A Study Commentary on Isaiah: Volume 2: Chapters 40–66
Overview
This section contains some of the most sublime passages to be found in Old Testament prophecy. It culminates in the vision that Isaiah has of the Servant and its implications for the people of God. John Mackay shows how these things were relevant to Isaiah’s contemporaries, but also how they apply to our own. There were no investigative journalists in the ancient world to bring to the attention of the public matters which the rich and powerful wished to keep hidden. But to a certain extent their role was fulfilled in ancient Israel by the prophets of Yahweh, amongst whom was numbered Isaiah. He exposed the follies of the rich, oppression in society, commented on the inadequacies of foreign alliances, and resolutely confronted wayward kings. The role of a prophet, however, differed in many key respects from that of a journalist. For one thing, the prophet was called and commissioned by God for the role that he had to play. A true prophet did not opt for this as a career: it was divinely assigned to him.
Top Highlights
“The speakers confess that they had despised the Servant because of what was inflicted on him. Now, however, they see that in its origin the burden was not his; it was theirs. Therefore they will not need to suffer in that way.” (Page 348)
“As the Israelites ponder what is to become of them, they are ultimately to take comfort from the fact that Yahweh’s designated Servant will achieve—and achieve for them—what they on their own did not, and could not, achieve.” (Page 84)
“What is in view is not merely curing physical illness, but complete recovery from spiritual estrangement from God (cf. 19:22; 30:26), the total restorative work of the Servant.” (Page 349)
“The resurrected Servant is here alone on the victor’s podium, not lined up among a crowd in the hall of fame.” (Page 364)
“not through an Exodus-style display of divine power, but by the humiliation and affliction of the Servant.” (Page 333)
- Title: A Study Commentary on Isaiah: Volume 2: Chapters 40–66
- Author: John L. MacKay
- Series: EP Study Commentary
- Volume: 2
- Publisher: Evangelical Press
- Print Publication Date: 2009
- Logos Release Date: 2015
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Bible. O.T. Isaiah 40-66 › Commentaries
- ISBNs: 9780852346822, 0852346824
- Resource ID: LLS:EVPRESS23ISVOL2
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:45:21Z