What does it mean to set your face like flint in Isaiah 50:7?

from the old testament

• Isaiah 50:7 reads, “For the Lord GOD helps Me, therefore, I am not disgraced; therefore, I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.” Flint is a hard rock and, used as a figure of speech like it is in that passage, it indicates resolute (hard/firm) determination.
• In a similar idea, God told Ezekiel that He was sending him against stubborn Israel, but that he had “made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead …” (Ezekiel 3:9–10). The idea was that Ezekiel was strengthened such that he would not back down being figuratively made of a harder substance than the rulers of Israel.
• Isaiah’s statement back in Isaiah 50:7 is part of one of the “Servant Songs,” words that prophetically point to the Messiah (the “Servant of the Lord”). At the beginning of Isaiah 50, God questions Israel while affirming His power. The Servant replies that God “has given Me the tongue of those who are taught that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary” (Isaiah 50:4). As the Servant, He does not turn away from God’s teaching (Isaiah 50:5) and willingly endures persecution (Isaiah 50:6). It is God who helps Him, and thus he is not disgraced. Because of that, he is resolute in his mission. Therefore, the Servant can say, “I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7). Much like Ezekiel, God has prepared His Servant to endure.
• The Servant further explains that God is his vindicator, and that He is near. He invites his adversaries to contend with him, challenging them: “Behold, the Lord God helps Me; who will declare me guilty?” (Isaiah 50:9). The Servant then goes on to call those who fear the Lord to trust in Him and rely on Him (Isaiah 50:10). Those who trust in their own ways will ultimately reside in torment (Isaiah 50:11).

from the new testament

• The Servant in the Old Testament is said to be Jesus in the New. For example, Philip was sent to an Ethiopian who had just acquired a scroll of Isaiah 53 and asked. ‏
• “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts 8:34-35). He identified the Servant in Isaiah as the recently risen Christ, who is Jesus.
• Matthew also connected Jesus’ healing ministry as fulfilling Isaiah 53 (Matthew 8:17). Likewise, Peter links Jesus to the passage, quoting Isaiah 53 as referring to Jesus (2 Peter 2:21–25). Therefore, Jesus is the Servant with His face set like flint.
• It is easy to see how Jesus “set [His] face like a flint.” He determinedly carried out His earthly mission. When Jesus responded to Mary at the wedding at Cana He said, in part, “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). Early in His ministry when Simon Peter told Him “‘Everyone is looking for you,’Jesus replied, ‘Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out’” (Mark 1:37-38).
• Jesus was also intentional in His healing and His teaching. He silenced demons so they would not reveal His identity (Mark 1:23–28). He traveled purposefully (John 4; John 11:5–6), and He intentionally condemned the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 13:10–17).
• He was also intentional at the end. In describing Jesus washing the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, John explained, “when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end … Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist” (John 13:1, 3–4).
• Jesus’ ministry had a clear purpose from which He did not deviate despite pressures from His enemies and friends (Matthew 16:21–23). He knew His purpose and walked according to God’s will. In John 17:4 Jesus prayed to the Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”
• Perhaps most strikingly, Luke 9:51 says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Jesus’ face was set like flint during His entire earthly ministry, and particularly when He went to the cross. He prepared His disciples for what would happen (Mark 8:31–33; 9:30–32; 10:32–34). When Peter rebuked Him, Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Mark 8:33). Jesus would not be deterred. Lest there be any confusion, Jesus also told His followers, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17–18).

implications for today

Interestingly, Isaiah also exemplified the Servant, being faithful to speak God’s words to the people of Judah and Israel, even when the people were unreceptive. We, too, can “set our faces like flint” in following God. This may look like lovingly speaking truth from Scripture even when it’s unpopular, staying faithful in prayer for someone who resists God, resolutely seeking God each day even when going through difficulty, or continuing to serve in a ministry when results are slow or unseen. It can mean choosing integrity at work when others cut corners, holding firm to biblical convictions in relationships, or walking through trials without giving up on God’s promises. Like Isaiah—and ultimately Jesus—we endure not because it’s easy but because we are strengthened by the Lord, confident that He sees, loves us, and equips and empowers us to live for Him.

We are instructed by His Word (2 Timothy 3:16–17) and called to obey Him (John 15:1–17; Philippians 2:12–13; James 1:22). We will face hardship like Him (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12–13), but we will not ultimately be disgraced because the Lord is our helper (Hebrews 13:5–8; 1 Peter 4:16–19). Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, all who put their trust in Him are vindicated before the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:3–14; Romans 8:1–39). We can stand resolute in Christ, knowing our security is in Him (John 10:28–30). And thus, we can live in the midst of this fallen world with our hearts at rest and our faces set firmly toward Him and His will.