Introduction

Churches today rightly stress the importance of the Great Commission, the call to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Matthew describes the commission as making disciples of all nations, baptising them, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus taught (Mt 28:18-19). Mark describes it as going into all the world and proclaiming the good news to the whole of creation (Mk 16:15).

However, this missionary call did not start with the coming of Jesus, but has been in the heart of God throughout history. The Great Commission was certainly not an after-thought, but can be seen consistently through the OT as the centre of the purposes of God. The aim of this page is to trace God’s plan and desire for the nations to come to salvation through the Bible, with a particular focus on the OT, but moving into the NT and the early church.

Origin of the nations (Gen 1-11)

Through the first eleven chapters of the Book of Genesis the narrative includes the whole of humanity before the focus narrows after the call and promise to Abraham in chapter 12.

When God created human beings, they were told to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it ...” (Gen 1:28). After the great flood this command was repeated to Noah and his family (Gen 9:1-7). God’s intention was that human beings would spread throughout the world and live in the knowledge of God the Creator, and worship him. This command is essentially the basis of the Great Commission.

However, because of sin and rebellion, this did not happen. There was a gradual loss of knowledge of the One True God, so worship of him was replaced by worship of idols and heavenly bodies like the sun, moon and the stars, but also including the ancestors of the nations (Rom 1:18-23). Instead of spreading out, people stayed and settled in one place. This is where they built the Tower of Babel to avoid being scattered over the face of the earth (Gen 11:4). Because humanity had refused to spread around the world, God confused the languages, thus forcing them to separate and scatter (Gen 11:7-8). This was the origin of the nations described in the Table of the Nations (Gen 10).

Israel’s call to be a light to the nations (Patriarchs)

Chapter 12 in Genesis marks a significant turning point. Before this point, the whole of humanity had been scattered into families and nations in order to limit the amount of evil. God then chose one of these families to demonstrate to the other nations that God provides a way of salvation. He did this by giving them a greater revelation of his nature and character, and how to come into a relationship with him. This is known as ‘special revelation’. God chose one man, Abram, and appeared to him, making him an important promise, known as the Abrahamic covenant. Abram was told to leave his life in Ur and Haran and move to a place God will show him.

The promise to Abraham had three specific parts, the first is that God would give him land, the second is that God will create a nation from his offspring, and thirdly that through him all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen 12:1-3). The offspring of Abram (his seed) is to be a blessing to all the peoples, or families, on the earth. This was certainly not an exclusive narrowing down of the blessing, but provided a method of that blessing ultimately reaching all nations.

The promise of being a blessing to the nations was repeated several times during Abraham’s life (Gen 18:18, 22:18), then to his son Isaac (Gen 26:4), and to his grandson Jacob (Gen 28:14).

Privilege and responsibility

The people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, had the particular privilege of receiving the special revelation of God, and how to attain salvation through faith in God’s word. They also were given the responsibility to make this message available to all the nations. The calling of Israel was ‘To know God, and to make him known’. Unfortunately through the history of the OT, they tended to enjoy the privileges of knowing God, boasting about having his law, living in the land, and enjoying his blessings, but generally they failed in their task to make him known to the nations.

However, consistently through the OT we can see that God’s desire was to use Israel to bless the nations, and sometimes this actually happened, particularly when non-Israelite people came to know and worship the One True God.

Job

It is difficult to be certain when Job lived, but much of the content of his book fits the time of the Patriarchs, when there was no organised priestly worship, and worship of God was conducted by the head of the family. Job appears to have been a leading citizen of Uz, and an elder of the city, well-respected by the leaders of the land, and described as the greatest of all the people of the east (Job 1:3). It seems that Job was a godly man living around the time of Abraham, but not part of his family, so would not be considered to be an Israelite. He can be considered to be an example of a godly Gentile in the OT.

Jethro

Jethro was the father-in-law of Moses, and is described as a priest of Midian (Ex 18:1). He rejoiced when Moses told him about the way the LORD had delivered the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex 18:9). He also gave Moses advice about how to organise the legal system of the Israelites (Ex 18:27). Like Job, Jethro was not an Israelite, but was the leader of a Midianite tribe who lived in the Sinai desert. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham, but through the line of Keturah, rather than Sarah, so Jethro too can be considered to be an example of godly Gentile in the OT.

Exodus and the law

On the day of the Exodus from Egypt about 600,000 Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. It is interesting to note that along with the Israelites there was a mixed crowd that went up with them (Ex 12:38). These were evidently non-Israelites, so could include Egyptians who want to worship Yahweh, and identify with the Israelites, but could also include people of other nationalities. There are often fascinating hints like this through the narratives of the OT, but it is a bit frustrating that more details are not always given.

The law of Moses had provision of including non-Israelites (foreigners) into the community of Israel. Israel was commanded to ‘love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt’ (Deut 10:19). Because the Israelites were organised in to tribes and families, all being able to trace their family line back to Abraham and the Patriarchs, any stranger would be a non-Israelite, or Gentile.

