Isaiah 49:7

"Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Jehovah that is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them will lead them; even by springs of water will he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Lo, these shall come from far; and, Lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim."

The speaker in this passage is Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel; and it should be noted that God here speaks of that Ideal Servant, Messiah.

"Man despiseth ... the nation abhorreth ..." (Isaiah 49:7). Here is the prophecy that natural, secular Israel will despise and reject the Son of God when, at last he comes from heaven to redeem the world from sin.

"A servant of rulers ..." (Isaiah 49:7). "This means that the rulers of that day would look upon him with the same disdain with which they looked upon any servant whom thy considered to be far beneath themselves and unworthy of any particular interest on their part."[6]

All of that, however, would be erased in the glorious success God here promised to give his Ideal Servant Messiah. Kings and princes would honor and worship him; all obstacles to those who would serve him shall be removed.

"I will give thee for a covenant of the people ..." (Isaiah 49:8). "The paradox of Israel sent to redeem Israel is insoluble in Old Testament terms, since no prophet or king or priest was ever big enough for the title. It is part of the powerful thrust of the Old Testament toward the New Testament in which Jesus Christ stands forth as the sole worthy and rightful bearer of the name Israel."[7] Christ alone is the mediator of the new covenant; he only is the means by which men on earth may come unto God. He only is the "Way, the Truth and the Life; and no in an cometh unto the Father except by him" (John 14:6).

Isaiah 49:9 regards the release of captives and the enlightenment of those in darkness; but the interpretation of this is spiritual, as indicated in Jesus' own words in Luke 4:17-20, where it is clear that the captives are those bound in sin, and the ones "in darkness" are those who do not know the Lord.

"I will make all my mountains a way ..." (Isaiah 49:11). All of these verses in this part of the paragraph speak of the aid and support God will provide for Messiah and his Church.

Isaiah 49:12 reveals that the disciples of Messiah shall come from "afar," from the north, the west, and from the land of Sinim. This place name is not satisfactorily identified. Kidner believed it was "Aswan in Egypt on the Nile, where a Jewish colony existed from the 6th century B.C."[8] Others have supposed the name refers to China. It stands here as a symbolical name for all the distant places on earth that have heard and obeyed the gospel of Christ.