"Israel, My servant" (Isa. 41: 8, 9).--Three names occur in this section, which must

be considered together: "Israel", "Jacob", and "Abraham". Israel is the "servant"; Jacob

was "chosen"; but both names would have remained empty titles, did they not belong to

"seed of Abraham", the friend of God. "Covenant" relationship is implied in Isa. 41: 8;

and expressed in Isa. 42: 6.

In the section that follows (Isa. 41: 10-20), Jacob is referred to as "a worm", Israel as

"man" and the Lord as their "Redeemer".

In Isa. 44: 1 we find once again the double title: "Jacob My servant, and Israel,

whom I have chosen", which is modified in verse 2 to read: "Fear not, O Jacob, My

servant; and Jesurun, whom I have chosen." In verse 21 of the same chapter both titles

are used together: "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art My servant", a

proof, if it were needed, that both titles refer to the one chosen people.

"Jacob, the servant", and "Israel, the chosen" figure once more in Isa. 45: 4, while in

the last reference to "Israel" as the "servant", the title is assumed by Messiah in His work

of restoring and preserving (Isa. 49: 3). These different passages will come before us in

their turn; we have merely mentioned the references here in passing.

God's purpose in the earth, so clearly indicated at the call of Abraham (Gen. 12:), is

the reason for the "service" of Israel and the "choice" of Jacob. Its unconditional

character is made evident by the references to Abraham, and the assurances that the Lord

would not "cast away" nor "forsake" His people (Isa. 41: 9, 17). This purpose receives

further confirmation in the promise that "they that strive against thee shall perish"

(Isa. 41: 11, 12),  and the positive declaration that Israel shall be a sharp

threshing-instrument and a fan in the hand of the Lord.

Israel, however, cannot stand alone. As we have already seen from the last reference

to Israel as the servant (Isa. 49: 3), all finally depends upon Israel's Messiah. We pass,

therefore, from chapter 41:, with its references to Israel, the servant, to chapter 42:

with its glorious prophecy of Israel's Messiah, Redeemer and King.

The main purpose of this article has been "to prepare the way of the Lord". This we

have done chiefly by placing before the reader the structure of the section as a whole,

with some insistence on the corresponding passages that speak of the Lord's "Servant".

In our next article we hope to take up the blessed prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus

Christ that occupies the first eight verses of chapter 42: Meanwhile, even though we

to-day are neither Israel nor the seed of Abraham, we may nevertheless lay hold upon and

rejoice in the precious promise of Isa. 41: 10 as being true for us also in Christ: