The Preserved of Israel
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. (Isa 49:6)
When I went to an AoG church I'd hear the latter part of this verse mentioned every now and again, but I don't recall ever hearing the "to restore the preserved of Israel" bit. It just got skipped, or maybe I wasn't paying much attention. At any rate that part of the verse sure doesn't fit in with their theology. If Christ came to be a light to us Gentiles that means He also came to restore some Jews (the disciples, Paul, and so on)...He came to restore those who God had preserved. The text says nothing about these preserved people choosing, or opening their hearts and allowing God to move...the text says they were preserved. Preserved by who? By God. For what? Salvation. Did they do anything to preserve themselves? Undoubtedly not, or else why wouldn't all the Jews that ever live preserve themselves? Furthermore, the text does not indicate that all the Jews were being preserved by God to be restored by Christ. Rather it would seem that a selection out of national Israel was preserved.
Just some thoughts, I have no real point.
When I went to an AoG church I'd hear the latter part of this verse mentioned every now and again, but I don't recall ever hearing the "to restore the preserved of Israel" bit. It just got skipped, or maybe I wasn't paying much attention. At any rate that part of the verse sure doesn't fit in with their theology. If Christ came to be a light to us Gentiles that means He also came to restore some Jews (the disciples, Paul, and so on)...He came to restore those who God had preserved. The text says nothing about these preserved people choosing, or opening their hearts and allowing God to move...the text says they were preserved. Preserved by who? By God. For what? Salvation. Did they do anything to preserve themselves? Undoubtedly not, or else why wouldn't all the Jews that ever live preserve themselves? Furthermore, the text does not indicate that all the Jews were being preserved by God to be restored by Christ. Rather it would seem that a selection out of national Israel was preserved.
Just some thoughts, I have no real point.
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