Written by Paul J Bucknell on April, 25, 2022
MGL2 God’s Design for His Life Isaiah 52:13-15
“13 Behold, my Servant will act wisely; He will rise up, be lifted up, he will be exalted on high. 14 Just as many were astonished at you,– so his appearance was disfigured so to lose resemblance with man, so his form was marred beyond recognition as a man. 15 Just so he will sprinkle many nations; and kings will shut their mouths because of him; for that which they were not told, they will see; and that which they have not heard, they will understand” (Isaiah 52:13-15 NASB).
The first of five triads, Isaiah 52:13-15, describes God’s overall process to train His people for difficult times. The U-pattern, later explained, will illustrate the grand overview of our spiritual lives and ministries, preventing us from being locked into a sinful, burdensome mindset. This passage broadens our faith to envision God’s purposes for our lives, enabling us to live above life’s difficulties.
An Overview of the Servant’s Ministry (52:13-15)
Confusion and despair often arise in ministry because we misunderstand God’s work. The Lord sets forth commonly repeated patterns of life and ministry experiences by offering many examples throughout the Scriptures. This list includes great men like Joseph, Job, Daniel, Noah (Ez 14:20), and our Lord Jesus. If we were more attentive to this whole cycle, we would not so often fall into the ‘pot holes’ of ministry. Instead, we would recognize these as special training times that give us opportunities to display our constant love for God by making the right decisions during difficult times (Jud 3:40.
Let me give you an example of how those in ministry can be confused. When young, motivated, and dedicated, many young people give up their ordinary course of life because of the great things that the Lord has done for them. They are burdened for the Lord’s work and position their lives to serve Him full-time. But what happens along the way?
After working hard to start a church or develop a ministry, they face one or more discouraging problems. Perhaps, because they are tenacious, they plug on. Their dedication convince them to overcome the difficulties, but they often become discouraged, and their faith wavers. They wonder, “Why is the Lord not giving success? Has He not called me?”
Now, if we are being lazy or immoral, we should know the answer to this question. We should repent from such behavior, but the silent struggles of the faithful continue on (Psalm 42). They wonder deep in their hearts if they rightly understood God and His Word. They question whether they are doing God’s will. They search long and hard to find out if they are missing some extraordinary truth or spiritual experience. This spiritual dilemma is not just our problem!
The overview of God’s dealings with his people in Isaiah 52:13-15 provides a framework to help us interpret and answer our inner struggles, strengthening us to imitate Christ Jesus, the Pioneer of our faith (Heb 12:1-2). This understanding guards us against temptation and positions us to positively embrace the life lessons God provides.
Let’s look carefully at the Servant’s life to understand this overview. Isaiah outlines this pattern in the first of five stanzas of the fourth Servant Song, Isaiah 52:13-15, and only later, at the end of Isaiah 53, fully unfolds the design of the success.
1. The Success of the Servant (Isaiah 52:13)
“Behold, my Servant will act wisely; He will rise up, be lifted up, he will be exalted on high” (Isa 52:13 NASB).
The first word, “Behold” draws attention to “My Servant.” Isaiah commonly uses “behold” to bring attention to a surprising idea (Isaiah 7:14; 42:1; 43:19). The unified Servant Song should have started with verse 12, so we need not be concerned about it crossing into Isaiah 53 and its artificial chapter division.
Isaiah, earlier in the chapter, reveals the success of His people, Zion (Is 52:1-12). “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” (Is 52:10). Only at the end of the Song, do we learn how the Servant witnesses that success (refer to the end of chapter 53). The church’s success depends on her ongoing relationship to Yahweh’s servant. “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6).
Isaiah 52:13 points to the success of “My Servant” (also 53:11). Those whom God has called into ministry can consider themselves God’s servants (see Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 3:5, etc.). When changing our career path and devotion into such service, we can quickly identify with the hope of success spoken of here aided by our dreams, hopes, and joys.
He plants within us a seed of hope for how He might work through our lives, inspiring us to leave our promising studies or occupations to take on the more rugged, often less-paying, and thankless job. In these steps, we further reveal ourselves as His committed servants.
