CHAPTERIII.THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH.

The history of Israel is unique in the annals of the nations. In size scarcely worthy of regard, in politics only for one brief reign of any serious account, with no special genius for art or war, for speculative thinking or scientific research, failing to keep even their racial unity in the day of their greatest strength, torn in pieces by every conqueror, deported out of their own land, and even after their return kept in subjection by other imperial races, finally stripped of their temple and sacred city by the Romans, and shattered into fragments, this feeble people has yet set its name high beside Greece and Rome, has given the world the only book which all the world reads,[139]and the religion which has produced Western civilization.

The one duty of which the best spirits in Israel were conscious throughout the history of the people was faithfulness to Jehovah. Indeed the whole consciousness of the race might be summed up in two phrases:Jehovah is the God of Israel, and,Israel is the people of Jehovah. War, government, philosophy, art might be for other peoples: Israel’s one duty was to serve her God, religion the sole activity of her spirit.

The relation between Jehovah and Israel was a peculiarly tender one;—“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt,”[140]says Jehovah by the mouth of one of His prophets. As Israel was Jehovah’s son, he had to be taught, trained, disciplined. The history of the people, then, is simply the record of Jehovah’s dealings with them in this process of loving and patient training.

Israel’s education was chiefly in the hard school of experience, in national disaster and disgrace, in national recovery and victory. But not in events alone: Jehovah spoke His will out clearly through a series of most remarkable men known as theProphets. What is most noticeable in these men is the directness and the certainty of the message they brought from Jehovah to His people. Usually it was criticism and condemnation, with a definite declaration of coming punishment; but now and then it was comfort and consolation, with the promise of speedy help and relief.

It would be most interesting to trace the history in detail and to watch how the people were led step by step to fuller and clearer knowledge of God, but we must not stay for that here. We need only say sufficient to enable readers to understand the circumstances in which the great prophecy which we wish to discuss came to be uttered.

The people were slaves in Egypt. They were brought out under Moses; and in the peninsula of Sinai a Covenant was made between them and Jehovah, which laid the foundation of their religion and their national life. Joshua was their leader in the conquest of Palestine, an event which probably took place in the thirteenth centuryB. C.During the first two centuries of their residence in the land they had no settled form of government, but acknowledged as their rulers from time to time certain great personalities known as Judges. Towards the end of the eleventh century the pressure of the Philistines led to the establishment of a monarchy. Saul knit the people together; David built up a petty empire; Solomon gave his attention to commerce and internal organization.

But after these three reigns the nation fell in two. From 937B. C.onward for two centuries, instead of one state there are two rival kingdoms, the northern called Israel and the southern Judah. The great events of these centuries occur in Israel. Through the prophets Elijah and Elisha the people were taught that Jehovah would never consent to be one among many gods:They must worship Jehovah alone. Later, Amos prophesied that Jehovah would bring about the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, because the people would not live righteously. They offered God sacrifices, while He demanded righteous conduct between man and man. But they could not believe that Jehovah would destroy His own chosen people: “How can we believe that He will destroy the only people in all the world that He has made Himself known to?” Swift comes the answer, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”[141]Israel had had greater privileges than any other people; therefore Israel had a deeper responsibility, and would receive a severer punishment. In 722B. C.the Assyrians overthrew Israel, and carried away 27,290 of the leading inhabitants and settled them in Mesopotamia and Media.[142]The prophecy of Amos was thus literally fulfilled.

The kingdom of Judah, which was not involved in the fate of Israel, stood for rather more than a century longer. Isaiah was the prophet of Jehovah in Judah when Israel fell. He condemned his own people just as Amos had condemned Israel, because they identified religion with ritual, and would not give Jehovah what He wanted, namely, righteousness. The state of the people was so bad that Isaiah declared that nothing could cure them. Jehovah would intervene: the bulk of the people would be destroyed, buta righteous remnant would be saved. Towards the end of Isaiah’s life Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came, devastated the land of Judah, took many of the cities, and demanded the surrender of the capital, Jerusalem. Isaiah advisedthe king not to yield, and prophesied that the Assyrian would not be able to touch the city. His prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. The huge Assyrian army was suddenly annihilated by some unknown cause, probably pestilence, and Sennacherib hastened back to Assyria.[143]

A century later Judah was in a still worse condition: idolatry, polytheism, immorality were eating out the vitals of the nation. In 604B. C.Jeremiah prophesied that Jehovah would bring Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, into Syria, and that he would destroy Judah and all the nations round about, that they would groan under the rule of Babylon for seventy years, but that at the end of that period Jehovah would punish the Babylonians for their iniquity, and would make their land desolate forever.[144]But his countrymen would not listen. Jehovah had saved His people from the Assyrian in the time of Isaiah: why should He allow the Babylonian to touch them now? Yet in 585B. C.Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, burned the city and the temple, and carried away the king and all the leading families to Babylon.[145]Once more the word of Jehovah, as spoken by His prophets, was literally fulfilled.

