Isaiah 53 begins with the famous words. “Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The answer to Isaiah’s woeful question comes all the way from chapter 6. "No one."

This, then, raises two pertinent questions implicit in Isaiah 53:1.  First, what is the report that Isaiah had been announcing that no one believed?  Second, why did no one believe it?  The answer begins in chapter 52, starting in verse 1. “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your glorious garments, O Jerusalem, holy city. No longer shall the uncircumcised or the unclean enter you.”

 

Being awake is a way of speaking about the awareness of one’s role in God’s purpose. .  Paul uses this language in Ephesians 3:14-16 in relationship to the church’s (ekklesia) eschatological role in the fullness of time, not about human biological demise. After instructing the Ephesians to awaken, he encourages them to walk wisely in light of the eschatological time.  They were not to become drunk, but to recognize the importance of the tribulation they were facing.

 

Likewise in 1Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, Paul speaks to and about those who had fallen asleep. These were not people who had physically died, since it would have been nonsensical him to warn the sleepers to watch and to remain sober (5:6-7). These Thessalonians sleepers had abdicated their eschatological role, just as some in Rome had. This is why Paul encourages them “knowing the time, that now it is high tome to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11).

 

Paul understood his day as the fullness of time. This explains his urgency in encouraging those united in the body of Christ to participate in their eschatological function. The awakening of the saints to their purpose of uniting with the body of Christ signals the consummation of the good news prophesied by Isaiah and welcomed by Paul. The ekklesia (first-century church) would not simply be the recipient of eschatological deliverance; it would be the unlikely means, in union with Jesus as the head of the body, through which God would bring about kosmic deliverance—including the salvation of all Israel.

 

In a stirring passage Isaiah announces the content good news—the gospel, but not in the way it is popularly understood. In 52:7 Isaiah proclaims the eschatological announcement of ultimate deliverance. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, Announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!"

 

Paul quotes this in Romans 10:15-18, affirming that the gospel of peace had been preached into the entire world. Many modern-day evangelists apply this to their missionary work.  Yet, Paul saw his apostolic mission as affirming and fulfilling this eschatological pronouncement.  Paul was bringing the good tidings of the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God. The entirety of Paul’s preaching is saturated with his belief that God’s prophetic program was about to be fulfilled. He did not envision it arriving thousands of years in the future, but he saw it coming in his day (Rom 13:11-13; 1Cor. 1:7; Gal. 5:21, etc).

 

So, when Paul reaches Romans 11:25, he is not surprised at Israel’s hardening. After all, rejection of the message mysteriously precedes the kingdom’s arrival.  “Who has believed our report?” Paul saw Israel’s “failure” as a necessary-yet-paradoxical step in their ultimate deliverance (Romans 11:12). At the right time of Israel’s hardening, Paul foresaw: “The deliverer shall come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27).

 

Drawing again from Isaiah, Paul expected the end result of his apostolic mission resulting in the eschatological forgiveness of Israel’s sin. Jerusalem, the captive daughter of Zion, "my people" who had been oppressed by Egypt and Assyria would know the name of God from the least to the greatest (52:1-6).  This is nothing less than the announcement of the salvation of all Israel (Romans 11:26).

 

Importantly, Paul does not envision a mass conversion of Jews to Christianity. On the contrary, he sees forgiveness reaching hardened Israel. “Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers” (Romans 11:28). Even earlier in Romans, Paul asserts that’s Christ’s death reconciles and saves God’s enemies (Romans 5:10).

Isaiah anticipates the day of this eschatological deliverance, and the disbelief of those who would hear it.  Centuries later, Paul announces the eschatological deliverance of all Israel, and he experienced what Isaiah foresaw.  Throughout his preaching ministry, he went to the synagogue and was generally rejected.  This pattern occurs throughout the book of Acts (for example, 13:6-12; 13:42-47; 14:1-2; 17:1-5).

 

So, by the time Paul writes Romans, he can affirm that the gospel of God had been preached into the entire world with only limited reception, especially amongst a Jewish audience (Romans 10:18-21). Who had believed his report? Nearly no one, just as the Isaiah expected.

But what was the unbelievable report? Isaiah 53:1 links the report to the revealing of the Lord’s arm. This metaphor illustrates God’s saving strength. Echoing the Exodus event (Exodus 6:6; 15:16; Deut. 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8) Isaiah portrays God’s delivering Israel, not simply from political captivity but from her eschatological bondage. God would reveal his arm, but not as before. God’s arm would not be revealed through the defeat of a military foe through brute force. Instead, God’s servant with a marred visage would sprinkle the nations and by this means he would be extolled (Isaiah 52:13-15).

 

No wonder the report would be unbelievable. God’s controversial method of implementing Israel's deliverance contributed to the unbelief.  Paul announced, "We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1Corinthians 1:23). Yet, God exalted this marred servant precisely because his sprinkled blood brought reconciliation for all nations (Philippians 2:9; Hebrews 10:19-23; 12:24).

 

The point of the chapter 53 prophecy is not to condemn anyone's faithlessness.  Instead, it is to extol God's faithfulness, despite the unbelief of any and all.

 

Paul develops this theme in Romans 3. After confining Jews and Gentiles alike under sin in the first two chapters, he reminds his readers that God’s faithfulness to his promise of eschatological deliverance does not depend on human will, goodness, or faith. “What if some were unfaithful? Will their infidelity nullify the fidelity of God? Of course not! God must be true, though every human being is a liar, as it is written: ‘That you may be justified in your words, and conquer when you are judged’" (Romans 3:3-4). Paul refuses to limit God’s affirmation and extension of his righteousness (faithfulness to his promises) to humanity’s desire or willingness to remain true to God.