The Light To the Nations and To the World
Isaiah 42: 6-7 says "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentile; 7. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."
At first Israel was the light to the nations, or to the Gentiles. Later, the light will become Christ himself. Then, it becomes his 12 disciples and in Paul the light becomes all believers in Christ.
In Isaiah 42: 7 opening the eyes of the blind is a metaphor for opening up spiritual truths for those who before did not have eyes to see or ears to hear. Bringing the prisoners out of the prison house is metaphorically making the prisoners of the Strong Man, or Satan, free from their bondage to sin and false doctrines.
Isaiah 9: 2: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."
The great light the people were to see was Christ, who as the savior of Israel, is the light to the Gentiles. Physical Israel was to be blessed because the light of the world was to come through them.
But as John 1: 11 says "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."
Israel was transformed into Israel reborn in Jesus Christ, who is the savior of Israel, as shown by John 3: 1-6. Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, came to Christ by night. Christ told him that "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The fact that Nicodemus was a physical descendant of Abraham, and a Pharisee, did not make it possible for him to enter the Kingdom of God. Members of ethnic or physical Israel had to be born again in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. And Gentiles born again in Christ and by the Spirit, have their identity in Christ as reborn Israel.
Then Christ teaches in John 8: 12 that "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
But physical Israel is no longer the light of the world, or the light to the nations.
Christ in Luke 13: 6-9 tells a parable of the fig tree which represents physical Israel. "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:"
"A certain man" is God the father, and the "dresser" of the vineyard is Jesus Christ. The "fig tree" is physical Israel. The Father found that the fig tree, or physical Israel, was bearing no fruit, meaning it was spiritually dead. But the dresser of the vineyard asked the Father to let him work on the tree, on physical Israel.
This story of Christ dealing with physical Israel continues in another parable, this time in John 15: 1-6, where the Father is the husbandman of the vineyard and Jesus Christ is the vine. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
In this parable Christ is the vine and the branches of the vine are Israel, but one part of Israel, or a part of physical Israel, are cut off the vine, which is Christ, and are burned. The branches off the vine which do bear spiritual fruit, that is, they are born again in Christ, he purges, so they bring more fruit.
Christ in John 15: 1-6 prunes back physical Israel to a small Remnant.
Remember in Romans 11: 16 where Paul uses the parable of the good olive tree, that its root is said to be holy, which has to be Christ, as he is the vine in John 15: 1-6. In Romans 11: 17-20 some of the branches, as physical Israel, are broken off the tree, and Gentiles are grafted into the branches to become equals to the believing people who were formerly physical Israelites. This parable also illustrates the pruning down of physical Israel by Christ.
In Romans 11: 20 the Christ rejecting physical israelites were broken off the good olive tree, whose root is Christ, so that in pruning back the tree, the tree would have far greater spiritual growth and life. People who tend to fruit bearing trees know that they have to prune back the limbs and sometimes dig up false roots in order for the tree to bear more apples, peaches, etc.
Now lets look at John 6: 56-68. A great multitude of people have come out to be near Christ, because of his miracles and his feeding of the people previously. But in John 6: 56 he tells them "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." This did not go over very well with the crowd who came to be fed and see his miracles. Verse 66 says "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."
Christ then asked his 12, "Will ye also go away?" And Peter answered for the 12 in verse 68, saying "Lord to whom shall shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." Christ has now pruned down his followers to just 12 guys, some of whom are unlearned fishermen. But at this point Peter, in effect, says to Jesus, we are with you, and won't go away, because we know you have the words of life.
This is where the transformation of physical Israel into Israel reborn in Christ had its beginning. It is pointing to John 3: 1-6 where the Pharisee Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and Jesus tells him that to be in the kingdom of God he must be born again. All physical Israelites had to be born again by the Holy Spirit into Christ to be transformed into Israel born in Christ.
Born again Israel began as a very small Remnant. It grew to a few thousand on the Day of Pentecost, and grew again a great deal after Acts 10 and the conversion of the Gentile Cornelius and some of his band of Italians (Acts 10: 1) in Caesarea, and then in Paul's ministry to the Gentiles in Asia Minor and in Greece.
Isaiah 10: 20-21 talks about the Remnant of Israel, and in verse 21 he says "The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.." Paul quotes Isaiah 10: 20 in Romans 9: 27, and says a Remnant of physical Israel shall be saved. Zephaniah 3: 12-13 says "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."
The Remnant of Israel is that one fold of John 10: 16 - "there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" - and in that Remnant the light of Christ will shine again, but in the "wilderness" (Revelation 12: 6, 14) after the Remnant has obeyed Revelation 18: 4 and has come out of "her," which is spiritual Babylon.
Once born again, either former physical Israelites or Gentiles, then become the light to the nations, in having some of the light of Christ and his mind in them. Matthew 5: 14-16 says "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Paul in Ephesians 5: 8 says "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:" He tells us in I Thessalonians 5: 5 that "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."
So, Israel was once the light to the world, but then Christ became that light, and finally, Christ gave some of his light to those born again in him. But this does not mean that after those in the churches
have been completely leavened by false doctrines and after the falling away of II Thessalonians 2: 3 that those in the churches are still light to the world.
Luke 13: 21 says "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." And II Thessalonians 2: 3 tells us "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" The leavening of the churches has been going on for a hundred years, and now the falling away has also happened. It does not happen only in the tribulation, in part because the leavening goes on for a period of time before the falling away occurs
Isaiah 42: 6-7 says "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentile; 7. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."
