Day 13: God raised up Gentiles to do our part in His story

Now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, And My God is My strength), He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” – Isaiah 49:5–6 NASB1995

God is inviting us into His story, giving us a very important part, but we have a choice whether we will accept our part or not. As you study today, ask God to open your heart to what He wants you to know.

Dean Bye, Founding director of Return Ministries, shares:

Imagine you are a parent and one of your children is lost in the woods; you are grieving and longing that the rescuers will restore him to you. If you’ve been chosen to be a rescuer of God’s children, then you’ve been formed in the womb to bring Jacob back to the Father. Wow! We were created to bring God’s children back to himself.

God says to you: “______ (insert your name), is it too small a thing to be my servant? To restore the tribes of Jacob? And bring back my children to their land?” How do you answer that today?

Then He says, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that you might bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” How does God do that? He raises up another people who once were not His people (Romans 9:26). Through His precious blood He sanctifies us to be part of His purpose. When we get hold of His heart, we can say, I want to bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.

But we’ve missed the stage. To the Jew first to bring Jacob back, to restore the tribes. That’s why we read in Matthew 24:14 (CSB): “This good news of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Much needs to happen before the gospel goes to the ends of the earth. In His mercy, we are seeing lots of great things happening around the world.

Consider the following questions:

• Can you imagine what will happen when the church gets hold of God’s heart for His children lost in the woods and brings them back home?
• What will that do for the gospel when we take it to the ends of the earth?
• You cannot remove the return of Jewish people from the revival of those in the nations with the heart of God. Many people are longing to see revival, but don’t understand that Jews need to return to their land before that will fully happen.

Study Isaiah 49:5–6

• As we saw earlier, Jacob is another name for Israel.
• What does this say about you and what you are to do? These verses have at least three things.
• What do you think God means when He says to us, “It is too small a thing that you should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel?” (NASB1995.) Ask God to show you what He wants to say to you through it.
• Verse 6 says, “I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” How can we be a light to the nations?
• How can you be a light right where you are? What might you need to do to become more of a light, so that people will be drawn to Christ?

A prayer to pray

Dear Father, thank You for the privilege to partner with You in bringing Your people back to the land You promised them. Show me how to do that, whether it is praying, doing something practical or giving financially to help those who are doing this ministry. I want to be part of Your story. Forgive me for the times (maybe my whole life to this point) that I haven’t participated in Your story, because I thought You had permanently abandoned the Jews and that we Gentiles have replaced them. Teach me more of Your truth, Lord. I want to know Your heart.

Prayer points for today

• Repent for any ways that you might have felt that serving Israel and Jews is beneath you or maybe you thought that they don’t deserve to be served, because they killed your Savior.
• Ask God to send more people to help bring His people to Israel.
• Ask God how He might want to use you to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore them.

An action to take

Consider the question God asked in Isaiah 49:6 (NET): “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant, to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant of Israel?” Do you consider the task of helping God restore His people in His land too insignificant for you to do? Explain. If you think that task is below you or not worthy of your time, you might need to confess that and ask God to change your heart.