What’s the connection between “the arm of the LORD” and “the servant of the LORD”? In the story of the exodus, they represent respectively God’s divine power and His human vessel. The arm of the LORD symbolizes the LORD’s strength and might in His bringing His people from slavery to freedom, while Moses as the LORD’s instrument was called His servant.
The difference between the two is clear. The first is divine, and the second is human. Against this backdrop, it is surprising to discover that in Isaiah chapters 40 to 53, the motifs of the arm of the LORD and the servant of the LORD are used in a way that both demonstrates their distinctiveness but also brings them to a point of correlation which is as significant as it is unexpected.
In those chapters the use of both the motif of arm of the LORD and servant of the LORD is noteworthy. Each of them is charged with its own individual import, and they represent, as in the story of the exodus, the power of the LORD on the one hand and his human instrument on the other. We will look briefly at each, starting with the servant of the LORD.
The Servant of the LORD
Before chapter 40 in the book of Isaiah, the expression “the servant of the LORD” refers to specific people (Isaiah the prophet in 20:3; Eliakim son of Hilkiah in 22:20; David in 37:35). After chapter 53 the servant is no longer mentioned in the singular and instead, we find that servants appear in the plural. In chapters 40 to 53 the servant of the LORD is a central and important motif. Its first appearance in these chapters is in Is. 41:8 where the servant is identified as Israel (Jacob). In the succeeding chapters, the servant of the LORD is at times clearly identified as Israel (43:10, 44:1-2, 21, 45:4, 48:20, 49:3) but at times the description of the servant is not consistent with the description of the people of Israel, their character and actions. A prime example of this dissonance is found in a comparison between the depiction of the servant in Is.42:1-9 and the description of Israel in Is. 48:1-11. The declaration “I will not give My glory to another”, which is found only in those two passages (42:8, 48:11), connects them in a way that also creates a comparison between them. This comparison is instructive. In chapter 42 the Spirit of the LORD is on His servant, who brings forth justice for the nations, is faithful, and for whose law the far coasts wait expectantly (42:1-4), while Israel/Jacob in chapter 48 is sinful and treacherous and is not destroyed only because of the LORD’s glory and name (48:9).
There are additional places in Isaiah 40-53 where the description of the servant clearly conflicts with the description of Israel. In chapter 44:26 the LORD establishes the words of His servant; in 49:5-6 the servant says that the LORD has given him the role of bringing Jacob back to Him and gathering Israel to Him, he is honored in the LORD’s eyes, he will be a light to the nations bringing the LORD’s salvation to the ends of the earth; in 50:10 the fear of the LORD and trust in Him are described as obeying the voice of His servant; in 52:13 we are told that the servant will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted (while in Is. 2:11-12 everything apart from the LORD that is high and lifted up and exalted will be brought low “and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day”!); and in 53:11 the servant of the LORD, who is himself without sin, justifies others and suffers for their sins.
The servant of the LORD in this part of the book of Isaiah (40-53) is, therefore, identified with Israel but (at least in part of the descriptions) is not associated with the rebellion and sin that Israel is guilty of. Like Moses, he is God’s human instrument to bring redemption to Israel and even to bring the LORD’s salvation to the nations. There are characteristics that associate him with the son of David in chapter 11 (both receive the Spirit of the LORD, both bring righteousness and judgment, both bring peace) and also with the speaker in chapter 61 (who is also anointed with the Spirit of the LORD and brings freedom to the captives and proclaims the acceptable the year of the LORD).
The arm of the LORD
Just as in the story of the exodus, in Isaiah, the arm of the LORD is the expression of the LORD’s power working for the salvation of His people and the downfall of His enemies. Before chapter 40 the arm of the LORD is only mentioned twice. The first (30:30), a clear reference to the might which the LORD exercised when He brought Israel out of Egypt and to His appearance on Mount Sinai (notice also verse 29), refers to the overthrow of Assyria (verse 31). The second (33:2), in a context that draws a parallel between the arm of the LORD and His salvation, comes in a prayer that the LORD will be the strength (arm) and salvation of those who have waited for Him.
Before getting to chapters 40-53 we will look for a moment at the last part of the book, in which the arm of the LORD clearly represents the LORD Himself. Twice in this section of the book (59:16; 63:5) we hear that the LORD found no partner in His desire to save and therefore His own arm will save. In other words, He will save by His own strength and power. This identification of the arm of the LORD with the LORD Himself appears again in 62:8 where the LORD swears “by His right hand and by the arm of His might”. This is surprising because we would expect that the LORD would swear by His name, and therefore the arm of the LORD stands in the place of the name of the LORD. It seems that here also the arm of the LORD represents the LORD Himself. The only additional reference to the arm of the LORD in these last chapters of the book (63:12) comes in a context recalling what the LORD did through Moses in the past, at the time of the Exodus, when His arm supported Moses and was with him to aid him in his task (the Hebrew says that the LORD caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses). The arm of the LORD represents, then, the LORD Himself, His incomparable power to save, and His glorious strength in helping Moses and the people of Israel in bringing them out of Egypt.
