1) Throughout the Old Testament, we find that the gentiles were never kept from the gospel of the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All men could believe in Him, and thereby be saved (as per
Gen. 15:6).
2) The Revealed Lord told Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat
you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen. 12:3; NLT). In
the life of Abraham, there are essentially 3 Jews: Abraham, Sarah and Isaac. Therefore, those
blessed by a relationship with Abraham during his time would be gentiles. We have many
instances of this: Abraham’s relationship here to Abimelech; Abraham delivering the people of
Sodom; Abraham’s compound, which included at least 318 men able to go to war, and their
families.
3) There are many specific examples in the Bible of Gentiles who adhere to the God of Abraham.
(1) Hagar, the Egyptian slave girl. We may assume that she is saved because God spoke to
her twice. Gen. 16:7–13 21:17–20
(2) Abimelech in Gen. 21.
(3) Rahab the prostitute, who chooses to ally herself with the Israelites rather than with her
people in Jericho (Joshua 2).
(4) Ruth, a Moabite, who remains with her Jewish mother-in-law, despite the passing of her
husband. The book of Ruth.
(5) The Queen of Sheba, who comes to Solomon because of his great wisdom. 1Kings 10
(6) Jonah going to the Assyrians in Nineveh to evangelize them, even though he hated the
Assyrians. The book of Jonah.
(7) There is no reason to assume that this list includes all of the gentiles who had faith in the
God of Abraham. These are examples from a variety of situations and circumstances.
4) The nations all around Israel, if they believed that Israel had a real relationship with the true God,
went through Israel (or through individuals in Israel) to have a relationship with their God. Israel
or people in Israel became intermediaries between God and them.
5) Israel, as a nation, had the responsibility to bring the gospel to the gentiles: He says [to Israel],
"It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the
protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations [= gentiles], to be My
salvation to the ends of the earth." (Isa. 49:6; HCSB). Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for
all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. Darkness as black as night covers all
the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you. All nations will
come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance (Isa. 60:1–3; NLT). Many nations
will join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they, too, will be My people. I will live among
you, and you will know that the Lord of Heaven's Armies sent me to you (Zech. 2:11). See also
the book of Jonah; Isa. 56:6 Jer. 16:19 Mal. 1:11.
6) The God of Israel is the God of all mankind. Praise Yehowah, all nations; praise Him, all peoples
(Psalm 117:1). See also Deut. 32:43 Psalm 18:49
7) God Himself would go to the gentiles. Listen, You shall call a nation You do not know; yea, a
nation not knowing You [= a gentile nation] shall run to You, because of Yehowah Your God, and
for the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified You [the Son glorifies the Father—John 13:31
14:13]. [Therefore], seek Yehowah while He may be found; call on Him while He is near
(Isa. 55:5–6). This is actually a warning to the Jews.
8) What about nations which are so far from Israel as to not have any interaction with them?
(1) First of all, mankind essentially began in the fertile crescent (the land around the Euphrates
and Tigris Rivers) and spread out from there (Gen. 10). We have observed and will
observe interaction between Israel and those in the far east. So, for a time, there was a lot
of interaction between Israel and nations on its periphery.
(2) However, let us assume, just for the sake of argument, that there is a nation or city so far
out there that there was no interaction with Israel, what about that?
(3) We apply God’s justice and righteousness to this situation. If there is someone who has
a desire to have a relationship with the Revealed God, then God will see to it that the
gospel of the Revealed Lord comes to that person, no matter where that person is.
(4) There is no reason to assume that the book of Jonah is entirely unique. How often did God
send out men from Israel and from Judah to speak of the Revealed God? We have no
idea. However, when we combine what we know about God’s righteousness and justice
with the book of Jonah, it is reasonable to assume that evangelism of some sort took place
wherever there was positive volition.
(5) Furthermore, we know from the book of Job that Job’s friends, despite their
misunderstandings about God, worshiped the same God that Job worshiped. Therefore,
it is reasonable that the Revealed God was known apart from the nation Israel. However,
it is the nation Israel which, after a time, became charged with the responsibility of teaching
about the Revealed God.
(6) God is not responsible to bring the gospel to someone who would reject it. Therefore,
knowing that God is not willing that any should perish (2Peter 3:9), we can rest assured that
the message of the Revealed God went wherever it needed to go. Wherever there was
positive volition, then God is always responsible to get that message to those people with
positive volition. If God is able to create the universe and all mankind, we may assume that
He can work out the logistics to get the gospel of the Revealed Lord to any place in the
world.
9) Paul confirms God coming to the gentiles as well in the Old Testament in Rom. 15:9–12, 15–16.
In this way, Paul was the apostle to the gentiles. Eph. 3:1–2, 8
10) In the far future, all men would bow to the God of the Jews. All the ends of the earth will
remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will bow down before You
(Psalm 22:27; HCSB). He will not fail nor be discouraged till He has set justice in the earth. And
in His name Gentiles will hope (Isa. 42:4; ACV; LXX, with references to God capitalized).
11) Although Jesus at first offered the Kingdom of God to the Jews, He was rejected by a majority
of them, including by the priests and pharisees who should have known better. After this, He
began to speak to Samaritans and to gentiles (which was almost unheard of among the Jews).
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