Isaiah 49:6, commentary and pictures

God tells His servant that restoring Jacob and Israel is too small a work, and appoints Him also to be a light to the Gentiles so that salvation reaches to the ends of the earth. That servant is Christ, promised as the Messiah whose light would be seen by all peoples. Israel itself was called to share that light by preserving the knowledge of God and blessing all nations, but it failed by seeking its own greatness and shutting itself away from others. Paul and Barnabas therefore applied the command to their own work, turning to the Gentiles with Christ as salvation for all nations when many Jews rejected the message and judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. That same worldwide commission now belongs to God's messengers and people, who are to carry the light of truth and salvation to every nation, city, and neglected field amid moral darkness.

Servant's Twofold Commission

The servant is commissioned to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. That charge is laid upon Christ as God's Servant, and it is also laid upon God's messengers and those serving in His appointed institutions today. To restore Israel alone is called a light thing, a small and minor part of a far larger work. It is not the full extent of the calling and must not be treated as if it were.

Beyond Israel, the servant is also given to be a light to the Gentiles. Through him God's salvation is carried to the ends of the earth and to every nation and people. That worldwide reach is what makes the work of restoring Israel alone too small by comparison. It belongs to the Messiah, who is the light of the world, and to those who accept the same worldwide commission to Israel and Gentiles, keeping their lamps trimmed and burning and serving with responsibility, devotion, and reverence where the light shines.

Christ the Promised Light

Isaiah 49:6 is God's promise given to Christ as His Servant and a prophecy of the Messiah. Raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the preserved of Israel is only a light or small part of His work. He is also appointed as a light to the Gentiles, so that He Himself is God's salvation to the ends of the earth and to the whole earth. In Israel's later centuries the verse was understood as a prophecy of the coming Messiah, whose glorious light would be revealed for all people to see.

Jesus' declaration that He is the light of the world identifies Him as that promised Messiah. That claim was familiar to Israel, and it was echoed when Simeon described Him as a light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. The prophecy belongs to Jesus even though He was born in humble circumstances without the royal honor, guard, and honored visitors people might expect. The journey of the Gentile wise men to worship Him points to His mission beyond Israel. They recognized His divine presence and worshiped Him as their Saviour.

The verse predicts Christ's coming as a distinguished Teacher whose words carry invincible power and authority. By sending His Son, God completes the unfinished Jewish system of types and shadows to finish the plan of redemption ordained before the world was made. His work includes preaching good news to the poor and proclaiming freedom. He brings right judgment on earth and gives law that distant lands wait for, drawing Gentiles and kings to His light.

Israel's Calling and Failure

Israel was appointed to be a light to other nations, preserving the knowledge of God, blessing all peoples, and bringing those who did not know God and His truth to knowledge of Him and back to loyalty and allegiance to Him. That appointment belonged to Solomon's nation as well as to Israel as a whole, and its purpose extended beyond restoring Israel itself to carrying God's salvation to the ends of the earth. Through Israel God intended to shine heaven's light into a world darkened by idolatry, leading people everywhere away from idols to serve the living God.

That calling was to be fulfilled through obedience and God-given advantages as a living witness to God's character. Solomon should have used his wisdom and influence to enlighten foreigners who traveled through or stayed in Israel's cities, leading many to obey God and honoring Him. Israel delivered from bondage was to shine as a light among idolaters, and with greater light and privilege in the present age God's people are to shine even more brightly. Sacred truth was entrusted to Israel not to be withheld from other nations but so its light could shine among them, for God did not intend to withhold light from them. The sanctuary lamp that was never to go out represented God's church and its calling to give light to the world, and Israel was chosen to represent God's great light and to be His channel for it to reach the world. Faithful obedience would reveal Him as the only true and living God and witness to His creative power and majesty for the benefit of nations, preparing the way for that wider mission.

God's restrictions on association with idolaters were meant to prevent Israel from adopting their practices, not to keep Israel from sharing God's mercy with the Gentiles. Israel failed this calling when it treated obedience as a way to gain national greatness and separated itself from other nations. In that failure it became blind to the light and deaf to God's messages.

