Isaiah 51:16

Though God spoke this verse to Israel, it is clear that only the ideal Israel, the Servant, could be the ultimate fulfillment of what He said. Watts again identified this servant as Darius. [Note: Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 213.] He had put His words in the mouth of the Israelites but would also do so uniquely for His Servant (cf. Isaiah 49:2). He had provided compassionate care for the nation but would do so in a special way for His Servant (cf. Isaiah 49:2). He would use the Israelites to create new heavens and a new earth, in the spiritual sense of their being His instruments of transformation in the Millennium. However, He would use His Servant Messiah to create new heavens and a new earth literally at the end of the Millennium (cf. Isaiah 51:6: Revelation 21:1 to Revelation 22:5). And He would use the Servant Messiah to reaffirm His commitment to Israel in the future. How God would use the Servant to do all this becomes clearer in Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12, the final Servant Song. This was a fitting culminating assurance to the Israelites.