2. The Servant: Act of Atonement Isaiah 49-55 (Ch 50, p. 679)

3. Salvation – a Last week – b God is ABLE and WILLING to Save a But, what is “Salvation”? b For the Israelites: g A return to the Land; restoration of Jerusalem (Accomplished by Cyrus, 44:26,28) g A Restoration of right standing with God (Temple worship, faithfulness, atonement) b A Bigger Plan – g Light to the Gentiles... Salvation to the ends of the earth (49:6) g The Restoration of well-being/blessedness [shalom] to the whole creation (48:18)

4. 1. The PROBLEM a No-one to blame but OURSELVES (Isa 50:1-3) b Two Images make the same point (v 1): g Divorce – the “certificate” shows it was our fault (we sinned) g Creditor payment – it was our debt of sin that needed paying a Why do we now not “come” when he calls? (v 2) b Lack of faith – we do not believe He can save us g His arm is too short; He lacks strength. b WRONG! He CAN Save ! ! ! (v 2-3)

5. 2. The SOLUTION a A Suffering Servant (Isa 50:4-9) b Four “Servant Songs”: 42:1–7(9); 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12 b Build on each other; Common Themes: g Justice, restoration, salvation, peace, healing (42:1, 3-4, 7; 49:5-6; 53:5-6) g Teaching, word (sword of the mouth), instruction (42:4; 49:2; 50:4) g Suffering, discouraged, labour, mocking, punished, crushed (42:4; 49:4; 50:6; 53:3-5) g Faithful, righteous, “weak”, humble, trusting in God (42:3, 6; 49:4-5; 50:7-8; 53:11) g Vindicated by God (49:4-5; 50:7-8; 53:11-12) g An offering for our sins, not his own (53:3-5, 7-9, 10-12) g Dead (53:8-9, 12); and restored to life (53:11-12) g Light/Salvation to the Gentiles (42:6; 49:6; 52:15)

6. 2. The SOLUTION... a Two servants: Cyrus the King; The despised servant b Unlike “strong, proud” Cyrus; The servant was “humble” b Cyrus did the lesser job: Restoring Israel physically/geographically b The Servant does the greater job: Removing sin, restoring righteousness

7. 3. The RESPONSE a Look to the Lord, not yourself (50:10-11) b Look to the Lord & His servant (50:10) g Fear the Lord(respect), g Obey the Servant, g Trust the Lord b Do NOT make or trust in your own Light (50:11) g Leads one way: To TORMENT. a Only ONE path to SHALOM [wellbeing].

8. SHALOM from the Servant a Salvation is bigger than we think! b Its cosmic (not limited) b Its corporate (not individual) b Its continual (never ending) a Final full-blown Shalom comes at the end of time. b We continue the servant’s work until then.