Tag: Gentiles

Made to be a Light

Isaiah 49-50; Psalm 135

Isaiah 49:6b (NIV84) – “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Some readers love poetry; they love the figurative language, the allusions, the complex ideas that are simmered down into short phrases. Poetry forces the reader to slow down and use critical thinking to comprehend what’s being communicated. Sometimes it also requires the reader to know a little bit about the author and his or her life at the time the piece was composed. 

I am not one of those readers. I prefer the author to be straightforward with me. Just tell me what you want me to know without all of the fancy language and references that I may or may not have prior knowledge of. 

Reading the book of Isaiah is similar to reading poetry for me. I have to really study it. I have to use additional resources and commentaries to get a clue what is being said. And while I don’t prefer to have to spend an hour just to understand one chapter, the mental exercise is good for me. So here is what I’ve learned about Isaiah 49, specifically verses one through six.

It is the second out of four Servant Songs in the book of Isaiah. A Servant Song is a passage of verses that refer to the Messiah, Jesus. Not only does this chapter reference Jesus well before he was born, but it also mentions Gentiles (those not of the Israelite community). It’s not the first and only time that Gentiles are mentioned, but because Jesus is also alluded to it’s interesting to have two New Testament concepts written about together in the Old Testament.

As we know, in his ministry, Jesus often suffered opposition and what looked like failure in his mission to restore all people to God in order to have an eternal relationship with Him in the coming Kingdom. Isaiah 49:4 talks about this. But as we also know, Jesus’s death was not the end of the story.  

While this knowledge is important to understand, what’s the application to our modern day lives? My answer to this question took me a while to formulate, but here’s what I’ve come up with. I’m sure that there are other applications, but we’ll not delve into those right now. 

While Jesus is the Servant, we are servants of Jesus. John 12:26 says, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” This means that we have the same ministry and mission that Jesus did: “to bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Is. 49:6b).

Second Corinthians 5:18-20 says it this way: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

We are the hands and feet of Jesus, continuing to share the Gospel message with those who do not know it yet. 

A missionary friend of mine works in a local community. Her mission field is the youth of this neighboring community. She recently shared in an update that during a midweek youth gathering she shared the Gospel message, something she does quite regularly, but this time the response from the teens was more than usual. Praise God! But after that, one teen girl approached her and told my friend that this was the first time that she had ever heard about Jesus. My immediate thought was, “How is this possible? In our modern society where access to anything a person could ever want to know about is first a few finger clicks away, that a young person has never heard the name of Jesus?” But it’s true, there are people in our neighborhoods that don’t know about Jesus and the gift of salvation that comes through him. 

My friends, the work is not yet done. As servants and followers of the Servant, Jesus, we have the task to continue to reconcile our friends and neighbors to God by sharing the Gospel message. We will have opposition and think that we are failing at our mission, but take heart, you have been chosen to bring the message of salvation to the end of the earth (or to your neighbor).

Reflection Questions

What does it mean to you that God knows you, calls you, and has a purpose for you even before you were born? How does that shape your identity?

When have you felt like your efforts for God were in vain? How can you learn to rest in God’s timing, even when results aren’t visible?

What might “the ends of the earth” look like in your own life right now? Who is God calling you to reach or encourage with His message of hope?

-Bethany Ligon

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From Beginning to End

Malachi 1-4

            In the English Bible we’ve come to the last book of the Old Testament, but not for the Hebrew Bible. It’s the end of the Prophets and now the Writings start. In my Hebrew/English Bible the next page starts the Psalms then Proverbs…. The book of Malachi is filled with warnings and exhortations and many familiar and excellent verses for such a small book. He’s a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah.

            “The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.” (1:5) Amen!  That’s for sure these days from those days.  Look how far from the borders of Israel He’s magnified. “If then I am the Father, where is my honor? And if I am Lord, where is my reverence?” (1:6) “For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles.” (1:11) “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” (2:10) Amen.

            “The LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce. For it covers one’s garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts.” (2:16) “Behold I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.” (3:1) “For I am the LORD, I do not change.” (3:6) Those are very simple and yet clear verses.

            “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed you? In tithe and offerings.” (3:8) This is a good question to ask children. I’ve asked some of our older kids before, and now I’m going to ask our younger children and see what response I get. 

            “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble, and the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the LORD of hosts.” (4:1) This is certainly true, and, in some ways, THIS is the ultimate climate change and global warming some are talking about now that will one day take place.  God will purify and purge, and it won’t be by a flood the next time like he promised.

            The last two verses of Malachi 4:5,6 are quoted in Luke 1:17, when the angel told Zacharias about his son, “He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.” So even though it’s not the end of the Hebrew Bible it still fits going into the English New Testament.  So does the end 2 Chronicles in Hebrew that goes into the New Testament, when Cyrus king of Persia was stirred by the LORD which says, “May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!” (36:23) That also goes nicely with Matthew 1:23, which says, “the virgin will bear a son and call his name Immanuel, God is with us.” Same idea, God is with us and helping us (not God the flesh). “The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.” (1:5) Amen! 

Stephanie Schlegel

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at Bible Gateway here – Malachi 1-4

Tomorrow we begin the NEW Testament, with Luke 1 and John 1:1-14. If you haven’t already, now would be a great time to commit to reading the New Testament before the New Year begins. Finish off 2020 strong in God’s Word. Below is the Bible reading plan we will be following with our daily devotions. Let’s seek God together!

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