Isaiah 42: Observational Outline Pt 2

0:01 All right, our number two Isaiah forty two. Our mission is to finish the observational outline that we began in our number one. Even though everyone says, Isaiah forty two is about Jesus, we are already calling that into question. However, we're not trying to get too much into interpretation because we are working on our observational outline. Observational outline is an outline that avoids all interpretation as much as possible. So let's remind ourselves of how to break this chapter down Isaiah forty two. First, we break the first section goes from verses one through four. We call this the presentation of the servant, or we will almost want to call it the introduction of the servant, but then that causes problems with how we break down all of it, so we'll call it the presentation of the Servant Verses one through four. This has broken down in the three parts verse God's introduction of a servant verse one, second, the servant's gentle character Verses two through three, and then the servant's perseverance verse four. I'm not going to read all the things we said about those, but there you go.

1:09 There's the basic idea. All right, So the presentation of the servant Verses one through four, that's broken into three parts, God's introduction of a servant, the servant's character, our gentle character, or merciful character, however you'd like to describe it, Verses two through three, and the servant's perseverance, and verse four. All right. Then the second section goes five through nine, and we called this the Lord's commissioning of the servant. His commissioning of the servant. We broke this down into three parts. Verse five, the creator, God speaks, Verse six through seven, the servant's divine call or the calling of the servant, and then verse eight through nine the lords.

1:49 Now we called this a lot of different things. He's showing that this Well, we'll just say, well, there's a lot of different ways we could discs, but we went with God's glory and basic his prophetic power. Right, So that's kind of the way we went with this, and we've talked about that. To my mind, I go to forty two that in some ways, verse eight I think is maybe the most is the most important verse that we've looked at so far. And why did I think verse eight was so key? Because verse eight seems out of place. He's been talking about this servant and starting in verse one, really all the way through verse seven, and then all of a sudden, in eight, God says, I am the Lord, basically the self existent, eternal one.

2:37 That is my name and my glory I will not give to another. The other seems to be referring to the servant. So God is clearly distinguishing himself. I'm not going to give my name and my glory to this servant, nor am I going to praise my praise be given to graven images. Well, if that is the case, then that servant in forty two be Jesus, because that would make no sense, all right. So I know that's gonna cause world War three on the internet. And I already know people, you're already typing up verse in Matthew, I know that. Calm down. We'll cover that at some point, okay, because but we still have to deal with this in its context, all right. So then we looked at verse nine, which goes with this whole idea of God's glory and then what he's gonna tell of the future and what's going to happen, all right. Then that brought us to The third section went from verse ten to twelve. This is the call to a song, I think, is how Sarah described it, verses ten through twelve. A call to a song, and we have a new song for the whole earth. And then I guess specific regions being called to praise. Then that brings us. That's where we stopped the last hour. We begin this hour with the next section, which goes from verse thirteen through seventeen. Between the first hour and the second hour, Sarah brought up a good point.

4:00 In some ways, could we kind of say verses thirteen all the way down to twenty five is the actual song they're called the sing a new song. It's thirteen to twenty five the words of that song. Well, in some ways it makes a little I like the what Sarah was saying, because look at the way if you look at some of the stuff before, Like if you look at verse eight, I am the Lord, that is my name, God is specifically speaking. Right, all of a sudden, you get to thirteen, Look what happens. The Lord shall go forth. It's not God speaking anymore. If someone saying something about God, right, okay, then I again, so but okay, right, okay, I see what you're saying, right, But just the fact that thirteen starts so differently caught my attention, Right, So I like kind of what Sarah is saying. We're gonna break it down differently than that, but I'd like the at least give you the idea there you can again observational outlines. We're not always going to agree on where to break these sections down. Me and even Ai had back and forth arguments over where some of these sections should begin and end. The key is what well we're trying to figure out where to break it down? What are we doing We're spending at the time looking at the text, looking at the text. The more you observe what's there, than when pastors bring their garbage and impose it upon the text, you'll be the first to go, that's not there. I spent just I spent two hours

5:30 in church on Sunday looking at everything in this chapter. That's the goal, all right, So as everyone understand that, so we don't have to get into a major argument where we break it down. We just got to figure out what's there, right, So Ai says this, Ai was adamant. Verse thirteen and seventeen is its own segment and let it did not like any other approach, right, so well, I could look it gave me like five different we went back and forth, so I'm not going to go look at all my other ones to see if it ever took a different approach. But at the end it wanted thirteen through seventeen. It says thirteen through seventeen the Lord declares his intervention and salvation. That's what AI breaks this section into. Thirteen through seventeen. The Lord declares his intervention and salvation, and we will go with that for now.

6:24 We can possibly refute that in a minute. Okay, thirteen through seventeen. Everybody ready to break this down? AYI is going to break it down into how many parts? AI went lost its mind? Here? Five parts, five, A, B, C. D Ekay, yeah, I guess almost each verse is its own part, all right? So verse thirteen all right? So the section is called the Lord declares his Intervention in Salvation thirteen through seventeen. The first subpoint a Lord awakens as a warrior. Verse thirteen. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war. He shall cry yea roar, he shall prevail against his enemies. So the Lord goes out like a mighty man, stirs up his zeal military and emotional imagery, shouting prevailing. Everyone agree that that's all right there in verse thirteen, He's gonna go out as a mighty man. That's what he exactly says. What does the inn IV says verse thirteen? Okay, I didn't know if it used a different word for man, right, but the Lord goes out as a mighty man. Do you see the military image. Do you see a kind of an emotional type image being described to your imagery? Yeah, shouting?

