Arcana Coelestia #2159
2159. That 'servant' means the Lord's human before it was made Divine becomes clear from many places in the Prophets. The reason, which has been given frequently already, is this: The Lord's human, before He cast it off and made it Divine, was nothing else than a servant. His human came from the mother and was for that reason imperfect. From her it possessed a hereditary element which He overcame and utterly cast aside by means of the conflicts brought about by temptations. He did so even to the point when nothing was left of the imperfect and hereditary element received from the mother, indeed until at length nothing whatever from the mother remained. He cast off that which came from the mother so completely that He was no longer her son, as He also Himself declares in Mark,
They said to Jesus, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside, asking for You. And He answered them. saying, Who is My mother, or My brothers? And looking around on those who were sitting around Him He said, Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother, and My sister, and My mother. Mark 3:32-35; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:20-21.
[2] Once He had cast off this human He put on the Divine Human, by virtue of which He called Himself the Son of Man, as may be seen many times in the New Testament Word, and also the Son of God. By 'the Son of Man' He meant truth itself and by 'the Son of God' good itself which belonged to His Human Essence once this had been made Divine. The former state was that of the Lord's humiliation but the latter that of His glorification, which has been dealt with already in 1999.
[3] In the former state, namely the state of humiliation, when He still had the imperfect human with Him, He worshipped Jehovah as one other than Himself, and was indeed like a servant, for the imperfect human is by comparison nothing else. In the Word also therefore that human is referred to as 'a servant', as in Isaiah,
I will protect this city to save it for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant. Isaiah 37:35.
This refers to the Assyrians in whose camp an angel slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand. 'David' stands for the Lord who, because He is yet to come, is, as regards the human, called 'a servant'. That 'David' in the Word stands for the Lord, see 1888.
[4] In the same prophet,
Behold, My servant on whom I will lean, My chosen [in whom] My soul is well pleased. I have put My spirit upon him; he will bring forth judgement to the nations. Isaiah 42:1.
This is a plain reference to the Lord, of whom, when He was in the human, the expressions 'servant' and 'chosen one' are used. In the same prophet,
Who is blind but My servant, and deaf as My angel 1 whom I will send? Who is blind as the perfect one, and blind as the servant or Jehovah? Isaiah 42:19.
This too is a reference to the Lord, of whom in a similar way, when He was in the human, the expressions 'servant' and 'angel' are used.
[5] In the same prophet,
You are My witnesses, said Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Isaiah 43:10.
In the same prophet,
[Then] said Jehovah who formed me from the womb, to be a servant to Him, to bring back Jacob to Him, and that Israel might be gathered to Him - He said, It is a light thing that you should be a servant to Me to raise up the tribes of Jacob. I have given you as a light of the nations, to be My salvation right to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 49:5-6.
This too is a plain reference to the Lord and to His human before it was made 'a light of the nations' and 'a salvation to the ends of the earth'. In the same prophet,
Who among you fears Jehovah, hearkens to the voice of His servant who walks in darkness and has no brightness? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah and lean on his God. Isaiah 50:10.
'Servant' again stands for the Lord's human. His teaching of the way of truth, while He was in that Human, is meant by 'the voice of Jehovah's servant'.
[6] In the same prophet,
Jehovah goes before you, and the God of Israel gathers you up. Behold, My servant will deal wisely; he will be raised up and exalted and lifted up very high. Isaiah 52:12-13.
'Servant' is clearly used in reference to the Lord when He was in the human, because it is said of Him that He will be raised up, exalted, and lifted up. In the same prophet,
He had no form and no honour. We saw him, but there was no beauty in him. He was despised, a man of sorrows, acquainted with sickness. Jehovah was willing to bruise him and make him imperfect. If he makes his soul guilt he will see his seed he will prolong his days, and the will of Jehovah will prosper by his hand. He will see [the fruit of] the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge will the righteous one My servant make many righteous; and He has borne their iniquities. Isaiah 53:2-3, 10-11.
Here reference is openly made, as in the whole of this chapter, to the Lord's state of humiliation. The fact that in that state He was in the imperfect human is also declared, namely in the statements that He was 'a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief', 'was made imperfect', and experienced 'the travail of his soul', besides many other statements, in which state He is referred to as 'a servant'.
Fußnoten:
1. or messenger
Isaiah 42
1
"Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights-- I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
2
He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.
3
He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.
4
He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law."
5
Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.
6
"I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;
7
to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
8
"I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.
9
Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up."
10
Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants.
11
Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains!
12
Let them give glory to Yahweh, and declare his praise in the islands.
13
Yahweh will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.
14
"I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
15
I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.
16
I will bring the blind by a way that they don't know. I will lead them in paths that they don't know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
17
"Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, 'You are our gods' will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
18
"Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
19
Who is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as Yahweh's servant?
20
You see many things, but don't observe. His ears are open, but he doesn't listen.
21
It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
22
But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and a spoil, and no one says, 'Restore them!'
23
Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24
Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn't Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, and they disobeyed his law.
25
Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he didn't know; and it burned him, but he didn't take it to heart."
