Because the Servant has borne sin, barren Zion becomes a joyful mother, the forsaken wife is restored, and the ruined city is rebuilt in beauty and peace.
The world sees a despised and defeated man, God sees his victorious Servant, and faith sees the substitute who bears our sins.
God awakens Zion from condemnation and shame, announces his return as King, and leads his redeemed people out in a new exodus.
God strengthens his pilgrim people by calling them to remember his past faithfulness, trust his everlasting salvation, and stop fearing mortal opposition.
Over the long weekend I read Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library. Published in 2020, it became a worldwide bestseller and has sold more than ten million copies. Its heroine, Nora Seed, reaches a point where she no longer wants to live. Instead of dying, she enters a mysterious library in which every book contains a different life she might have lived had she made other choices…
Unlike stubborn Israel, God’s Servant listens, obeys, suffers faithfully, and trusts the LORD to vindicate him.
Zion fears that God has forgotten her, but the LORD answers with tender compassion, unbreakable commitment, and the promise of a family larger than she can imagine.
God’s Servant will restore Israel, but that is too small a thing: he will also bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.