7:56 Do you see shouting? How about prevailing? Okay, so all of that is there. So AI says this is the Lord awakens as a warrior. God is going to awaken as a warrior, and it says the Lord shall go forth. I don't know if I like the word awaken, but I think the reason ais going with awaken depending on how we understand this, right, because you could argue, well, it's been seventy years and where's God been nowhere, so that's where the awaken comes from. I just think it may be a little bit imposing on the text. But okay, oh, there is something Okay, yeah, okay, maybe so right, something is starting, something is beginning. I think it's supposed to establish, and especially if we go back to the song, it's a new song about a new thing. So this is something new happening, right, God is getting ready to do something that appears to not have been happening for seventy years.

8:58 I think maybe there's a little bit of that idea. Right, So how about the next verse, verse fourteen? What should we call this? What do you think? Ai calls this section? I have long holding my peace. I have been still and refrained myself. Now will I cry like a travailing woman. I will destroy and devour at once? Okay, well, Ai calls this God breaks his silence and acts. Now. I like that God breaks his silence and act. But you can see why the previous section is kind of described as awakening, because there's like something is happening here that has not been happening. Yeah, this is all that new, that all that new thing. Right exactly, God breaks his silence and acts. For a long time, I've held my peace.

9:52 Now we'll cry out like a woman in labor. God's restraint burst into decisive action. He's held back. He has restrained himself. But now everything is going to happen. The new thing is going to happen. The new thing is being identified here, right. Okay, this is verse that's verse fourteen. How about the third section is fifteen? What happens in fifteen? Okay, I know this, Yeah, the Lord's This is the Lord's power to transform. I will make waste mountains and hills, dry up all the herbs, and I will make the river islands, and I will dry up the pools. Once again, it's transformation. God's transforming, changing, removing, doing something. This has been talked about numerous times. All right, yeah, I think the third time he changes, he transforms, he does something.

10:58 Nothing is going to stand in his way. Right, This is the Lord's power to transform. Then the next section is verse sixteen. What happens the verse sixteen? I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them. Who's the them? The them, the them, the them those in Babylonian captivity again Babylonian captivity. This is guidance and restoration for the blind, which is very important because the servant is supposed to do what and verse seven all right, so yeah, but who's ultimately going to be doing God is going to be the one Once again, what is it demonstrating there's a servant, but who is the one empowering, who's the one acting? It's going to be God, God, all right, because he wants them to see him. He wants him to say, he wants Israel. He may be using Cyrus, but he wants them to see him, not Cyrus.

12:06 He wants them to see him and not idols. Yeah, and now what happens the verse seventeen. They should be turned back, They should be greatly ashamed that trust and graven images and say to the multen images, ye are our gods. Once again, this is idolators will be shamed and rejected. That's the last section. Idolators will be shamed and rejected. So after once again, he's really emphasizing, guys, do not be don't give your worship, don't give your praise, don't give your don't give my glory, don't give my name to anybody else to any any idol to anything else.

12:50 Make it about me. So this section goes from thirteen to seventeen. It's broken into five parts. The section itself is God declared Verus intervention in salvation. Verse thirteen is the first section. The Lord awakens as a warrior. Second verse fourteen, God breaks his silence and acts fifteen God's power to transform, sixteen guidance the restoration for the blind. Seventeen I dollar Trus will be shamed and rejected right now, all of a sudden, Verses eighteen to twenty five is the last section, eighteen to twenty five. What happens in eighteen to twenty five? Now look at it. What should we call this section? Well, everything comes down to identifying how to what to call eighteen to twenty five, and how you identify this servant that's mentioned in eighteen to twenty five. What is Ai convinced this servant is in eighteen to twenty five we talked about in the first hour Israel. So what do you think the section is going to be called? Rebuke of Israel? Yeah, rebuke of Israel. Right, so Ai is convinced on this, So it's gonna break this section down, guess what and how many parts? No,

14:21 it goes with five again, A, A, B, C, D E. Right. It really wants to break these sections down verse by verse by verse. It really wants us to see everything happening in these sections. All right, So here we go, all right. Now, I don't like the fact this is where me and A and I, me and AI had our arguments. Is because it wants to identify this servant. So everybody look at eighteen to twenty five and tell me if there's an addenta. If Israel is mentioned by name in eighteen to twenty five, okay, Jacob is mentioned.

15:03 Now does Jacob and Israel there reference back to the servant mentioned in nineteen Okay, not necessarily right, Oh, Sarah's really going in. I like it? Okay, okay't I like this?

15:59 I like this. You see what's happening right here. What is Sarah doing right here? She's doing hermeneutics. She's not just repeating hermanutics. She's doing I like that. Okay. Now, I don't know if we will all agree or that's irrelevant. What are we doing. We're trying to work through the text, right, We're trying to be honest with the text. So I like this. I don't. Obviously Ai disagrees, right, There's a part of me that would like to say, well, there are two separate servants here, because almost everyone says that, so it's easy meat for me to fall into it. I like Sarah's idea. Well, why is it, it's just not the same servant just described in two different ways. He was pagan, he remained pagan, right, but death. Absolutely, that's a good argument. That's a really good argument. That's a good argument. So so not only is Sarah pope, now she's going to be the lead, the lead commentary in the church. Okay, so let's just say church is run by a woman. Okay, let's just say that. Okay, that'll make us really popular on the internet. Okay, I'm just the puppet. She just tells me what to say, and I just say what she wants me to say. Right, But that's actually there's actually some good work going on there.

