But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend
God turns from the nations busy propping up their idols and speaks to one people. He gives Israel three names at once: His servant, His chosen, and the offspring of Abraham — the man He calls His friend. Not one of them rests on Israel's record. Each rests on God's own choice.
God has just spoken about the other nations and their carved gods. Now He turns to a nation that has failed. The titles He gives it do not shrink to match its behaviour.
With the words "But you, Israel" God turns from the Gentiles to address the Jewish nation. They have failed, and God has disciplined them as their Ruler for their idolatry. Yet they are still the people of God's sovereign choice, the offspring of Abraham the friend of God. He "called" them out from the great ones of the earth, and "chose" them to be His servant to witness for Him. God may indeed chasten His people, but He will not cast them off.
The setting sharpens the point. Judah's collapse could make God look weak to a watching world, so He answers by naming who His people really are.
If the fall of Judah — a moral necessity, unless God was to approve His own dishonour among His people and support them in giving His glory to a carved image — made His power questionable in a Gentile's eyes, let them learn from the downfall of Babylon, which the Jews alone knew about generations beforehand, down to the name and race of the man who would be its instrument, that His righteousness and wisdom were no less than His power, and that the chastised Jews were the people of His choice.
"My servant" describes work to do. Israel had one message to carry about God, against the idol-worship all around.
Here in Isaiah 41:8 we have "Israel my servant." Israel was responsible to bear witness to the one living God against idolatry. But Israel failed completely, and so became captive in Babylon, the old champion of image-worship... Even here, though, and earlier (Isaiah 42:1-4), care was taken to point out a "Servant" far greater than Israel, Cyrus, or anyone else. He would come in meekness, but He would not fail or be discouraged until He has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for His law.
The title also came with things entrusted to them — and therefore with obligation.
God made this favoured people His agents. They received and guarded His holy words. They set forth the worship of the One and Only God. They were the seat of God's government on earth among the nations. Because of the service they owed in these and other ways, Israel had to be faithful to this trust.
The third title reaches back to a promise and forward to one person.
This servant nation is "the offspring of Abraham" (v. 8), for it is promised that through his offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. We know that personally our Lord Jesus Christ is the Offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ (Galatians 3:16). So the nation must first be truly brought to Christ, raised from among the dead — offspring of David and offspring of Abraham. Then it will become the honoured national servant, according to God's purpose for them.
Why is Abraham described this way? The answer lies in what God chose to tell him.
People often say that to a servant we speak of things that concern his work. But to a friend we speak of what we may be about to do, even if it has no direct concern with our friend. Here God treats Abraham as a friend, for He says, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" The reason God treats him as a friend is very blessed. The Lord says, "I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice." The one whom the Lord treats as a friend not only believes in the Lord. He also orders his household in the fear of the Lord.
So how did Abraham come by that name? The New Testament gives the answer.
It was faith that secured Abraham this splendid title... "and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'—and he was called a friend of God" (James 2:23). No earthly title can eclipse that heavenly honour, "The Friend of God." Let us all go in for it. It is a great thing to be God's man, and God's friend, in a day of decline such as this.
If these titles are true, then turning to idols makes no sense.
Israel is reminded that as the offspring of Abraham, who is honoured as "My friend," they are a chosen people and called to be the servant of God. How foolish then this turning to idols! And in the following verses we find the most reassuring words of encouragement and support, which, if only received in faith, would have lifted them far above any reliance on idolatrous things.
- Chosen — Israel's standing rests on God's choice, not on their record. He chastens His people, but He will not cast them off.
- Servant — the title is a job. Israel had to witness to the one living God against idolatry, and guard what He entrusted to them.
- Failed — Israel failed at that service and went into captivity. So Isaiah points to a greater Servant, who will not fail or be discouraged.
- Offspring — the promise runs through Abraham's offspring to Christ. Only when the nation comes to Him will it be the true servant.
- Friend — Abraham gained that title by faith, and God shared with him what He was about to do. No earthly honour beats it.
-- thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from the extremities thereof, and to whom I said, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not rejected thee,
In this chapter God answers the nations, and then turns to one people He names as His own. The verse looks back to a man called from far away and a nation chosen, and it ends with a promise: God will not cast them off.
Here God turns from the nations to the one nation He claims. One writer notes what Israel was called out from, and what their failure did not change.
With the words "But you Israel" God turns from the Gentiles to address the Jewish nation. They have failed, and their idolatry has brought them under God's hand in government. Yet they are the people of God's sovereign choice, the seed of Abraham the friend of God. They are "called" out from the great ones of the earth, and "chosen" to be God's servant to witness for Him. God may, indeed, chasten His people but He will not cast them off.
The man taken from far away was Abraham, and he came out of a world of idols. That is why his call meant such a sharp break.
The call of God first means separation. Abram had to go "out of … from … from …". It meant breaking links — not only national links, but social and even family ones. By this time the infection of idolatry had spread from Babel in many directions, and so we read, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River'" (Joshua 24:2-3). God called Abraham out of these idolatrous surroundings, so the separation His call involved was drastic and thorough. The man who would later be called "the friend of God" must not be left in any friendship with the idolatrous world.
Israel is not the only servant in this book. Isaiah uses the same title later for Christ, and the contrast is failure against perfection.
This book plainly shows Israel first of all as the servant of Jehovah (see Isa. 41:8-9; Isa. 44:21-26; Isa. 45:4), but He then introduces Messiah as His Servant, saying in Isa. 42:1, "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold". This, as we have seen from Matthew 12, speaks of Christ, for He is the One in whom God finds His delight. Where Israel had failed as God's servant, Messiah showed His perfections in obedience, and in carrying out all His will.
