Isaiah 42:6b

I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles

Yesterday we remembered that God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. He chose for himself a people to be his very own, and committed to blessing them. He proved himself to be faithful to that promise even when they were repeatedly unfaithful to him. So it seems natural when we read about ‘a covenant for the people’ to assume that God has in mind only those people, the 12 tribes of Israel. But in fact as we read on today, we discover that the Servant has come not only for those who are already part of God’s people, but also for the Gentiles. The outsiders. The other nations who weren’t included by birth in the promises which God had made to Abraham.

We already got a glimpse of this back in verse 4, when we read about ‘the islands’ putting their hope in the promised Servant. Throughout Isaiah, ‘the islands’ refers to the Gentile nations who don’t yet know God. Here we see another important aspect of the Servant’s mission – he comes to throw open the gates of God’s kingdom to those from every tribe and tongue, every language and nation. Which is good news for all those of us without any Jewish ancestry. We were born outside the promises of God. We have no natural claim on the covenant promises which were made to Abraham and his descendants. Yet God has graciously invited us in. He has sent this Servant to shine his light into the remotest corners of his world to seek and to save us.

Let’s praise and thank him for his generosity in opening up his kingdom to us, who were far off, and bringing us near to him through Jesus.