How far would God's salvation go to the Gentiles according to Isaiah 49:6?
Isaiah 49:6 declares that God's salvation would go to the Gentiles all the way to the end of the earth. The servant would be given as a light to the Gentiles, so that salvation would reach beyond Israel to the farthest parts of the world.
Les teaches that Isaiah 49:6 fits within the Old Testament covenants: the day would come when, after Israel's promises were completed, God would turn to the Gentile world. In the verse, God says it is a light thing for His servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved of Israel. The passage distinguishes Jacob, the nation as a whole, from Israel, the believing remnant. Then God adds that He will give the servant as a light to the Gentiles, that he may be His salvation. Les highlights the question “How far?” and the answer: to the end of the earth. Israel was to have had that opportunity, and every word of the book was written by Jews, but God had even more for the nation. They rejected it in unbelief, yet God's idea was to go to the Gentile world through this covenant people. Les concludes that God from the beginning knew the day would come when He would go to the whole Gentile world with His salvation; when Israel constantly rejected it, He sent the nation into dispersion, taking away their temple and land.
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.
More Questions
Who is God speaking to in Isaiah 49:6 when He says 'I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles'?
In Isaiah 49:6 the servant called 'thee' whom God gives as a light to the Gentiles is the nation of Israel, whose task was to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved of Israel.