The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

/ 3 3 3

T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

accused, that the Old Testament hated and despised Gentiles as Gentiles ; this is just not true. The OT view commonly saw non-Israelites as those not of the lineage of Abraham, but not as subhuman or despised for that; God made provision for them in the Law in terms of hospitality towards Gentile strangers in their midst (Deut. 10.19), and to be open and kind to them because they, like them, had been strangers in Egypt (Exod. 23.9). Other notable examples in the Scriptures reveal positive relationships between the Jews and the Gentiles. For instance, the Kenites (especially the children of Rechab) were treated as kinfolk (Judg, 1.16; Judg. 5.24; Jer. 35). Uriah the Hittite is seen as protagonist in the David-Bathsheba tragedy, who too was a trusted warrior of David (2 Sam. 11), Araunah the Jebusite was a respected resident of Jerusalem, and Ittai the Gittite was the captain of David’s guard (2 Sam. 18.2). Gentiles could flee to the cities of refuge like the Jews (Num. 35.15), and could even in some circumstances own Jewish slaves (Lev. 25.47). They were to be paid just wages (Deut. 24.15), could inherit land in Israel (Ezek. 47.22-23), and Josephus suggests that they were allowed to offer sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem (cf. as is distinctly affirmed by Josephus [cf. with Leviticus 22.25 e.g., Ant, XI, viii, 5; Ant., XIII, viii, 2; Ant., XVI, ii, 1; etc.]). What we now see in the OTMessianic vision is that the one who is anointed by God to redeem his people will also be the “Light to the nations,” the one who will bring all the families of the earth to God through his own blood sacrifice. The Messianic hope is seen, therefore, not to be merely a tribal or provincial hope just for the nation of Israel, but in fact, the Messiah is to be the one through whom all the nations will be blessed (Gen. 12.1-3). The inability to see the universal aspect of the Gospel lies at the heart of the misconceptions about the nature of the ministry of Jesus, even years after his resurrection and ascension (cf. the example of Cornelius in Acts 10-11, and the Jerusalem Council on Gentile inclusion in Acts 15). Leland Ryken neatly summarizes the amazingly favored place of the Gentiles as a result of the mercy of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Yet a dramatic reversal of fortune enters as the gospel is spread throughout the world, and now in Christ God is even the God of the Gentiles (Rom. 3.29), whom he calls “my people” (Rom. 9.24–25). The former black sheep of the human family are now

Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator