Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible Part in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is Part #4 of Genesis, chapter 17 and we will read Genesis 17:3-8:

And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

I will stop reading there. The Hebrew word translated as “nations” in verses 4, 5 and 6 is the word “go-ee” and it is also translated as “Gentiles” or “heathen” or “people,” so this is a very important word in the Bible. There is also a New Testament equivalent we will look at, which is “eth-nos.” We are going to spend a little time looking at God’s promise to Abraham that he would become the father of many nations. This promise was given at the time when God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. It was the time when he was 99 years old in the year 2068 B.C. In the next year when Abraham would be 100 years old, his son Isaac would be born in 2067 B.C. So, over four thousand years ago, God made the promise to Abram and changed his name to Abraham. He would be the father of many nations. The Hebrew word translated as “nations” is “go-ee” and it is Strong’s #1471. Again, it is translated as “nations” or “Gentiles” or “heathen” or “people.”

At the point of changing Abram’s name, God said he would be the father of many nations. It says in Joshua 3:17:

And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of JEHOVAH stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

The Hebrew word “go-ee” is the word translated here as “people.” It is an interesting place to give us this word. Of course, there were some Gentiles that came out of Egypt along with all the Jews and that could be the reason God used this word here, but there is also the spiritual dimension because this has to do with passing over Jordan, following the ark of God, a picture of Christ leading His people into the Promised Land. We know that in God’s salvation program, He had a plan to save individuals from every nation, Jews as well as other nations of the world. Those nations are the Gentiles or the “go-ee,” so God made a point to use that word. All the nations were passed clean over Jordan into the Promised Land.

It also says in Joshua 5:8:

And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.

Our word is translated here again as “people.” When they were done circumcising all the Gentiles, they abode in their camp until they were whole. It almost appears to be contradictory because the Jews were taught to make that distinction between the Jews and Gentiles, but here God is commanding the Jewish nation to be circumcised along with the strangers that came out of the land of Egypt with them. And he is calling them all the “people” or the “go-ee,” and that is because God is looking far in to the future at the “second circumcision,” because these are all the people that were not circumcised along the way of the wilderness sojourn. They waited to circumcise them until they were about to cross into the Promised Land of Canaan, but it was after the 40-year wilderness sojourn, pointing to the completion of God’s testing program during Judgment Day and to the “second circumcision” that will occur, spiritually speaking. The “first circumcision” identifies with the salvation of the soul. Circumcision points to the cutting away of sin. The “second circumcision” will take place at the end of the world when all those God has saved go through the severe testing period of Judgment Day, the time in which we are currently living. After enduring to the end, we will be brought into the new heaven and new earth and we will have “crossed Jordan” into the Promised Land of the kingdom of God as we experience the “second circumcision,” that of our bodies. Our present sin-corrupted physical bodies will be changed to our new resurrected spiritual bodies on that last day and we will experience that circumcision of the cutting away of the sin of the flesh as God transforms all the people alive and living on the earth. We will have gone through that long period of testing during Judgment Day and then God will equip us with the second resurrection (of our bodies), which qualifies and enables us to enter into the eternal Promised Land of the new heaven and new earth. Therefore, there is that figure in the book of Joshua that all the people had to be circumcised, historically, before entering the land of Canaan.

When we look at this word that is translated as “Gentile” or “nation,” it is used in Isaiah, chapter 11. This follows the promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations or the father of the Gentiles. We will look at several other verses that will support the statement that Abraham would be the father of the Gentiles and it is stated very clearly in the Old Testament, once God opens our spiritual eyes to it. It was God’s plan all along to save people from Israel, as well as people of the nations or the Gentiles. There are very plain statements, again, and again, of God’s intention to save people from the nations.

That is why it is so important that God open the spiritual eyes of a person. Until He does so, we cannot see truth even if it is “right before our eyes” or “as plain as the nose on your face,” as the expression goes. These statements were right before the eyes of the people of Israel and they were there during the history of Israel as God compiled the scriptures through Moses and the prophets. These verses should have stood out to the Jews and, certainly, they should have had questions and they should have pondered these things and been curious about these statements and, yet, they never understood them. They never got to the point where there was a realization that it was God’s intent to save Gentiles. A reading of the Bible can show this and there are verses that put forth that fact. There are scriptures that we are going to read and many of them are in the book of Isaiah. It says in Isaiah 11:10:

