Exactly who are the “gentiles”…as defined by the Bible? That may seem like an obvious, almost silly question. I mean…everyone knows what a “gentile” is right? It’s practically common language for the Christian…to speak of “Jews and Gentiles”. And the common assumption? Jews are of Israel. Gentiles are not. While there is truth in this, it is only a tiny piece of the puzzle….a miniscule fraction of the biblical story.
Here’s the biblical fact. The only “gentile” targeted with the gospel message and invited into the New Covenant was an Israelite-gentile…a descendant of Israel who’d been made “dead” under the curse of the Law and who was associated with the First Covenant. Regular ol’ Joe-Blow pagans out in the nations, with no prior connection or obligation to Israel’s First Covenant and Law were never “dead” in their sins and trespasses against the First Covenant, requiring a new one. They were not the “gentiles” Paul and the other apostles were fishing for.
The real distinction between Jew and Gentile was never a distinction within all humanity. The distinction was within all Israel. As prophesied from their covenant creation at Sinai, Israel’s northern kingdom, Ephraim was scattered in the nations (gowyim in Hebrew). They became the nations…the gentiles. And they were the very ones who would be called out of the nations and into the New Covenant. They became the very “gentiles” that would be bought back, redeemed from the death of the Law. Ultimately, it would be the dispersed of Judah and the scattered of Israel that would be gathered back together (Hosea 1) through a New Covenant. Both the Law-practicing Jew, and the scattered, cut off Israelite who’d been made “far off”, not observing the Law, nor the covenant sign of circumcision. These were the “Jew and Gentile” coming together in the New Testament. This coming together resulted in All Israel being saved, just prior to the end of Israel’s redemptive narrative.
