Isaiah Servant Songs Intro

I have something very different in mind for this post and some others related to it. I completed a course [Footnote:1] on Isaiah 40-55 -- the Second Section of Isaiah (this past summer, and I have been processing and studying. I have memorized the four Servant Songs found in this section of Isaiah. Those songs, I think, provide a key/outline (neither of those is quite the right word) to understand this section of scripture (Isaiah 40-55). [Footnote:2] There are, of course, many other keys to understanding this portion of scripture, but the Servant Songs will be my focus for this series of posts.

This post will be an introduction, and then I will make one post for each Servant Song. I'll put the text of the Song (NRSV), and follow the text with thoughts, meditations, and interpretations about the song. This post and those Songs with scripture text, I'll post right away. Then, over time, I will come and edit the Song posts with thoughts and interpretations. I plan to have in each post fill links to all the other related posts. This should give me some writing/studying to do for a while (At the same time, I’ve just started another course, which will be a series of different posts related to that course as I do the work).

The Servant Songs of Isaiah are --

1. Isaiah 42:1-4 -- Introducing YHWH's Royal Servant - https://listed.to/@Qoheleth/67224/isaiah-42-1-4-servant-song-1
2. Isaiah 49:1-6 -- The Prophetic Royal Servant - https://listed.to/@Qoheleth/67225/isaiah-49-1-6-servant-song-2
3. Isaiah 50:4-11 -- The Suffering Prophetic Royal Servant - https://listed.to/@Qoheleth/67226/isaiah-50-4-11-servant-song-3
4. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 -- The Suffering Prophetic Royal Servant is Redemptive (our redemption) - https://listed.to/@Qoheleth/67227/isaiah-52-13-53-12-servant-song-4

Though the Servant Songs are the focus, the whole of Isaiah 40-55 will be somewhat in view or in the background. Isaiah 40 is an important Introduction and transition to this second section of Isaiah (Deutero-Isaiah). Isaiah 40 begins, "Comfort O comfort my people says your God…."

The whole of chapter 40 is an opening poem. It sounds similar to the call of Isaiah (Isaiah 6) where God sends the prophet, and the call is to go to a people who will not and cannot hear the message; they are hard-hearted and obstinate (Isaiah 6:8-10). And at this difficult, perhaps discouraging call is, the prophet asks, “For how long, LORD?” (Isaiah 6:11). Only now, in Isaiah 40, though the call is difficult and the audience may be hard-hearted, the exile will come to an end! The times are exciting. The God they thought had abandoned them is calling to them to hear his voice once again. YHWH is once again on the move!

BACKGROUND FACTS ABOUT ISAIAH (THE PERSON)

1. Who is Isaiah?

a. Name: Isaiah means "YHWH is salvation." יְשַׁעְיָ֫הוּ Yesh-a-e-yahu

b. Isaiah is the "Son of Amoz" (1:1 and 2 Kin 19:2) בֶּן־אָמֽוֹץ Ben-Amoz

c. His wife is called "the prophetess" (8:3) הַנְּבִיאָ֔ה Han-bi-ah

He had two sons with meaningful names:
(8:3) "swift booty, speedy prey" מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז Maher-shalal-hash-baz
(7:3) "a remnant will return" שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב Sha-ar-ya-shub

1. Where did Isaiah minister?

Isaiah ministered mostly in the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 Kin 19:2), but he had influence and gave prophecies for and about both kingdoms. He interacted with kings in both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

1. When did Isaiah live (and what is the difficult/critical issue regarding chapters 40ff)?

Isaiah ministered during these Kings of Judah:
Uzziah (783-742)
Jotham (748-732 [overlap/Uzziah]
Ahaz (732-716)
Hezekiah (716-687)

In Isaiah 39, Hezekiah is still alive. There is a planned literary structure at work in chapters 39-40. In chapter 39 is Hezekiah is showing Babylonian visitors the riches of the Temple (Assyria is still the major world power at this time; Assyria wanes after Hezekiah’s time and then Babylon rises). Isaiah warns Hezekiah that one day Hezekiah’s offspring will be carried off in exile to the land of these visitors.

Then, abruptly, in chapter 40 the book is speaking to Babylonian exiles. Isaiah chapters 40-55 [FOOTNOTE:3] were written to a whole different time. Kings Manasseh, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Johoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah all came after King Hezekiah. After that came the fall of Judah to Babylon. This is a 101-year gap; a very long period [687-586] of no prophetic word from Isaiah. Then, in chapters 40ff, Isaiah speaks to the exiles.

