The scriptures teach us that God chose the Hebrews through Abraham to be a people for His own possession. But His choosing of Israel had purposes. They were to demonstrate to the world how blessed it was to have the Lord God as their God and ultimately to be the family through whom the Messiah, the Savior of theworld would come. They did have privilege, but they also had responsibilities.
Often when we consider the place of Israel in God’s plans, we begin to think that God didn’t care much about Gentiles and that He left the nations to be on their own. But scripture teaches otherwise. Paul affirms that God is “the God of Gentiles also.”
In the days of Abram, the Hebrew, after his victory over the kings, he was met by a certain king of Salem by the name of Melchizedek (Genesis 14). This man “brought out bread and wine” to thank God for Abram’s victory, and he blessed Abram. He is called “a priest of God Most High.” From where did this priest of God come? We must conclude that God had interacted with this Melchizedek to
place him in his position. He was not a Hebrew. Later on, Moses encounters the priest of Midian named Jethro whose daughter he
married. After Israel flees Egypt (Exodus 18), Jethro brings Moses’ wife and sons to him in the wilderness. He offers sacrifice to the Lord and shares a meal with the elders of Israel. From where does Jethro get his faith in the Lord? He is no Israelite.
Again, we encounter a prophet by the name of Balaam whom Balak summoned from around the Euphrates River to pronounce a curse upon Israel (Numbers 22-24). Balaam’s response: “I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God.” Who is this man? He is not a Hebrew.
What about Job? The Magi? The Ethiopian of ? None of these were Jews. We must conclude that God continued to interact among the nations in certain ways and for His own purposes. He is God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews.