Week 14 - Isaiah 49:1-12
In this passage we will again run into the mysterious figure called the Servant of the Lord, of whom it is said will be “a light and covenant for the people.” In last week’s chapter, the people of Israel were called to listen and called down for not listening well enough. In Chapter 49 it is the coastlands and those from afar who are asked to listen, so from the very first verse of this chapter the scope of Yahweh’s vision is revealed: all Nations are getting in on the good news! Yahweh commissions and empowers this Servant of the Lord, and he is to be both light and covenant for the people. In one of the strangest verses in Isaiah, Yahweh declares to the servant: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel.” (49:6) The horizon of God’s saving work has just become much larger, as if the servant has been raised up to a high vista and now sees the vast countryside beyond his own small garden.
In reading this passage, I found myself thinking about how small the circle of my concern is. Much of my energy is spent in seeking affection, significance or security, and I don’t think I’m alone. I heard God saying to me, “It is too small a thing to be loved, it is too small a thing to be known, it is too small a thing to be safe.” I did not hear God berating me saying I’m not good enough, or threatening me with ultimatums for not doing enough. Nor did I hear God saying that affection, significance or security isn’t valuable. To say something is “too small a thing” does not diminish a thing, it it only places it in a larger frame. In this passage the favoured people are called out of exile into safety and abundance, but that is only the beginning- Yahweh has bigger plans.
- Eldon
Reading: Brueggemann pages 109-114
Questions for Reflection
- Think about how you spend much of your time and energy, then ask yourself how you would finish this sentence: “It is too small a thing to___________”?
- The Servant is faithful but declares:
“I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.” 49:4
Have you ever had a relationship, project or experience of "spending your strength for nothing" or "labouring in vain”? Was there any consolation/reward in being faithful despite see no results?
