Isaiah 42:6a

Isaiah 42:6a

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people

So far in this chapter, God has been speaking to the people about the Servant. It’s as if he is standing on a stage in front of his people, with the Servant next to him, introducing him to them. But here in verses 6 to 7 God turns to speak to the Servant himself.

It’s a bit like when a service leader introduces a visiting preacher to a church and says something like, “well, Steve, I’m delighted to welcome you to speak to us today. It’s been 20 years since I first met you at Bible college, and it’s been so great to keep in touch and watch how God has used you in your ministry. You’ve been a real encouragement to me.”  Why on earth is the leader telling Steve that they’ve been good friends for 20 years? Surely Steve knows that already!  Of course, he’s not saying it for Steve’s benefit … He’s speaking to Steve but he’s saying it for the congregation who are listening. He wants the people to know that this is someone who he knows and trusts. Someone who has been faithful in ministry for many years and is therefore worth listening to.

I think it’s the same here. What God says in these verses is addressed to the Servant, but he’s not speaking for the Servant’s benefit. It’s intended for the people, so that they will understand who the Servant is and why he has come. They, and we, need to know that this Servant is called and led and protected by God himself. He’s not self-appointed. He has been chosen by the LORD for this mission. But what is his mission? He has come to be ‘a covenant for the people’. What does that mean?!

A covenant is a binding promise. When God says here that he will make his Servant ‘a covenant for the people’ it’s not that the Servant is suddenly inventing the idea of a covenant where one ever existed before. From the time of Abraham onwards, God’s relationship with his people has always been a covenant relationship in which he committed himself to be their God and to bless them.  Rather, I think it means that the Servant will be the mediator of the covenant, the basis of the covenant – the one who makes it possible. Only with the coming of Jesus do we discover how it is that a holy God can enter into binding relationship with sinful people. Only by the death of Jesus can we fully enjoy the blessings of being God’s people, in God’s place, living under his rule and blessing for all eternity, which God first promised to Abraham.

So, today, let’s thank God that we can experience the blessings of being part of his covenant people forever, because of the death of the Servant in our place.