Isa 42:18-25 Who is Blind as He That is Perfect, and Blind as the Lord's Servant? - Discussion

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Who Is Blind As He That Is Perfect, and Blind As The Lord’s Servant?

Isa 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? 
Isa 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 
Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 
Isa 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 
Isa 42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? 
Isa 42:24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. 
Isa 42:25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

Only the most spiritually blinded person will deny that the Lord is speaking here of “…My servant… my messenger that I have sent… he that is perfect… the Lord’s servant”. This is the same “My servant” who is also called “Mine elect, in whom My soul delights”. This verse continues… “I have put my spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.” So, the deaf and blind… “My servant” of verse 18-19 of this chapter is still speaking of the Lord’s elect, in spite of the extreme change of tone, and the seemingly contradictory characteristics of “[His] servant” in these verses:

Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isa 42:2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Isa 42:3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
Isa 42:4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Now the Lord is telling us that this same “My servant… [is] deaf and… blind”:

Isa 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? 
Isa 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 

To understand what the Lord is telling us we must notice that verse 18 is a commandment from the Lord, and when the Lord commands it is done. His elect were deaf and blind, and now they both hear and see simply because He commanded it to be so.

“Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear” is exactly what Christ says of us while we are yet deaf and blind, wanting to call down fire from heaven upon anyone who offends us [Luk 9:55], arguing about which of us will be greatest in His kingdom [Luk 9:46], and even denying that we know him [Mat 26:75]. Yet because we are His elect, He tells us, “Blessed are your ears for they hear, and your eyes for they see.”  

“Speaking of those things which are not as though they were” Christ tells us this of His disciples before they ever begin to understand His words:

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 
Mat 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Did Christ’s disciples at this point, hear or see or understand Him and His doctrines and the meaning of His parables? Four times we are told Christ’s very apostles did not understand His parables even after He had told them what they meant:

Mar 9:32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. 

Luk 2:50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 

Luk 9:45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

It was only after their conversion on the day of Pentecost that Christ’s own apostles began to remember and understand what He had been teaching them for the past three and a half years. 

Joh 12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

Just as with the rest of mankind, and for the very purpose of being able to identify with and understand all the rest of mankind, Christ keeps His own elect both spiritually deaf and spiritually blind until the appointed time. Like ancient Israel we simply cannot come up out of spiritual Egypt, within ourselves, until the iniquities of the spiritual ‘Amorites’ within ourselves is fulfilled. Then, only at the appointed time, we are granted to go up and possess the land. 

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Num 33:53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

Only at the appointed time for each of us do we begin to destroy the giants and the beasts within ‘the land’, which ‘land’ symbolizes our bodies and our “old man” with all his passions and lusts and lies and false doctrines:

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

Until that appointed time it is just as true of “Mine elect… My servant”, as it is of the rest of this world:

Isa 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

Truly these words are ours to live and to keep at our own appointed time:

Isa 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? 
Isa 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 

King David was used to reveal to us that it is given to the Lord’s elect to be the first to live through and to “keep [the Lord’s] righteous judgments”:

Psa 119:106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

Those words appear to the natural mind to be saying that King David had decided on his own to ‘perform [and] keep [the Lord’s] righteous judgments”. Indeed, ancient Israel, like Joseph’s brothers, thought their deeds, good and evil, were their own deeds. However, that is a very carnal way of understanding what it means to “keep thy judgments”. The scriptures have always taught that the Lord is sovereign over “all things”. A much more mature understanding of how we will all “keep [the Lord’s] judgments” is to understand the meaning of the commandment to “keep the things which are written therein”:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

It happens that “the things that are written therein” are all of the Lord’s “righteous judgments” made known to us in the form of seven seals, seven trumpets and seven vials, which fill up the wrath of God and His judgments upon the kingdom of our rebellious old man. 

We are very clearly informed that “no man can enter into the temple of God “Until the seven vials of the seven angels is fulfilled” within our lives:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

This is how King David, and each of us at our appointed time will “keep [the Lord’s] righteous judgments”:

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

It is only by “keep[ing] the things written therein”, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials of the wrath of God, that we will be granted to “enter into the temple of God”. 

