Divine Interaction of Old Testament Gentiles

04 Jun

Susan Merritt, PhD Christian Living, Weekly Devotional 0

What do the women of the Bible named Rahab and Ruth have in common? They are Gentile women listed in the otherwise Jewish genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1). In biblical terms, there are only two people groups: Jews and Gentiles (meaning everyone who is not a Jew).

Rahab was the woman who hid the two Hebrew spies when they came to Jericho. Typically understood to be a prostitute, her presence in the line of Christ is even more surprising than that she was a woman; except for her faith described in Hebrews 11:31, “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”

Ruth returned to Israel with her mother-in-law, Naomi, after both their husbands had died in Moab. Revered for her care for Naomi and as a virtuous woman, she married Boaz, becoming Rahab’s daughter-in-law and the grandmother of King David.

Throughout the Old Testament, the nature of Israel as the chosen people of God is often reiterated in terms of protection and prosperity so long as they walked in obedience to God and maintained ethnic purity. But there are also those who were not Jewish, like Rahab and Ruth, to whom God spoke and/or used for some purpose related to His design for the people of Israel.

In the case of the women named in the genealogy of Matthew 1, Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah. That they are named at all is significant because the genealogies in the Bible typically refer only to the men in the hereditary line who “begat” the men of the next generation. Some daughters are also included in Old Testament genealogies, but the mothers of those children were not necessarily named as part of the line. However, the mothers’ names sometimes show up in the story lines of Scripture. Tamar – Judah’s daughter-in-law, Bathsheba – Solomon’s mother, and Mary the mother of Jesus are the only other women to appear in the genealogy, and they were all Jews.

The list of Old Testament Gentiles who served God included Cyrus, the king of Persia circa 559 B.C. to 529 B.C. At this point in the story, Judah had been captive in Babylon for more than a hundred years. Ezra 1 closely repeats the final verses of 2 Chronicles: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people whose God be with him? Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (He is the God) which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1-3). Two facts regarding Cyrus stand out as amazing in my mind.

First, his historical contribution to the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem was prophesied, including his name and more than a hundred fifty years before his reign, in Isaiah 44:28 to 45:4:

“[I am the Lord] that says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him…I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake and Israel mine elect, I have even called you by your name. I have surnamed you though you have not known me.”

Second, this ancient king of Persia somehow knew God personally. The Bible does not give the back story on this, but I would love to know how he became as devout a follower of God Almighty as his words denote. The passage only references that God stirred up Cyrus’ spirit to carry out this proclamation; perhaps that is enough. As a result of this meeting with God, Cyrus humbly gives God the credit for his position of king of the most extensive and advanced kingdom of the ancient world. Not only did he honor God by sending Judean captives to work on the temple, but he also returned many of the temple accoutrements, mostly made from precious metals, that had been looted by the Babylonians when they destroyed Jerusalem in 700 B.C.

How does this affect us today? Everything in the Bible is there for a reason, primarily God’s instructions for His creation. To pull a modern-day analogy, it is the “User’s Manual” direct from the creator. So when we see several examples of Gentiles being used by God in Scripture, we have to pay attention, especially if we are Gentiles. God’s chosen people Israel are still God’s chosen people, as a nation. But for those of us, Jew and Gentile alike, who have accepted the salvation bought by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we are His children. Galatians 3:26-28 tells us that we are no longer separated by that distinction: “For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Even in the Old Testament when that separation between Jew and Gentile made a difference to one’s relationship to God, God still used Gentiles, people outside the faith as it were, who were willing to serve Him. How much more true it is today that “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” (2 Chr. 16:9a).