His Holy One

“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.” (Isaiah 49:6)

Jesus Christ “was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of [us] who, through him, are believers in God” (1 Pet 1:20-21).

It is difficult at times to look back over biblical history and tie together all of the threads that God has woven into a single tapestry. Our finite, temporally-locked minds have difficulty giving credence to these amazingly well laid-out plans that stretch for millennia. Our own existences are limited to less than a single century, yet God had ordained the sacrifice of His son as the atonement for our sins long before He had commenced creating any one of us (Rev 13:8).

By picking out a “people for Himself” (1 Sam 12:22), many throughout history have been led to believe that God’s ultimate favor rests on Israel. However, scripture teaches that God’s ultimate favor rests on Himself. God, through providential history works towards one goal – His own Glory. And God is most glorified through the redeeming work of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. In fact, hints of this were given even to Abram: “…and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:3). While God would single out Abram’s son Isaac for his eventual people, it would be through this line that God Himself would be glorified and all people everywhere blessed. Isaiah, in our text, speaks of this son of Jacob and Israel who would be a light, not just to the other sons of Israel, but to the Gentiles, as well.

The apostle Paul noted how the Jews had so withdrawn into their Judaism that they missed their Messiah: “…Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for … as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear…their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see” (Rom 11:7-10). Why would God give them a spirit of slumber? Eyes that they should not see? Ears that they should not hear? Paul continues: “… through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles” (Rom 11:11). Thus fulfilling the promise given to Abram and reiterated in Isaiah: “A light to the Gentiles… my salvation (ישׁועתי) unto the end of the earth” (Isa 49:6) RST