God's purpose to make Israel a light was not abandoned when Israel according to the flesh failed through unbelief. Through Christ people of faith become Abraham's children and inherit the covenant promises, and like Abraham they are called to make God's law and the gospel known to the world. Christ's kingdom was therefore given to the Gentiles, and the disciples' carrying of the gospel light to the Gentiles and their response fulfilled God's purpose through Israel. Workers today are called to carry out the work Israel failed to do by making God's salvation known throughout the world. The verse's worldwide purpose is frustrated by selfishness and covetousness that magnify self and concentrate benefits in a few places rather than directing resources toward fields in need, leaving parts of God's vineyard barren and preventing the good God intended and the magnifying of His name throughout the world.

Apostles' Turn to Gentiles

Paul and Barnabas took the command in the verse as given to their own mission, turning to preach Christ to the Gentiles when many of the Jews rejected the message. At Antioch of Pisidia, after the rejecting hearers refused the word, they applied the prophecy that the servant is a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the ends of the earth to their turn toward the Gentiles. The word was first spoken to the Jews, but they put it from them and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life.

The Messiah is both the glory of Israel and a light and salvation for all nations, so the Gentiles are recognized as children of God and welcomed to salvation with religious privileges equal to the Jews. When the Gentiles heard, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, receiving it with joy. Those who believed helped spread it through the region, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

The gathering of the Gentiles had been traced by inspiration but only faintly understood until its time of active and continued fulfillment came, when whole Gentile communities gladly received the gospel. That reception proved that Jewish unbelief, malice, bigotry, and hardness of heart could not turn aside God's purpose to form a new Israel grafted into the old olive tree, and the Jews' refusal did not hinder God from bringing the Gentiles into His people. This turning fulfills Christ's direction to go out into the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that His house may be filled, pointing to gospel work outside Judaism in the highways and byways of the world.

Worldwide Mission and Responsibility

Isaiah 49:6 describes the work of God's messengers and people today as carrying the Messiah's work beyond restoring Israel to bring light and salvation to the Gentiles unto the ends of the earth. That worldwide proclamation is to reach every nation, kindred, people, and part of the world, bringing people to the light of truth and spreading the gospel through its bearers. It means proclaiming the message throughout the world and carrying forward soul-saving work, including urgent work in the cities. It supports sending witnesses to distant nations with the good news of salvation and carrying truth to every people, including neglected fields and populations, as a light shining amid moral darkness to both nearby and distant peoples.

Specific expressions of that work include presenting the warning message to the world and making known the reasons for faith, with camp meetings providing opportunity to give people the information they desire. It includes the duty to carry the light of truth to people of other nations and languages, including by recognizing and equipping those God provides to help share it. It is applied to the church's intercession for souls and its work of spreading the light of Christ to all the world.

Every minister is to read the verse prayerfully to understand what it means to keep his lamp trimmed and burning and to accept its worldwide commission to Israel and Gentiles as his own. The chapter belongs to instruction about God's covenant with those He seeks to save and the education of greatest value. The verse belongs to a description of how Christlike character is obtained, showing that Christ's service is not limited to restoring Israel but appoints Him as light to the Gentiles and means of salvation to the ends of the earth. Its truth must shine everywhere, and those who follow the light God gives receive more light.

Entrusted service under the verse is no small responsibility. Those connected with God's appointed work and institutions are favored because they work where the light shines, receive light, and are entrusted with sacred service. They must show responsibility, devotion, and reverence, serve God with devotion, minister His word with deep devotion, and offer Christ their best service. Common, careless talk and trifling behavior do not belong in that sacred trust.

God's people honor and glorify Him and keep integrity for truth and righteousness by cooperating with Him and becoming channels of light to all nations, presenting His divine benevolence to the world. Lowering the standard to a cheap level destroys that work. Christ's mission from the heavenly courts to His death on the cross holds the true, unchanging principle to be developed in every mission entered upon by all who believe, and through grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit that promise is fulfilled in the efforts of every company of believers joined together in church capacity.

The verse calls all to diligent work for repentance and to carry God's salvation unto the end of the earth. The Lord's workers in every line are to cherish pure, clean principles free from any taint of selfishness, which only are acceptable to God, who dwells with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the humble and contrite. Physicians should see in it the importance of establishing small sanitariums in connection with schools, and true medical missionary workers laboring under God's direction to fulfill His purpose will do a hundredfold more good than food stores or restaurants as conducted.