All Nations: God & The Human Family

Israel was God’s chosen nation. However, before God chose Israel, He chose the world. That’s everyone, across all nations, all races, all tribes, all families. From the beginning, God has loved and cared for the human family, and has desired close fellowship with them. 

To get a clear understanding of this, we need to look at the beginning of Creation. Scripture teaches that God made human beings in His image (Gen. 1:27). God is three, God the Father, Holy Spirit Mother, and Jesus Christ, the Son; a divine united family. In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom, who is The Holy Spirit, expressed that she was present during Creation, and rejoiced with the human family (Prov. 8:31). Humans were therefore created to be God’s children, an extension of His family on Earth. 

Then the fall happened. Adam and Eve chose to sin by partaking of the fruit from the tree of knowledge and were expelled from the garden. This sin brought death into the world. But God never stopped loving human beings or caring about them, nor has He ever stopped working to restore them back to Himself. His offer of salvation through faith and obedience has been present since the fall. 

As God loved Adam, He loves everyone who has come from him, as they, too, are made in His image. That would be Eve, who was taken from Adam’s side, as well as the rest of humanity. Everyone who ever existed came from Adam and Eve. God loves mankind. He created each and every soul (Is. 57:16). 

After Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, they began to populate Earth as God instructed while they were still in the garden (Gen. 1:28). Sin continued to spread, however, and the world God created became so corrupt that it broke God’s heart (Gen. 6:5-6). His righteous judgment determined to do away with all living beings, except for Noah and his three sons. By sparing them God graciously allowed humanity to continue. From Noah’s three sons, (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) came all the nations of the earth (Gen. 10:32). 

A nation is a people group who share a common ancestry and/or sociopolitical identity (Minard, 2014). As Noah’s sons began to reproduce they spread out, each claiming their own clan, language, territory, and national identity (Gen. 10:5, 20, 31). The lineage of the three is listed in Genesis 10 and is known as the Table of Nations. It breaks down the offspring of each patriarch, who all still ultimately come from Adam. 

Abraham, who is the patriarch of the Israelites, the nation (i.e. people) whose covenant with God make up most of the Old Testament, is a descendant of Shem. However, God’s purpose with choosing them was so they would ultimately be a light to all the other nations (Is. 42:6). Through Abraham (by way of Shem, by way of Noah, by way of Adam) everyone (all nations) on Earth would be blessed (Gen. 26:4). This blessing is Jesus, as Jesus is a descendant of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). He fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy (Is. 49:6) by being a light to the Gentiles (Acts 26:23). 

In conclusion, God’s plan was never about including some people and excluding others. Though people spread out and grew into different nations with their own cultures, languages, and customs, everyone is still part of one family—the human family. God cares about every single member. 

REFERENCES

Matthew Minard, “Gentiles,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).