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

The root of Jesse that would stand for an ensign of the people is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him the Gentiles shall seek. They are the “go-ee” or “nations.” They are the non-Jews. Certainly, the Jews would have seen this in verse 10. Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 11:11-12:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The way God wrote the Bible is showing what He is talking about, on one hand, by mentioning the ensign for the nations, but then He speaks of the dispersed of Judah and the outcasts of Israel. So, it could be a little confusing until the realization comes to the front, as God began talking in the New Testament about “spiritual Israel” in the book of Galatians; or as God made statements like this, in Romans 2:26-29:

Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

The “uncircumcised” would point to the Gentiles and the “circumcision” would point to the Jews. The definition of a “Jew” in this passage would qualify a Gentile to be a “Jew” and would disqualify a physical Jew from being a spiritual Jew, if he has an uncircumcised heart. Of course, this is simply incredible that God speaks this way and He is saying in these verses what He said long ago of David and others – the Lord looks upon the heart. He is not a respecter of persons. God looks upon the heart condition and He even gave a command in the book of Deuteronomy to be “circumcised” in the heart, which can only be understood spiritually. Anyone attempting a physical circumcision of the heart would surely die; it has to be understood spiritually. When someone is circumcised in his heart, his sins are cut away and he becomes a spiritual Jew. That is what is being spoken of in Romans, chapter 2.

We live on this side of the cross and at this point in history when the Lord has opened up many things in the Bible, but this is one of the mysteries that God opened early on while the New Testament was still being compiled. He opened up the mystery to the Apostle Paul that the Gentiles would be fellow heirs and revealed a truth that had always been the case: God will save whomever He will save. It can be a Jew, like Abraham was circumcised and became a Jew, as well as Isaac and Jacob and Jews in their line, or it can a Gentile like Ruth the Moabitess or Naaman the Syrian. These are all Part of spiritual Israel and the Lord could refer to them as “Judah” or “Israel,” as He does in Isaiah 11:12: “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” These are all synonymous.

The “nations” or “Gentiles” and the outcasts of Israel and dispersed of Judah. God may include physical Jews among them, but the majority would be spiritual Jews from all the nations of the world. So, we see in Isaiah 11 that God reveals His plan to stretch forth His hand a second time and that would be after He was finished using the New Testament churches and congregations and then He saved the great multitude among the nations or the people of the world that were outside the corporate churches. He used the word for “Gentiles” and it is evident when we read the book of Isaiah, especially, that God was placing this information in the Bible, although He did not open the understanding of these verses. He placed these things in plain sight in the scripture where the New Testament believers could see it, once the mystery had been revealed and they could then look back and identify all these Old Testament statements, many of which are found in the book of Isaiah. We will look at another passage in Isaiah 42:4-6:

Thus saith God JEHOVAH, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I JEHOVAH have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

This is a Messianic reference to Christ and He was given as a covenant for the people. Christ, the Word of God, is that covenant. Then it says in Isaiah 42:7-9:

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am JEHOVAH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

And, certainly, God did tell of events that would take place hundreds and even thousands of years in the future. Here, we read of His intention to give Christ for a covenant and for a light of the Gentiles or nations to open their blind eyes; that is, He would save His people.

Maybe these verses in Isaiah 42 sound a little familiar to you, because they are brought in to focus in the book of Acts. After the Apostle Paul had his experience on the road to Damascus and the Lord opened his eyes, Paul said this as he recounted that experience in Acts 26:15-18:

And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

This is a small portion of what was in Isaiah 42, where it refers to opening the eyes of the Gentiles, but it has to do with the sending forth of the Gospel to the nations. At that point in the book of Acts, it was after Paul was basically dragged out of the temple, which was a dividing point in the book of Acts that pointed to the end of the church age. Then there was his eventual transition to Rome or to the world where he would be a witness of the Gospel to the Gentiles. In Acts, chapter 28 he first went to the Jews while he was in Rome, but they would not listen, so it says in Acts 28:24-28:

And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they deParted, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

You see, God was turning from the Jews to the Gentiles to establish the church age. In a like figure, at the end of the church age, God turned from the corporate church once again to the “Gentiles” or the “nations” of the world. That is where He would save that great multitude. So, we have a dual understanding with some of these statements. Yes, God was speaking of national Israel and ending His relationship with them and turning to the Gentiles of the world as He established the churches, but the underlying meaning is that God would also turn from that corporate body to the world at the time of the end.

We will look at this more in our next Part. God has a lot to say about “Gentiles” and it would be helpful to us to continue to look at these things. We will pick that up in our next Bible Part.