I left my fully-paid engineering university program in 1974 to seek ministry training. Later in life in 2000, God redirected me from a salaried ministry to a ministry without any guaranteed pay. God does an amazing work in our lives to help us envision how He will provide and empower us for a more significant work by serving Him. Hope plays an integral part in this change of vision.
Three Stages of Success
Success wonderfully describes the promising results that come from the dedication of our lives to our Lord. This is what happened with the Servant. Isaiah 52:13 expresses this success by use of three active synonymous verbs to describe the three steps of exaltation for His Servant: rise up, lifted up, and exalted on high: “He will be raised and lifted and highly exalted” (NIV).
A brief glance at these three verbs views them merely as three synonyms, emphasizing the surety of the Servant’s exalted life. Unfortunately, the Septuagint and Old Latin translations strip away this emphasis by only translating two of the three Hebrew verbs. A more accurate interpretation identifies His three upward successive stages of exaltation from the depths.
These successive upwards steps begin only after one has descended. Jesus Christ first descended, as highlighted in the New Testament (Phil 2:7-11; Acts 2:33; 5:31), before His ascension. I’m not sure we are to precisely associate each verb with a specific event, but altogether we see successive upliftings take place in Jesus’ life.
Nor should our thoughts be stripped from the context here. The second verb, “be lifted up,” numerous times refers to the cross. Jesus was lifted up on the cross. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32). Also, note John 3:14, John 12:34, and 13:18. Perhaps, we are meant to see the fulfillment of His first upward step when He completed His Father’s will and said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). After all, God was pleased to crush the Servant (Isa 53:10).
Acts 1:9 uses the same word, lifted up, to refer to Jesus’ post-resurrection ascent into heaven, being “lifted up out of their sight.” Each upward step quickly transitions into a more glorious exaltation. Jesus’ exaltation includes His perfect obedience on the cross, resurrection, seating at the right hand of the Father and His coming return.
“20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:20-23).
“To Act Wisely”
The Hebrew word “to act wisely” powerfully combines the two ideas of wise action and success (Jeremiah 23:5). As God’s available Servant, he chose to do His Father’s will like a faithful son. Isaiah 53 prefers “My Servant” over directly using the term Christ (Messiah), but the Messianic sense is definitely involved as confirmed in the New Testament. Philip quotes Isaiah 53:7-8 to answer the Ethiopian eunuch’s question.
“34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him” (Act 8:34-35).
In the end, God greatly rewarded “My Servant.”
We like to hear how these steps lead to such honor and dream of how this one verse might summarize our lives. God begets this great hope at the beginning, when launching us into His ministry. What good is sacrifice and ministry if there are no success? The problem is that ministry hardly ever works itself out in a straightforward way. There are several reasons for this, but the chief reason is the training and proving of our hearts. If success came as quickly as suggested in verse 13, pride and self-confidence would fill us. The Lord cannot yet trust His full anointing upon our lives because we have not yet been proven.
In many cases, we mistakenly attach our value to fulfilling our goals rather than our faithful service. Let me explain. One of the reasons we so desperately look for success is that success has become our chief goal in life. True, the goal entices us to take steps forward. Like in Isaiah 52:13 the idealistic hope allures His servants forward but does not accurately portray the steps to reach the goal, even in His Servant’s case.
Isaiah does not cover up His difficult pathway to success; we will aptly describe them as we proceed. However, he uses these three powerful verbs to instill that bright, long-lasting hope to keep the goal and reward before His servants.
Let us think a little more about the word “act wisely.”
As said above, the word means both wise and successful. People today are willing to separate these two meanings. They are pretty happy to pursue a successful life and consider success apart from wisdom. However, foolishness, if not forsaken, always ends in compromise and horrible endings.
Satan strategizes to derail God’s servants, offering shortcuts (i.e., temptations). Jesus, thankfully, refused to listen to Satan’s easier path, which offered instant success—for Him to rule the world instead of setting His heart on His Father’s will (Mat 4:8-10). Jesus, however, set His mind on the cross and refused to bypass the tragic hill named Golgotha. If His goal were a mere title or known success, He would have succumbed to the temptation, but His overall goal was to make Himself available to the Father; He acted wisely.
