"In Remembrance of Me" (Part 2 of 0)

The Lamb of God (Isa. 52:13-53:12) – Part four

Many passages in the Old Testament, both historic and prophetic, recall the deliverance of the children of Israel out of !Egypt — the lamb, the overshadowing angel, the destruction of the host of the enemy, and freedom for the captives. Nowhere, however, is the symbolism so lofty as in Isaiah’s awesome vision of the lamb of redemption, the Passover Lamb, which was at the same time a man! Nowhere is Old Testament prophecy wedded so closely to New Testament fulfillment. And nowhere is there a proof so irrefutable of the divinity of the Scriptures.

Readers of Isaiah, both Jews and proselytes, could only be puzzled as to the !meaning of such a passage—until its full import was brought to light in Jesus himself.

 “Of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man ?” (Acts 8:34).

Even today, when in retrospect the allusions to the Messiah seem so clear, Rabbinical scholars twist and turn every way in vain efforts to attach the prophecy to someone or something else: to Isaiah himself, martyred for the nation; to Hezekiah, the good king whose faith sustained Judah, and who was symbolically “raised from the dead” to a renewed life;1 or to Israel corporately, suffering (faithfully?) at the hands of wicked Gentiles. But, for anyone with Bible in hand and intelligence to see the evidence, the man who is God’s servant — His “arm”, who dies as a sacrificial lamb, and is raised to prolong his days . . . such a man can be none other than Jesus the Messiah!

The symbolic links with the Passover are obvious: the “sprinkling” (52:15) of the blood of the sacrificial lamb (53:7), and the resultant ‘birth” of a multitudinous “seed” (ve. 10). What is an advancement, or at least a change of emphasis, from the first Passover, is this: the death of the “Lamb” accomplishes not just deliverance out of bondage, but forgiveness and moral reconciliation with God (vv. 5,6, 10-12). Not just freedom from literal slavery, but also freedom from the spiritual tyranny of “King Sin”! Here is the clearest Old Testament indication of the fulness of God’s purpose (for “it pleased the Lord to bruise him”—v. 10!) in Christ for all time—a “mystery” to be unveiled fully in the New Testament.

Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12

52:13: “Behold, My servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high”. The complete purpose of all the section that follows is outlined in this opening verse. It is the same purpose amplified by Paul in Philippians, that the true servant of God must first serve faithfully to the end, and only then be exalted to rule. The cross must precede the crown:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form2 of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (2:5-­11, RSV).

52:14: This verse adequately expresses the astonishment of those who see such a man, marred more than any other by the sufferings he must endure — mental as well as physical suffering. And yet the astonishment is not just because of his sufferings, and the effect they have upon his appearance — but also because of his reaction to those sufferings: Though apparently smitten by God, he opens not this mouth in complaint, but submits himself absolutely to the Father’s will.

52:15: As many were astonished, so also will he sprinkle many! There will come to pass a new thing in the earth, something until now only vaguely hinted at by the most explicit of Scriptural types. Something never seen nor heard before is brought before the senses of mankind: The shed blood of a “Lamb-Man” is to be sprinkled upon the hearts of many (Heb. 10:22; 12:24)—cleansing them from all iniquities so that, like doors, they might open to receive the purifying effects of truth and love.

What has been done for us now, through the “sprinkling” of the blood of the true Passover lamb (1 Pet. 1:2), remains to be offered also to unregenerate Israel (Ezek. 36:25) and finally (as hinted in Isa. 52 15) to the world at large —when many nations, figuratively sprinkled”, will learn righteousness. The dazzling events of this sprinkling process will in every sense shut the mouths of kings, and bring them and their subjects into subjection to Divine Law. They will be dumb with astonishment, not only at the remarkable Spirit power wielded by the world’s new king, the Lamb-King, but also at the mighty universal revolution that will institute an era of peace and righteousness ,such as is beyond the comprehension of the world’s greatest statesmen today. Thus will all nations of the earth be blessed in the terms of the promises made to Abraham.

53:1: “Who hath believeth our report?”: This recalls the words of Rahab of Jericho to the spies:

“For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did. . . And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt . . . ” (Josh. 2:10,11).

But, by contrast, the report of the salvation effected through the greater “Passover Lamb” can scarcely be believed by the nations—and not even, at first, by his disciples:

“And their (the women’s) words seemed to them (the apostles) as idle tales, and they believed them not” (Luke 24:11).

“And to whom is the arm of the Lora revealed”?: Christ, the “holy arm” made bare by Yahweh in the sight of the na­tions (Isa. 52:10), was typified by the “stretched-out arm” of Yahweh to brig His people out of Egypt (Exod. 6 6; 15:16; Deut. 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; Isa. 63: 12).

After repeating the fact (as in 52 14) that there was no form nor comeliness nor beauty in this man, this “arm of the Lord” (53:2), Isaiah gives the reason for the marring of his countenance: his rejection, his sorrow and grief (v. 3), and his role as a burden-bearer — accepting wounds and chastisements on behalf of others (vv. 4,5.) As a flock of sheep, says Isaiah, we have all strayed; but the effect of our iniquities Yahweh hath laid upon him—this “lamb” (v. 6). And so the now-central figure, of a sacrificial lamb, continues into the next verse:

53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth”: The meekness and inoffensiveness which distinguishes the lamb from other animals was always characteristic of Jesus. Like the lamb whose only defense was the shepherd, so Jesus trusted only in Yahweh, “the Lord his Shepherd”. Other animals will fight in self-defense, but the lamb is invariably gentle, mild, and meek.

