The Servants Mission:
1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” 5 And now the Lord says-- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength-- 6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” 7 This is what the LORD says - the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you." |
In the sacred text, Isiah
49:1-13 from the Old Testament God is represented in multiple ways as the text
is a symbol of the servant’s mission and life. Firstly, God is represented as
the Lord as he is the person who has authority, control or power over others.
Although the Lord and God are classified as the same person they are connected
in the way that by using both the Lord and God in one text it emphasizes
certain aspects of his person and attributes. God is also represented as a
mentor, as he is our shining light in life to try his best to direct us in the
best pathways throughout life. As this text is about The Servants Mission it is evident that God is represented as a
servant because God is a part of us good and bad. God has given the servant
this mission for a reason; to feel failure before God responds that it will be
a “light to the nations”.
God is also represented as change and time. This is evident as the text can be
split into three sections; “Before I was born the Lord called me;”, “5 And
now the Lord says—“and “7 This is what
the Lord says—“. This reminds us and proves that
God is always there, through every step in our lives, just like he was on the
servant’s mission.
The inspired authors of the sacred text were the three Isaiah’s or their followers and they covered the period from 742 to 500 BCE (Before the Common Era.) At a Glance the sacred text of Isiah were categorised as follows; chapters 1-39 was the First Isaiah (before the Babylonian Exile), chapters 40-55 was the Second Isaiah (during the Exile) and chapters 56-66 was the Third Isaiah (after the Exile). There were three Isiah’s because the original Isiah was such a hit that, many years after he died and second and even a third person or group adapted his ideas but in their situation. For example this is just like movie studios releasing a new movie which is a remake of an older film. There is a new director, actors and actresses. The movie has the same basic plot as the original but becomes adapted to appeal to the modern audience. This is what happened with the prophet of Isaiah. Prophets from three different periods in the time of Israel’s history contributes to the Book of Isiah. Around 742 BCE First Isaiah’s career began with his call in the Temple during the reign of Uzziah. His life was a time of calling out many injustices and taught that God had a plan for both the rich and poor. First Isaiah is responsible for the messianic prophecies, which express of the coming a perfect king. But when Israel was exiled in Babylon (587-538), another prophet, Second Isaiah, reworked First Isaiah’s prophecies to address his people. The Servants Mission is from the Second Isiah which was the time during the Exile. During the time of the exile (when The Servants Mission was written) Second Isaiah’s people were confused and struggling with the concept of understanding why God allowed them to be captives in a strange land. But with their confusion the Prophet comforted them with this hopeful message: they had been taken captive so that they would turn away from their sinful practices; now that they had learned their lesson, God would return them to rebuild Israel. After the Israelites returned from the exile and re-settled in Judah (537-500 BCE), they repeatedly fell into patterns of religious and social justice indifferences. Third Isiah responded with demanding the practice of justice towards everyone. Keeping in mind at Israel couldn’t be perfect he spoke of “new heavens / and a new earth” – a place where people would live accordingly to God’s plan. The stories of the Isiah’s were collected into the single Book of Isiah we have today. In this image there is the servant cleaning a man’s feet whilst there are other people around. This image represents the sacred text, Isiah 49: 1-13 as The Servants Mission is about a servant and their mission in life. It also demonstrates one of the many things the servant would have had to of done during the mission. |