10-9-23 Daily Bible Nugget #791, Isaiah 49:6
The Nugget:
Isa 49:6 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. (KJV)
Isa 49:6 The LORD said to me, “I have a greater task for you, my servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations—so that all the world may be saved.” (GNB, Good News Bible)
Isa 49:6 Now, the Lord says, “You are not just my servant who restores the tribes of Jacob and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved. I have also made you a light for the nations so that you would save people all over the world.” (GW, God’s Word translation)
Isa 49:6 Now the LORD says to me, “It isn’t enough for you to be merely my servant. You must do more than lead back survivors from the tribes of Israel. I have placed you here as a light for other nations; you must take my saving power to everyone on earth.” (CEV, Contemporary English Version)
The Muslim Challenge:
PAUL THE FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY
JESUS WAS NOT SENT TO THE GENTILES BECAUSE HE DIDN’T SPEAK OR UNDERSTAND ANY OTHER LANGUAGE EXCEPT ARAMAIC AND HEBREW
Ezekiel 3:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
AND HE SAID TO ME, “SON OF MAN, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then GO AND SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL.
4 HE THEN SAID TO ME: “SON OF MAN, GO NOW TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND SPEAK MY WORDS TO THEM. 5 YOU ARE NOT BEING SENT TO A PEOPLE OF OBSCURE SPEECH AND STRANGE LANGUAGE, BUT TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
NOT TO MANY PEOPLES OF OBSCURE SPEECH AND STRANGE LANGUAGE (GENTILES), WHOSE WORDS YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND.
THAT IS WHY HE WAS SENT TO THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL ONLY NOT TO THE GENTILES
GOD SENT JESUS TO THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL
Matthew 15:24
Jesus said:
“I WAS SENT ONLY TO THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL.”
1 Corinthians 9:17
Paul said:
IF I PRECH VOLUNTARILY, I HAVE A REWARD; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.
Romans 15:20
Paul said:
It HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY AMBITION TO PREACH THE GOSPEL WHERE CHRIST WAS NOT KNOWN, SO THAT I WOULD NOT BE BUILDING ON SOMEONE ELSE’S FOUNDATION.
2 Corinthians 1:19
Paul said:
For the SON OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST, WHO WAS PREACHED AMONG YOU BY US —BY ME AND SILAS AND TIMOTHY
PAUL PREACHED HIS OWN GOSPEL
Romans 16:25
Now to him who is able to strengthen you ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL
PAUL BLASPHEMED BY ABOLISHING THE LAW AND COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
Romans 6:14
Romans 13:8
Ecclesiastes 12:13
1 John 2:4
Deuteronomy 11:26, 27, 28
1 Corinthians 9:20
PAUL CONVERTING THE GENTILES TO BE CHRISTIANS
Acts 26:28
THEN Agrippa said to PauL, DO YOU THINK THAT IN SUCH A SHORT TIME YOU CAN PERSUADE ME TO BE A CHRISTIAN?”
1 Corinthians 3:10
Paul said:
I LAID a FOUNDATION AS a EXPERT BUILDER, and SOMEONE ELSE IS BUILDING ON IT. But EACH ONE SHOULD BUILD WITH CARE.
Ephesians 2:20
Paul said:
BUILT ON THE FOUNDATION of the apostles and prophets, WITH CHRIST JESUS himself as the CHIEF CORNERSTONE.
1 Corinthians 3:6
Paul said:
I PLANTED THE seed, Apollos WATERED IT.
Luke 8:17
Luke 12:2
Mark 4:22
2 Peter 3:16
HE (PAUL) writes the same way in all his (PAUL’S) LETTERS, speaking in them of these matters. HIS LETTERS CONTAIN some things that are hard to understand, WHICH IGNORANT AND UNSTABLE PEOPLE DISTORT, AS THEY DO THE OTHER SCRIPTURES, TO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION.
HOW MANY OTHER SCRIPTURES ARE DISTORED ACCORDING TO PETER?
MY RESPONSE:
Wrong again!
Jesus was multi-lingual.
The usage of figures of speech in the New Testament record of what Jesus said is firm evidence that Jesus understood and could speak Greek. The figures of speech Jesus used work only in the Greek language, not the Aramaic language. In the community where Jesus grew up, Greek was the language of the business community. Remember Jesus worked as a carpenter just as Peter and other disciples of Jesus were fishermen. They needed to know Greek to conduct business in the community where they lived and worked.
Wrong again about Messianic prophecy:
Isaiah 49:6
6 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.
King James Version
Wrong again about the mission of Jesus being exclusively to the Jews. The Bible principle of “to the Jew first, then also to the Gentile” conforms to the command of Jesus given in Acts 1:8,
Acts 1:8
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
King James Version
As for your citation of Matthew 15:24, you are WRONG AGAIN because you have taken this verse out of context. Other evidence in the New Testament clearly shows that Jesus ministered to non-Jews before and after the incident described in Matthew 15:24.
Jesus did not always limit or restrict his ministry to none but the Jews:
(1) He also ministered to Gentiles as here (Matthew 15:22, 24, 28).
(2) He healed the centurion’s servant (Mat 8:13);
(3) He declared his Messiahship to the Samaritan woman at the well (Joh 4:25, 26), and as a result of her vibrant testimony Jesus was asked by the townspeople of the Samaritan city of Sychar to stay two more days with them, which he did, and many of them believed (Joh 4:42).
(4) When Jesus healed the ten lepers, one of them was a Samaritan, the only one who returned to give thanks (Luk 17:11, 12; Luk 17:15, 16).
Christ’s directive (Mat 10:5, 6) that his disciples minister only to the lost sheep of Israel and not enter into any city of the Samaritans nor go in the way of the Gentiles was clearly a directive for that immediate mission, and does not mark a permanent policy of the ministry of Christ that limited His work only to the Jews. It is most clear that Christ came to save the world, not merely the lost sheep of the house of Israel, for He commanded that His Gospel be proclaimed to every creature (Mat 28:19; Mar 16:15; Luk 24:47; Joh 1:29; Joh 3:16; Joh 4:42; Act 1:8; 1Jn 2:2).
You are WRONG AGAIN in your understanding and application of 2 Peter 3:16 when you state and ask:
“HE (PAUL) writes the same way in all his (PAUL’S) LETTERS, speaking in them of these matters. HIS LETTERS CONTAIN some things that are hard to understand, WHICH IGNORANT AND UNSTABLE PEOPLE DISTORT, AS THEY DO THE OTHER SCRIPTURES, TO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION.
HOW MANY OTHER SCRIPTURES ARE DISTORTED ACCORDING TO PETER?”
You have just done what Peter condemns–you have distorted the Scriptures–to your own destruction.
Peter is not faulting Paul for the problem of others misreading and misunderstanding Paul’s writings. The problem resides with faulty readers, not Paul, whose very writings are here regarded by Peter to be Scripture.
My hope is that you will receive the corrections to your misunderstanding of the Bible so you will not continue to distort the Scriptures but understand them correctly.
To understand the Bible correctly, I suggest that you read the New Testament all the way through from Matthew to Revelation.
I suggest that you read the Bible long enough each day (at least 20 minutes a day and more when possible). Read the Bible often enough each week (at least four days of the week). Continue to read the New Testament this way from now on.
It will bring you hope and salvation. It will bring you peace and comfort. It will bring you assurance that you have eternal life and that your sins have been forgiven. Read the Gospel of John extra times through.
That is what I did starting in 1953, now 70 years ago. I am still reading the Bible daily. Just as it has helped me and changed my life for the better, reading the Bible can do the same for you.