Jesus And The Gentiles Pt.1

George M. Ella | Added: Jul 08, 2025 | Category: Theology

The difference between Jews and Gentiles in the history of Christ’s Church has often been grossly exaggerated, especially in the Old Testament period. The common idea amongst Christians seems to be that the Covenant of Grace was promised to the Jews to be fulfilled at some future date and was then opened to the Jews and Gentiles at the time of Christ. Some Christian groups even believe that the Covenant of Grace began with the Jews in the time of Jeremiah and will end with their ethnic, national salvation, irrespective of their belief in Christ. The Church is thus seen as a mere historical parenthesis until the Jews are re-chosen as a nation at Christ’s Second Coming after which He will reign over a newly united ‘Kingdom of the Jews’ for a thousand years. Others say Christ will come again to build the New Jerusalem out of all Jews and all Christians, thus extending the division of the two supposed groups into eternity. These fond visions are, however, not part of that salvation which is revealed in Scripture. In fact, Christ has been gathering in His elect Bride from creation on, which is the natural interpretation of the fact that Christ was sacrificed before the foundation of the world. Indeed, all the aspects of Christ’s salvation are spoken off as being from the foundation of the world. I take this to mean against the background of creation which was accomplished by Christ to bring in His elect People, His Bride, the Church, whatever national titles they might have. Indeed, a distinction between supposed Jews as Jews and supposed Gentiles as Gentiles is not part of Christ’s saving work. He came to save sinners as such, irrespective of country, class, or former creed.

Abraham the father of the goyim

Abraham with whom the Covenant of Redemption, was strengthened and through whom it was continued was declared to be the Father of many Nations. The Hebrew here speaks clearly of the goyim, which, of course, includes the Jews to come well over 400 years later. Goyim is the word usually translated as ‘nations’ in the Old Testament. Indeed, God’s aim was always to save His chosen Holy Nation, ‘goy’, as explained in Exodus 19:6. Thus, God also proclaims in Numbers 14:12 that He will make a great goy out of the Children of Israel. A remnant of the Israeli and Judaean nations was, according to the prophets, included in this goy. This means we must redefine our ideas of what God’s goy is. Especially as we also read that God joined people from many nations with the Jews before their wilderness wanderings and many peoples from different cultures and speaking different languages joined the twelve tribes on their way to the promised land. Indeed, it appears that Biblical Hebrew developed through this mixture of languages. The letters of the Hebrew Bible, for instance, were probably based on the Philistine Indo-Germanic script, as is modern Ivrit. With a bit of imagination, one can see that English uses the same script. When Israel was set up as a kingdom (goy), the ‘strangers within their gates’ were accepted as citizens. Anyway, that nation perished after only some forty years or so and those national Jews who thought they were God’s Ami became Lo-Ami.

A number of the other peoples who joined the Children of Israel, were petitioned and accepted for the wrong reasons on both sides. A special example here is that of the Gibeonites who served as a thorn in the flesh for Israel. Edom also was very one-sided in their being accepted by the Children of Israel and early left the Davidic kingdom which soon came to an end nationally and politically. There were many famous ‘Jews’, however, who were Edomites.

Yet, we may look at Genesis 17:5 ff. where God does not distinguish between Jews and nations but tells us that Abraham is the father of many goyim which obviously means the father of the Jews to come among other peoples and religions. God does not leave out Abraham’s wife, Sarah, in this matter, but tells her in verse 15 that she shall be the mother of goyim. Thus, we cannot argue, as some do, that the ‘nations’ refer, in Abraham’s case, to the offspring of Ishmael and the ‘nations’ mentioned in the case of Sarah to the Jews but that they are all alike goyim, but not God’s holy goyim, which the Scriptures tell us are but a remnant chosen out of the general goyim. Gradually, the national Jews claimed they were God’s holy nation as an elect people but called themselves God’s ‘am’ and non-Jews the goyim. The unholy ‘am’ wished to replace the holy goy in God’s favour.

Yet, in spite of the strong historical evidence concerning the mixed origin of Jewish blood which makes it impossible to speak of Jews as an ethnic unit, there are Zionistic Christians who tell us that ‘all Israel shall be saved’, meaning a national, ethnic and not spiritual People of God. There has never been such a people. The shock always comes to these mis-interpreters of God’s Word when they find out that even Jesus was of ‘mixed blood’ He came as a Real Man and not a piece of Jewish fiction. Please pause here to think of Christ’s family and spiritual connections with the goy.

