Redemption in Isaiah

God is called “Redeemer” 13 times in the book of Isaiah. God rescued His people from Babylonian slavery, oppression, and sin. One occurrence is Isaiah 54:5: “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of armies; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.”

One of the greatest contributions to the theology of redemption in Isaiah comes from the “Servant Song” passages in the book (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). These four poems speak of God's Servant. In some of the songs, the nation Israel is identified as the Servant (Isa. 49:3). However Israel cannot be the Servant in the last, and most famous, song where the Servant is described as a "man of sorrows" who is "pierced for our transgressions." He suffers silently like a lamb led to slaughter, dies among the wicked, and is ultimately exalted.

Orthodox Judaism understands this Servant, as in Isaiah 49, as a collective picture of the nation Israel. The substitutionary death of the Servant will not allow this interpretation. Who, then, is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53? The Ethiopian eunuch was reading this same passage and asked the preacher Philip about the identity of the Servant. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35). The “Suffering Servant” of Isaiah 53 is Jesus of Nazareth. It is only by His death for us that we can have redemption.

Ben