Because Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure places the historical events surrounding King Hezekiah’s life in a parallel, end-time setting, those events will repeat themselves at the end of the world—with God’s servant fulfilling the role of Hezekiah. Thus, as Hezekiah suffered a mortal threat to his life, so does the servant when his enemies disfigure him: “In those days Hezekiah became gravely ill. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said, Thus says Jehovah: Put your house in order. You will die; you will not recover” (Isaiah 38:1); “His (the servant’s) appearance was marred beyond human likeness, his semblance unlike that of men” (Isaiah 52:14).
As Hezekiah typified one who pours out his soul unto death—during his illness, when Jehovah promises to deliver his people from a besieging Assyrian horde—so does the servant: “I said, in the prime of life must I depart through Sheol’s gates, deprived of the balance of my years? I thought, I shall not see Jehovah in the land of the living; I shall not now behold Man among those dwelling in mortality. My tabernacle is being uprooted, carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent. My life is cut off like woven fabric; he is severing me from the loom. Can I contain myself until morning, while like a lion he racks my whole frame? [Surely,] as night has followed day, you are bringing on my end! Like a mounting lark I twitter, like a dove I murmur. My eyes are drawn looking heavenward; [I am utterly sleepless from bitterness of soul. O Jehovah, I am in straits; be my surety!” (Isaiah 38:1–20); “He shall see the toil of his (the servant’s) soul and be satisfied. . . . Because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with criminals” (Isaiah 53:11–12).
As Hezekiah interceded with God as a proxy savior under the terms of the Davidic Covenant for his people’s deliverance from the Assyrians, so does the servant: “O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have indeed destroyed all peoples and their lands, committing their gods to the fire. For they were no gods, but mere works of men’s hands, of wood and of stone, and so they could destroy them. But now, O Jehovah our God, deliver us out of his hand, that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone are Jehovah” (Isaiah 36:18–20); “He (the servant) bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors: (Isaiah 53:12).
As Hezekiah paid the price of his people’s physical protection under the terms of the Davidic Covenant, so does the servant: “Thus says Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He shall not advance against it with armor, nor erect siegeworks against it. By the way he came he shall return; he shall not enter this city, says Jehovah. I will protect this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David. Then the angel of Jehovah went out and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. And when men arose in the morning, there lay all their dead bodies!” (Isaiah 36:33–36); In the servant’s personas as God’s “voice,” “arm,” “staff,” etc.: “Jehovah will cause his voice to resound, and make visible his arm descending in furious rage, with flashes of devouring fire, explosive discharges and pounding hail. At the voice of Jehovah the Assyrians will be terror-stricken, they who used to strike with the rod. At every sweep of the staff of authority, when Jehovah lowers it upon them, they will be fought in mortal combat” (Isaiah 30:30–32).
As God healed Hezekiah of his deathly illness, so he heals the servant: “Isaiah gave instructions to take fig packs and apply them to the swelling so that he (Hezekiah) would recover” (Isaiah 38:21) “I have seen his (the servant’s) conduct and I will heal him; I will guide him and amply console him and those who mourn for him, who partake of the fruit of the lips: Peace, wellbeing, to those far off and to those who are near, says Jehovah who heals him” (Isaiah 57:18–19)