17:14 So let's work on this and see what happens. We're gonna go, We're gonna follow AI's path and then we can we'll bring in Sarah's idea as well. Right, So here we go. So I'm gonna just say this is how I don't like Ai. Even I disagree with Ai in this. It wants to call this section the rebuke of Israel. I don't like doing that because it identifies I'm just gonna say the rebuke of the blind and deaf servant. Does everybody agree with that? I like that, the rebuke of the blind and deaf servant. All right, it's gonna break it down into five sections. What happens in verse eighteen? Here ye death, and look ye blind that ye may see. Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind that ye may see. Do we believe that this is a reference to maybe Israel as a whole, Judah as a whole because it seems to be plural? Does it seem to be How does the NIV translate verse eighteen?

18:33 It seems to be referring to more than one? Do we agree or not? Do? What? What do you think? My desire is to see it that way? But I could be wrong? Here? Is there anything grammatically there that would indicate so it could be interpreted, It could be read, and we could be right reading it singular or plural. Oh that's a good point, right? Does does anybody access the Blue Letter Bible?

19:14 I don't know if it will give you any indication of if it's used as plural singular. I don't have access to it, so I don't know that's something. Maybe we'd have to really be getting technical there, and I don't have I don't have the ability to even ask ai right now? Should that be interpreted as a singular and plural? Because that that's very important? So uh, maybe this week I'll do I'll ask and see me? Right? So what is me? And it is interesting though it is kind of ironic the way it stated, here ye deaf, the deaf can hear right, look you blind? So it's kind of funny the way it's it's almost being said in a sarcastic way. Hey, let's in you deaf, say you blind? Right? But whoever is referencing, clearly what's the emphasis on the deaf and the blind? Right? But it is a dramatic change, right, because we just went from this praise, I'm gonna do a new thing. The Lord's gonna go out do all of this this powerful stuff, and then all of a sudden, here ye deaf and look ye blind. That you may see clearly the tone has changed. Can we all agree that the tone changes drastically in eighteen. Right, that's probably why AI is adamant that eighteen to twenty five should be its own segment, because the tone changes dramatically here, right, all right, So hear ye deaf, look ye blind that ye may see?

20:46 Then it's the question is so verse eighteen is just the command to hear and see? Can we state it that way? Verse eighteen is just a command to hear and see? All right? Everybody like that. Now AI tries to offer interpretation here, but I'm not going to read it. So this is just a command to hear and see. I think everybody can see that, all right. Now, what happens in verse nineteen? Well, verse nineteen again AI wants to wants to interpret. AI is committed to interpreting this segment no matter what I do. All right, let's just read verse nineteen. See how we want to classify it.

21:31 Who is blind but my servant or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect and blind as the lord's servant? Whoa nineteen man? Okay, Now, remember we talked about earlier what was the most important verse? This one is very very important. Okay, this is a lot going on in nineteen. Okay. Ai drives me crazy because Ai goes all in on Israel here. Okay, So I'm going to say the blind and death. Sarah, do you think this is fair that eighteen is the command to hear and see? Nineteen identifies the blind and the death.

22:26 The blind and death is identified in nineteen. Okay, I think that that's fair, right? Because who is blind? Right? The servant is blind? Now? Okay, So now let's there's a couple of identifiers of the servant in nineteen. Right, Let's look at all the identifiers of the servant in nineteen. They're blind and they're deaf. Is that identifier? In nineteen? They're blind and deaf? What else? Messing injure I said? Was Israel ever to be a messenger? That's interesting? Right?

23:06 Sarah may be onto something here, right, Sarah may be on to something I don't ever see. Israel. Are you sending a message when you go in and kill everyone in the land. That doesn't sound like you're preaching a message, does it? Right? I'm coming to kill and you're not. They didn't even send notice that we're coming to kill, So I I don't know if they're okay. Next, whoa That one is what threw me off? How is the uh servant identified? And verses one through four sounds not I'm not not perfect but pretty close? Does it not?

23:48 Sounds because perfect can just mean complete? And whom does that not? How he describes the servant and verses went through four. Yeah, we're just going through all everything in nineteen committed to me. Okay, okay, Well, if you continue reading all the descriptions there in nineteen, King James said, perfect just means complete, be sound. Yeah, just means to be complete, to be sound, not lacking anything. And if you look at the servant in verses one through four, it doesn't appear to be lacking anything. Does he No?

24:32 Sounds very similar Okay, And it goes on to say my delight, he delights in. Uh. Okay, I thought nineteen said as well. Okay, all right, nineteen says perfect? What else does that any other descriptions the Lord's servant? Clearly we know that Cyrus is God's anointed, God's shepherd. I don't know here. So here's our options. Okay, here's our options. Okay. Clearly we can all agree that what is the one thing we can eliminate from verse nineteen. What is the one thing we can eliminate that verse nineteen is not referring to Can we say Jesus? Okay?