But what was to be the end?—Jehovah seemed to have utterly destroyed His chosen people: what was His purpose? what good was to come out of it?

The people of the northern kingdom, carried away in 722B. C., soon lost their religion, and were in consequence speedily lost themselves among the peoples of the East. Not so the captives of Judah: the training of Isaiah and his disciples and of Jeremiah and his friends had taken fast hold of their hearts, so that even in a foreign land, far away from home and temple, they held by the religion of Jehovah. Nor is that all: they began to take their religion seriously; they began to perceive that the prophets were right in declaring that Jehovah was a very different God from the gods of the nations around them, that He would not be satisfied with sacrifice and song, but demandedheart-worship andrighteousness. But although they clung to their faith in Jehovah, they were naturally greatly depressed by the seeming hopelessness of their captivity.[146]To rebel against the Babylonians, and by the sword regain their freedom and their land, was an utter impossibility: they were altogether helpless under the omnipotent empire.

But about 550B. C.Cyrus, an Elamite king, began a great career of conquest. In 549 he overthrew the Cimmerians under their king Astyages, and by 546 he was master of Persia. He then went further west to subdue Asia Minor.[147]

It was at this juncture, according to all scholars, that a great prophet, whose name is unknown, began to comfort and encourage the Jewish exiles in Babylon. His prophecy is preserved for us in the latter part of the book of Isaiah.[148]His message is that the sufferings of the exiles are nearly at an end, that Cyrus is to capture Babylon and give them leave to return to their native land.[149]

In 538B. C.Cyrus marched into Babylonia, defeated the Babylonian army, and seized the city, thus fulfilling in a very striking way the second part of Jeremiah’s prophecy.[150]Soon after, the Judean captives received permission to return to Palestine. They were also allowed to carry with them the sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from the temple in Jerusalem.[151]The prophecy of restoration was thus triumphantly fulfilled. One company of exiles went at once, and others followed them later.

The people of Jehovah in this way began life afresh after the great national punishment of the Captivity. They had thoroughly learned one lesson at least, namely, this, thatJehovah spoke through His prophets. So in their new system, while they retained the old ritual of the temple, they made careful provision for the preservation of the writings of the prophets and for the instruction of the people in the Mosaic Law.

We need trace the history no farther; for it was this post-exilic Judaism, with its great care for the Scriptures, and its energetic attempts to instil them into the minds of the people, that formed the environment of Jesus and His work.

But we must now return to the great prophet who spoke consolation to the exiles in Babylon, and study his ideas. His conception of God is very lofty. He illustrates in many ways His holiness, His faithfulness, His tender sympathy, His omnipotence, His absolute sway among nations, and His power of foretelling future events by the mouth of His prophets. On the other hand, the prophet’s conception of the duty and destiny of the people of Jehovah is correspondingly high. Israel has been created and chosen by Jehovah, and therefore is precious in His sight; but He did not choose them out of favouritism, nor was it His purpose to heap blessings on them merely for their pleasure and aggrandizement. Israel isthe Servant of Jehovah. The service they have to render is to reveal God’s character and purposes to all the nations of the earth. This is the end of their election and of their long training. But, as in the past the nation has fallen far short of Jehovah’s ideal, so now in Babylon the people as a whole is very far from fit for the work which God has for them to do: “Who is blind but my servant? or deaf as my messenger that I send?”[152]

Consequently there is a further choice within the chosen people. The use of the title, the Servant of Jehovah, is narrowed. The prophet knows that God’s ends will be worked out, that through Israel Jehovah’s name will be carried to the ends of the earth; he also sees as clearly that the nation as a nation is unfit for this lofty duty; so he recognises that the Servant who shall do this work will be found within the people. Whether he identified the Servant of Jehovah in this narrower sense with the small group of really God-fearing men who formed the soul of Israel in his own day, or whether he thought of an individual to be specially prepared for the task by Jehovah, we do not know. Most probably this point was not clear to the prophet himself.[153]

It is in four poems of peculiar dignity and surpassing spiritual penetration that this narrower use of the title occurs. In the first[154]of these Jehovah describes His Servant’s character and work; in the second[155], the Servant tells how Jehovah prepared him for his task; in the third,[156]we have a portrait of the Servant as a martyr; while in the fourth[157], he is represented, though righteous himself, as dying a shameful death as an atonement for the sins of the unrighteous. It is to this fourth poem that we would direct the attention of our readers.

