I see your reasoning here and I would agree that no one at any point in time can be saved any other way than through faith and the blood of Christ.
Under the Old Testament laws wouldn’t a person’s faith in God be expressed in the keeping of the law? Not that keeping the law meant someone had faith, only that if someone did have faith they would attempt to keep the law. Wouldn’t a Gentile that had faith become an Israelite to show their faith? Just as a New Testament believer shows their faith by being part of the true church (naos). Prior to the cross there was only one place on earth that had the holy of holies/naos and that was Israel.
When the Philistines captured the ark they brought it into the house of Dagon. After they were afflicted they brought the ark back to Israel. Hypothetically speaking would it have been possible for the Philistines, who were without Christ, to lose Dagon, gain Christ, and be able to keep the ark? If so then the Philistines would become the true Israel. I don’t think it was possible for this to happen. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think there were any provisions in the law for Israel to join other nations. I know there were provisions for people of other nations to join Israel.
I’m kind of thinking out loud here and don’t expect you to answer all the above questions, I need to think about this some more, I’m not sure but maybe I do agree with you on this. Do you know of any other examples, besides Nineveh, where someone gained Christ without ever becoming an Israelite?
You and I are seeing this differently. Jesus is the Wod of God. Abraham received the Word of God and Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. This was long before Christ shed His blood:
I see your reasoning here and I would agree that no one at any point in time can be saved any other way than through faith and the blood of Christ.
The Israelites, who were descended from Abraham, received the Word of God (Romans 9:4-5). The vast majority of ten of the Israelite tribes were broken off from Israel because of their spiritual harlotry in circa 725 B.C, and the northern kingdom (the ten tribes), very often collectively called "Ephraim" in scripture, ceased being a nation before God (Isaiah 7:8; Hosea chapter 1).
That left the Jews and Benjamin to bear the torch. They were chastized for their spiritual adultery and harlotry by being exiled and held captive in Babylon for 70 years, from circa 587 B.C to 517 B.C.
Jesus is the Word of God. When those of the Jews showed their unbelief in the Word of God by rejecting Him, they too, were broken off, and if God did so with the Jews, He will do so with the Gentiles who claim to believe the Word of God also (Romans 11:22-23) if they prove either their unbelief of the Word of God, or if they show their faith in the Word of God + the word of another god (harlotry, adultery, false doctrines). I believe we should note that before Adam & Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they believed the lie (compare 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
So the reason why the Philistines could not steal the election from Israel by stealing the ark of the covenant is because God had chosen the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be the torch-bearers, the vessel for His Word, and no one can just decide otherwise for themselves. No one has the right to attempt to change the mind of God. His will is His will. This is also why God did not accept the temple of the Samaritans on Mt Gerizim. This is also why God will never again accept a temple in Jerusalem. Christ is the temple of God. We have so many statements by Jesus and His apostles (and the word naos) to prove this.
So the Gentiles in Old Testament times who believed in the God of Abraham would need to become an Israelite in order to join
God's elect people, and go through whatever rituals the priests and law-givers who sat in Moses' seat required of them, and because it was before the time of Christ, they would need to keep the Law God required His elect nation to keep, showing that they believed the Word of God, in much the same way that today those who come to faith in Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, are told they should be baptized in order to show their faith in Christ, who is the Word of God, and in so doing also showing their baptism into Christ, which had already taken place when they believed.
But it's never been about genetic ancestry. It's always been about belief vs unbelief of the Word of God, and God elected a nation to carry His Word to the nations. When they rejected His Word, God elected another nation which consists of a multitude of nations and is called the Kingdom of Christ.
