Yahweh’s Servant will be set up as a light to the nations to bring salvation to the ends of the earth (49:6). Sounds nice. What does it look like? The chiastically arranged verse 7 tells us:
A. Yahweh, Redeemer of Israel, Holy One
B. To the despised/abhorred One
C. To Servant of rulers
B’. Kings rise, princes bow
A’. Because Yahweh, the Amen, the Holy One, the Elector
When God’s light shines to the nations, the rulers of nations stop despising the Lord’s Servant and instead pay homage to Him, rising in His presence, bowing at His feet. They acknowledge that He is the Servant of rulers. Light to the nations equals the exaltation of Yahweh’s Servant.
And this, Isaiah says, is what salvation looks like at the ends of the earth.