25:22 Can we say Jesus? Right? Nineteen is not referring to Jesus? Can we agree to that? All? Right? So, so now we have two options. What are our two options? Israel or Cyrus? Now it would seem weird. Let me throw this out. Okay, I'm gonna throw this out. I know we're doing more interpretation here than we need to, but it's hard not to do this here because this verse is so crazy. If it's Israel, does it not seem weird? Because this is the book of comfort, This is the book of consolation, and this is all about telling them, Hey, my servant, I'm gonna do a new thing, sing a song of praise. I'm gonna take care of this, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna be a warrior, I'm going to awake, I'm gonna destroy everything. And then all of a sudden it says, hey, guys, you're all blind deaf.

26:21 But I do like Sarah's idea, at least in theory. As of right now, I can change my mind at anymore moment, Hey, this perfect servant. That's so because the whole thing leading up to this was God trying to stay guys, don't focus on anybody else, focus on me, to focus on me, right, And then all of a sudden it makes sense to say, hey, guys, that servant is blind and dumb, just like everyone else. Even though that blind and servant, even though that servant may be blind and dumb, look at it, he who is blind as he that is perfect and blind as the Lord's servant.

27:07 So it's almost like saying, hey, this servant for now is that perfect referring? Is that a description? Wait? I'm reading that? How am I reading that? Hang on, let me think of that through Wait, who is blind but my servant or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Okay, who is blind but my servant? That is saying the servant is blind agreed, okay, or deaf as my messenger that I sent. That is saying that the messenger that he sent is deaf? Agreed? Who is blind as he that is perfect? Is as saying that the one that is perfect is blind? Right? Okay? I just I didn't want to I wanted to make sure we weren't reading this like the blind and deaf is different from the messenger and different from the perfect one? Right, yeah, okay, read it, read n IV and verse nineteen. Just read the whole thing. Okay, there we go. Okay, so they identifies Okay, the NIV identifies it. You see how I was what I was starting to think. I was starting to think, well, wait a minute, is that saying who is blind could unlike my messenger who is who I sent? Right?

28:40 But no, it's just saying the same thing. So the one who's perfect and the one I sent is also blind, and that right there is already hard to process. Right, how can someone be perfect but be blind and death? That doesn't sound like you're perfect? Right? Well? Remember perfect just means complete, right, So but again, even that is weird. How can you be perfect and sound if you're also blind and deaf? It's very confusing. But I think Sarah's right. There's two aspects. I think there's two aspects to Cyrus. Right. On one hand, he's all he's described in all these magnificent ways, right, God's messenger, God's anointed, god shepherd, God's servant.

29:26 All right, all those all the things that says in verse one, what elect chose chosen? I delight in all these one He's almost described. I mean, I'm not I know, I don't want to reach, but almost perfect in the sense of he's gonna accomplish everything God tells him to accomplish. He's gonna do everything. I think he even says that in verses what one through four He's going to accomplish everything, right, nothing's gonna stop him. But yet at the same time, forty of forty two, when you get down to nineteen, I think is saying, but this servant is also what bl and death, which makes sense because he remained what a pagan? He remained a pagan doing the will of God.

30:12 He was blind and deaf doing the will of God. And why was he doing the will of God? Because God was working through him. So don't look to the blind and deaf servant? Who should you look to God? Which is what the all the section before it was about, correct, I liked, is there anything I'm missing there from a grammatical standpoint that we could be wrong? All right? Are you sure? Okay? Now? What I will do? Just so that we know I'm gonna I know, we're kind of doing more interpretation here this week. I'm gonna I will present this interpretation to AI. See if AI will what it will do. We're probably gonna fight all week, but I will try to. I will try to tell you how it's going going. If we had internet, I would do it right now. But yeah, yeah, this is a very important concept here, right, So, just so that everyone's on the same page, I'm gonna go with Sarah's hypotheses.

31:05 We're gonna call it Sarah's hypothesis is that the servant in nineteen is the same servant in verses one through four, and as perfect and as committed as that servant is, that servant at the very same time is blind and deaf at the exact same time. It seems contradictory, but it fits history perfectly, because the one who's called God's anointed his shepherd, all these I mean, when you see some of the descriptions given to Cyrus, you almost think it's referring to Jesus, right, You're like, man, Cyrus is he's my chosen I delight in him. It sounds like Jesus, But it's not. It's Cyrus. Because history tells us that. Well, then he's also deaf and blind, I think, yeah, which reinforces the whole section in betwe So in between the two servants is what God's like. Guys, focus on me.

32:06 I'm doing this. I'm doing this why because this servant is nothing more than deaf and blind. That's pretty powerful and it puts it all together. No church on earth would agree with us on this. Okay, where we've left. The road, went through the fence, hit, a couple of cows, went over, the cliff crashed to the bottom, the mountain fell on top. This would be considered a hermoneutical train wreck anywhere else. But I believe we're being pretty consistent with the text. So I'm glad. I'm really I'm excited to work on this. All right. So we have the blind and deaf servant and verse nineteen. I'm not gonna say anything else about verse nineteen other than we have the blind and deaf servant. Can we agree with that?

