WHO ARE THE GENTILES?

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By: Taylor Shakes Priest.

Israel Only perceives the Gentiles as the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel, or the scattered Israelites. They believe that EVERYTHING, including the church, the Kingdom, and the New Covenant ended in A.D. 70.

Before I go into the definition of the Gentiles, I would like to point a few questions raised in regards to their view of a cessation of the church in A.D. 70. If the Church ended in A.D. 70, then why did the New Testament writers say that it would be everlasting? Why would the Old Covenant last 1500+ years, but the New Covenant only lasted 40? It doesn't make a lot of sense.

According to the IO view, although the scattered Israelites were considered outcast to true Jews, they still knew God. For example, in Romans 1, they see Paul as talking to Israel, because of the way he writes of idolatry. It does seem as through he is recounting their history of sin, but notice what he says in verse 21, 'For although they KNEW God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.' So if this is the case, and Romans 1 is about Israel KNOWING God, let's see what Paul says about Gentiles.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul says this in verses 3-8, 'For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the GENTILES WHO DO NOT KNOW God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.' So there is a clear distinction between those that know God (Israel) and those who don't (Gentiles). This is where the command to preach the Gospel comes into play! To preach to the Gentiles who do not know God. That's exactly what Paul's message was through all of his letters!

Another defining passage of the distinction between Gentiles and the scattered tribes is also found in 1 Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved-so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

Notice that Paul has three different people groups identified in this passage. He has the church of Thessolonica, who were persecuted by THEIR own countrymen, the churches in Judea who suffered from THEIR own countrymen, THE JEWS, and then the GENTILES, who were the focus group of getting the Gospel to, but the church was being hindered to speak the message of Christ to them. {The gentiles in Thessolinica were suffering for receiving the gospel from their own countrymen.}

Peter 2:11-12 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Now we know that the letters that Peter wrote were for the Diaspora, he even says that they were exiles in v. 11. In verse 12, he says to keep honorable conduct among the Gentiles. If the Diaspora were Gentiles, was Peter telling them to keep honorable conduct among themselves? That seems inconsistent to me for IO proponents.

In the Old Testament, there are a number of verses that mention Gentiles as being of Non-Israelite descent, long before the dispersion of the Jews happened during the Babylonian Captivity in 586 B.C.

In Isaiah 66:18-21, he writes: For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.

So in this passage, Isaiah is describing the New Heavens and Earth. We see the coming destruction of Jerusalem, we see the gathering of Israel, and the inclusion of Gentiles. Notice that Isaiah says that the glory of God would be brought to the Gentiles, THEN they shall bring the brethren in from ALL nations. IO proponents claim that in Romans 11:25-27, the Gentiles are the scattered Israelites that would bring in the gathering of Israel at the same time. Isaiah contradicts that by stating that the Gentiles would have the Gospel brought to them and THEN the brethren (scattered Israelites) would be brought in from the nations. Again, do you see the distinction?

It has been mentioned before, but I would like to reiterate that the regathering of Israel was NOT a mystery to the Jews. It never was! However, the inclusion of the Gentiles who were not of any Jewish or Israeli blood line was! The Jews knew that their brethren that were scattered abroad would be brought back to the Glory of the Lord. The new idea was that you could be included by faith and not by lineage as Paul explained in Romans 3-4. THAT was the mystery that was revealed to them, a mystery hidden by the prophets of Old.