In Scripture, no one gets to be exceptional or special. If you are special at all, it is only as an example used for the edification of others. To put it another way, you become the example of what not to do. In spite of your wandering astray, God can and does use your punishment and correction to achieve His purpose according to His will. Your screwing it up becomes a blessing to those on the outside. In this way, it fulfills what God told Abram in Genesis 22:18 when He told him that, “in your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed.” This mechanism is key to understanding the Scriptural story as a whole; and particularly how we understand Israel being called “a light to the nations.” Join us as we look at examples from both the Old and New Testaments of how this phrase, which is used as the name of this podcast, can express a double-edged meaning; whether we hear it as positive or negative, it’s always according to the will of the Scriptural God.