If our goal is success, we will face derailment.
If we make obedience our goal, we will find wonderful success from our wise decisions.
When the Father asked His Son to die on the cross, it brought excessive grief. Jesus anguished in prayer at Gethsemane. But do you remember what He said in the end? “Not my will but Thine be done.” He not only said that He was available but made Himself so, showing His earnestness to God. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” We, too, have these daily challenges before us and, no doubt, mindlessly plow through most of them. Some challenges, however, cause us to wrestle with obedience. God uses such trials to train us to live holy lives.
A godly leader chooses to complete God’s will rather than gain immediate success. He will not be distracted from his chief goal of observing God’s will. Notice how Peter and the other disciples affirmed their commitments but failed in the end.
“Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherds and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’” But Peter answered and said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a cock crows, you shall deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too” (Mat 26:31, 33-35).
Peter was so conscious of his thoughts of success that he couldn’t take in the warning. When it came to the real test, he failed. Why? He didn’t apply the spiritual disciplines he needed—praying as Jesus did. His self-confidence did him in; when facing the pain and thought of losing all, he denied Jesus.
Insights to Learn
“Act wisely” gives us a clue as to how to pursue life’s success; wise action is always associated with the idea of success. It’s best to observe the two parts of success: (1) Success as a final goal, as seen in Isaiah 52:13, and (2) success as our proving period, as seen in Isaiah 53, an ongoing series of challenges to reach that final goal.
2. The Suffering of the Servant (Isaiah 52:14)
“Just as many were astonished at you,– so his appearance was disfigured so to lose resemblance with man, so his form was marred beyond recognition as a man” (Isaiah 52:13 NASB).
While verse 13 speaks about increasing success, verse 14 takes us on a completely different path. The astonished onlookers saw the treatment of “My Servant,” the righteous one. The “Just as” leads to the disturbing shock; it’s completely unexpected, especially in the previous setting. Why would one be lifted up and praised (13) and then be so horribly described (14)?
Suffering rudely awakens us from our dreams. We love gazing at our upcoming successes and joy; they are easily identifiable when things are going well. Very few, though, speak about the difficulties faced in ministry. We might hear of a brother’s success, but we often will not hear about the labor and difficulty that went into it. Let’s take a look at the contrast between verses 13 and 14. People only want to listen to the good side of things (v.13), but those who are weathering difficulties certainly appreciate hearing how others, through perseverance, made it through the hard times.
Disfigured
The Servant was severely disfigured, “His appearance was disfigured so as to lose resemblance with man.” He didn’t even look human, leaving every onlooker in total shock, “His form was marred beyond recognition as a man.” The Servant was like a magnificent, highly-prized resort hotel, holding such beauty one moment, but suddenly became a tragic sight, perhaps due to a fire or bombing. No one wants to visit the area anymore. Distortion, deterioration, death, and disdain caused people to no longer want to see or hear about the tragedy.
Do we remember how Christ suffered? He was brutally beaten. They pressed a thorn of crowns into His skull until blood ran down His face. Like an orange placed into a grating machine, they turned Jesus Christ into an unrecognizable pulp. He no longer looked like a man when He hung upon that cross. The stress on His body was so great that His heart broke.’ His legs did not need to be broken because Jesus’ body couldn’t tolerate the abuse any longer; He finally died.
Suffering can enter our lives at any point; God does not promise to warn us or ask our permission. All appeared well before Job’s situation radically changed for the worse. The shock element throws our minds off-kilter, making it hard to discern our situation. If we are not ultra-careful, we can make radically wrong decisions at this point. We will not be asked to suffer to the degree of Christ—which I believe is impossible, but sudden horrible changes can undoubtedly cause us to revaluate our circumstances.