At first Israel was the light to the nations, or to the Gentiles. Later, the light will become Christ himself. Then, it becomes his 12 disciples and in Paul the light becomes all believers in Christ.
In Isaiah 42: 7 opening the eyes of the blind is a metaphor for opening up spiritual truths for those who before did not have eyes to see or ears to hear. Bringing the prisoners out of the prison house is metaphorically making the prisoners of the Strong Man, or Satan, free from their bondage to sin and false doctrines.
Isaiah 9: 2: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."
The great light the people were to see was Christ, who as the savior of Israel, is the light to the Gentiles. Physical Israel was to be blessed because the light of the world was to come through them.
But as John 1: 11 says "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."
Israel was transformed into Israel reborn in Jesus Christ, who is the savior of Israel, as shown by John 3: 1-6. Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, came to Christ by night. Christ told him that "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The fact that Nicodemus was a physical descendant of Abraham, and a Pharisee, did not make it possible for him to enter the Kingdom of God. Members of ethnic or physical Israel had to be born again in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. And Gentiles born again in Christ and by the Spirit, have their identity in Christ as reborn Israel.
Then Christ teaches in John 8: 12 that "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
But physical Israel is no longer the light of the world, or the light to the nations.
Christ in Luke 13: 6-9 tells a parable of the fig tree which represents physical Israel. "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:"
"A certain man" is God the father, and the "dresser" of the vineyard is Jesus Christ. The "fig tree" is physical Israel. The Father found that the fig tree, or physical Israel, was bearing no fruit, meaning it was spiritually dead. But the dresser of the vineyard asked the Father to let him work on the tree, on physical Israel.
This story of Christ dealing with physical Israel continues in another parable, this time in John 15: 1-6, where the Father is the husbandman of the vineyard and Jesus Christ is the vine. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
In this parable Christ is the vine and the branches of the vine are Israel, but one part of Israel, or a part of physical Israel, are cut off the vine, which is Christ, and are burned. The branches off the vine which do bear spiritual fruit, that is, they are born again in Christ, he purges, so they bring more fruit.
Christ in John 15: 1-6 prunes back physical Israel to a small Remnant.
Remember in Romans 11: 16 where Paul uses the parable of the good olive tree, that its root is said to be holy, which has to be Christ, as he is the vine in John 15: 1-6. In Romans 11: 17-20 some of the branches, as physical Israel, are broken off the tree, and Gentiles are grafted into the branches to become equals to the believing people who were formerly physical Israelites. This parable also illustrates the pruning down of physical Israel by Christ.
In Romans 11: 20 the Christ rejecting physical israelites were broken off the good olive tree, whose root is Christ, so that in pruning back the tree, the tree would have far greater spiritual growth and life. People who tend to fruit bearing trees know that they have to prune back the limbs and sometimes dig up false roots in order for the tree to bear more apples, peaches, etc.
Now lets look at John 6: 56-68. A great multitude of people have come out to be near Christ, because of his miracles and his feeding of the people previously. But in John 6: 56 he tells them "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." This did not go over very well with the crowd who came to be fed and see his miracles. Verse 66 says "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."
Christ then asked his 12, "Will ye also go away?" And Peter answered for the 12 in verse 68, saying "Lord to whom shall shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." Christ has now pruned down his followers to just 12 guys, some of whom are unlearned fishermen. But at this point Peter, in effect, says to Jesus, we are with you, and won't go away, because we know you have the words of life.
This is where the transformation of physical Israel into Israel reborn in Christ had its beginning. It is pointing to John 3: 1-6 where the Pharisee Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and Jesus tells him that to be in the kingdom of God he must be born again. All physical Israelites had to be born again by the Holy Spirit into Christ to be transformed into Israel born in Christ.
Born again Israel began as a very small Remnant. It grew to a few thousand on the Day of Pentecost, and grew again a great deal after Acts 10 and the conversion of the Gentile Cornelius and some of his band of Italians (Acts 10: 1) in Caesarea, and then in Paul's ministry to the Gentiles in Asia Minor and in Greece.
Isaiah 10: 20-21 talks about the Remnant of Israel, and in verse 21 he says "The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.." Paul quotes Isaiah 10: 20 in Romans 9: 27, and says a Remnant of physical Israel shall be saved. Zephaniah 3: 12-13 says "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."
The Remnant of Israel is that one fold of John 10: 16 - "there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" - and in that Remnant the light of Christ will shine again, but in the "wilderness" (Revelation 12: 6, 14) after the Remnant has obeyed Revelation 18: 4 and has come out of "her," which is spiritual Babylon.
Once born again, either former physical Israelites or Gentiles, then become the light to the nations, in having some of the light of Christ and his mind in them. Matthew 5: 14-16 says "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Paul in Ephesians 5: 8 says "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:" He tells us in I Thessalonians 5: 5 that "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."
So, Israel was once the light to the world, but then Christ became that light, and finally, Christ gave some of his light to those born again in him. But this does not mean that after those in the churches
have been completely leavened by false doctrines and after the falling away of II Thessalonians 2: 3 that those in the churches are still light to the world.
Luke 13: 21 says "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." And II Thessalonians 2: 3 tells us "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" The leavening of the churches has been going on for a hundred years, and now the falling away has also happened. It does not happen only in the tribulation, in part because the leavening goes on for a period of time before the falling away occurs
