The Suffering Servant of the Lord: A Prophecy of Jesus Christ

David MacLeod, a Professor at Emmaus Bible College and a commended teacher among American Bible Chapels, has written a fine, if very scholarly, exposition of Isaiah’s fourth Servant Song from a thoroughly conservative evangelical and pre-millennial standpoint. It has also been presented as a series of lectures given in various parts of the world to well-grounded Christians, including some missionary brethren and sisters. It includes hundreds of extensive footnotes, which present, and sometimes refute, the views of scholars of various persuasions, and discusses in great detail the meaning of the original Hebrew text, which the author quotes throughout.

MacLeod divides his exposition of the prophecy into its five stanzas of three verses each, to each of which he gives a helpful heading relating to its fulfilment in the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection glory of Jesus Christ. He is in no doubt about the Messianic nature of the prophecy, and emphasizes the vicarious nature of the Saviour’s sufferings for sin throughout the chapters covered. He points out that Isaiah anticipates the very different reactions of the nation of Israel to our Saviour, both at His first coming in humiliation and then at His future appearing in the end times.

Five long appendices complete the book, including one on the various Jewish interpretations of the chapter, another on the question of healing and the atonement, raised by verse 4 and here answered helpfully, and a third on objections to the doctrine of substitution.

This book is recommended to very serious Bible students, who will also appreciate its clear layout, literary style, and typographical production.

Our thanks to Malcom Davis, Leeds, England, for this review.