Who's the Suffering Servant of the LORD in Isaiah 53?

There are generally 3 different interpretations of the prophecy found in Isaiah 53. The most dominant one which is the Christian interpretation of this passage of scripture outlined in the New Testament by the Apostles, is indeed attributed to Jesus Christ or Yeshua Ha-Moshiach, the Jewish Messiah. Perhaps the most famous part of the New Testament attributing this prophecy to Jesus is found in the book of Acts 8:26-40. The story about the Ethiopian eunuch who is sitting in his chariot and reading from Isaiah 53 when Philip approaches him as commanded by the angel of God. Philip asks the eunuch if he understands what he's reading. The eunuch replies, "How can I? Unless someone explains it to me. Who is the prophet talking about? Himself or someone else?" Then Philip starts with that very passage of scripture and tells him about the good news of Jesus. The eunuch then believes the gospel and asks Philip to baptise him.

The second interpretation is offered by the Jewish people who do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. They accuse Christians of taking Isaiah 53 out of context and understand this servant to be the nation of Israel. The strongest argument made for this interpretation is that the servant is explicitly identified as Jacob or Israel in Isaiah 41:8, Isaiah 44:1, Isaiah 44:2, Isaiah 44:21, Isaiah 45:4, Isaiah 48:20, and Isaiah 49:3. This interpretation however falls apart pretty quickly. First of all, the first servant of the LORD is actually Isaiah himself in Isaiah 20:3. The second servant of the LORD is Eliakim, son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20. Then in Isaiah 37:35 David is called the servant of the LORD. So clearly there's more than one servant in Isaiah's scroll and it's not wise to assume that just because Jacob or the nation of Israel is called the servant of God more than anyone else, therefore anywhere we see the word "servant" without an explicit identity, we must assume it's Jacob or nation of Israel.

Another reason why the second interpretation falls apart is that Jacob or the nation of Israel is considered a sinful nation in need of redemption whereas the servant of the LORD in Isaiah 53 is righteous and is likened to a lamb that is led to the slaughter for sin offering. Isaiah 42:18-25 calls Israel a deaf and blind servant who pays no attention, who's sinned against the LORD and has been handed over by the LORD to become loot. In contrast, there is another servant in the same chapter in whom the LORD delights, and puts His Spirit on; who will bring justice to the nations. In Isaiah 42:6, God says that He's going to give this servant away as a covenant for the people and a light to the gentiles. Isaiah 42:3-4 says this servant will remain faithful and will not falter, until he brings forth justice on earth. Sounds very Messianic if you think about it! Similar to the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, who is righteous and has no deceit in his mouth and dies not for his own sins, but for the sins of others.

The third interpretation offered by Rabbinic Judaism to solve this problem is that the servant is not the whole nation of Israel, but a righteous remnant within the nation of Israel such as the prophets. This interpretation fails as well for a number of reasons. Firstly, the servant is referred to in a singular fashion and if it's figurative language, then it must be the whole nation of Israel and cannot be a selection of it; but if it can be a remnant within Israel, then why can't it be the Messiah? Isn't the Messiah going be a the best representative of Israel? Also, all those references to Jacob or Israel to justify this interpretation is no longer binding because they are referring to the whole nation of Israel, not a righteous remnant within Israel. Secondly, Isaiah himself needs atonement for his sins in Isaiah 6:6, Isaiah 42:19 calls even the messengers sent to Israel deaf and Isaiah 43:27 says those God has sent to teach Israel have rebelled against Him!

In contrast to all of this, the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 is going to be highly exalted, which is a word used for the LORD Himself in Isaiah 6:1. The Hebrew word used in both is וְנִשָּׂ֛א [wə-niś-śā] which is best translated to extolled, highly exalted or lifted up. Furthermore, Isaiah 53:6 and 53:12 talk about how this servant makes intercession for sinners through his brutal death. Interestingly enough, Isaiah 59:16 tells us that God looked and couldn't find anyone to make intercession and so His own arm achieved salvation for Him. The Hebrew word used for intercession in these verses comes from פְגִּֽיעַ [p̄-gî-a‘] which is best translated as intercession. And fascinateingly enough, Isaiah 53 starts with: "To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?!" Isaiah 52:10 says: "The LORD will lay bare His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God." Let's not forget that salvation in Hebrew is Yeshua or basically the name of Jesus in Hebrew!

Did Jacob Really Wrestled with God and Prevailed?!

One of the most mind-blowing passages in the Torah is perhaps Genesis 32:22-32, where Jacob is left alone and a man wrestles with him till daybreak. It's written that when the man saw that he could not overpower him(Jacob), he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched. He then says to Jacob, "Let me go for it is daybreak." to which Jacob replies, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man blesses him and changes his name from Jacob to Israel, which in Hebrew means He who wrestles with God. Jacob calls the place Peniel which in Hebrew means the face of God. He says, for I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared.

Now I understand that there are some who would argue that the man who wrestles with Jacob here is not God, but rather an angel of God who is called Elohim, translated as God, just as Moses is called Elohim in Exodus 4:16. However, from what I know, the mainstream understanding in the Christian worldview is that this man is indeed God, but since God's Unity is complex in Christianiy and understood by the doctrine of Trinity, this man is believed to have been the pre-incaration of  Jesus Christ or the second person of Trinity, aka The Son of God, the image of the invisible God. In this article, I do not want to argue for that or present the reasonings behind it. My purpose in this article is to open up the spiritual meaning behind this portion of the Torah. I believe anything written about the physical Israel has a deeper spiritual meaning behind it, and this story is not exempt, so let's get to it already!

This wrestle in my view represents a spiritual struggle which happens in the mind of literally every single one of us as we grow up. It's not a win-lose game, though it may appear to be, if we only look at it from an earthly perspective. In other words, if Jacob wins, it doesn't make God a loser. God wanted to bless Jacob. Jacob wanted to be blessed too, so why are they fighting, you might ask? The reason lies behind the fact that Jacob's view of blessing is different from God's. Jacob is thinking of material things just like we all do when we think of blessings, whereas God wants to bless us with eternal life, not merely with materials in a world that is doomed to destruction. As a result, the struggle is between God's will and man's will.

When God asks Jacob to let him go, Jacob says no. I will not let you go unless you bless me. This is a response that God is waiting to hear from us. The irony here is that God can easily leave if He chooses to without our permission. But He would never let go unless we let Him. He sometimes even intices us to ask Him to leave us alone, in order to make sure that we're serious about wanting His blessings. When Jacob says he will not let God go unless He blesses him, he's literally saying that he is willing to stay there and die unless God blesses him. That means Jacob is finally ready to give everything in this world up for this blessing. That's the climax of the story. That's when both Jacob and God win. It's a win-win situation, not a win-lose situation!

In the same way, I believe God wrestles with every one of us. Once we're ready to give everything up unless God blesses us will be the climax of our story. It will be the moment we prevail but God wins too and we both rejoice in this victory. What if we lose? Well, that certainly won't be a win for God. It will either be a lose for God as well or a neutral. Because as God says in Ezekiel 33:11, He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. So while in earthly and physical perspectives, a wrestle is a win-lose match, our wrestle with God is either a win-win or a lose-lose and it's all because of the different wills at work. Our will which is focused on the flesh vs. God's will which is focused on the spirit.