What About Everybody Else?
The previous blog entry touched on how reading through the Bible can help answer some of the common questions about God and the Faith. One question that sometimes comes up in discussions about the Bible relates to God’s treatment of people who weren’t Hebrew. Several of the books in the New Testament are dedicated to the efforts of Paul and others to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles. Most Christians would be considered Gentiles, and that is one of the reasons why the New Testament is particularly important for us.
However, many of the stories in the Old Testament involve pretty harsh treatment of the Gentiles by God or under His direction. For that reason, some might ask why God would treat Gentiles so badly even though we are all his creation. That question certainly seems valid when reading all the stories of the Israelites going to war with other peoples and killing everyone (man, woman, and child) as per God’s instruction. As with the questions discussed in the previous entry, the Bible gives us a pretty clear answer to this question.
To answer the question, we must first clear up some misconceptions that people may have. The events in the Bible take place mostly in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe, so the Bible doesn’t give us any insight on what was happening in say the more western part of the world like the Americas. Many of us assume that God had no dealings with people in those areas and those people knew nothing about God. In modern times, missionaries exist primarily to spread knowledge of God to people in areas where such knowledge is unavailable. That begs the question “Why didn’t God make himself known to all people?”
The short answer is “He did.” Remember, we all came from the same source of people. The Bible tells us that the Tower of Babel events (Genesis 11:1-9) are what led to the spreading and fracturing of humanity. At the time, everyone knew about God. Over time as the people spread, many of them drifted away from God. It’s not that God did not want a relationship with those people. Those people gave up their relationship with God.
Another big misconception is that the Israelites were the only ones in the Bible that had a relationship with or knowledge of God. That’s not true at all. For one, the Israelites always had Gentiles among their number. Moses himself had a Cushitic (Ethiopian) wife. God made a point including the Gentiles living among the Israelites in all his instructions and declared that they were to be treated the same as the Israelites as long as they followed the Laws.
The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 19:34
You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.’” - Leviticus 24:22So right away, we see that though God’s covenant was with the Israelites, his commitment was never to them alone.
Of course, most Gentiles were not traveling with the Israelites and thus weren’t placed under God’s Law. So what about everybody else? Consider the case of the Egyptians. We all know they had their own belief system and gods, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t know God. Remember, God worked through Joseph to save the Egyptians from a drought. The Pharaoh at the time, who himself was considered a god king, came to know who God was and even showed favor to the Israelites because of his knowledge of the God of Joseph. Yet, despite what God had done for them, the Egyptians didn’t choose to turn away from their wrong ways. While Pharaoh acknowledged God, he didn’t direct his people to serve God. As a result, as soon as a new Pharaoh arose, whatever commitment Egypt had to God and His people disappeared.
Some might believe that God used the plagues to punish the Egyptians for what they did to the Israelites. That’s not true. God used the plagues to smack down the gods of Egypt and make it clear that He was supreme.
Take the story of Balak and Balaam. The focus of that story is often on the talking donkey, but the story has a more important meaning. First, we should recognize that Balaam was not an Israelite, yet he spoke with God meaning that he arguably had a closer relationship with God than most Israelites. Balak believed in Balaam and God enough that when he grew fearful of the Israelite incursion, he tried to get Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam refused because he knew that he could do nothing but what God allowed. So once again, we have more proof that God had never just abandoned all the Gentiles wholesale nor did all the Gentiles instantly forget God. People throughout the Bible knew exactly who the God of the Israelites was.
Balak didn’t ask Balaam how his people could live in peace with the Israelites. He didn’t direct Balaam to tell God that his people would serve God. He instead worked with a coalition of nations to try and bring down the Israelites. Those nations were decimated by the Israelites, not simply because God didn’t care about them but because those nations attempted to turn the Israelites away from God. Balaam himself was complicit in the incident and died because of it. This is why God always told his people to have no mercy on those they conquered. God knew those people would only try to break His relationship with His people.
who [the Egyptians] were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods. - Numbers 33:4Even after that showing, the Egyptians still did not choose to turn to God. They were not the only people to make that mistake.
Take the story of Balak and Balaam. The focus of that story is often on the talking donkey, but the story has a more important meaning. First, we should recognize that Balaam was not an Israelite, yet he spoke with God meaning that he arguably had a closer relationship with God than most Israelites. Balak believed in Balaam and God enough that when he grew fearful of the Israelite incursion, he tried to get Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam refused because he knew that he could do nothing but what God allowed. So once again, we have more proof that God had never just abandoned all the Gentiles wholesale nor did all the Gentiles instantly forget God. People throughout the Bible knew exactly who the God of the Israelites was.
Balak didn’t ask Balaam how his people could live in peace with the Israelites. He didn’t direct Balaam to tell God that his people would serve God. He instead worked with a coalition of nations to try and bring down the Israelites. Those nations were decimated by the Israelites, not simply because God didn’t care about them but because those nations attempted to turn the Israelites away from God. Balaam himself was complicit in the incident and died because of it. This is why God always told his people to have no mercy on those they conquered. God knew those people would only try to break His relationship with His people.
Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. - Deuteronomy 7:3-4God never rejected the Gentiles. It was the Gentiles that rejected God. They knew Him and had a choice to follow Him, but they chose their gods and their ways instead. As a result, they suffered harsh consequences. Today, we have a similar choice. We have the opportunity to know God, and we can choose to follow Him or go our own way. Choices have consequences, and the Bible has already shown us what can happen when we don’t choose wisely.
Chris Lawyer
Image courtesy of http://www.theaimn.com
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