Shall He?

Isaiah 42:1-4  Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.  He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

If I were a Hebrew living in exile in Babylon and was wondering if we would ever be delivered, and if I were looking for the Messiah and my hope was in God., and if I read Isaiah's message and believed it, I wonder if I thought the Messiah would fail? If I believed the message, how could I believe anything but exactly what it said?

There are a lot of "shalls" here. A lot of definitive statements that God said the Messiah WOULD do. In fact, it says that He SHALL NOT FAIL and not even fail, but be discouraged, or be crushed, or be broken. He will not be defeated. If I were a Hebrew, living in the Old Testament days reading the Bible, I would believe that the Christ not only WOULD not fail, but COULD not fail and i would have a lot of hope in the coming Saviour.

By God's grace, I would believe (as I do now) that the Christ is a perfect Saviour. I would have (and do) believe every word of Isaiah. When God said "He shall" I believe that He will - will not even the slightest chance of failure. I love the passages that point us to the Rock, the Anchor, the Stronghold of my soul - because He is a perfect Saviour, then and now and today and forever.

Stay tuned, there is more to come on this topic...

Doug