His chief aims in
chapters 49-55 may be briefly epitomized as follows: (1) to interpret the
inner meaning of the period of adversity through which the Jewish race was
then passing; (2) to make absolutely clear the character and quality of
the service that Jehovah required of his chosen people, if they were to
realize his purpose in human history; (3) to inspire them all to make the
needed sacrifices and thus to prove themselves true servants of Jehovah;
(4) especially to make plain to the innocent and faithful sufferers in the
Judean community the real meaning and value of their present shame and
suffering, if bravely and voluntarily borne.

III, Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet Appealed. From
the allusions in the prophecies themselves it is possible to determine the
classes that the prophet had in mind. In 49:2 his address is to the coast
lands and the distant peoples who lived at the extremities of Israel's
horizon. It is not probable, however, that he anticipated that his message
in its present form would go out as it has to all races and nations;
rather his attention was fixed on the scattered members of his own race,
those who lived in the north and the west and in the distant city of
Syene, far up the Nile (49:12). In 49:3 he clearly identifies the nation
Israel as Jehovah's servant, whom he makes declare:

Jehovah said to me, Thou art my servant,
Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.

It is evident, however, that the prophet has especially in mind the Judean
community amidst which he lived and for which he worked. In 54, as
elsewhere, he calls upon this group of discouraged Jews to enlarge their
tent, for their period of punishment is over and their foundation and
walls are about to be rebuilt. At last they shall cease to tremble at the
fury of the oppressor. In 51:18-20 he addresses Jerusalem directly and
gives a vivid picture of its condition before the appearance of Nehemiah:

Rouse thee! Rouse thee! stand up, O Jerusalem,
Who hast drunk at Jehovah's hand the cup of his wrath!
The bowl of reeling thou hast drunken, hast drained!
There is none to guide thee of all the sons whom thou hast borne,
And none to take thee by the hand of all the sons whom thou hast reared.
These two things have befallen thee--who can condole with thee?
Desolation and destruction, famine and the sword--who can comfort thee?

IV. The Task and Training of Jehovah's Servant. The term servant means
literally slav