As we turn to chapters 40-55 we also find that the arm of the LORD signifies the LORD’s power and at least once is specifically associated with God’s working in days of old when He brought His people out of Egypt (51:9). What is especially noticeable in these chapters, however, is the role of the arm of the LORD in a future redemption for Israel and not just for Israel but also for all of humanity. Chapter 40 focuses on comforting the people (Israel)- God has now removed the iniquity of Jerusalem (40:1-2) and heralds of good news are called to tell the towns of Judah that their God is coming (40:9). God is about to come and by His arm, He will rule and collect the scattered and care for the weak, metaphorically called the lambs (40:10-11). In chapter 51 (verses 9-11) the speaker, presumably the prophet, makes an appeal to the arm of the LORD to act as it did in the past, at the time of the exodus. The parallel in that chapter in verse 5 between the LORD Himself and His arm (“the coastlands will wait for Me, and for My arm they will wait expectantly”) affirms the identification of the arm of the LORD with the LORD Himself. Then, the connection between the comfort of Jerusalem and the arm of the LORD which was hinted at in chapter 40 is made plain in 52:9-10 where His arm represents His power to bring salvation in the future also:
“ 9 Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.”
A Surprising Analogy
From all that we have already seen it is clear that in the book of Isaiah the arm of the LORD is God’s power to save which is clearly identified with God Himself, and in comparison, the servant of the LORD is His weak human instrument. It is wholly surprising, therefore, to discover in Is. 51:5, which speaks of the arm of the LORD, a parallel to what is said about the servant of the LORD in chapter 42.
Isaiah 51:5 5 “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait for Me, And for My arm they will wait expectantly.”
In this verse, the word “arm” appears in the plural and in the singular. In the plural, the LORD’s “arms” symbolize His power to judge the whole world. In the singular the words “and for My arm they will wait expectantly” are parallel to the words that come just before them “the coastlands will wait for Me”. The parallel here between the LORD Himself (for Me) and His arm (and for My arm) is clear and the meaning is that the inhabitants of far-off places (the coastlands) will wait for the LORD to help, save, and judge righteously.
The repetition in this verse of what was said of the servant of the LORD in chapter 42 is astonishing:
| The servant in chapter 42 | The arm(s) of the LORD in 51:5 |
| (vs. 2) he will bring forth justice to the nations
| And My arms will judge the peoples |
| (vs. 4) And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law | And for My arm they will wait expectantly.
|
These repetitions create an analogy between the servant of the LORD in chapter 42 and the arm of the LORD in chapter 51. This analogy raises the notion of an integral connection between the two, the servant and the arm of the LORD. But there seems to be no logic in this parallel – how could it be that the arm of the LORD is revealed as the servant of the LORD?
Hard to believe – the arm of the LORD as the servant of the LORD
What is hinted at in the analogy between the arm of the LORD in Is. 51:5 and the servant of the LORD in Isaiah 42, is unambiguous at the end of chapter 52 and in chapter 53 – the conflation of the arm of the LORD and the servant of the LORD in one character! What is possible to understand in different ways in said analogy, appears clearly in the opening of chapter 53. The prophet understands the difficulty that this proposition will raise, and even the abhorrence to the idea that will be felt by his hearers, and therefore he presents it from the outset as a question that identifies the difficulty: “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” We know that the arm of the LORD is the expression of His power, and even represents the LORD Himself, whereas the servant of the LORD is a human instrument. What is more, what has been said about the arm of the LORD to this point in the book of Isaiah in general, and since chapter 40, has raised the expectation of a mighty and powerful expression of God’s saving action (40:10-11, 51:5, 9-11, 52:10). But now what starts as a description of the servant of the LORD in 52:13-15 is transformed by this question (“And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”) to a description of a character described both as the servant of the LORD and the arm of the LORD. Even more astonishing is the fact that this question comes at the opening of a chapter that presents a man who suffers for our sins in our place, by whose wounds we are healed, and who, in his death, gives himself as a guilt offering for our sin. Can it be that in this person the arm of the LORD is revealed? A person also described as the servant of the LORD (53:11)?! It is clear from the question at the start of the chapter that this is exactly what the text is telling us, and that it even expects our shocked reaction and the bewilderment and difficulty that will accompany its reception!
Against the background of the normal use of the term “arm of the LORD” in Isaiah as an expression of the LORD’s power, identified with the LORD Himself, the unification of the arm of the LORD with the servant of the LORD points to an amazing thing. Also, in the story of the exodus the differentiation between the arm of the LORD as God’s power and the servant of the LORD as His human instrument is clear. Here, in Isaiah 40 to 53 the arm of the LORD and the servant of the LORD have those same identification but are brought together as one character in Isaiah 53.
This, of course, goes directly against what we would normally expect and leaves us with the obvious question:
Who is this?
