If you were a child of Christian parents in the 1980s or 1990s, there is a decent chance that at some point you memorized the Hebrew names for God. Like Jehovah Jireh, which means “the Lord will provide” (Gen. 22:14). Or Jehovah Rapha: “The Lord heals” (Ex. 15:26). Or Jehovah Nissi: “The Lord is my banner” (17:15).
There are eight such names altogether. (Besides the examples from Genesis and Exodus, they appear in Leviticus 20:8, Judges 6:24, Psalm 23:1, Jeremiah 23:6, and Ezekiel 48:35.) Learning these names—and in my case singing songs about them (with gradually accelerating Jewish melodies)—was just something we all did. Ever since, I have been unable to read the passages where Scripture introduces them without thinking of the names themselves, the songs they inspired, and the stories that gave them meaning. Clearly they made quite an impression; I have even written book chapters on all eight of them.
Until recently, though, I had never noticed that there is one passage in Scripture where the eight come together. And it is not just any passage, but arguably the most Cross-centered, Christ-shaped, emotionally resonant, and theologically significant text in the entire Old Testament—namely Isaiah 52–53.
This wonderful passage has two parts. The first half summons Zion to wake up, get dressed, shake off the dust, and celebrate the news that her salvation has come (52:1–12). The second half is a breathtaking poem on how this salvation has come about: through the unexpected, substitutionary, desolate, yet God-ordained suffering of his righteous, sin-bearing servant (52:13–53:12).
Readers familiar with both the Hebrew names for God and the song of the servant may have already noticed some connections between them. Take Isaiah 53:5, for instance: “The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (emphasis added throughout). This verse portrays the servant as both Jehovah Shalom (“the Lord is peace”) and Jehovah Rapha (“the Lord who heals you”). “We all, like sheep, have gone astray,” Isaiah continues in the next verses, evoking Jehovah Rohi (“the Lord is my shepherd”) and showing that our shepherd has become a lamb, led to the slaughter to carry our iniquities.
Two of the parallels are more obvious in Hebrew than in English. “After he has suffered, he will see [raah] the light of life and be satisfied” (53:11), Isaiah concludes, using the same root as Jehovah Jireh, which, beyond “the Lord will provide,” might be translated as “the Lord will see to it.” Just as God saw to Abraham’s need for a substitute as he prepared to sacrifice Isaac, Christ has seen to our need for a substitute who can satisfy the wages of our sin.
More startling are the allusions to Jehovah Nissi (“the Lord is my banner”), when Isaiah declares that “he will be raised and lifted up [nasa]” (52:13) and “he has carried [nasa] our sorrows” (53:4, ESV). Jesus lifts our sins by being lifted up on the cross, which makes him our banner, our lifted one: a standard raised high in the battle, promising shelter from our enemies.
The connections run beyond the servant song, however. They begin at the start of chapter 52. Isaiah grounds his call to wake up and get dressed in beautiful clothes in the promise that Jerusalem will once again be a holy city, free from anything unclean or impure (vv. 1, 11). His other invitation, to hear and celebrate the saving message being carried over the mountains by messengers with beautiful feet, springs from the fact that the Lord is returning to Zion to live among his people (vv. 7–12). In other words, Isaiah is saying, Awake, awake, because Jehovah M’Kaddesh (“the Lord is your holiness”)! Break forth into singing, because Jehovah Shammah (“the Lord is there”)!
Finally, as the passage reaches its triumphant conclusion, we discover that God is Jehovah Tsidkenu (“the Lord is our righteousness”). Isaiah 53:11 underscores the effect of the servant’s healing, shepherding, providing, and peacemaking work: “By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (ESV). It would be hard to find a clearer summary of what it means for God to be our righteousness. It is not just that Christ is righteous in himself, although that is gloriously true as well. It is that he makes us to be accounted righteous with him and through him, justifying the ungodly as he bears our sins and “[makes] intercession for the transgressors” (v. 12).
Considering these parallels plunges us into deep waters. If they hold up—and I think they do, although it is ultimately for each reader to judge—they suggest yet another reason to marvel at the message of Isaiah 52–53. The Suffering Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, has put the providing, healing, lifting, sanctifying, peacemaking, shepherding, justifying, and indwelling of Israel’s God on perfect display through his death on the cross. Awake, awake, and break forth into singing!
Andrew Wilson is teaching pastor at King’s Church London and author of Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West.
Spirited Life: Spirited Life is a collision between biblical reflection and charismatic practice, aiming to make people happier in God.
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