Jehovah.—Lo, My Servant shall deal wisely;He shall rise, be uplifted, and be exalted exceedingly.Even as many were amazed at him,—So marred from a man’s was his appearance,And his form from that of the sons of men!—So shall he startle many nations;Before him kings shall shut their mouths.For what had not been told them they shall see,And what they had not heard they shall consider.Israel.—Who believed what was heard by us?And the arm of Jehovah, to whom was it revealed?He grew up like a sapling before us,And like a shoot out of parched ground.He had no form, nor majesty, that we should look upon him,Nor appearance, that we should desire him.He was despised and forsaken by men,A man of pains and familiar with sickness;And as one from whom men hide their faceHe was despised, and we held him of no account.Yet it was our sicknesses that he bore,And our pains that he carried;While we accounted him stricken,Smitten by God, and afflicted.But he was pierced because of our transgressions,Crushed because of our iniquities;Chastisement to secure our peace was laid upon him,And through his stripes healing came to us.We all like sheep had gone astray,We had turned each one to his own way;And Jehovah made to light on himThe iniquity of us all.The Prophet.—He was oppressed, yet he let himself be afflicted,And opened not his mouth,As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,And as a sheep that is dumb before her shearers,And opened not his mouth.By a tyrannical judgment he was taken away;And, as for the men of his time, who considered,That he was cut off out of the land of the living,That for the transgression of my people he was stricken?And his grave was made with the wicked,And his tomb with the unrighteous,Although he had done no violence,And there was no deceit in his mouth.But it was Jehovah that willed to crush him,That laid on him sickness:If he should lay down his life as a guilt-offering,He would see a posterity, he would lengthen his days,And the will of Jehovah would prosper by his hand;After the travail of his soul he would see it,And would be satisfied with his knowledge.Jehovah.—My Servant, the righteous one, shall make many righteous;For he shall bear their iniquities.Therefore I will give him a share with the many,And with the strong he shall divide the spoil;Inasmuch as he poured out his life-blood to death,And let himself be numbered with the transgressors;Yet it was the sin of the many he bore,And for the transgressors he interposed.

Jehovah.—

Lo, My Servant shall deal wisely;He shall rise, be uplifted, and be exalted exceedingly.

Lo, My Servant shall deal wisely;

He shall rise, be uplifted, and be exalted exceedingly.

Even as many were amazed at him,—So marred from a man’s was his appearance,And his form from that of the sons of men!—So shall he startle many nations;Before him kings shall shut their mouths.For what had not been told them they shall see,And what they had not heard they shall consider.

Even as many were amazed at him,—

So marred from a man’s was his appearance,

And his form from that of the sons of men!—

So shall he startle many nations;

Before him kings shall shut their mouths.

For what had not been told them they shall see,

And what they had not heard they shall consider.

Israel.—

Who believed what was heard by us?And the arm of Jehovah, to whom was it revealed?

Who believed what was heard by us?

And the arm of Jehovah, to whom was it revealed?

He grew up like a sapling before us,And like a shoot out of parched ground.He had no form, nor majesty, that we should look upon him,Nor appearance, that we should desire him.

He grew up like a sapling before us,

And like a shoot out of parched ground.

He had no form, nor majesty, that we should look upon him,

Nor appearance, that we should desire him.

He was despised and forsaken by men,A man of pains and familiar with sickness;And as one from whom men hide their faceHe was despised, and we held him of no account.

He was despised and forsaken by men,

A man of pains and familiar with sickness;

And as one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we held him of no account.

Yet it was our sicknesses that he bore,And our pains that he carried;While we accounted him stricken,Smitten by God, and afflicted.

Yet it was our sicknesses that he bore,

And our pains that he carried;

While we accounted him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced because of our transgressions,Crushed because of our iniquities;Chastisement to secure our peace was laid upon him,And through his stripes healing came to us.

