“My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.” (Isaiah 51:5)
In order to understand completely what a Scripture is about; one has to read the whole chapter. In this case we need to look at a few chapters. In Isaiah chapter 49, Isaiah prophesies about the servant of the Lord. It could very well be of Isaiah himself and appears to be but some of the Scriptures have references to the Messiah. In verse 2 Isaiah writes about how the Lord hid Him. This is no other than Jesus. Then Isaiah writes, “And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.”(Isaiah 49:6) So the Lord God is revealing to Isaiah what He said to Jesus. Prophecy is sometimes hard to understand because the prophet is speaking without understanding. But definitely chapter 49 is about Jesus.
Then in chapter 50, it seems that Jesus is speaking, telling the people of their sin and His encounter with them. “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:5-7) We cannot miss what Jesus says about what will happen to Him. He speaks as if it has already happened. Remember that Jesus is in heaven where past, present and future are known to Him.
Then in the next chapter, Jesus declares that salvation is close. Here we get a perspective of God’s time. Isaiah’s prophecy was given around seven hundred years before Jesus would be born. To the Lord, the time is soon. But to us here on earth ruled by time, it’s a very long time. In our verse of study, Jesus says, “My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth...” In reality salvation had already gone forth from God. It had been declared and established in the heavenlies. Nothing could stop it. It was a done deal in heaven.
Jesus continues that He will judge the people, saying, “...mine arms shall judge the people ...” Jesus said “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:22-24) Those that don’t believe in Jesus are condemned already. They remain in their sin. They remain in the kingdom of darkness. They remain influenced by the devil. They remain in darkness, not understanding the will of God.
What are the isles? They are the Gentile worlds. They are the nations that don’t know Christ. They long for Him and will come to Him. Today there are believing brothers and sisters all over the world. And the Lord is continuing to call those who belong to Him. At this time, even seven hundred years before He is born, Jesus knows those in the future who will believe and trust in Him. And He continues to call and to draw them until He comes for all of us believers, the living and the dead. And on His arm, we trust.
I encountered a study about the Arm of God by Rev. Dr. Bob Segress in his website “Preaching.com” concludes that Jesus is the Arm of God. This Truth is based on John 1:3, “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3) He deduces that the Oneness of the Trinity functions as administrator or planner, the executor who carries out the plan and the power in which the Father is the planner. Jesus is the executor, carrying out the plan. And the Holy Spirit is the power Who makes it possible. This explains it in earthly terms that we can understand. For our purpose it explains that Jesus is the Arm of God. He gets things done. He is the One Who accomplished the redemption of man. He is the One who carried out the Father's plan of salvation. And He is the One on Whom we have put our trust.
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