32:50 All right? Now? What do we have in verse twenty? Yeah, seeing many things, but thou observest not opening the years, but he heareth not. I don't what do we call verse twenty? What do you want to call verse twenty? We have perception without what whether maybe understanding? Does it one like that? Perception without understanding? The cyrus really understand what's going on now at times? And ezra Wan he sounds like he has some understanding, but he clearly if he's still a pagan, he doesn't have complete understanding, right because if he was, if he had complete understanding, he would do what believe in the true God. So do you think that? Continues describing the servant in verse nineteen, And notice what it says in verse twenty seeing many things, but thou observest not opening the years, but he fareth not now that he seems more singular there, right, all right, So I'm gonna say perception without understanding what happens in verses twenty one through twenty two. The Lord is well please for his righteousness sake. It will magnify the law

34:25 and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and spoiled. They are all them snared in holes, they are all hid in prison houses. They are for a prey, and none delivereth for a spoil, and none saith restore Now verse twenty one and twenty two. Man hurts my head? Okay, Now what is significant about verse twenty two. Sarah, what do you think is significant about verse twenty two. I'm kind of working her hypotheses here. Wait, yeah, it would make weird the servant as Israel, then all of a sudden in twenty two, you're no longer referring to the servant. You separate the people from whom the servant. Well, that means the people and the servant wouldn't be the same. Oh, that may be a strong argument for Sarah's point. That may be a strong argument, just like we talked about separating the way it talked about the previous servant. Right, if the previous servant is Jesus, and then God comes along and says, I'm not going to give my glory to But that doesn't sound like Jesus. Right. Well, here, if the servant is Israel, then why does all of a sudden it switches to the people. Well, who's the people Israel? Well, if the servant is Israel, then why did you just switch? Why would you not just continue calling them the servant? Right? Makes no sense. Sarah may be onto something here, She may have figured this out

35:58 in an interesting way. So what do we call those twenty one through twenty two? The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake, he will magnify the law and make it honorable. Yeah. I don't know what's happening there now. I think it says maybe it just says God is the way some would try to understand this. The Lord is pleased to magnify the law, make it honorable, like that's what he's pleased to do. God is going to magnify his law, make it honorable. Well, God will ultimately do that, But is he pleased for his righteousness sake?

36:54 And the servant? Is he pleased just to magnify the law? Is he going to magnify the law through the servant? Is it going to make it honorable through the servant? Okay, eighty that's oh that's weird, that's interesting. Yeah yeah yeah, but it's sure what the translators are trying to indicate there. Okay, So I don't know what we call this session. Okay, I know this. I don't know what to call verse twenty one, but verse twenty two, but this is a people clearly verse twenty two is Israel's failure. Can we agree that twenty twenty two is Israel's failure? I don't know what to do with twenty one?

37:56 God's God, God being pleased and Israel's fail I don't know what we call this God being pleased in Israel's failure. All right, but God, God is pleased to douce in his righteous sake, and he's going to magnify the law and he's gonna make it honorable. But guess what, Israel fails big time? All right, because what is Israel done? But this is a people. Now, this people clearly is Israel. There's no question about that, right or Judah? These people did what number one? Oh, this is a people robbed Okay, good, okay, good point. So first, it's describing their condition. This is a robbed and spoiled people. Thank you, thank you. They are all of them snared in holes and they are hid in prison houses. They are for a prey and none delivereth for a spoil and none saith restore. Okay, I think, yeah, this is not this is not really their failure describing their condition. Yeah, I don't lie. Okay, I apologize because I kind of was kind of going with almost like this is describing their failure. It's not describing them as a failure. It's just well, I guess their failure is no one says restore. They don't seem to be calling out for God to do anything. It's almost like they've given up, right, But there it's more about their condition, Israel's current state. So this is about God being well pleased and the state of them. And

39:29 we could say, though at the very end and none saith restore, it does there is a failure for them to seem to be they've stopped calling on God. They've kind of given up there, right, Do you see that and none saith restore? Or is it referring that no one else has called for them to be restored? Oh okay, well then that okay, okay, oh right, okay, yeah, and nobody is coming to help them. Okay, I like that. Okay, that's a better way. So then my thinking was completely wrong here, So just ignore everything I was going to say.

40:10 Let's just go with the concept that this verses twenty one to twenty two God is pleased and what he's going to do and he ignow and it describes Israel's condition. Is that is that fair? All? Right? Even Ai tried to go with Israel's failure here, but I agree there's no there's no failure here. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. Ai had so many problems with this chapter. It was like a mess, like I don't know what went wrong here, but this chapter was difficult for everyone involved. All right, now this brings us to twenty three through twenty five. What do we have in twenty three through twenty five?

40:57 All right? Now, here's clearly speaking about Israel. Do you agree? Twenty three through twenty five? Who among you? Well, who's the who among you? The you has to be Israel? Right, Judah will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come? Who's going to listen to all of this? Who gave Jacob for a spoil? And Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned, For they would not walk in his ways? Neither they were they? Neither there there were they obedient unto the law. Neither were they obedient unto the law. All right, Therefore hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and strength of battle, and it has sent set him on fire roundabout. Yet he knew not, and it burned him. Yet he laid it not to heart. So clearly twenty three through twenty five is about God's judgment on Israel. Can we agree to that?

