Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. Is. 49:22
Sometimes, it looks like the redemption of the gentiles was an afterthought or an accident, in scripture. I know that this is not the case, but here it is a wonderful opening of the mind and intention of God to "save to the uttermost".
I find such comfort in the earlier verses, that God always remembers us that I often miss the larger view of this passage. I imagine myself as the loved of God and this is true, but He was talking to His covenantal people in the Old Testament. I know this and it comforts me still, as I think of the comfort that it must have been to Daniel as he went through the captivity. Surely, it must have looked like God had forsaken them. Certainly, his heart would have ached to enter into true worship with the people of God and have the liberty to live out his days in communion with God's people. God had other plans for Daniel. God had not forsaken them, individually or corporately. Neither will He forsake Israel.Daniel had a ministry of instruction and governing in a Gentile environment. How completely outside of the box of expectation for the godly Israel mindset? "How can these ungodly people ever carry Israel upon their shoulders to God?" must have crossed his mind, more than one time. They must have felt like prey for the digestion of a mighty power, and yet God in them was greater than this mighty power. He has personal plans for us as individuals and He has a corporate plan for His people upon the earth.
When we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as God's New Testament people, we are fulfilling the intention of God in Isaiah. In symbol we are acting like the Pharoah's daughter to Moses and raising one, who would be slated for destruction, without Christ and bearing him{unsaved Israel, in New Testament times}to the throne of God, in intercession.God has, as it were, turned the tables and given us the privilege of bearing the Mosaic covenant on the shoulders of the saved Gentile church of Jesus. Halleluia, What a Savior!
So, I am comforted personally that God will not forget me, in my struggles and I am comforted that He had His Bride in mind to draw Israel back to Himself, one day. What a mighty God we serve.