Bringing Light to The Gentiles
May 7, 2020
Commentary
Before the servant, Jesus Christ was born, God had chosen Him to bring the message of salvation to the whole world (Acts 13:47). In this passage we can see Him bringing light in the darkness (vv 1-7), and liberty to the captives (vv 8-13). He came as a Servant and a Warrior. He came to serve those who trust Him and to bring judgment on those who resist Him. The distant nations are to benefit from His work; so He calls them to listen (v. 1). His message is like a pointed arrow or sharp sword to be brought out at the appropriate time (v. 2). Israel is presented as a blind servant of the Lord (v. 3). In the closing days of Jesus ministry, the large crowds of Galilean days are no longer with Him and the religious leaders are plotting His death but God will reward Him (v. 4).
Our Lord could not minister to the Gentiles until first He ministered to the Jews (vv 5-6). We must never forget that salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). The Bible is a Jewish book, the first believers and missionaries were Jews, and the Gentiles would have never heard the Gospel had it not been for the Jews who brought it to them. The Lord is going to rescue His people (v. 7). The Lord says He will answer your prayers by coming to save you (v. 8). In this land you will find good, water, and shelter (v. 9). Moses led the Jewish nation out of bondage in Egypt, and God will lead His people out of captivity in Babylon. We look beyond the deliverance from Babylon in 536 BC toward the future kingdom that will be established on the earth (vv. 10-12). He says to tell the heavens to celebrate and the mountains to join in song (v. 13). The people have suffered but He gives comfort.
Application
Like Israel, my mission today is to take the Good News to the ends of the earth. I cannot do the job by myself but must seek to get others involved with me.
Isaiah 49:1–13 (NET)
1 Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The Lord summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, he hid me in the hollow of his hand; he made me like a sharpened arrow, he hid me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”
4 But I thought, “I have worked in vain; I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” But the Lord will vindicate me; my God will reward me.
5 So now the Lord says, the one who formed me from birth to be his servant— he did this to restore Jacob to himself, so that Israel might be gathered to him; and I will be honored in the Lord’s sight, for my God is my source of strength —
6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant, to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant of Israel? I will make you a light to the nations, so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord, the Protector of Israel, their Holy One, says to the one who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and rise in respect, princes will bow down, because of the faithful Lord, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
8 This is what the Lord says: “At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you; in the day of deliverance I will help you; I will protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, to rebuild the land and to reassign the desolate property.
9 You will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those who are in dark dungeons, ‘Emerge.’ They will graze beside the roads; on all the slopes they will find pasture.
10 They will not be hungry or thirsty; the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, for one who has compassion on them will guide them; he will lead them to springs of water.
11 I will make all my mountains into a road; I will construct my roadways.”
12 Look, they come from far away! Look, some come from the north and west, and others from the land of Sinim.
13 Shout for joy, O sky! Rejoice, O earth! Let the mountains give a joyful shout! For the Lord consoles his people and shows compassion to the oppressed.
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