The Shearing

“As a sheep before her shearers”: As discussed in an article several years ago3 the reference to shearing is quite significant here. Sheep-shearing was generally performed in the spring, at Passover time, it was a season of great rejoicing (1 Sam 25:2-13; 2 Sam. 13:23-29).

The female gender (indicated by “her” in Isa. 53:7) stresses the passive nature of the “lamb’s” submission. Or perhaps a clue to its usage is in the sacrificial difference: The sin-offering for a ruler was a male kid, but the sin-offering for commoners was a female kid or lamb (Lev. 4:23,32). The rulers of Israel were not to benefit from the humiliation and death they inflicted upon Christ, but the common people, who heard him gladly (Mark 12:37), were to be cleansed by his offering for sin.

A third point of great significance: The use of the plural, “shearers”, seems relevant when the other instances of the words are considered. Only four men in the Bible are said to have employed shearers, though none of the four was spoken as being a shearer personally (Gen. 31:19; 38:12,13; 1 Sam. 25:2,4,7,­11; 2 Sam. 13:23,24). Not one of the four (Laban, Judah, Nabal, and Absalom) was a righteous man. And each had malevolent intentions toward another person which failed to work out as intended. Consider the anti type of all this: The Jewish elite class was the “shearer” of Jesus, but the actual operation was performed by their “employed” “shearers,” the Romans. And the “shearing” of Jesus which they master-minded worked out, at the last, to the exaltation of the one they sought to humiliate, and ultimately to the glory of his Father.

The appropriateness of the “shearing” symbol is enhanced by the realization that the resultant wool would be used for garments. The “lamb” before its death was made “naked.” (see Psa. 22:18; John 19:23,24) so that others might be “clothed” (even those who “sheared” it, if they would repent) ! Through his humiliation and sacrifice Christ provided a “garment” by which our “nakedness” may be covered (cp. Gen. 3:21) !

53:10: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him”: The picture is completed by this thought. God Himself was the Saviour and Redeemer of His people:

“God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin (margin: by a sacrifice for sin), condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3).

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself’ (2 Cor. 5:19).

The same God who stretched forth His mighty hand to redeem His family out of Egypt and bondage, did so again through the son of His right hand, made strong for Himself (Psa. 80:17). The God who was active in the first “salvation” was just as active in the second; this first principle contravenes all orthodox ideas of a vengeful God placated by a loving Son (an absurdity borrowed from paganism).

The Lamb in the Apocalypse

Isaiah 53, with its bold portrayal of the “Lamb-Man” who died so that others might live, reaches its apex in the Apocalypse. There, time after time, Christ appears as the “Lamb”:

  1. He stands as though having been slain (probably, exhibiting the nail-prints in his hands — John 20:25, 27), to receive power and riches and honor and glory (5:6,8,12,13), and to open “the book” (6:1).
  2. He sits on the throne to receive worship from a great multitude clothed in white robes (the “garments” he gave them!), which have been washed in his blood (7:9,10,14) ). He, first the “lamb” and now also the “Good Shepherd”, feeds them and leads them to the living waters (v. 17).
  3. He has a “book of life” in which the names of his followers are written (13:8).
  4. He stands on Mount Zion with the redeemed (14:1,4,10).
  5. A song is sung of the “Lamb” and for the “Lamb”; and—true to our symbo­logy — it is also the “song of Moses” (15:3) — the song of deliverance from Egypt in Exod. 15, suitably amplified for the greater deliverance out of the “Egypt” of sin and death.
  6. And, incongruous as it might seem, the “Lamb” overcomes the great “beast-kings” that war against him. The “Lamb” becomes “King of Kings” (17:14) !
  7. A marriage supper is prepared for the “Lamb” and his “bride” (19:7,19).
  8. The “Lamb” becomes the ‘temple” and the “light” of the new Jerusalem (21:22,23).. Before there was ever a physical temple of God (or even a taber­nacle for that matter), the faithful worshiped God in their simple homes in Egypt. The blood of the lamb sprinkled on their doorposts made those humble dwellings “temples” of the Lamb. And, because of the Lamb’s blood, there was light and life in those homes while Egypt was shrouded in gloom and death. So it will be again.
  9. Because the “Lamb’s” throne is in the city-garden, the curse is removed (22:1,3).
  1. It must be admitted, there is much merit in a comparison of Isaiah 53 with Hezekiah. But, at best, the fulfillment is incomplete, and anticipatory of the One whom Hezekiah himself typified
  2. The word “morphe” does not mean “essential nature” or anything of the sort. Rather, it signifies “demeanor” or “character” or “attitude.” The same word in the next verse — “form of a servant”—clarifies this. The meaning is this: Jesus could have acted as though he were God., i.e., as though he had the authority from God (which he did !); but instead, he humbled himself and acted as though he were a servant.
  3. George Booker, “The Dew and the Fleece” L Logos, March 1977 (Vol. 43, No. 6), pp. 179-184.