Missions: God's Plan From the BeginningSample

God Commanded Israel to Reach the Nations

Yesterday, we saw that God had the nations in mind when he saved Abraham. And we saw that the ultimate fulfillment of this has come in Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the church. “Sure,” you might say, “God was looking forward to saving the nations through Jesus. But the focus of the Old Testament was still Israel.” In a way, this is right. God saved Israel, starting with Abraham, and even Jesus was a Jew. However, this would miss out on the fact that God commanded the Jews to proclaim his glory to all of the nations.

King David gave thanks to God in Psalm 9, calling the Israelites to follow his lead in verse 11. He says, “Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.” Similarly, Isaiah calls God’s people to “Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth” (Isa 42:10). The call to the nations did not begin in the New Testament. God was not satisfied with saving only the Jews. So, the Jews were called to praise God among the nations.

That is not to say that Israel’s call was exactly the same as the Church’s call. The entire Psalm 96 is a call for the nations to praise the Lord. However, in verses 7-8, the psalmist says, “Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.” In the Old Testament, the call was for the nations to come to Israel to worship the Lord. Even foreign nations were called to come to the courts of the temple in Jerusalem and worship God through sacrifice.

Fortunately, we know that now the day has come when people no longer need to travel to Jerusalem to worship God, but rather, true worshippers “worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24). The message is the same (“Let the nations worship the Lord”), but the methods have changed. Jews once called the nations to come to Jerusalem to worship. Now Christians are called to go into all the nations and preach the message of salvation. Christ’s death for the nations removed their need to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem. And now God’s Spirit dwells in the hearts of those who believe the message we preach all over the world.