God Has Always Included Everyone
Sometimes I think, for some reason, the Old Testament has received a bad rap. It seems to have a reputation of demonstrating God’s wrath and exclusion whereas the New Testament has a reputation of demonstrating God’s love and inclusion. However, God has always been inclusive of everyone. His character does not change (Ml 3:6), yet the way he works has. So, let’s see his inclusivity in the Old Testament.
First, we see this in several promises he made to key individuals, as noted by Kaiser (1):
1. Promise to Eve – God promised to send the One to come: The LORD God said to the serpent, “… I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gn 3:14a, 15). We later find that this one to come, i.e., Jesus Christ, did indeed come for everyone (Jn 3:16).
2. Promise to Shem – God promised to be with him: “May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant” (Gn 9:27). Since all the nations of the world came from these three sons of Noah, God is saying that all the earth will be blessed through Shem. Abraham, Israel, and even Christ came through his descendants.
3. Promise to Abraham – God promised all of the earth would be blessed through him: Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country … and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all of the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gn 12:1-3). Again, this is somewhat similar to the promise God gave to Shem, but it is now narrowed more specifically for who is responsible. Yet, the blessing is again for the whole world.
4. Moses’ Encounter with Pharaoh – God would be proclaimed to all the earth: “For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth … But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Ex 9:14, 16). God used the extraordinary to get everyone’s attention.
5. Israel a Kingdom of Priests – to the whole world: “… and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6). Israel’s responsibility was to help the entire world understand who God is and to have a powerful encounter with Him.
6. David’s Rule – for all humanity: Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD!.” (2Sa 7:18-19). God is saying that David’s future rule will be a blessing to all mankind. In Christ’s future kingdom, there will be many kings. David will be the king of the nation of Israel. And Israel will be leading the world in the worship of God.
7. Psalms – Often told all the earth to praise God: “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” (Ps 67:3); “Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!” (Ps 96:1); “Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!” (Ps 117:1). Inclusion seems very prominent here.
8. Israel a Spiritual Example – for all humanity: Bring forth justice to all nations (Is 42:1); A light for all nations (Is 42:6); “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Is 49:6). Again, while Israel is the key nation, it is used to lead all the earth in the worship of the Lord.
So, we see that God had great plans for mankind and how we would get to know Him. So, what went wrong? We’ll discuss some of that next time.
(1) Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 15-63.
____________
Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens