A Light for the Gentiles

There is a clear difference between the way that Jewish people interpret the prophecies of the book of Isaiah, and the way that Christians interpret those same scriptures. Obviously, Christians see Jesus of Nazareth in many of those passages, but many Jewish scholars feel that Christian apologists have hijacked their scriptures and twisted their meaning to accommodate their faith. Of course, most of the folks who reject the notion that the Judeo-Christian canon is Divinely inspired will side with the Jews on this point. They claim that these writings can NEVER mean what they were NEVER intended to mean by the people who actually wrote them.

In this connection, a passage from the 42nd and 49th chapters of Isaiah is a case in point. For some folks, the "servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles" (42:1) clearly refers to Israel (and/or Isaiah). Now, admittedly, the people of Israel were intended by God to be an example to the rest of the world - to introduce the God of the Hebrews to the Gentiles.

In this, however, they failed miserably. Indeed, even the context of this passage from Isaiah makes this plain. A little further down in the same chapter, we read: "Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law." (42:19-24) So, instead of fulfilling the commission which God had given them, the Israelites failed to follow God's laws and willfully violated the covenant which he had made with them.

For Christians, however, the "servant" referred to in this passage is clearly Jesus of Nazareth! He is the one about whom we read: "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isaiah 42:6-7) And, just so that no one missed this connection, we read in the Gospel of Luke's account of the presentation of the baby Jesus at the Temple that the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would see the Messiah before his death (Luke 2:21-26). Moreover, when Simeon took the child into his arms, we are informed that he said: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." (Verses 29-32) And, for good measure, Christ himself is reported to have asserted twice that he was "the light of the world." (John 8:12 and 9:5) And, finally, we know from the book of Acts, that Paul viewed himself as having finally fulfilled God's commission to introduce the God of the Hebrews to the Gentiles (Acts 13:45-47).

Still, the notion that Israel and Isaiah originally had this job is firmly rooted in those passages from the book which bears his name. In the 49th chapter of Isaiah, we read: "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." (49:1-6) Of course, my friends within the ACOGs will start talking about duality and will suggest that these prophecies applied to both that time and Christ's time.

However, if we are honest with both the biblical and secular record of history, we are forced to admit that these prophecies were NEVER fulfilled by Israel, Isaiah, or Cyrus the Great. NONE of those folks succeeded in introducing the God of the Hebrews to the Gentile world. That was ONLY accomplished through Jesus of Nazareth and his apostles. In short, Jesus of Nazareth was the "Light for the Gentiles." Because of Jesus Christ and his disciples, approximately one third of the Gentile world is Christian today, and most of the people who are not Christian are at least familiar with the Hebrew God! As I've suggested before, this development is nothing short of miraculous - that the God of an obscure, nomadic, and persecuted minority would become THE God of so much of humanity!