42:10 But modis once again, when it refers to Israel in twenty three through twenty five, they're not referred to as a servant. And then when they when the when it talks about this is a people robbed and talks about their condition in twenty two, doesn't refer to them as a sermon. So why is the servant supposedly Israel? And then it abandons that and then talks about Israel in completely separate ways from the If the servant metaphor, if the servants descriptor is referring to Israel, it makes no sense to abandon that description when you're gonna literally talk about Israel starting in verse specifically, and versus twenty two all the way to twenty five makes no sense. Oh yeah, he clear is explaining why they're in judgment. He's clearly explaining what has happened to them clearly. All right, now we're just gonna look at this quickly, all right, right now, AI tried to do a side by side comparison of the two servants, right, but it already had a in its mind the first servant and the second servant are different, and AI tries to argue that the second servant is whom Israel. So I'm gonna show you how Ai tried

43:43 to make its argument. And it will see if it convinces Sarah, if it agrees or disagrees. I think it's it's ice of Jesus. I think it's reading it upon the text, right, because we've already seen textually. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no no. If the servant in verse nineteen is Israel, then it would follow that using that same descriptor all the way through, not all of a sudden. Now refer to them as the people makes them sense, refer to them as Jacob. So all right, here we go. So first, the servant in verses one through four. All right, this is how, this is how AI identifies it. It made a chart. It made a chart here a distinct individual spirit, fielled, chosen, delighted in by God. Can we agree that that's how it's identified? All right? Now, look what it does to the second servant Verses eighteen to twenty five. You ready, Ai just jumps immediately corporate Israel, God's chosen people. Now blind and death. But where did it get that? It's God's corporate Israel that's being imported onto the text? So we can we say that the second servant is blind and death. That's all we can get, right, eighteen through twenty five? Does it identify that servant is being chosen in eighteen to twenty five? I don't think. Well, the servant's only described in verse nineteen, right, it's only described in nineteen. Oh, that's twenty one is about the servant? Right? Okay?

45:16 But all right, next Isaiah? Okay, now here we go. Now, this is what AI gives us supporting scriptures. Are you ready? Go to Isaiah forty nine one through six? Isaiah forty nine one through six. Tell me what you see there? Isaiah forty nine one through six. Okay, right, reform thee from the womb to be a servant to bring Jacob again to him.

46:18 Now Here, clearly in verse five is separating the servant from Israel? Is it not? Okay? It is clearly okay? Right. So now my question is, though, why would someone go to forty nine and connect that to forty two? AI tries to connect forty nine to forty two. Now, okay, everybody got this. Everybody see forty nine one through six. Everybody see it. Six should be a light to the gentiles? All right? Does that sound like forty two one through four? So a little bit right? Because forty two four talks about judgment to the that seems different than like to the gentiles, says it. Not all right? But now go to Matthew twelve Okay, same words. Okay, Now go to Matthew twelve seventeen through twenty one. Matthew twelve seventeen through twenty one. This is what I told you. Everyone was already typing out emails to me. Matthew twelve seventeen through twenty one. All right, tell me what we see there.

47:43 You look at it. I better just read it because I'm gonna get nine hundred I'm gonna get emails, and people are gonna be yelling at me, right, And I appreciate you guys letting us work through this before just saying well what about this? What about this? Okay, you're letting me act. That's the only way we can do hermonutics is we got to work through it. Okay. I always get back to the other stuff, right, Matthew twelve seventeen through twenty one. All right, so this that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the Prophet, saying, behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well, Please, I will put my spirit upon him. He shall he shall show judgment to the gentiles.

48:31 He shall not strive nor cry. Neither shall any man hear his voice in the street a bruise read, shall he not break a smoking flax? Shall he not quench till he send forth judgment onto victory. And in the name and in his name shall the gentiles trust. Now that's a little different the way it's worded. We could get into is it referring to the septuagen or for the masoretic text. I'm not going to get into all of that. But who is that referring to? In Matthew twelve seventeen through twenty one. Okay, where do you see that?

49:16 Fifteen or sixteen? But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all, and he charged them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, is that saying Jesus is the fulfillment of this? Or is it simply saying that when that the Messiah's gentleness was just as had been prophesied, and also that the gentiles would include in his blessing. Is it just saying Jesus is that Jesus is like he has the same characteristics as what's being described in forty two Or do you immediately say, well, that text is saying forty two is only about Jesus.

50:15 Could it not be about both? Right? Because if it's only about Jesus, that is of no value to the people in Babylonian captivity. Zero none, right, right, it has none. Now, I think it's simply saying, as the servant was in forty two, so is Jesus. It's the same characteristics, He's gonna do same things. Cyrus is the historical or let me say Cyrus is the historical shadow, right, Jesus is the reality, the ultimate fulfillment what Cyrus was in shadow or what Cyrus was in picture, Jesus is the fulfillment of But I don't think that means we go back to forty two and just say it's only about Jesus, which is what every preacher does because it makes no sense, and especially not if what Sarah is saying that when you get further down in forty two, that same servant is called deaf and blind, and clearly then it's not Jesus.

51:30 All right, everybody got that. Now the cross reference that AI wants to give about the servant in forty one eight through nine or later on in forty two. All right, So if you go to forty one, look in forty one eight through nine, look at chapter forty one, eight through nine. Go to forty one, eight through nine. First, okay, so you see why AI tries to quote this, but because hey see, Israel's God servant. But that doesn't mean that.

