Jesus (Gods light unto the gentiles

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Not only is Jesus the (true Israel of God) he is the (Great shepherd of Israel) and (Gods light unto the Gentiles).

By Terry Cropper

The main false teaching of one of the ring leaders of the cult Israel Only Jason Decosta is God only saved the nation of Israel and the gentiles in the New Testament that are being saved are really members of the ten northern tribes of Israel.

God chose to bless Abraham descendants above every other nation, but it was not because they were so prominent, and powerful. It was certainly not because they would be so faithful after they were chosen. See Jeremiah 3:6; Hosea 5:4. God chose to bless Abraham’s seed so that they might be a testimony to His grace and also be a channel of blessing to “all the families of the earth.”

We all know the scripture of Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who curse you.” But sometimes we forget that the scripture continues, “the nations of the world will be blessed through you.”

God’s blessings were poured out on Abraham and his descendants so that His chosen people could be the instrument through which God blessed the world. How was this blessing to come about? In what ways was the nation Israel to be a blessing to the Gentiles? Let’s take a few moments to explore ways the Israelites were to relate to other nations to be a blessing to them.

Unfortunately in a few instances – very few, – we see examples of how this was meant to work. My purpose here is to show just what it meant to be a “light to the Gentiles.” The clearest definition I have found in scripture is in Isaiah and Acts 13:47. The prophet and apostle proceeds to specify very particularly what God required.

Isaiah 42:6 NKJV “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, (As a light to the Gentiles).

Acts 13:47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a (light to the Gentiles), That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” “Light to the Gentiles” thus clearly speaks about world evangelism.

Sure God knew Israel in a special way, no one argues that! God chose to reveal Himself through them, but to say they Only could be saved is a fallacy! We see the God of Israel had called them to be a light to all the nations however more often, Israel failed to be a light to the Gentiles; indeed.

Israel sometimes refused (as in the case of Jonah) to be a light to the Gentiles. This was deeply embedded in the hearts of some apostles, as we can see from Peter’s resistance to go to a Gentile’s home in Acts 10. And when some Jews arrived in Antioch from Jerusalem, Peter gradually began to withdraw from eating with the Gentile Christians, and instead ate with the Jewish Christians. (Galatians 2:12) says he did this because he feared these Jews.

Peter likely "feared" them because he wanted to be liked and popular, plus he probably did not want word to get back to Jerusalem that he was eating with the Gentiles. Peter ate meals with these Christians on a regular basis. If these Gentile Christians were Jewish members of the 10 Scattered Northern Tribes Peter would never fear being seen eating with them. These were truly Gentiles.

Yet Peter was guilty of several sins, and Paul called him out on them in front of everyone. As the text says, his primary sin (as well as the other Jews who followed his lead) was that he "walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:14).

Because of this action, Paul called Peter a hypocrite. He believed one thing, but did something else. As a leader in the church, he was to set a good example for others, but instead, his hypocritical actions led others astray (other Jews followed his lead including "even Barnabas") (Galatians 2:13) and certainly upset the Gentile Christians.

We see God had called Israel to be a light to all the nations, and not to horde salvation for themselves! It’s not that hard to understand, that the nation of Israel failed at the task to be a light unto the world?

The problem was that the Jews became arrogant and self-righteous, despising all Gentiles as though they were Canaanites. They were eager to see all Gentiles perish, just as Jonah wanted the Ninevites destroyed. They opposed the extension of God’s grace to unworthy Gentiles. This same attitude persisted in New Testament times: Galatians 2:15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.

It was because of Israel’s failure to be a light to the Gentiles that (the Messiah) came to earth and fulfilled that calling which Israel failed to achieve. This was because the heart of true evangelism was missing.

And so the Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming Messiah as a “light to the goyim gentiles.” Isaiah 49:6 Ineed 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 give (You as a light to the Gentiles), That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” The Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming of Messiah as a source of light to the goyim Gentiles and not just for Jews alone:

Isaiah and the other prophets had much to say about the salvation of Gentiles through the coming of Messiah: Isaiah 60:1-3 Arise, shine; (For your light has come)! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The (Gentiles shall come to your light), And kings to the brightness of your rising. Emphasis added.

This is also how Jesus is presented in the Gospels. Those same words appear at the beginning of the New Testament when Mary and Joseph “presented” eight-day-old Jesus in the Temple. That day, an elderly priest named Simeon took the infant Messiah in his arms. As he did so, the Holy Spirit moved him to quote Isaiah’s “A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles” phrase (Luke 2:28-32). A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." It's a reference to Isaiah 49:6 and furthered in acts 13:46. Can you see the clear distinction between (Israel and the gentiles here? Simeon mentions two distinct groups of people.

