Be a Light to the Nations!

 וְעַתָּ֗ה אִם־שָׁמ֤וֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּקֹלִ֔י וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֑י וִהְיִ֨יתֶם לִ֤י סְגֻלָּה֙ מִכׇּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים כִּי־לִ֖י כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ 

‘Now then, if you will indeed accept my instruction, and keep my covenant which I made with the Patriarchs, then you shall be my chosen treasure from among all the nations: for all the earth is mine, but you alone have I chosen to be a light to the nations.

Exodus 19:5

אֲנִ֧י יי קְרָאתִ֥יךָֽ בְצֶ֖דֶק וְאַחְזֵ֣ק בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וְאֶצׇּרְךָ֗ וְאֶתֶּנְךָ֛ לִבְרִ֥ית עָ֖ם לְא֥וֹר גּוֹיִֽם׃ 

I the LORD have called you in righteousness, and have taken hold of your hand, and kept you, and set you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations;

לִפְקֹ֖חַ עֵינַ֣יִם עִוְר֑וֹת לְהוֹצִ֤יא מִמַּסְגֵּר֙ אַסִּ֔יר מִבֵּ֥ית כֶּ֖לֶא יֹ֥שְׁבֵי חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ 

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.

אֲנִ֥י  יי ה֣וּא שְׁמִ֑י וּכְבוֹדִי֙ לְאַחֵ֣ר לֹֽא־אֶתֵּ֔ן וּתְהִלָּתִ֖י לַפְּסִילִֽים׃ 

I am the LORD, that is my name; and my honour will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Isaiah 42:1-8

The Almighty selected among the nations the smallest of all, to liberate them from slavery and all type of injustice: the children of Israel. The history of Israel is not unique. God had done this before. The prophet Amos (9:7) wrote that the Holy One of Israel liberated earlier “the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir.” Israel was not the only one the Eternal brought to freedom. The complete records of the experiences of these two nations have not been preserved as ancient Israel held to its documents. We do not know what happened to these two other nations and why, by the time Israel enter the Land, these nations were far from anything that could describe them as People of God. Perhaps, they failed to be a Light to the Nations. 

The purpose of election was to make a covenant people that would become a Light to the Nations. A people empowered by the Spirit of God (cf. Isaiah 61) to be instruments of justice. A humble nation that loves mercy (cf. Micah 6:8). Israel was not chosen to become an ethnocentric and exclusive religious group, rather a people that with words and actions proclaim liberty through the land (no just at the special time of Jubilee, Leviticus 25:10). A nation called to be a Light wherever we are and whatever we do, as workers in factories, as owners of factories, as staff in an organization or a member of its board, as citizens casting their ballots or as the politicians, as members of the community of faith or the secular society (yes, being secular is not an excuse to be an instrument of peace, mercy, justice, love, compassion, and freedom). We have a responsibility as a people and as individuals. Seeking the best for the other, including health. The priest Jeremiah (29:7) said:

וְדִרְשׁ֞וּ אֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הָעִ֗יר אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגְלֵ֤יתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ שָׁ֔מָּה וְהִתְפַּֽלְל֥וּ בַעֲדָ֖הּ אֶל־יי כִּ֣י בִשְׁלוֹמָ֔הּ יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם שָׁלֽוֹם׃

This is what makes Israel unique: the call to be a Light to the Nations seeking the Peace of everyone wherever it may be.