These chapters were written to the exiles, probably at the beginning of the years of exile, living in Babylon. These exiles were carried to Babylon after the fall of Judah in 586 BCE. [*Footnote:3] That's 100 years after Hezekiah. If, as most interpreters believe, "the year King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD" (Isaiah 6) is Isaiah's call, then that would be 156 years after Isaiah's call to ministry. If Isaiah was, say, 20 years old at the time of his call (just to put an estimate on his young age at the beginning of his ministry), then at the time of Isaiah chapter 40, he would be a man who is 176 years old. Clearly, either Isaiah wrote this and tucked it away somehow for the exiles after his death (or it was preserved in some way for the later time perhaps by his followers), or a second Isaiah (a school of followers?) wrote this later just before or at the beginning of the exile (still under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit). Much has been written to address and/or explain the various possibilities. The bottom line is we do not know. It could have been written and saved for a later time (including the part that gives the name of Cyrus 150 years before exile) or written nearer to the time of its audience (still prior to Cyrus so this theory does not necessarily negate that specific prophecy as predictive). To speculate about a second Isaiah is not simply to deny foreknowledge of prophecy (though this often explained as if that is the only reason for speculating about a second Isaiah). Foreknowledge and God’s inspiration are possible with either theory. However, the best answer here is that we don’t know; yet this scripture (Isaiah chapters 40ff) is part of God's inspired word.

Nevertheless, Isaiah is clearly one unified book in its current form. We now have it in the form God intended. We cannot know how it came to us. One prophet from 700 BCE or another prophet added this section to it at some point thereafter. God is capable of inspiring it (so that it is His Word) through either means (or some other means).

Regardless, one must look at chapters 40 and following in the time frame and to the people to whom it is written: they were Exiles living in Babylon.

Isaiah’s message is clear. The exile is coming to an end. To get an idea of the brokenness of the exiles, read Psalm 137. In this foreign land “we hung up our harps” (v2). But our captors torment us, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion” (v3). Verse 4, “How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?” Take the time to read all of Psalm 137 to feel the sorrow and broken heartedness and rage the exiles must have felt.

But now Isaiah speaks the Lord’s consolation, “Comfort O comfort my people”. YHWH is speaking to the broken hearted. The exile will come to an end. YHWH is on the move!

A WORD ABOUT INTERPRETATION
Who is The Servant? The normal Jewish approach is to see The Servant as Israel (the Jewish people in their collective suffering). Israel is, of course (as are all the promises of God), fulfilled in Jesus. I will have two foci: the nation of Israel and the ultimate fulfillment in our Savior. From a Christian viewpoint, The Jewish interpretation complements as long as one view the Nation fulfilled in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). As time permits, I will examine New Testament quotations of these passages. The New Testament quotations of this section of Isaiah are so numerous that they could be an essay all their own.

Footnotes:
[1] I took the course at George W. Truett Theological Seminary. This course was “The 2025 SUMMER INTENSIVE - Into the Heart of Isaiah: A Study of Isaiah 40-55." This course is also available on Admirato and/or NT Wright Online.
[2] Isaiah 40-55 is what I am dealing with. Sometimes 56-66 is included in Second Isaiah, and some others call this Third Isaiah. Regardless, it is another section and has its own context as it relates to the exiles (56-66 likely relates more closely to the return from exile). I am not prepared for that section 56-66; the class I attended was only focusing on Isaiah 40-55 (not that 56-66 doesn't have just as relevant a message, it's simply a portion I am not able to focus on at this time).
[3] Jerusalem’s destruction happened in a series of events. In 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians in the Battle of Carchemish. Babylon now dominates the entire region. Jehoiakim is king, and he pays tribute to the powerful Babylon. Babylon, however, gets busy elsewhere, and Jehoiakim allies with Egypt against Babylonian forces. Thus, in 597, Babylon retaliates. Jehoiakim dies before the hammer drops, but Jehoiachin (his son; also called Jeconiah) [4] was king when Babylon marched back in retaliation. Wisely, Jerusalem does not close the gates to the city, so there is no siege. The remaining Temple treasures, along with King Jehoiachin and other leading citizens, are taken to exile in Babylon. This is the first wave of Babylonian exiles (this exile included the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel, both of whom wrote their prophecies from the land of exile). At this time, Jerusalem is still standing. When Jehoiachin is deposed, Zedekiah is set up by Babylon as a puppet king. In 587, however, Zedekiah allies with Egypt, once again, thinking Babylon’s armies are busy elsewhere. So Babylon returns in full force. This time is now 586 BCE, and this is the long siege and terrible destruction of the city of Jerusalem.