by Andrew Fulford

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. (2) He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. (3) And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." (4) But I said, "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God." (5) And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him-- for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength-- (6) he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (7) Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you." (8) Thus says the LORD: "In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, (9) saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to those who are in darkness, 'Appear.' They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; (10) they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. (11) And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. (12) Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene." Isaiah 49:1-12

The above is the second of the prophet Isaiah’s “servant songs”, and I think it is a remarkably detailed picture of God’s kingdom economy. Obviously a lot more than a simple blog post could be written about its contents, but a few things stand out to me.

Firstly, the economy described in this song is an international economy. The images of mountains being turned into roads depicts (11), if nothing else, an increase in travel from the nations to Israel. No doubt this is because, already, the salvation of the Lord has been taken to the ends of the earth (6). In God’s kingdom economy, the nations no longer hide behind mountainous walls of conflict and fear, but instead open their gates to each other, to join in a global gift-exchange.

Secondly, God’s kingdom economy is described as a place and time where human flourishing is complete. Desolate places will be given back to human cultivators of the land (8), prisoners and those who dwell in darkness will be freed to rejoin human community (9), those who are hungry and thirsty will be fully satisfied, and everyone will be sheltered from the harsh elements brought upon this world by sin (10). This is a world of light, order, and fullness, the epitome of what God intended creation to be (cf. Genesis 1).

Thirdly, this kingdom will incorporate not just all peoples (6), but all strata of society as well: in the kingdom of God, not just the lowest of low (like the prisoners mentioned above), but the highest of the kings of the earth will come to bow down before the King of the Jews (7), submitting to his righteous, just, and saving rule. Obviously, the economies of these peoples (and thus the whole earth) will thus take on a just and equitable character, like that of their Ruler.

In addition to these striking images of the kingdom economy, Isaiah also tells Israel (and thus us) how this state of affairs will come about.

Primarily, this kingdom will come about because “one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers,” (7) will fulfill his Father’s predetermined mission (1-2), despite its apparent failure during his lifetime (4). This Servant, who is Israel-in-Person (3), will be vindicated by God (4, 7-8), and thereby will be given as a sacrament of God’s covenant (8) of peace and salvation to the people, both a sign and the means by which that sign will become reality. Further, the servant-king will draw in the nations by being a light to them (6), and apparently by means of the proclamation of his life (1-2, and the whole passage in context). Ultimately, the servant’s work will cause YHWH to be glorified throughout the whole earth (3, 6).

In addition, I think this passage implicitly tells us something about our role in bringing about this kingdom (and its economy), especially in light of the rest of Isaiah (cf. 54:1-3, 66:18ff): the renewed Israel, the body of Israel-in-Person, will travel on God’s highways out to the nations, to call them to submit to God’s newly installed king, the Saviour of the whole earth. It is evident from one of the passages just cited above (66:18ff) that this proclamation will not be met with total acceptance, and so we already see a pattern that is more directly expressed in countless ways elsewhere in scripture: the church will in a sense be a re-presentation of the Servant, in that like him it will proclaim God’s kingdom, suffer in doing so, but then ultimately see vindication in the obedience of the peoples.

This last thought, that the church is to re-present Christ, is in some ways a common thread to all aspects of the life of the church, and a helpful way to meditate on the mission of the church in bringing about God’s kingdom economy. In prayer, the church prays to the same Abba by the same Spirit that animated Christ, asking God to bring his kingdom (with Jubilee of forgiven debts) to earth. In baptism, each member of the church is united to the death and resurrection of Christ. In the Lord’s Supper, the church re-presents Christ’s work to the Father, calling for him to fulfill his kingdom promises, and simultaneously unifies itself to Christ as his body. In prophetic proclamation, it proclaims the truth it was given to convey, just as Christ was sent into the world to proclaim what his Father gave him to say. In works of power, it opens the eyes of the blind and sets the captives free, just as Christ was anointed to do. In acts of service, it empties itself of riches for the sake of the poor, just as Christ did for it. In all ways and in all places, the church works to make Christ present to all people, and in this manner brings the kingdom of the Servant to the ends of the earth.