But he was pierced because of our transgressions,

Crushed because of our iniquities;

Chastisement to secure our peace was laid upon him,

And through his stripes healing came to us.

We all like sheep had gone astray,We had turned each one to his own way;And Jehovah made to light on himThe iniquity of us all.

We all like sheep had gone astray,

We had turned each one to his own way;

And Jehovah made to light on him

The iniquity of us all.

The Prophet.—

He was oppressed, yet he let himself be afflicted,And opened not his mouth,As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,And as a sheep that is dumb before her shearers,And opened not his mouth.

He was oppressed, yet he let himself be afflicted,

And opened not his mouth,

As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

And as a sheep that is dumb before her shearers,

And opened not his mouth.

By a tyrannical judgment he was taken away;And, as for the men of his time, who considered,That he was cut off out of the land of the living,That for the transgression of my people he was stricken?

By a tyrannical judgment he was taken away;

And, as for the men of his time, who considered,

That he was cut off out of the land of the living,

That for the transgression of my people he was stricken?

And his grave was made with the wicked,And his tomb with the unrighteous,Although he had done no violence,And there was no deceit in his mouth.

And his grave was made with the wicked,

And his tomb with the unrighteous,

Although he had done no violence,

And there was no deceit in his mouth.

But it was Jehovah that willed to crush him,That laid on him sickness:If he should lay down his life as a guilt-offering,He would see a posterity, he would lengthen his days,And the will of Jehovah would prosper by his hand;After the travail of his soul he would see it,And would be satisfied with his knowledge.

But it was Jehovah that willed to crush him,

That laid on him sickness:

If he should lay down his life as a guilt-offering,

He would see a posterity, he would lengthen his days,

And the will of Jehovah would prosper by his hand;

After the travail of his soul he would see it,

And would be satisfied with his knowledge.

Jehovah.—

My Servant, the righteous one, shall make many righteous;For he shall bear their iniquities.

My Servant, the righteous one, shall make many righteous;

For he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a share with the many,And with the strong he shall divide the spoil;Inasmuch as he poured out his life-blood to death,And let himself be numbered with the transgressors;Yet it was the sin of the many he bore,And for the transgressors he interposed.

Therefore I will give him a share with the many,

And with the strong he shall divide the spoil;

Inasmuch as he poured out his life-blood to death,

And let himself be numbered with the transgressors;

Yet it was the sin of the many he bore,

And for the transgressors he interposed.

In this marvellous poem we have four successive vignettes of the Servant. There first rises in the prophet’s mind a vision of the awe-struck wonder with which the nations and their kings shall gaze on the Servant of Jehovah, when after unequalled humiliation he shall be uplifted in surpassing glory. The next picture takes us back to his life of humiliation: he grows up with nothing in him to strike the eye or attract the attention of men; nay, rather all turn their back on him as worthless, contemptible, smitten with divine punishment. But along with this sorrowful portrait there comes the passionate confession of the men of Israel, that the Servant in all his sufferings had been bearing their sins. The third picture shows us the suffering Servant in uncomplaining meekness enduring a criminal’s death with all its shameful associations; yet this death is explained as occurring in accordance with God’s will, and as being a guilt-offering. The series ends in triumph: the righteous Servant by bearing iniquity will make many righteous and will achieve the glory and the reward of the conqueror.

In this prophecy the remarkable thing is that the sufferings and death of the Servant are construed throughout, not as a martyrdom, but as much more. In his death he lays down his life as a guilt-offering; and all his sufferings, inclusive of his death, are, from Jehovah’s point of view, chastisement laid on him on account of the sins of others, from the Servant’s point of view, a voluntary bearing of their iniquities. His willingness to endure and his meekness under oppression are very vividly put before us; but God’s purpose to crush him is insisted on with equal emphasis. The awful tragedy happens within Israel; but after it isconsummated, the Servant, once so despised, neglected and oppressed, startles the nations, and kings in amazement shut their mouths in his presence. The purpose of the dread sacrifice isTO BRING MEN TO RIGHTEOUSNESS; and that end, we are told, will be widely accomplished.

Whence did the prophet draw the ideas of his prophecy? If any piece of literature bears signs of inspiration, this does; but the experience which enabled him to become the vehicle of inspiration in this particular case may also be conjectured. The sufferings, which many of the prophets, and especially Jeremiah, had endured at the hands of their fellow-countrymen, had made a profound impression upon the best minds in Israel; and the affliction of the exiles in Babylon was manifestly not merely penal, but also purificatory.

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