WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday April 5, 2020
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A JUST SERVANT
(The LORD’s chosen servant)
(Isaiah 42:1-9)
The prophet Isaiah was
born in Jerusalem into the family of Amoz, a relative of the royal house of
Judah. He spent his early years as an official of King Uzziah (Azariah), who
reigned over Judah for 52 years (2 Chronicles 26:3). In the year that King
Uzziah died of leprosy (2 Kings 15:5), around 740 B.C., Isaiah received his
calling from GOD in a stirring vision while visiting the Temple in Jerusalem
(Isaiah 6).
Isaiah was married to a woman described
only in his book as “the Prophetess” (Isaiah 8:3). He fathered two sons with
her who are given two highly symbolic names. “Shear-jashub”, his first son,
whose name means “a remnant shall return”, prophesies “the return of the Jews
to Judah, after their deportation and captivity in Assyria” (722 B.C.). The
second son, “Maher-shalal-hash-baz”(the longest word in the bible), whose name means,
“swift spoil, speedy prey”, prophesies “the doom of Damascus and Samaria, and
the destruction of Syria and Israel, who had formed an alliance against
Jerusalem.
Isaiah’s connection with the royal family
may explain how he was always able to enter into the presence of the kings of
Israel, seemingly, at will. His active ministry spanned over 60 years, from around
740 B.C. to, at least, 701 B.C., and possibly until as late as 690 B.C. He
lived through a succession of political crises, including the intervention of
Assyria (2 Kings 16:5), the Syro-Ephraimitish War, which began in 734 B.C. (2
Kings 15:37-16:9), the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17:5-6), the siege of
Asdod by King Sargon in 711 B.C. (Isaiah 20:1), and the attempted invasion by
Sennacherib of Assyria in 701 B.C. (2 Kings 19).
In the Book of Isaiah, the phrase “servant
of the LORD” usually refers to “the nation of Israel”. However, the servant
Israel, at this point, had failed miserably to answer her charge and mission that
had been given to her by GOD.
Another famous phrase that refers to Israel
is “GOD’s chosen people, or, nation”. It is a phrase which takes on three
separate meanings, neither of which is what most people think they are. Contrary
to popular belief, it does not mean that the Jews are “people of special
privilege” as much as it means that they are “people of special responsibility”.
The Jews were chosen by GOD to perform basically three duties, and they are:
·
To bring GOD’s Word to the world and
exhibit it through their behavior.
·
To bring GOD’s Law to the world and
incorporate into their community and society.
·
To bring GOD’s SON into the world so
that HE might communicate to humanity how to live obediently as “human beings” under
GOD, and to offer mankind salvation through HIS vicarious sacrifice on the cross
at Gologtha.
The Jews, as a nation, had, at that time,
already failed miserably to perform the first two, of those divinely appointed duties.
Their continued sin and disobedience had severely separated them from GOD, and
their lifestyles and society had begun to, more resemble the pagan nations
around them, than it did the ideology that GOD had commanded them to follow. And
now, they were only 700 years away from the third and final part of their mission
of fulfilling their responsibility to their FATHER GOD in Heaven (birthing
JESUS into the world).
JESUS, our LORD and SAVIOR, would soon be
born into world through the Davidic line of the Jewish nation. HE would be, to
the world, what the entire nation of Israel in general, had failed to be, since
its inception. They had never fulfilled their responsibility to be an example
of GODly behavior here on earth.
Here in Isaiah 42, the MESSIAH is “the
SERVANT of GOD”, of which the prophet Isaiah speaks. Here he is prophesying of
the “coming”, or “first advent”, of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST into the
world to be the “gentle servant of hope”, WHO would bring “full justice” to all
who have been wronged. HE would bring “truth” and “righteousness” throughout
the world, and all men would wait for HIS instructions (v.14).
In this passage we see that JESUS would
come to complete the mission that Israel had proven itself to be incapable of
completing. In verses 5-7 Isaiah tells us that the coming SERVANT would have a
goal to become “a light to the world”. GOD would give this SERVANT to HIS
people to guard and support them, and, to be a “personal” confirmation of HIS
Covenant with them.
JESUS, the GREAT SERVANT, would guide “all
nations” to GOD the FATHER, and HE would open the eyes of the spiritually
blind, freeing them from their incarceration in sin, and thereby, releasing
them from the darkness of a sinful existence. And the LORD warns us in verse 8,
that, HE will not cede HIS glory to any man, nor, any carved idol made from the
hands of men, anywhere in the world.
Isaiah 42:1-4 is the first of four passages
in his book that have famously become known as “Servant’s Songs”. The others
are Isaiah 49:1-6, 50:3-9, and 52:13-53:12. These verses serve to emphasize
again and again, “the qualities of servanthood” that every Christian must
aspire to embody and exemplify throughout all the days of their Christian Walk.
The successful servant is upheld and chosen
by GOD, and they are endowed with the HOLY SPIRIT to strengthen, council, and
guide them. They must be humble and sensitive to the degree that they realize
that, even “those whom society rejects as having no value”, are “worth saving”
to GOD.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official
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