A Light to the Nations
Isaiah 49:1-7
49 Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
4 But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’
5 And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—
6 he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’
7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’
The reference to coastlands reminds us of Isaiah 42:4 where the coastlands wait to learn God’s way. Here, the Coastlands (the nations) are again called to pay attention to (learn from) God’s servant who will bring both judgement and God’s teaching.
Yet even though the servant is divinely chosen and specially nurtured and cared for (vs. 1), by vs. 4, the servant is discouraged and despondent, “I have laboured in vain.” Hope does come in the face of this despair, not from working harder, not from reimagining the work as being a success, not the hope comes from the certainty that God had called the servant to this work and that doing work of God was the reward for the work. Which takes us back to vs. 3 – the impact of the servant’s efforts is to be seen not in their success or their being praised – the value of the work is to be measured in the glory that God gets. The servant’s purpose is realized in the glory that God receives.
Which makes the turn in vs. 6 a bit of a surprise, when God says that there is a greater calling for the servant. The servant will not be just for Israel, not just a light to the remnant of Israel – but a light to the nations so all will see the glory of God in the life of the servant.
Vs. 7 points ahead to the restoration, the recovery, the resurrection of the servant who was despised and abhorred, the rejected one (read Jesus). Jesus will become the one before whom the kings of the earth will bow. The discouraged and rejected one, will accomplish their task in bringing glory to God through the whole earth.
PRAYER:
O Lord God, you lifted Jesus out of the grave, so that your glory would be seen throughout the world. Teach us the path of living for your glory, so that your light shining in Jesus may be seen and believed in throughout the whole world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.