How can God punish a people and still say He has not rejected them? One writer answers by marking two lines in God's dealings that we must never confuse.
It is most needful to mark, at such a point as this, the difference between God's ways in government with His people, and His ways in grace. Under the righteous government of God, the Jews have been and still are under His chastening hand, because of their sins and their refusal to repent. But the grace and love of His heart towards them never change… "They were broken off because of their unbelief … But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Rom. 11)
The choice holds because nothing later could surprise the One who made it.
God foreknew His people when He chose and called them; and, knowing all their evil beforehand, He certainly will not cast them off. He has not done so, as Paul's own case proved. Paul was no small example. He had shared in the nation's guiltiest prejudices, its most bitter unbelief, and its rejection of Jesus. Yet God had called him.
Some read this section as fulfilled when the exiles came home from Babylon. One writer points out that the return fell far short of what these verses promise.
Isa. 41:8-20 was in no way fulfilled in the return. It is still unaccomplished. The return mattered, but it was only a pledge of Israel's glorious hope… The promised blessing of the people comes after tribulation like nothing known before.
- Chosen — this people stand on God's sovereign choice, not on their record. They failed, and He still names them His own.
- Called — the call reached the ends of the earth and pulled Abraham out of a world of idols. It cut national, social and family links, because a friend of God cannot stay friendly with idols.
- Commissioned — "servant" is the title God gives. Where this servant failed, Isaiah goes on to present the Servant in whom God delights and who did all His will.
- Chastened, not cast off — government and grace run on two lines. The rod fell; the love did not change. God knew all their evil before He ever chose them.
- Coming — the return from exile was only a pledge. The full blessing is still ahead, on the far side of trouble like no other.
-- Fear not, for I [am] with thee; be not dismayed, for I [am] thy God I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
In Isaiah 41 God puts the nations on trial and shows that their idols are empty. Then He turns to one small, failing people — a people under His discipline — and tells them not to fear.
Two verses earlier, God names the "you" of this verse. God turns from the nations to Israel, and reminds them of the ground on which He picked them out.
With the words "But you, Israel" God turns from the Gentiles to address the Jewish nation. They have failed, and God has disciplined them for turning to idols. Even so, they are still the people He chose. They are the children of Abraham, the man God called His friend. God "called" them out from the great ones of the earth and "chose" them to be His servant and witness. God may indeed chasten His people, but He will not cast them off.
That reminder has a sharp edge to it. If God says this much to them, their running after idols makes no sense at all.
In verses 8 and 9 of this chapter God reminds Israel who they are. They are the children of Abraham, the man He calls "My friend." They are a chosen people, called to be God's servant. How foolish, then, to turn to idols! The verses that follow hold the most reassuring words of encouragement and support. If Israel had only taken them by faith, those words would have lifted them far above any trust in idols.
Notice what the verse does not say. It gives no reason for courage drawn from the people themselves — every clause is about God.
Because of their failure, they have come under God's judgment. But because God chose them, they will be blessed in the end. But their blessing depends wholly upon God and His grace. So God can say, "I am with you"; "I am your God"; "I will strengthen you"; "I will uphold you."
The final phrase is the strangest one. God does not say He holds them up out of pity. The reason He gives is His own righteousness.
In Isaiah, God declares that He will act toward His people in this righteousness. He will raise up Cyrus, the king He uses to bring them back to their own land, and so keep His promise. He will also hold up that failing people in their last weakness and distress with the right hand of His righteousness. David and Daniel do the same when they confess their sin: they ask God for help on the ground of His righteousness.
And that hand is not reserved for Israel alone.
In Isaiah we find that wonderful passage where God speaks of "upholding them by the right hand of His righteousness." That great hand of power is there for His people at all times. We have all known it in one way or another.
The promise reaches to Israel's enemies too. The reason it gives is worth pausing over.
Scripture tells us plainly that every nation that opposes Israel will end in shame and disgrace, and perish. Those that war against Israel will come to "nothing." Not that Israel has any strength, but because the LORD, Israel's God, will "hold" and "help" Israel.
This is not an isolated sentence. The same "fear not" keeps returning through the rest of the book, aimed at a people at the very end of their endurance.
At the end of their time of trial, the guilty people are bowed down under God's judgment. They are disciplined and sorry for their sin, but close to despair. Then they hear the words, "Comfort, comfort my people!" And the words "Fear not" come back to them again and again, echo after echo. Fear not, my love will comfort you, I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will be with My servant. Have I not redeemed you? Am I not with you? Fear not, I will refresh you. Fear neither shame, nor insult, nor reproach. You are Mine, and I have received you in grace.
One writer takes that same support into the ordinary Christian's day.
The Word of God gives us the support we need day by day to live the Christian life… What a wonderful promise to take hold of! He who gives life also sustains it. We are "guarded through faith" by God's power. Indeed, all our springs are in Him. Our sufficiency is from God. If we trust in His precious Word we will never be put to shame.
- Chosen, not cast off. God speaks to a nation He had every right to abandon: He chastens His people, but does not throw them away.
- Grace, not merit. Their blessing rests wholly on God and His grace — four promises, all beginning with "I."
- Righteousness, not pity. He holds up a failing people by the right hand of His righteousness. David and Daniel appealed to that same righteousness when they confessed their sin.
- His grip, not theirs. Their enemies come to nothing not because Israel is strong, but because the LORD holds and helps them.
- A refrain, not a one-off. "Fear not" echoes again and again through Isaiah to people near despair. That upholding hand is there for His people at all times.