The three-step process of being judged involves, 1) the seven seals, 2) the seven trumpets and 3) the seven vials, and it requires patience to endure all “[the Lord’s] righteous judgments… unto the end”.

Mat 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Rev 16:7 And I heard another [voice] out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 

Rev 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

Therefore, we are admonished:

Jas 1:2 My brothers count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 
Jas 1:3 knowing that the proving of your faith works patience. 
Jas 1:4 But let patience have its perfective work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (LITV)

The “various trials” of our lives are the seals, the trumpets, and the vials of the Lord’s judgment, His wrath upon the rebellious kingdom of our old man. Job is the Old Testament type of who we are, and like Job we must patiently endure the Lord’s righteous judgments upon the kingdom of our old man within us. The Lord knows all of this, and that is why He gives us this profound admonition:

Luk 21:16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 
Luk 21:17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. 
Luk 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

The Lord’s judgment against our old man is His righteousness, and “His righteous judgments” within us:

Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 

When ‘the Lord’s righteousness’ is within us, we do much more than keep only the letter of the law. “The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake” because “His righteousness”, does not just outwardly obey the words “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. The Lord’s righteousness magnifies that law to:

Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 “magnify the law and make it honorable” and are the foundations of the “time of reformation” of:

Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

The coming of Christ proclaiming His great “time of reformation” and His “magnifying [of the] law”, culminating in His death and resurrection, is the foundation of “the Israel of God” which is “the kingdom of God within [us]”. 

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Gal 6:15 Certainly, it doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation. 
Gal 6:16 Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

When Christ first comes to us, we are not capable of “worshipping Him in spirit and in Truth”. We aren’t even capable of understanding our lost and dying condition when the Lord first comes to us and begins to drag us to Himself through His judgments upon our sins and through the fiery trials of life.

This is how we appear to Him when He decides to begin to drag us out of the darkness and lies of ‘the great whore [who is] the mother of harlots’:

Isa 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 

These words are is, was and will be words of our Lord. They had a past application, they have a present application, and they will have a future, lake of fire application, just as the last 6 verses of chapter 24:

Isa 24:19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 
Isa 24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 
Isa 24:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 
Isa 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Isa 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

The prophet Joel quotes this prophecy, and the apostle Peter applied the words of this prophecy to the events surrounding birth of the New Testament church on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts.

Here is Joel referring to this prophecy of Isaiah 24:

Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 
Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 
Joe 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 
Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 
Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

And here is the apostle Peter applying this prophecy to the events surrounding the day of Pentecost when the church of the New Testament was founded at the coming of the holy spirit. It is through the holy spirit that Christ dwells within His elect:

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 
Act 2:17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I can remember as if it were only yesterday, commenting to my son-in-law that I did not understand why Peter would say such a thing when there were no heavenly signs in the sun or the moon on the day of Pentecost. The only ‘heavenly sign’ that day was the ‘cloven tongues of fire’. I had no spiritual understanding at all at that time, but I was completely unaware of my own ignorance of who is the ‘Sun’ and what and who is the ‘moon’. Christ, of course, is “the Sun of righteousness” and the ‘moon’ is His “church in the wilderness” which had shed His blood just a few days earlier.

Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I [your father… “the sun”] and thy mother [the moon… the church… “the mother of us all”, Gal 4:26] and thy brethren [the stars] indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

So, the scriptures reveal the spiritual meaning of ‘the sun’ and ‘the moon’ in the book of Genesis, and now Isaiah is using these same symbols in a prophecy which spiritually refers to “the Sun of Righteousness”, Christ, being darkened through death, by the ‘moon’, “the church in the wilderness” which shed His blood as a sin offering and “a propitiation for our sins… and… for the sins of the whole world”:

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

That is the spiritual meaning of:

Isa 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

It is “all… of God (1Co 8:6) after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11) and “for [our] good” (Rom 8:28)… for His righteousness sake” so He will have the occasion to “magnify the law” and reveal that His law is not the shadow of the law of Moses, but His law is “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus”:

Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Meaning:

Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.