Country Contrary to what many people believe, God is not some elusive spirit waiting for the clever few to find him.

Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg examines the first of four servant songs found in the book of Isaiah

that help us learn about God's self-revelation. We'll consider his identity, his power,

and his purpose. And Alistair begins in the opening verses of chapter 42. As I said to you, this is the first of what I referred to as four

servant songs in Isaiah. And in each instance, these prophecies clearly find their

fulfillment in Jesus. Now, you are sensible people, and you're listening to me

say that. And if I am where you are, given the way that my mind works, I'm saying, how does

he get there from there? No, that would be a good question. And that's the very right question.

Well, that's why I tell you all the time. It's important to read your Bible from the back to the front.

And when you read your Bible from the back to the front, you will find that when you get to the front, it's a lot easier to understand than it was because you started at the back. So let me give you one cross-reference, and in Matthew chapter 12, we have in part the story of how Jesus

healed the man with the withered hand on a Sabbath. It's a good story. You can read it for yourself.

As a result of the man being healed, the Pharisees were annoyed. And so Jesus, verse 15,

withdrew from the place, and many followed him and he healed

all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was. The reason was he didn't want to precipitate a

crisis. He was moving according to a calendar. He had a plan in view. And he didn't want people

to get the wrong end of the stick and hail him simply as a

miracle worker, because the real miracle that he was about to perform was the miracle of being a

savior for sinners. And so he said he didn't want anyone to tell them, and then listen to how

Matthew explains this. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet,

Isaiah. Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight. And what is he

quoting? Isaiah chapter 42, verses one and following. So these servant songs, which are written into real-time

history, six or seven hundred years before Jesus, causing the people who are reading them to say, what in the world is this all about?

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