Jesus didn’t deserve to suffer, but we, as sinners, do. He didn’t deserve one ounce of suffering. We are the ones who rebelled against God, yet He was the faithful and true One. To make matters much worse, His disciples abandoned their faithfulness and loyalty. This verse, in Hebrew poetic style, repeats His disfiguring to ensure that we get a sure look at the one we would otherwise avoid.
The contrast between verses 13 and 14 cause us to wonder why such a faithful One, whom God promised to exalt, suffered. It induces us to wonder who it is and why He suffered. Isaiah prepares our minds by increasing our perplexity.
How would you respond to this tragic situation? Such promise mixed with unexpected agony becomes a gravely difficult situation, grievously testing our hearts. Our response proves what our goal is. In this case, the husband made a terrible decision. He left his wife and young church, moving far away and remarrying in another city. He gave up the ministry, having no place for suffering in his life. He only wanted success, rather than learning how to make wise decisions.
The overview is not yet complete. Although verse 15 somewhat answers our questions, at the same time, it deepens the plot and makes the riddle more complicated and intriguing.
3. The Purpose of the Servant’s Suffering (52:15)
“Just so he will sprinkle many nations; and kings will shut their mouths because of him; for that which they were not told, they will see; and that which they have not heard, they will understand” (Isaiah 52:15 NASB).
In Isaiah 52:13 God plants hope in His Servant but verse 14, with its “just as,” relays the tragic events surrounding the Servant’s life. Verse 15, with another unexpected turn, uses “Just so” to point to its ultimate good purpose. God designs great success for the Servant despite the obvious challenges that He faces.
Before explaining the hope found in these words, we need to briefly address its translation.
The Sprinkling Meaning and Translation
We must slow down as we discuss Isaiah 52:15 due to a varied translation which affects the interpretation. Most Bible versions have this verse translated rightly. The word preferred here in 52:15 is ‘sprinkle’ rather than ‘marvel.’ The Hebrew word means to “sprinkle with the fingers” as against “sprinkle with the hands” and is used 24 times in the Old Testament. The finger sprinkling helps detect the amount being sprinkled. Blood is the most commonly used sprinkled liquid, but water and oil are also used. This translation is very straightforward. Some translate this as “marveling over” rather than “sprinkling the nations” because of the quandary over its meaning. “How can something so defiled and abused bring cleansing or healing to others?” The translation “amazed” or “astonished,” however, is never used in the Bible for this Hebrew word.
“So shall he startle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they perceive” (Isaiah 52:15 JPS).
There are not many times the original Bible languages (Hebrew for Old Testament and Greek for New Testament) are needed to understand a word’s translation, but this is one of the exceptions. Good word studies can solve these problems. The Hebrew word regularly means ‘to sprinkle,’ often connected to cleansing ceremonies.
“And thus you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them,... and they shall be clean” (Num 8:7).
The meaning of this preferred reading, “Just so he will sprinkle many nations” is not easily understood; we can understand why.
In India, people typically eat with their hands, so it’s important to clean one’s hands before eating. Usually, some water is poured over the right hand to wash it before eating. But how would you like it if you saw someone willing to help you take the pitcher, dip it into dirty drain water, and then pour it over your hand? Would you then eat with that dirty hand? Certainly not!
This picture helps us better understand the idea of “sprinkling” and its connection with ceremonial cleansing. The successful yet despicable One, described in 52:13-14, will cleanse the nations.
The introductory “Just so” or “Thus” of verse 15 introduces the result of His humiliation mentioned in verse 14. The word “sprinkle” alludes to the Servant’s atoning work, which is later repeatedly stated. This idea of “sprinkling of many nations” is mirrored in 1 Peter 1:1-2, “… that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure” (1 Peter 1:2).
Sacrifices purify others, but it appears that “My Servant” is unholy because of the horrific condition of His body. They brutally treated His body while bearing our sins—this will be explained in the following chapter. When we assemble verses 14 and 15 together, we see how 52:14 “just as” is completed by 52:15 “so.” The line of thought proceeds:
“Just as many were astonished (or shocked) at you… (14)
so he will sprinkle (or purify) the many nations. (15)”
The puzzle is resolved for us because we know that Christ was holy, pure, and wholly righteous (Is 53:11). The steps to exaltation required the Servant to first go through extreme humiliation so that He might bring true aid to the many. Christ died for the world—“the nations”—and not just for the Jews. His death brought about a supremely better good. This has not been well understood or appreciated by all (e.g., Judaizers during Paul’s time).
