Isaiah 42:6-12

1. Isaiah 42:6-12

2. ISAIAH CH 42 690 BC

3. Isaiah 42 This is part of 8 consecutive chapters in Isaiah where God speaks in the First Person of His unique status as the One and Only God: a God of power and of creation we can never fathom a God of wisdom and good counsel a God of judgment a God Who can rightly ridicule all pretenders and goddies a God Who loves people and vows to protect Israel a God Who sets kings up and brings them down a God Who uses kings, people, nature and history for purposes of His own a God of the NT Gospel of redemption and restoration, through Christ, His Anointed One

4. Isaiah 42:6 We left off Part 3 with this significant phrase: he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: Where God is declaring Himself as the One Who 1) stretched the heavens, 2) shaped the earth, and 3) made the earth produce resources and life – He concludes in two parts, alluding first to the “breath of life” and the “soul” God gave Adam, and second to the “new birth” by the Spirit, contained in the Gospel. It is very conciliatory. More OT Gospel: And then: 6I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; This is God’s calling on Christ Himself, (a Messianic prophecy). It is righteous because it is of God; but it also brings righteousness back to earth. He became sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21)

5. Isaiah 42:6 6I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; God the Father had no intention of failing or of letting anything go wrong (Heb 5:7-10); Everything was at stake, just like D-Day only a zillion times more important. He sent forth His Word, and would not let it return void; it would accomplish the purpose (Isaiah 55:10-11). To that end, He promised to “hold His hand”, ie, to walk through it with Him. In turn, Christ offered us the same benefit package, promising “never to leave nor forsake us” (Heb. 13:5-6). So the calling on Christ is also our calling in Christ. Throughout His life on Earth, God the Father was always there to protect and encourage His Son (Matt. 4:11; John 8:59; Luke 22:41-43; Luke 3:22; John 12:28; Luke 9:35).

6. Isaiah 42:6 6I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; Christ promised the same for us (Matt. 28:18-20; John 16:7-15; I Thes. 5:23-24; Philippians 1:6; Jude v24). 6I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; For God so love the world He gave… for a covenant of the people It is God Who makes the covenants – with Adam, with Noah, with Moses and now with us. Christ was first and foremost given as a bona fide new covenant to Israel, “the people”, “His own” (Jn 1:12) for a light of the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6; Romans 1:16)

7. Isaiah 42:7 7To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Opening the blind eyes is an Isaiah 35:5 Messianic commission, as is the opening of the prison to them that are bound (Isaiah 61:1-2). There is much more to opening blind eyes than when Jesus touched someone and made them see. There is also the spiritual blindness in men, even Paul, where Christ gives His Spirit and the truth emerges plain and clear. But did Christ ever storm the Bastille and free the jailbirds? No, John Baptist died there. Oh, once Paul and Silas saw jailhouse doors flung open, as did Peter and James; but that is not what this verse is about. It is about liberating us from sin. This is also about a strange and mysterious place where many souls were consigned from the Old Testament days. “Outer darkness prison” (Matt. 8:12, 22:13, 25:30; I Peter 3:18-19; Eph. 4:8-10).

8. Isaiah 42:8-9 8I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. The first and second commandments; also, God’s claim to exclusivity, best expressed for our purposes, again, in the very Gospel: “I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” The implication? “Deal with it.” 9Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. We read of God predicting Israel being in Egypt 400 years, of Israel being in Babylon 70 years, of “Cyrus” being the name of a king God would raise up to give Israel a break, of 48 specific prophecies of Messiah, all being fulfilled in Jesus, and of nearly 60 prophecies of the scattering of Israel because of disobedience, and of Israel’s return in the last days. We have read prophecies that, among other things point to an individual like Saddam.

9. Isaiah 42:10 10Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. This, too, is Gospel in the OT. “New song” = New Covenant and a reason to be happy – Good News. “From the end of the earth” presages the Great Commission (“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel…”), and the announcement of the Holy Spirit (“and ye shall be my witnesses…”). “Down to the sea” = 1) “fishers of men” and 2) how the missionary journeys such as those of Paul went by ship; there were also the pilgrims to America, missionaries to Africa and China, by ship. The wilderness, the cities, the villages, the mountains, the islands – the Gospel reaches them all and they rejoice!