Isaiah’s Secret Message to Gentiles: The End-Times Mandate to Fulfill God’s Ultimate Plan

Of all the many unique features that the Gentile relationship with the Jew holds, Israel’s redemption is arguably the most important.

Isaiah speaks about the salvation and blessing of the Gentiles like no other and emphasizes the importance of the Gentile role in God’s plan for the Jew fifteen times. Gentile is stated as often in his writings as it is used in all the rest of the Old Testament. Isaiah’s prophecies are the only ones quoted in the Gospels (Matthew 4:15, 12:18; Luke 2:32).

If Paul is considered the apostle to the Gentiles in the New Testament, Isaiah could be the apostle to the Gentiles in the Old Testament. He seems to rejoice in God’s plan of salvation for all the nations. In his own words:

This is what the Sovereign Lord says, “See, I will give a signal to the Gentiles, and they shall carry your little sons [Jewish boys] back to you in their arms, and your daughters [Jewish girls] on their shoulders (Isaiah 49:22 TLB).

Also, the following:

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 (Isaiah 49:6 KJV).

As one reviews the extraordinary range of involvement for the Gentile in God’s plan for the Jewish people, the Gentile calling is essential to God’s plan for the Jewish people.

One area is the Ruth Calling, a deeply prophetic calling which is dramatically affecting the Gentiles and bringing much-needed partnerships to the Messianic Jewish mission.

The Ruth Generation

Many are familiar with the story of Ruth; a woman who became famous for her compassion for her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth stated, “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16 NIV). The question her statement raises: What does it mean to acknowledge a common destiny as Ruth did with Naomi?

For one, today it acknowledges oneself in a common future with the Jew; this is a profound truth with great relevance. Countless individuals are letting go of their own Gentile church culture to affirm their lot and future with the Jewish people. Often as part of the cost, it can bring separation from loved ones, accusations of converting to Judaism, or even erecting a wall of division; but despite it, they continue.

The real benefit that comes to the body through the Ruth generation is the true understanding of God’s heart for His firstborn. They come to be vital partners in the Messianic call, while demonstrating the model of the One New Man that is provoking both to Gentile Christians and the Jewish people. They become end-time light-bearers of God’s benevolent nature toward the Jewish people.

Aliyah, Jewish Return to the Land

When God finally gave to the Jews their homeland in 1948, Jews returning to the land fulfilled what is termed “Aliyah” (Return). The essence of Aliyah is a virulent force in the Jewish people. Many of the Jewish people who return to Israel will do so with the assistance of the Gentiles. And Gentile ministries exist today whose sole purpose is to facilitate the return of the Jewish people.

Thousands are serving as these shepherds’ rods pointing the lost sheep of Israel back to Zion.

Jews who live outside Israel, the Diaspora, often return to Israel when anti-Semitism begins or economic and political difficulties arise. Some are compelled spiritually and prophetically, and some leave to take part in their own cultural return to live with their people in an entirely Jewish state.

More than 400 Scriptures in the Bible foretell the Jewish people’s return to the land of biblical history. The ingathering of the exiles, then, is a timeless principle. Tom Hess’s book, Let My People Go, is a classic reading for this train of thought. Consider the following:

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me (Isaiah 49:23 KJV).

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you (Zechariah 8:23 KJV).

Provoking the Jews to Envy

With the gospel message falling to the Gentiles after Israel rejects her Messiah, the Gentile church has proclaimed the truth of the One True God to virtually every nation and tongue. Yet, the Gentile church was also to provoke the Jewish people to envy, a commission that is given in Romans 11:11 (NIV): the words of Paul, “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.”

Moses writes: “I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding” (Deuteronomy 32:21 NIV).

Sadly, Christendom has not understood the scriptural understanding of the relationship between the Jew and the Gentile—the Jew and the Christian church.

In this current time, however, God is wonderfully restoring love for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. He is restoring the Jewish root and making the church a more Jewish-friendly centered place. The body is being prepared to fulfill her final mandate to the Jew.

Gentiles Stand Against Anti-Semitism

Yeshua’s return, and the passage at length:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” “He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25:31-46 NIV).

God’s devotion to His firstborn is affirmed again in a judgment that takes place at a future time in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It is spoken of in Matthew 25 and is specific to the Jewish people.

Often misquoted and used to impart a heart for the poor and the needy, this future event occurs upon Yeshua’s return before entering the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Messianic age.

For more clarification, and as noted, the nations are brought into a valley outside Jerusalem that is formed by three hills and shaped like a throne seat. It is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Those gathered for this judgment are the Gentile nations called sheep and goats. The goat Gentile nations are those who have mistreated the Jewish people; the sheep Gentile nations are those who supported, fed, and protected the Jewish people, Messiah’s brothers, during the great and dreadful tribulation period.

For greater context, this takes place at the end of the Tribulation period to determine who enters the Messianic Kingdom during the last half of the Great Tribulation. Amid this profound period of anguish, the non-Jewish nations aligned with the antichrist’s regime partake in the persecution of the Jewish people, thus relinquishing their opportunity to enter the Messianic Kingdom.

Those according to the flesh and natural seed of Abraham are Yeshua’s brethren, the Jewish people (Matthew 10:6; John 1:11). Throughout the book of Acts, Paul addresses his Jewish brothers forty-five times. In almost every instance, he speaks to a Jewish audience, his brothers.

 We should note that salvation is first and always in the belief in Yeshua. But the actions of this later group, the goat Gentiles, is simply damning evidence of their allegiance to the antichrist. For this reason, they join in the most horrific persecution of the Jewish people ever in human history.

In closing, review the following passages of the extraordinary role that the Gentile has in the cause of Zion. Let us pray that God continues to move upon the hearts of nations to fulfill the church’s end-days mandate to “all Israel.”

Gentiles are seen as gathers of the exiles: “‘But now I will send for many fishermen,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will catch them…’” (Jeremiah 16:16 NIV).

Gentiles are guiding the Jews back to Jerusalem: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I will beckon to the nations [Gentiles], I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips’” (Isaiah 49:22 NIV).

Gentiles are drawn to Israel:

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee… (Isaiah 60:3-4 KJV).

The nations will be drawn to the Glory of Israel.

Gentiles recognizing God’s favor on the Jews: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you”’” (Zechariah 8:23 NIV).

Gentiles provoking the Jews to envy: “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious” (Romans 11:11 NIV).

Gentiles sharing with the Jews of their material blessings: “They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings” (Romans 15:27 NIV).