servant is to do more than just raise up the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel. God says that He will make the Servant a light to all nations, so that God’s salvation will extend to the ends of the earth.
Imagine for a minute being in a mine of some sort. There is light provided throughout the mine by electric wires coming into where you are, which is a complex series of tunnels. Suddenly, the whole place goes dark, the lights have gone out. A seasoned veteran of the mine says to follow him as he knows where there are flashlights, but you can’t see. You have a choice to make: Go with the veteran and face the perils of navigating in the dark; or stay right where you are. Does it make sense to not follow the expert in that time of darkness? Would you trust yourself to stay and face whatever danger may be lurking?
I feel that many people would not want to put their lives in danger in order to be saved. They would choose to stay put if there is no immediate threat, thinking someone will come to rescue them or the power will be restored. Even though someone with them said, “Follow me to get to the light.” They don’t follow and as a result they remain lost in the darkness.
This scenario is a lot like what the situation was in Ancient Israel at the time of our text. From a religious standpoint, there was a lot of darkness and temptation around. Many of the Israelites who were led by King Ahaz did not follow God. The Kingdom of Israel was divided, North from South, and the North actually attacked the southern kingdom and took plunder (2 Chronicles 28:5). It was a dark time. But God sent a prophet to the north named Oded to speak up and show the northern kingdom the error of their ways. However, it was too late for the South, their weakness had been shown. Soon other enemies started attacking and King Ahaz had to make a decision of what to do. Unfortunately, he chose to raid God’s temple for its wealth and used it to pay Assyria for protection. (2 Kings 16: 8) The Assyrians did come to their aid and quickly defeated and deported the Northern kingdom of Israel.
Then King Ahaz died, and his son Hezekiah took the throne. He wasn’t wicked like his Father, as 2 Chronicles 29:2 says, “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.” Hezekiah decided to open the temple back up and destroy all the pagan altars throughout the land. He worked with Isaiah to bring Israel back to the one true God. But they had one very large problem to the north. The king of Assyria, Sennacherib, wanted his money and soon the Assyrians descended upon them seeking complete control of the land (Isaiah 36:1). The Israelites retreated to the protection of Jerusalem, where God protected his people.
Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed to the Lord for help. The Lord answered their prayer in 2 Chronicles 32:21, “And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace.” The Israelites had won, thanks to the Lord, and there was a brief moment of light in an age where there had only been darkness.
This is the context of our section from Isaiah, the Israelites were free. But the darkness was descending upon them once again. Isaiah warned the people to follow him, to serve the Lord and follow the light. But the people didn’t recognize the darkness. They didn’t see that the error of their ways would lead to their destruction. Isaiah prophesied that the Babylonians would come and destroy Jerusalem and they would all be carried off to distant lands.
Despite all the bad things that were about to happen, Isaiah still showed them the light to look to and proclaimed comfort to the people. There is one coming whom the Lord has called to be his Servant even before he was born. He will deliver God’s people back to the Lord. He is the promised Messiah. He is the Light of the World. His divine call is seen in verse 1: “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.” The Messiah announces to all people, every land and every nation that even before he was born, God has called him to complete the mission of saving God’s people.
At times, we are like the people in the dark mine not seeing the danger. We are like the Israelites who couldn’t keep God’s Law and turned to other things in this world for joy and strength. Yet God’s love is still upon us. He will bring us out our spiritual darkness and into the light of his resurrection.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!