Light and God’s salvation plan in Isaiah

As I prepared the devotion, I wanted to explore how Isaiah understood the concepts of light and darkness. The immediate context in chapter 8 gives us a good clue, but I was curious to see how this fitted into the larger themes of the book. As it turned out, really well! For anyone interested, the way to do this kind of study without knowledge of Hebrew or Greek is to enter into the search box on biblegateway.com the word you are looking for (e.g. ‘light’ and possibly ‘blind’ for this study) and you will get all the references where the word occurs in your chosen translation. It is best to use a ‘literal’ translation so as to capture as many of the references in the original language as possible. I used NASB 1995, but ESV, KJV, NKJV and NRSV are also good options for this kind of study.

In the verses below, notice the association of light and darkness as moral categories; light involves walking in God’s ways and darkness means living in sin. The verses below give examples: pagan influences, relying on wealth and military powers (chariots, horses) for help, idolatry, calling wrong right and being one’s own moral authority.

Isa 2 5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners.     7 Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots.   8 Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made.

Isa 5 20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!

Darkness is also connected to blindness, a recurring theme in Isaiah. God’s people are blind in the sense that they cannot understand God’s word and His will mainly because their sin and wilful disobedience have blinded them (Isa 29:9-14). But there is hope because one day God will open their eyes, so they will discern the truth and understand what He is doing.

Isa 29 18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

Isa 32 3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, And the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The mind of the hasty will discern the truth, And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.

Isa 35 5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

Isa 42 16 “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone.”

How will this transformation happen? In the second part of the book, these events are linked to God’s servant. Confusingly, the servant is identified as Israel (Isaiah 41). In Isaiah 42, the servant’s ideal role is explained (to be light to the nations and to open blind eyes) and this is borne out elsewhere as Israel’s task. They are to testify to God’s character and wisdom among the nations by living godly lives (Deut 4:5-8). However Isaiah 42 also explicitly describes the servant as blind!

Isa 41 8 “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend, 9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.

Isa 42 1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. […] 6 “I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. […] 19 Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the Lord? 20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears.

Israel thus cannot fulfil their purpose to the wider world and are in need of help themselves. In the repeated descriptions of God’s servant (see below) an individual takes shape who assumes the role of Israel with the dual ministry to his own people, as well as to the Gentiles. (Note: Hebrew makes no distinction between capital letters and lowercase, but the translation anticipates the servant to be Jesus already in Isa 42:1, hence the capitalised ‘Servant’ there.)

Isa 49 3 He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory.” […] 5 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, And My God is My strength), 6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

This individual servant suffers opposition (Isa 50:4-10), is misunderstood and condemned by his people, but some see what happens to him and discern the truth: he suffered and died because of their sins (Isaiah 53:1-12). While this chapter does not specifically mention darkness or light, the transformation of this remnant group (the ‘we’) clearly indicates a move from spiritual blindness to sight.

Placed in this larger context, Jesus’ identification as the Light resonates with many of the themes in Isaiah. In the references below notice the association of darkness with evil and light with truth, right living, discernment and understanding. It is not surprising that many of Jesus’ miracles involved healing physical blindness as a sign of His spiritual ministry. Jesus fits the Servant in Isaiah who became Israel’s representative, the individual whose suffering and death brought salvation and an opening of blind eyes among a remnant of Israel and among the Gentiles.

John 1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. […] 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. […] 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 3 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

John 8 12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” […] 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

John 12 35 So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. 37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” [Isa 53:1] 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” [Isa 6:10] 41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. […] 44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. 46 I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.