42:18,19
This illustrates the difficulty in finding a consistent identification of the servant. Up to this point all that has been said about the servant can be said about Christ, and Christ is the only one in whom it is completely fulfilled, though we have much to learn from it in seeing how God will work in our own lives. But these two verses cannot possibly apply to Jesus, “who is blind like my servant?” Yet it speaks of the servant being the one God sends. The solution is that we have to read the servant passages carefully. The general picture is that Israel was supposed to be the servant of God, all nations were to be blessed through her as she properly fulfilled her role. But Israel was a disaster, persistently failing to trust and obey the Lord. Jesus came as the one sent by the Father and He fulfilled the role that Israel never did. The church should seek to be Christlike in serving God (this does not mean that Israel no longer has any part in God’s plan, in case some of you are getting worried). So Israel, the failed servant, is blinf and deaf.
4:20
Israel was also without excuse. “You have seen many things, but you pay no attention”. Israel has seen much throughout her history. She had experienced the deliverance from Egypt, and all that that entailed. She had seen God rescue them, yet she had learnt nothing. People sometimes say that if only they saw the miracles then they would believe. The historical evidence is that this is not the case!
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