Just as Jesus came as the Light to the gentile world, He commands his disciples to be “lights,” to the gentiles as well. Paul used this truth as he preached to Gentiles in Antioch and elsewhere. "So hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be (a light of the Gentiles), that thou should be for salvation unto the ends of the earth" (Acts 13:47; also note Acts 26:23). In fact, Jesus not only enlightens both Jews and Gentiles, but is "the light of the world" (John 8:12).

This connection between the Great Commission and the command to be a “light” to the world can also be seen in the Epistles: But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. (2 Corinthians 4:3-5)

Ephesians 5:7-14 Therefore do not be partakers with them. Walk in Light 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”

Perhaps the bitterest pill any Israelite had to swallow was to acknowledge that God’s Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming of the Messiah as a source of blessing and light to the gentile world, and not just for the Israelites alone. And Israel’s former enemies will be God’s people. Isaiah and other prophets had much to say about the salvation of Gentiles.

“Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:25) You mean to tell us there is a scripture mentioning Egypt and Assyria who were enemies of Israel and who are actually mentioned first as God's people?

Wow that is amazing! God even calls Egypt blessed and His people? You cannot make Egypt and Assyria into the 10 Scattered Northern Tribes. Nor can you make Israel into Egypt and Assyria.

The Egyptians and Assyria’s were never members of the northern tribes of Israel who split away from the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. They were never "lost." They were not scattered among the nation as the northern tribes of Israel or called the lost sheep of Israel. They were not apart of Israel who God divorced and became not God’s people. These people were Egyptians and Assyria’s.

Isaiah 55:5 "Behold, you will call (a nation you do not know), And (a nation which knows you not) will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you." Israel or the scattered northern tribes of Israel was never a nation unknown to the LORD God.

(Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you)” (1 Kings 8:41-43,). You absolutely cannot make Foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel the nation of Israel.

So God always had a plan for the gentiles and Christ is the true light of God to both the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. Acts 26:23 that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

I would like to share with you some great point’s brother Don Preston as made. I take it that Hosea 2:23 must be talking first of all of Israel, since she was the one divorced, and thus, she had to be remarried. But, notice that as Isaiah 63:19 (and Hosea 8:8 also) shows, when she was exiled, she was swallowed up by those who had never (key word "never" been ruled over by the Lord, and had never been called by His name) been the Lord's people. They would become "like them" just as in Hosea 8:8, they were swallowed up by them. It is pretty clear to me that the Diaspora never entirely lost their identity-- see John 7:35).

The Jews knew where they were and who they were. And notice in John that the Jews around Jesus distinguished between the Diaspora and the Gentiles! So, in Hosea 2:23, when the Lord promised to call Israel, those who had not obtained mercy, those who were called "not my people" first of all, He was would call the Diaspora back to Him (Cf. 1 Peter and James) but, in addition to calling the Diaspora, he would call the nations-- those who had never been the Lord's people.

In Isaiah 65:1-2-- the Lord said that He was (would be) sought out by a people that did not know him, that had never asked for him. Well, in 63:19, Israel laments now due to her sin and punishment, she had become like other people whom the Lord had never ruled, and those who had never been called by His name. That cannot-- absolutely cannot-- refer to Israel. They had always been called by His name from the very beginning!

For Israel to become like them, does not mean that they became them. But, it means that if when He called those who had never called on Him, it cannot mean that it refers to Israel only! Period, end of the story, game over. So, through their sin, they had become like the pagans, who had never known Him, but, in the last days, the people who had never called on Him -- which of necessity had to include pagans!! -- would be accepted by Him! End quote.

Another false teaching of Jason DeCosta a RING LEADER the gospel of Christ ended with the old dispensation of Moses or the law. However the inspired Apostle John tells us there is angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the (everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people). (Revelation 14:6)

The Greek word for everlasting here is αἰώνιον eternal, unending, age-long, and therefore: practically eternal, unending. Like the eternal age we keep pointing out in the bible.

The Greek word for nation here in the Greek is ἔθνος a race, people, nation; the nations, heathen world, Gentiles.The Greek word for tribe is φυλὴν a tribe or race of people.

The Greek word for tongue is γλῶσσαν the tongue, a language, a nation (usually distinguished by their speech). The Greek word for people, is λαόν, a people, characteristically of God's chosen people, first the Jews, then the Christians.

So it is easy to see from the Greek that the gospel of Christ is an eternal, unending gospel to everyone on the earth. And the teaching of Israel Only is false.