Christ’s associations and ancestry amongst a people now termed ‘gentiles’ instead of ‘nations’

As early as Genesis 14, we are confronted with the story of Abraham, the Covenant-holder and Melchizedek the worshipper of the same God who was not of the seed of Abraham, nor, apparently related to him through family ties. That Melchizedek knew God need not surprise us as we are familiar with Job, the Edomite who lived about the same time. God was obviously worshipped by other tribes than the Children of Israel. Like Melchizedek, Job knew that his Redeemer lived and reigned. Indeed, the Genesis record is that Melchizedek blessed Abraham, it was not the other way round. Melchizedek was King of Salem and Priest of the Most-High God. So, there were goyim priests and Kings of the Covenant faith parallel with Abraham. More wonderous is what we read in Psalm 110:4 that the Lord in whom David trusted, was ‘a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek’. This declaration of Christ’s priesthood is confirmed by Hebrews 5:6,10, 20. Chapter Seven starts with more information regarding Melchizedek and Christ and the fact that Melchizedek was without father and mother, without beginning of days or end of life and made like the Son of God. This makes the case of Melchisedek being a pre-incarnation revelation of Christ, the Son of God. Hebrews 7:10ff. shows clearly that the Priesthood of Christ, making intercession for His Bride, accompanies the full course of the Law. Thus, Melchizedek appears as the ‘King of Righteousness’, and ‘Son of God’ as Christ truly is. This fact is declared by the author of the Book of Hebrews in Chapter 5:6. Salem is thought to be the site of later Jerusalem, so the city had a King of Righteousness and Priest of the Most-High God long before the time of David and his conquest for Jerusalem which was the Place of Christ’s Atonement for the sins of His Bride, the Church. Jerusalem was also a type pointing to the New Jerusalem. We note, too, that though Abraham was termed the father of the nations, including the Jews, he bowed before Melchizedek and paid him tithes, showing that Melchizedek was the greater figure in God’s plan of salvation. Whether Melchisedek is viewed as a pre-incarnation view of Christ or not, we see that the true God had His elect all over regions unknown to the Children of Israel.

We might also note that Jethro, Moses’ father-in law, was a Midianite, closely associated with the Ishmaelites. 

What do we say to the story told in his second chapter by Joshua? Rahab was a common harlot and not yet of the Children of Israel but both she and her entire household were saved by God on her confession of faith. This is what makes a person a member of God’s holy goy, not birth or race. The Covenant promise was given to her and her family and God kept it. So, James in Chapter Two of his epistle can tell us that Rahab was justified before God and we read that Rahab was one of Christ’s ancestors. 

Caleb the Kenizzite must also be mentioned in Rahab’s story. He became a hero of the Jews though he was born outside and before the establishment of the two Jewish nations. There are perhaps two different Calebs, both ‘strangers in the Gates’ of the Children of Israel who played a great role in the history of the Jews. 

Balaam, too, is an interesting case. He was not of the twelve tribes, nor of the other Children of Israel amongst them, but he could tell those who had left Egypt for the Promised Land, and those whom they had picked up on the way, about the Person of Christ. Balaam’s story is told us in Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Nehemiah, Micah, 2 Peter, Jude and Revelation so it must be very important for the history of the gospel. Through him the Children of Israel knew that a Star would come out of Jacob and a Sceptre out of Israel.’ Numbers 22:5 shows us that Balaam, knew the Gospel of the Covenant. However, even with his knowledge and experience of God, he was still only ‘almost persuaded’. This put him on the side of most of the Children of Israel at the time.

Ruth, a Midianite, is given predominance in the Old and New Testaments and a whole book is dedicated to the Lord’s dealings with her. Israel and Judah were not yet nations but part of what might be called an Amphictyonic League and the Children of Israel were ruled, perhaps only sporadically, when the need arose, by Judges. How Ruth, through the witness of Naomi, her mother-in-law, was brought to the ‘Promised Land’, in more senses than one, outdoes all the Arabian Nights’ tales. Ruth, through her marriage to Boaz became an ancestor of David and Christ as Matthew points out in the first chapter of his Gospel.

We must not forget the story of Naaman, the Syrian warrior told us in 2 Kings 5 who came to Elisha to be healed through the care of the Syrian King who wrote to the King of Israel on Naaman’s behalf. He learnt to know and trust in the God of Israel. Again, this is what makes for a holy goy and not birth or nationality. Though the Jews as a nation rejected Christ, as John tells us in his first chapter: ‘As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name’. These included Samaritans, Romans, Syro-Phoenicians and ‘Greeks’ as well as Jews.

Joseph Hall noted how Gentile nations assisted Solomon in building the temple, writing,

David had not been so entire a friend to Hiram had Hiram not been a friend to God. Solomon’s wisdom hath taught him to make use of so good a neighbour, of a father’s friend; he knew that the Tyrians’ skill was not given them for nothing; not Jews only but Gentiles also must have their hand in building the temple of God; only Jews meddled with the tabernacle, but the temple is not built without the aid of Gentiles; they, together with us, make up the church of God.

Part Two will deal with the New Testament and the Gentiles.

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