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The New Testament has its basis in the Old Testament. Jesus in Matthew 5:17 makes this clear when he says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” So when he says to Nicodemus in John 3:17 that God sent His son into the world in order that the world might be saved through him, then, apart from the fact that in accordance with 2 Timothy 3:16 each Verse in the Bible should be given reverence, we can presume not only that Jesus did not pull John 3:17 out of thin air, but it has its roots in the Old Testament. It’s just a matter of where to find it. It also touches on the issues of diversity and inclusion.
Some say that the Jews believe that the God of Abraham is their God alone. Some say that the Jews rejected Jesus because of ideas he introduced that gained traction with a number of people. Paul goes so far to say in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 that the Jews killed Jesus, making a convenient excuse for some to say, ‘Ah-hah! The Jews don’t belong with us!,’ totally ignoring that the Bible makes clear that other Jews also became Jesus followers and spread the Word of God through Jesus to other nations. And the irony is that Paul himself was a Jew!
Some hold that the rejection of Jesus by some Jews is the rationale for the Jews who say that the God of Abraham is theirs alone. All I can say is that there will always be bad apples in a barrel of good ones, wherever you look. Because nowhere in the Old Testament does it say that God will reject anyone who did not descend from Abraham.
The case for everyone applying for God’s Salvation may start things off with Psalms 19:1 which says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” When you consider that things like the sky is over everyone, not just the Jews, there’s no rejection of others there. And let’s go to Exodus 12:37-38 which refers to the journey of the Hebrews to the Promised land. We find in Verse 38 that “A mixed multitude also went” with them. A Talmudic scholar has acknowledged such when he describes the “mixed multitude” as being “a mingling of various nations who had become proselytes (converts).” They, like the Hebrews, believed that God’s Salvation for them begins with the journey to the Promised Land.
It is obvious from reading the Verse in question that the Hebrews, or Jews if you will, accepted this mixed multitude to go with them. Not only that, but they also accepted the conversion to Judaism of this mixed multitude. If that isn’t diversity and inclusion, then I don’t know what is.
We may say that God directly addresses the diversity and inclusion issue when he decrees in Leviticus 19:34, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” What is loving someone other than to offer them the things you would want offered to you if they were available? Wouldn’t salvation from the Lord be one of those things?
Some may assert, with cause, that some Jews became misguided when they believe that the salvation offered by the God of Abraham is theirs alone. But others, especially starting with Jesus’ disciples, know that the God of Abraham offers this salvation to everyone, as His sky is over everyone.
Some say that the Jews believe that the God of Abraham is their God alone. Some say that the Jews rejected Jesus because of ideas he introduced that gained traction with a number of people. Paul goes so far to say in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 that the Jews killed Jesus, making a convenient excuse for some to say, ‘Ah-hah! The Jews don’t belong with us!,’ totally ignoring that the Bible makes clear that other Jews also became Jesus followers and spread the Word of God through Jesus to other nations. And the irony is that Paul himself was a Jew!
Some hold that the rejection of Jesus by some Jews is the rationale for the Jews who say that the God of Abraham is theirs alone. All I can say is that there will always be bad apples in a barrel of good ones, wherever you look. Because nowhere in the Old Testament does it say that God will reject anyone who did not descend from Abraham.
The case for everyone applying for God’s Salvation may start things off with Psalms 19:1 which says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” When you consider that things like the sky is over everyone, not just the Jews, there’s no rejection of others there. And let’s go to Exodus 12:37-38 which refers to the journey of the Hebrews to the Promised land. We find in Verse 38 that “A mixed multitude also went” with them. A Talmudic scholar has acknowledged such when he describes the “mixed multitude” as being “a mingling of various nations who had become proselytes (converts).” They, like the Hebrews, believed that God’s Salvation for them begins with the journey to the Promised Land.
It is obvious from reading the Verse in question that the Hebrews, or Jews if you will, accepted this mixed multitude to go with them. Not only that, but they also accepted the conversion to Judaism of this mixed multitude. If that isn’t diversity and inclusion, then I don’t know what is.
We may say that God directly addresses the diversity and inclusion issue when he decrees in Leviticus 19:34, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” What is loving someone other than to offer them the things you would want offered to you if they were available? Wouldn’t salvation from the Lord be one of those things?
Some may assert, with cause, that some Jews became misguided when they believe that the salvation offered by the God of Abraham is theirs alone. But others, especially starting with Jesus’ disciples, know that the God of Abraham offers this salvation to everyone, as His sky is over everyone.