Strangers were also to join in the rejoicing of the festival of booths (tabernacles), along with the slaves, Levites, orphans and widows (Deut 16:14). The strangers were welcomed to join the worship and thanksgiving of the Jewish festivals.

When the law was given to Moses on Mt Sinai, the introduction was as follows, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation ...” (Ex 19:3-6). God described Israel as his treasured possession, but also declared that the whole earth belongs to him. He gave Israel the calling to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The nation of Israel was to act as a priest to all the other nations. A priest is a mediator between God and human beings, so Israel was called to bring the revelation of God to the other nations, and to intercede for the nations. It is significant that the church has the same priestly and missionary calling (1 Pet 2:9).

Crossing into the Promised Land

Throughout the OT great acts of God are described, and frequently these are done so that the nations may see the power and majesty of the One True God, and to demonstrate that his power is greater than the idols. The plagues of Egypt had the purpose of showing the Egyptians the power of God (eg. Ex 7:17, 9:14).

After crossing the River Jordan, the Israelites erected a pile of stones taken from the bed of the river. Then Joshua said this, “For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we crossed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and that you may fear the LORD your God forever” (Josh 4:23-24). These miraculous acts of God were to serve as a sign to the nations, as well as being faith-building events that the Israelites could remember in their history.

Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute

Rahab was commended for her faith because she protected the two Hebrew spies in Jericho (Josh 2:1-21). Because of her faith, she did not perish along with the disobedient people of Jericho (Heb 11:31, James 2:25). She is included in the genealogy of Jesus, as the mother of Boaz, the husband of Ruth, and ancestor of David (Mt 1:5).

Israel in the land

When David challenged Goliath, he declared that the LORD will deliver him into his hand, with the result that, “all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Sam 17:46). Again, this was not merely a faith-building victory of Israel, but also a demonstration of the power of God to the nations.

This same plan for the whole world is expressed in several of the psalms. Psalm 67 is seen as a missionary psalm, expressing the outworking of the original promise to Abraham: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, and your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him” (Ps 67:1-7).

A similar message is seen in Psalm 96, where all the earth is called to sing to the Lord, and to declare his glory among the nations (Ps 96:1-10), and in Psalm 117 too.

Ruth, the Moabitess

Ruth, who was also included in the genealogy of Jesus (Mt 1:5) was from Moab. The Moabites were descended from Lot, the nephew of Abraham. The Book of Ruth describes how she desired to identify with her mother-in-law Naomi, saying, “your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). She later married Boaz and became the ancestor of David (Ruth 4:17).

Monarchy

During the reign of David and his son Solomon, the nation of Israel grew to its greatest geographical extent and became a powerful nation. The God-given wisdom of Solomon became famous, and was declared to be greater than the wisdom of the nations (1 Kg 4:29-30). He received a visit from the Queen of Sheba, who came to test him with hard questions (1 Kg 10:1-10). The location of Sheba is debated, but this account gives an example of how the knowledge and wisdom of God were shown to a non-Israelite nation.

After the division of the kingdom, Israel, the northern kingdom, had frequent battles with the Syrians, or Arameans. Naaman, the commander of the army of Syria suffered from leprosy. The Arameans had captured a slave-girl from Israel, who served Naaman’s wife. She told her mistress about the prophet Elisha who could cure Naaman of the leprosy (2 Kg 5:1-14). This was example of an Israelite telling a non-Israelite about the power of God.

Isaiah and the prophets

Many of the prophets spoke about God’s plan for the nations. Probably the most important of these was Isaiah, who frequently expressed God’s desire for the nations to come to him.

He calls to the nations (the ends of the earth) to turn to God, and be saved (Is 45:22). The salvation given to Israel is also available to the Gentile nations.

In the second of the so-called ‘servant songs’ Isaiah predicts that God’s servant will restore the survivors of Israel, will become a light to the nations, so that God’s salvation will reach to the end of the earth (Is 49:6). The servant will come for Israel, but also to fulfil the promise to the nations originally given to Abraham.

He also gives an important word to the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD. They will keep the Sabbath and bring offerings to the temple, which he describes as ‘a house of prayer for all peoples’ (Is 56:6-8). This is the passage quoted by Jesus when he cleared the money-changers from the Court of the Gentiles (Mt 21:13, Mk 11:17, Lk 19:46).

The outer court of Herod’s temple was called the ‘Court of the Gentiles’. The intention was that non-Israelites could enter to this point, listen to the worship of Yahweh, and learn from Rabbis who often taught crowds of people in the covered areas like Solomon’s Porch. By allowing the money-changers to occupy this space, Israel was failing in their responsibility to make God known to the nations, which explains the anger expressed by Jesus. This action can also be seen as a foretaste of the destruction of the temple which would take place about forty years later in AD 70.

Isaiah ends his message with a promise that God will gather all nations and tongues so that they will see his glory (Is 66:18-21).

