What About the Rest of Us

                                

In the book of Romans, Paul says the following:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. - Romans 2:9-11
That last sentence might be a little puzzling to some. How can it be true that God doesn’t show favoritism if He has a Chosen People? When reading the Old Testament, it might be hard to believe that He doesn’t show favoritism when He clearly sides with the Jews over all other people. He gave the Jews land that had already been claimed. He empowered and even commanded the Jews to massacre other groups of people. He didn’t even want the Jews to consort with peoples from other nations and cultures. That certainly sounds like He was partial to the Jewish people.

There’s no question that God gave special attention to the Jews, but it wasn’t because he favored them over the other peoples of the world. He was simply being faithful to a promise he made.
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” - Genesis 12:2-3

God made a promise to Abraham to build up his descendants into a great nation and to save all the peoples of the world through them. So, even when God was setting the Jews apart, He was doing it with the plan of helping everyone.

Even though God showed the Jews favor due to His covenant with Abraham, that doesn’t mean He was never displeased with them. They constantly disobeyed and forgot just who He was. His covenant is what kept Him from brushing them away. God is the Creator of all. He does not like being disrespected by his creation. We might wonder why He seemed to have so much animus towards the Gentiles in the Old Testament. We have to remember that they all rejected Him. They were the ones who chose to follow other gods. They were the ones choosing to ignore Him.

One might think the Gentiles behaved that way because they did not know who God was, but that’s not true. The God of the Jews was known amongst all the various peoples in the Bible. Consider the Pharaoh during Joseph’s time. After Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream, the Pharaoh said the following:
So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?” - Genesis 41:38
Look at the familiarity with which Pharaoh refers to God. Does that sound like someone who is unfamiliar with Him? Pharaoh made Joseph the second most powerful man in Egypt off the strength of his connection to God.

Think about the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. When God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Nebuchadnezzar not only acknowledged God’s greatness but declared His supremacy.
Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way. - Daniel 3:29
The trend continues even when we move on to the New Testament. We know that Jesus’ life was dedicated to preaching to the Jews. He said himself that he was sent for them (Matthew 15:24). However, that does not mean he did not care about anyone else. When a Roman centurion asked for Jesus to heal his servant, Jesus happily did so and praised the centurion for his faith. Jesus also lets us in on the truth.
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” - Matthew 8:10-12
Once again, we see that God always had plans to save the Gentiles in the end. Salvation is not about who is a Jew or who is a Gentile. Jesus’ point was that many Gentiles will reach Heaven while many Jews will not.

Paul was right. God does not show favoritism. He has his plans, and we might not always understand those plans, but those plans include all of us. Jesus died and was raised from the dead. Anyone who believes in him, Jew or Gentile, will be saved. It’s not who we are that determines our fate. God has chosen us all. What happens to us in the end depends on whether or not we choose Him.

Chris Lawyer


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