52:11 Then in forty two that second servant in verse what nineteen should be Israel because forty two to one says servant, and we don't make that Israel. So that's a horrible cross reference. So that doesn't prove anything. All right, However, forty look at forty three, forty three, eight and ten. Does it talk about being blind and deaf? Yeah, it's not referring to the servant. So that's not another that cross reference to I guess what they're trying to say, Well, the blind and deaf they're in eight and ten. If that's the people, then the servant in forty two who's blind and deaf is Israel. That being a cross reference because Israel's referred to as blind and death multiple times, it doesn't mean that that makes the servant Israel. Does that make sense? All right? How about Deuteronomy twenty nine four? Yeah, Deuteronomy twenty nine to four? What do you having? Blind to death? So I guess what what Ai tries to do here is like, hey, Israel's referred to him blind and death in multiple cases. And I will agree that it does. But just because Israel's described as blind and death multiple times doesn't mean that I just immediately go

53:42 to forty two and say, well, this servant has to be Israel then, because I would also actually argue that it describes the servant and then later on it refers to the people by a completely different descriptor and doesn't refer to the people as the servant. It refers to the people as the people. So that that doesn't that cross reference doesn't help me at all, all right. Next, Ai says that the servant in forty two one through four, whom I have, whom I uphold, my chosen, and whom my soul delights. We've already talked about that, Okay. The other servant who is blind, but my who is blind, but my servant, he sees many things but does not observe. Okay, we've talked about that. We got no problem with any of that. That's just telling us what's there on this servant in forty two one through four. I've put my spirit upon him. The servant in Isaiah forty two or later on verses eighteen and following, no empowerment marked by spiritual and sensitivity and rebellion. Okay, well, it's it's definitely marked by there's no empowerment mentioned, and clearly it's mentioned by not maybe being able to perceive is blind and death.

54:59 But okay, don't again, that's nothing that makes that Israel. The servant in forty two one through four, he will bring forth justice to the nations. The servant later on in forty two, no mission fulfilled. I guess I don't know. It goes on to say suffers judgment in exile, but I don't know. I don't think the servant is described as suffering, judgment and exile the people are says, it's just assuming that the servant is the people, and it doesn't explain that. So it goes on and I mean it's a long chart. It's a long chart, but I mean, well, yeah, it goes on forever. But none of that. It's not gonna help us. Bottom line is it's not gonna help us because Ai is just absolutely convinced that the second servant is whom Israel, and everything that follows after it they apply to the servant meaning that it's Israel. So there's the charge becomes meaningless at that point. It's just it's convinced of it. All right. So yeah, there's a lot more here I could go into, but we won't do it right now. All right, So what do we have to work on then? Before we really can take the chapter apart? We're really kind of stuck with two things.

56:26 What are we stuck with? We're stuck with a chapter that mentions two servants, and we emphatically have to do what to understand this chapter? In fact, the only interpretive thing that you really have to figure out in this chapter is what who is the identity of the two servants? All right, and in all three cases are on all two cases we have three options? Right, So forty so servants, So you may want to write down this chapter of two servants. That's what you need to get from this. It's the chapter of two servants and everything else we've kind of walked through. We don't have any problems the two servants. We really come down to three options, all right, the servant in chapter forty two one through four, what are your three options? Go forty two one through four?

57:15 What are the three options for who the servant is? Christ Israel or Cyrus? Christ Israel or Cyrus? Those are our three options? Okay, everybody got it? For forty two one through four. The one that seems the most easiest to remove, No, forty two one through four Israel. Right. I can't say it's easy to remove Jesus since Matthew twelve connects it to Jesus. Right, So it's going to be hard to remove Jesus, But clearly we can remove whom Israel. Just makes no sense that that's Israel, right, because if Israel's that perfect, why are they in captivity? Right? Okay, So unless you're not gonna get into a positional argument, but this is not about that. All right, So we're we're going to be left with Jesus and Cyrus in forty two one through four. All right, historically in the context of this chapter, which one makes more sense Cyrus?

58:12 Is it perfectly acceptable to say Cyrus is in light here because that only makes sense. But Jesus is going to be the ultimate fulfillment what Cyrus was and what Cyrus was and what Cyrus lacked. Jesus would be even more than what Cyrus was and not lack anything that Cyrus was lacking. I think that's true. Yeah, exactly, exactly exactly. Now, what's the second servant is mentioned in Isaiah forty two? Do we believe eighteen has anything to say about that servant in nineteen? Okay? He just kind of ok he identifies it in nineteen, So nineteen about twenty Did we say twenty possibly applies to the servant? Okay? All right, well, no, well what have you say it? Because I want the people on the internet to hear it? Okay, Well, that's okay.

59:15 You don't have to be certain we're doing We're doing hermaeutics. If you know, what's the only rule in hermaeutics no one is ever certain. Okay, all right, all right, nineteen through twenty, all right, nineteen through twenty. So and what are our options for the servant in nineteen through twenty. Let's make them the same three? What would that be? Sis, Israel? Ji? What's the one that we can clearly remove from nineteen through twenty Jesus? So Jesus is not showing up there at all? Okay, all right, So that leaves us with Cyrus or Israel. What's the textual argument that this should be Cyrus? The textual argument is that if it's Israel, it makes no sense that the Israel is referred to as a singular servant in nineteen and then just a few verses later it just abandons the servant descriptor and goes to the people. So our our preliminary argument is what this is our our preliminary hermeneutic. Cirrus is in light and forty two one through four because he makes sense historically, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of it. Second, Cyrus is the servant in forty two nineteen through twenty because no matter how perfect he is or good that he has described, he is ultimately deaf and blind because he is a pagan. Right, that's our preliminary work. We will work on this in greater detail. And Sarah had another option for which servant I want to hear it?

1:00:45 I want to hear it? Oh for okay, okay the flow go go? What for? Yeah? Okay? Right? Okay, okay, okay, okay, Oh back to the images, Okay, to the idols okay, okay, gotcha okay?