This message for the nations is also seen in the other prophets. At his call, Jeremiah was appointed to be ‘a prophet to the nations’ (Jer 1:5). He predicts a glorious future when Jerusalem will be restored and all the nations will gather to it (Jer 3:17). Habakkuk predicts a time when the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14). Malachi declares, “For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations” (Mal 1:11).

A negative witness to the nations

Unfortunately, for much of their history, instead of being a light to the nations, Israel followed the ways of the nations by worshipping their idols. Some of the prophets spoke about this, saying that the nations will scorn and mock Israel, particularly when they come under God’s judgement. An example of this is in the Book of Ezekiel (Ezek 5:5-17). Because of their disobedience, rebellion and failure to follow God’s statutes, God will scatter them and cut them off. God warns that, “I will make you a desolation and an object of mocking among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. You shall be a mockery and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations around you ...” (Ezek 5:14-15).

Jonah

The purpose of the story of Jonah is to show God’s heart for the nations. After being called by God to go and preach in Nineveh, Jonah ran away. This was not because he was afraid, but because he did not want the Assyrians to repent, and therefore avoid God’s judgement. After the Assyrians turned away from their evil ways, Jonah was angry, and declared, “O LORD! Is this not what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you were a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing” (Jonah 4:2). Like all of Israel, Jonah did not want the terrible Assyrians to receive God’s mercy and salvation.

Pagan kings acknowledging the One True God

One of the important themes of the Book of Daniel is that pagan kings are brought to the point of having to acknowledge the One True God. After Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the king fell on his face and declared, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries ...” (Dan 2:47). After being humbled by God and forced to eat grass like an ox, Nebuchadnezzar had to praise, extol and honour the King of heaven (Dan 4:37). Later, Darius of the Persians had to recognise the power of the God of Daniel after Daniel was saved from the power of the lions (Dan 6:25-28).

The ministry of Jesus

Jesus had a particular calling to the Jews, but he often praised examples of Gentiles who had faith. The accounts in the Gospels show that he came to the Jews, but his message was also for the nations.

Matthew starts his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus, tracing his lineage back to David and Abraham (Mt 1:1), therefore showing that he fulfilled the promise originally given to Abraham to be a blessing to the nations. This genealogy is unusual in that it includes a number of significant believing Gentile women. These include Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute, who protected the Hebrew spies and Ruth the Moabitess (Mt 1:5).

In his birth narrative, Matthew describes the visit of the wise men (magi) to the infant Jesus. Not much is known about who these people are, but they are not Jewish. Therefore they are an example of Gentiles who had faith and wanted to worship Jesus, the Jewish Messiah and King of the Jews (Mt 2:1-12).

Jesus commended the faith of the Roman centurion in Capernaum who trusted the Jesus could merely say the word and his servant would be healed. Jesus was amazed and declared, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Lk 7:1-10).

On one of the few occasions that Jesus travelled outside the land of Israel, he spent time around Tyre and Sidon. It was here he met a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit. She was a Gentile from Phoenicia. When she begged Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter, the reply Jesus made can seem rather harsh, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (Mk 7:27). Like the disciples Jesus sent out, his main ministry was to the lost sheep of Israel (Mt 10:5-6). She answered Jesus saying, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mk 7:28). Jesus commended her for saying that, and her daughter was healed. It is evident that this unnamed woman had a correct understanding of the ministry of the Messiah, that his main ministry was to the Jews, but there was a blessing for the Gentiles too.

In Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus states that “the good news of the kingdom of God will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Mt 24:14). Jesus will not return for a second time and bring the consummation of the kingdom until the Great Commission is complete, and that all nations share in the blessing originally promised to Abraham. Ultimately, only God knows when that task is complete. Until then, God is waiting for people to come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9).

The early church (Acts)

The Book of Acts describes the process by which the church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, began to fulfil the command to preach the Gospel to all nations. Luke gives a list of all the places around Ancient Near East from where Jews came from to attend the Festival of Pentecost (Acts 2:9-11). Many of these people responded to Peter’s message and joined the disciples, and probably took the message of the Gospel back to their land of residence.

An important step was when Peter had a vision of the unclean food which God commanded him to eat (Acts 10:13). Peter initially refused, but then realised that God was telling him to go with Cornelius, the Gentile Roman soldier. He became one of the first Gentiles to come to faith.

Antioch became the first Gentile church (Acts 11:20). After Barnabas brought Paul to Antioch, he and Paul were sent out on the first of the three missionary journeys, which marked the beginning of an organised effort to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles.

The Book of Acts ends with Paul in house-arrest in Rome, the capital of the Gentile world, freely preaching the Gospel. His final statement in Acts, spoken to unbelieving Jews is, “Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen” (Acts 28:28).

The Book of Revelation

One of the visions in the Book of Revelation demonstrates God’s final aim, to be worshipped by people from all the nations. “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hand. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the lamb!’” (Rev 7:9-10).