 The arm of the Lord, what does it mean? For many Christians, Isaiah 53 is the single most important passage to present to a Jew when trying to present the gospel to a Jew. Isaiah 53, they argue, is a prophetic passage in scripture in which God informs us about a servant that will be exalted and at that time everyone will come to recognize that this servant suffered for the sins of the world and came to bring salvation to all those who believed in him. That's what they believe. I won't have time tonight to go into this passage in great depth. However, I will be giving a more in-depth lecture on Isaiah 53 in a few weeks at the JRCC, Rockford Avenue or Road. So for now, I just want to focus on a phrase that appears in Isaiah 53. I'll see what it can do to help us understand this chapter. The passage about the suffering servant actually begins in chapter 52 verse 13 and reads as follows. My servant shall succeed. He shall be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. Now the prophet does not explicitly inform us who the servant is, although the prophet does describe certain features by which it may be possible to speculate who it might be. In verse 14 and 15, he continues as follows. Just as multitudes were astonished over you, saying his appearance is too marred to be of a man's and his visage to be human, so will many nations explain about him and kings will shut their mouths in amazement for they will see what had never been told to them and will perceive things they had never heard. So what's going on over here? In verse 14, we have the prophet Isaiah telling the audience, the Jewish people, that just as many people were astonished at you to the point that they deemed you subhuman. In the future, many kings and nations will be amazed for they will witness something they were never expecting. Okay, so let's continue. Isaiah 53 verse 1. Who would believe what we have heard and for whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Now what I want to look at is this phrase, the arm of the Lord. What does it mean? So the first thing I want to point out over here is that in verse 15, we are given to understand that something spectacular is going to happen. Something that at the time everyone will witness. This is something empirical that will be indisputable and so amazing that it will leave everyone astounded. In other words, when the nations will see the arm of the Lord bared for the benefit of the servant, they will come to recognize the true nature of the servant and this will be something that the nations will see clearly, not something that has to be explained to them. Another point to note here is that the entire thrust of this passage is that the servant is despised up until his exaltation. It is his obvious exaltation that ultimately changes the people's attitudes towards him. In other words, it's not as if at some point before the exaltation this servant is recognized as being lofty or great or anything special, but rather, it's only at the point of the exaltation to people who have a negative attitude towards the servant that they change their view of him and it's only because the arm of the Lord has been revealed upon him. Now, what does this mean? So in order to understand the exaltation of the servant and the phrase, the arm of the Lord, it would be helpful to read three verses before the opening of this passage. Isaiah 52 verse 9 reads as follows. Burst out in song and sing song of praise together a ruins of Jerusalem for the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made has made bear his holy arm to the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Now, it's reasonable to assume that the arm of the Lord spoken of in chapter 53 verse 1 is the same arm of the Lord mentioned in chapter 52 verse 10. In both cases the arm is revealed upon or for the sake of God's servant and in both cases this revelation of the arm of the Lord allows the nations to see the salvation of the servant of God. But again, what does this phrase arm of the Lord mean and is there anything in Scripture that can help us understand what it means when we speak of this arm of the Lord? Thankfully, there is. Let's go back a little bit in the book of Isaiah and let's read from Isaiah chapter 51. Isaiah chapter 51 verse 7 reads as follows. Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the nation with my Torah in its heart. Do not fear from the disparagement of man and do not be broken by their insults, for a moth will eat them like a garment and a worm will eat them like wood. But my righteousness will be forever and my salvation for all generations. Verse 9, awake, awake, dawn, strength, oh arm of the Lord. Wake as in the days of old, as in previous generations. Are you not the one who decimated the haughty, who terrified the sea serpent? Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Who made the depth of the sea a path for the redeemed ones to cross? The redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with glad song, with eternal gladness on the head. They will attain joy and gladness, sadness and sighing will flee. Now, clearly, this is not taking place yet. However, God has promised that will happen and he repeated this promise many times. Thus, we can see that the arm of the Lord is a reference to a display of might and strength on behalf of Israel. We read every day in our prayers from the book of Exodus, Chapter 15, about how God led Israel towards their land and through the power of his arm. Bigdol Zareachah, the power of his arm. He casted fear on the inhabitants of Canaan. So what we have here is that God has promised us that the arm of the Lord will be revealed on behalf of Israel, similar to the experience that took place when we left Egypt. Isaiah 51, Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53 all speak of the arm of the Lord. And in all cases, it is speaking about the amazing miracles that God will perform in the future when saving us from our enemies. This will cause, this salvation will cause the nations and the kings to be in shock and radically shift their view of the servant for whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed. Now, the revelation of God's glory upon the people of Israel and their ultimate exaltation is a consistent theme throughout the prophecies of the messianic era. And it seems natural to assume that that is what's being spoken of in Isaiah 53 verse 1. It's important to recognize that this is not just an isolated passage in Isaiah 53, but something taught in numerous passages in the Scriptures. It's taught in Isaiah 18, Isaiah 40, Isaiah 60, Isaiah 61, Isaiah 62, Ezekiel 37, Zephaniah 3, Sam 98 and many other places. So if, for example, Isaiah 53 were not to exist in our Scriptures, we would still know from the passages that I've just mentioned that God has promised to perform wonders for Israel in the future and that the nations who witness this will be shocked and be forced to change their view of Israel. For example, allow me to read from Micah chapter 7 verse 15. As in the days of when you left the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders. The nations will see and be ashamed of all their unavailing power. They will put a hand over their mouth, their ears will become like death. This is the same idea. It sounds just like what we read in Isaiah 52 verse 15. So if we go back and read the passage from Isaiah again, starting from 52, 13, my servant shall succeed. He shall be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. Just as a multitude were astonished over you saying his appearance is too marred to be of a man's and his visage to be human. So will many nations exclaim about him and kings will shut their mouths in amazement for they will see what they had never been told to them, what had never been told to them and will perceive things they had never heard. And then Isaiah 53 verse 1, who would believe what we have heard and for whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? I believe that anyone reading Isaiah 53 in the context of the totality of scripture will have a very easy time understanding what the arm of the Lord refers to and for whom it will be revealed causing them to be exalted in the eyes of the nations.