1:01:52 Or between nothing right place with him? Okay? That I'll see. It's kind of a uh it's a song, and it's going between the idols and the servant. He did bring up the idols. That's a good point. That's a good point. And then it flows into the people. So you have the servant, the idols, and the people. There's some there's possibly some work there. Put it this way. It's as good as anything else we come up. I know, I know. It's a million times better than what I think. It's a million times better than simply saying Isaiah forty two is about Jesus or and then that the second servant is just about how bad Israel is that both of those are not doing hermeneutics. You know what, when pastors do that, you know what they've done. They simply opened up a commentary and they're just reading from a commentary.

1:02:52 Because anyone should be struggling with this, that's why we do the observation. The observational work makes us go, well, wait a minute, if that's the servant, then why are they people described as the people? Just how many verses later? Yeah, like three verses later. It makes no sense. It in the same narrative, right and then, so it makes no sense. It just doesn't make any sense at all. It doesn't make any sense at all. So I think from the text we've got at least we've got two steps. We've got possibly one servant being described in radically different ways, which makes perfect sense because if you describe, because if you try to describe Cyrus to someone, how are you going to describe him? Chosen by God, God was well pleased, God worked through him. The God himself refers to him as his anointed, which is basically the term for a messiah.

1:03:44 His Messiah is anointed and his shepherd, which is really interesting language. However, he remained an idolatry and a pagan. What in the world is that makes no sense? Kind of sounds like Isaiah forty two historically speaking, and when you look at yeah, I think I think we're I think we're onto something. I'm so glad you did that. I'm so glad you did that because I don't know if I would have caught it. I think I kept arguing and arguing, we're trying to how to break it down. Maybe I would have caught it. Maybe I wouldn't have, But I was like, that's why. But we're from the very beginning, I kept saying, are we sure Israel is described here as this sermon? Where do we find it? Remember?

1:04:29 I started asking that question right from the beginning, in the first hour, because I don't know where how come we're making that second servant Israel. I could not figure out why that Ai was absolutely cut into that. So I'm gonna I'm gonna give it a separate uh idea and see what it comes up with. It's probably gonna argue with me, but that's okay. That's okay, because what we're more worried about the text, and I think the flow of the text, it just makes it just makes no sense. Right just as I go back, I'm gonna look at Isaiah forty two and we'll end here in just a second if I'm looking here. Okay, Just like in verse eight, what remember I said, how key that verse was? I am the Lord, that is my name and my glory, will I not give to another? It seems to be separating God from the servant, right, Well, that means we'll wait a minute. If the servant is Jesus, God wouldn't be saying that, So that doesn't make any sense, right, So that to me was kind of an argument that the servant and forty two to one through four then is Cyrus and it's not Jesus. And then at least in the historical context. And just note the New Testament doesn't quote that part, right, The New Testament leaves that part out of course, all right, And remember the New Testament writers use the Old Testament in all kinds of ways that sometimes don't appear to be consistent with the actual text. That's okay if the New Testament writers do it because they're doing the aspiration and Holy Spirit. We

1:06:01 just got to understand that. And then the second servant, I think what's most important this stands out to me is the servant is kind of described but immediately in twenty one, but this is a people robbed, and it goes right back to describing them as people, not as a servant. So it makes no sense if you're gonna go with the language used in other sections of Isaiah or even Deuteronomy, or Israel's referred to God's servant. All of the description flows that identifier. Hey, Israel's my servant. There, this, this, this, this, this, this, It doesn't go Israel's my servant, and then hey there then all of a sudden just switches over to people.

1:06:44 Maybe maybe there's some passages that do that, but it just doesn't seem to make sense to me. So I like the idea that maybe Isaiah forty two is ultimately about one servant. Now don't tell anyone you came to church and learn that, now, No, actually you can. What you can say is, there's this crazy woman and she came up with this new way to interpret Iaiah forty two. And you're like, well, didn't a pastor like throw her out? And like, no, he didn't because he's an idiot. Okay, but right exactly, I don't have enough people to throw anyone out, right, But I think that that we may be onto something. I think we may be on to it.

1:07:26 I'm not saying we're Please note for anyone listening online, are we being dogmatic at this point? No? Are we being like, this is actually the way it is. What we're saying is by doing an observational outline, we've seen some things that cause us to question every other sermon that's ever been preached on this section, because I don't think that the sermons are even remotely trying to do hermanudics. They're not doing hermanutics. They're simply repeating someone else's hermanutic. That's not how you don't do hermautics by relying on someone else's hermaudic. You do hermautics by doing what working on the text. And so that's what we've come up with. All right, any questions everybody experts? Now I got forty two figured out? Okay, Hey, we're onto something, all right.

1:08:15 I can't I can't wait to get home and ask Ai, and AI is gonna be like, what what happened in your church today? Like what was going on? Okay? So I'm just gonna give it this recording maybecause I want to do maybe I'll that's what I'll do once I upload this I'm just gonna give the transcript Ai and then ask AI to go, can what do you think about our hypotheses that forty two is really the story of one servant Cyrus? And then we'll see. I'm by the time it said I'm reviewing my Sermont, I'll probably cry and like what you mean? So mean okay, but it'll be interesting to see. All right, let's pray, Lord, got we come before you this afternoon. We are grateful Lord, we are in a place where we can do this, because nowhere else would we be allowed to do this, So we are grateful. We are thankful. Or let our our ability to study the text and struggle with the text never take if we don't want it to ever take us further away from the text, but only draw us closer and deeper into it. Help us just continue to work to understand what exactly this passage is saying.

1:09:16 We asked this in Jesus name. It got people said,