The Ethiopian eunuch, upon leaving Jerusalem, sought to understand who Isaiah 53 was referring. Philip eagerly told him that this passage describes what had just happened in Jerusalem when Jesus the Messiah died on the cross. This indeed is our ministry too. We tell others of the Servant’s wonderful work. Who would think that I could preach the horrible crucifixion of “My Servant” in the mountains of India or on the high plateaus of Tibet? But His messengers are going throughout the world and nations hear the Good News! We will look more into this later.
A Worthy Goal
We need to mention one more aspect of this verse before considering our response to it. The last part of 52:15 forms Paul’s goal in life, “That which they have not heard, they will understand.” He planted churches in places where there were none. He shares this in Romans.
“And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man’s foundation; but as it is written, “They who had no news of him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand”” (Romans 15:20-21).
Paul based his apostleship on the work of Christ. Paul’s success is the fruit of Christ’s work. For this reason, Paul spoke much on his sufferings for Christ and what we will next describe as the U-pattern. “For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:16).
He considered suffering as part of his course. Notice how the apostle summarized the whole process in Romans 8:17. “If children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17). The glory that we share with Christ is gained from our suffering with Him. The fruit of our ministries results from Christ’s work, and we, like Him, similarly find success like our Master.
We rarely can see the final results of our suffering for righteousness’ sake, but Jesus’ example and these verses confirm that this is the way God intends to use such sufferings. Romans 8:28 is rightly quoted to support those going through such difficulties.
We cannot understand suffering if we do not understand its purpose. We need to accept its presence and God’s larger purpose in faith. Suffering is not used to gain God’s approval, though one’s trust and obedience indeed is sweet. Suffering is used for several reasons, one of which is to test our hearts. God also strategically uses tough times to display His wonderful love through our lives.
What is the result here? Greater blessings will result. We will not get to the details of how this Righteous One was richly rewarded yet, but can you accept His purpose of suffering in your life, even if you yet can’t see how God will bring that promised success?
The U-Pattern of Successful Ministry (Isa 52:13-15)
Having briefly discussed the three verses (52:13-15), we are now ready to discuss the overview it provides for Isaiah 53. Draw a capital ‘U’ and put three X’s on the ‘U,’ two at the top arms and one at the lower bend. Number them from the left. Each number connects with a verse.
Isaiah 52:13 is the hope of success that God gave to His Servant and instills in us. The number #2 sits at the bottom and stands for the sufferings of the Servant, the trials portrayed in 52:14. At the top right, 52:15, points to the vast blessings resulting from His Servant’s faithful service. Christ, starting in heaven, came to earth to go through this dark valley, but then, in His resurrection, found a name above all names, bringing great blessings to His people among the nations.
He can use the worst circumstances to accomplish His greatest purposes—as seen in sending His own Son to earth to die for sinners. However, we must not demand when or how these blessings might come; they will come but in God’s time. God’s purpose is greater than ours. We simply sow in hope (Psalm 126:5).
Summary of the U-Pattern
It would be nice to have our lives all mapped out along with the street names and turns! We could follow where the map leads, but this is not how the Lord guides us. Instead, we find our life’s map in the humble example of the Servant Jesus Christ when fulfilling God’s mysterious work given to Him. The cross, serves as a signpost, revealing the curve of the dangerous road ahead.
Christ’s faithful life encourages us by His faithful example. Once we see this pattern, we do not need to doubt God’s intentions. We can put off our pursuits of this world and wholeheartedly seek the Lord and His will. Our Lord Jesus sets the pattern for our lives. We are not to ask like John, “Lord, and what about this man?” but are too busy seeking the Author and Perfecter’s will. We seek to please our Father, and like our Master-Servant, bring the greatest blessings to those around us, glorifying our Father in heaven.
