The Gentiles, The Jews, And The Church

Q

If the Jewish people descended from Abraham then where did the Gentiles come from? Genesis 11:8 tells of scattering all the people and changing their languages. Were all of these people the Gentiles?

A

Gentile is a term that means “the nations.” At one time it applied to all of humanity. But when God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis 12:1-3) it was to separate Abraham’s descendants from “the nations” to become a people set apart for Him. So from then on humanity included two groups, the Gentiles and the Hebrews, also called Israel or the Jews.

Later, when Jesus came to die for our sins, those who believed that his death saved them were also “called out” as Abraham’s descendants had been, to become known as the Church (Ephesians 1:14-16). Therefore although some of us were formerly Jews and some of us were formerly Gentiles we’re no longer either. We’re the Church and now humanity is divided into three groups, the Gentiles, the Jews, and the Church.