This is an article about what God said in Isaiah 42:4 that he would not rest until he established justice on earth. As we all know justice is such a huge topic today in our modern world and including many Christians today. But there is a difference between the justice that’s being fought today which is commonly called social justice, compared to the justice God is fighting for in Isaiah 42. I will have to qualify that the what God fights for also includes that social justice which is really oppression, ethnic oppression, the poor by the rich abuses etcetera.

So this is really important to understand what is God talking about in Isaiah 42.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations.
² He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
    or make it heard in the street;
³ a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice.
⁴ He will not grow faint or be discouraged^[a]
    till he has established justice in the earth;
    and the coastlands wait for his law.

You can see that the Lord said that He puts His Spirit upon him, and His servant will bring forth justice to the nations V1-2. And then verse 4 God says He will not grow faint or be discouraged till He’s established justice in the earth. So we want to find out what is this word ‘justice’ all about. In order to understand what that word justice mean in Isaiah 42:4 we need to look at Isaiah 41 first.

Justice that God fights for is the justice between Him and the idols

Isaiah 41:21–24 (ESV)

Set forth your case, says the Lord;
    bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
²² Let them bring them, and tell us
    what is to happen.
Tell us the former things, what they are,
    that we may consider them,
that we may know their outcome;
    or declare to us the things to come.

God is challenging the idols to speak to Him, and ask them to set forth their case! And even bring their proofs! Do you know this is how God speaks to the idols in your life my life because the God of the universe the creator of the whole cosmic powers totally transcends and overpowers any idols of the cosmic darkness in this society in our culture.

God blasts idols as “nothing”

Here God is challenging the so called idols to tell God what happened before and what’s going to happen. God is really talking down on them because they are nothing exactly what the Bible says.

²⁴    Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.

Behold you are nothing, here is the most blatant and blazoned calling out of who these idols are really are and they are nothing. And God warned whoever chooses them will become an abomination.

My point is seeing how God talks down and condescendingly upon the idols and calling the idols as nothing, whereas they are beholden as precious to so many people including Christians in this world. The lesson here is they really are nothing and we must be liberated and set free from them.

Examples of who idols are in our life could be money, power, sex, culture overall as commonly portrayed in the city of New York or any Hollywood movies. Whenever we struggle with these idols in our lives just remember the Lord God we worship talks down on them and calling them as nothing. It’s best that we remember this and be cognizant of this wherever we go and bear this in mind and in our prayers and never be like a fool.

Now we are moving into the exciting part now:

Isaiah 42:3 (ESV)
3  a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.

So the question is what is this “justice”?

What is this “justice”?

Justice (mišpāṭ) is the leading idea of this first Servant Song, pointing to the scope of the servant’s work, his reliability in its discharge and his perseverance through to its accomplishment.^[1]

The word mišpāt is versatile, but its sense is plain in context. In the light of the foregoing court scene it must retain its meaning of ‘judgment at law’, the result of the trial between the Lord and the idols. The servant thus carries to the world the message that there is only one God. ^[2]

The word justice as depicted here is almost like the prime calling of the anointed servant of the Lord, which is really the Son of God himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore it’s really important to know its meaning in the context here. Justice is usually understood as equity or fighting against oppression or injustice, and very often understood as ‘social justice’ against the rich oppressing or colonizing lords.

But here justice is understood as ‘judgement at law’, the result of the trail between the Lord and idols. After you read Isiah 41, you will understand the anger, wrath, God vents at those idols, calling them as nothing! ’

Justice means God’s Kingdom, power & Glory

Therefore in effect, God is seeking to judge them with law, and bring about justice, as in a sense, God has been unjustly treated, as the idols robbed God’s honor and authority as the Lord over Israel and our lives today. God is seeking that ‘justice’.

So it’s really God seeking to re-establish His dominance, as the Lord’s prayer says “:For thine is the kingdom, power and glory forever.” And that’s our God. But the idols in our lives robbed that from our God, and hence Jesus has come to this world to seek to establish ‘justice’. And He accomplished that above all things, at the cross, where He died, and resurrected from the dead, having broken the power of death and Satan who holds the power of death.

Amen

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^[1] J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 318–319.

^[2] J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 319.