When did God begin turning to the Gentiles instead of only dealing with Israel?
God began turning to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10, at the house of Cornelius. Until that time, He dealt predominantly with His covenant people, Israel. Peter, a law-keeping Jew, resisted, but God showed him that He was now going to turn to the Gentiles.
Les teaches that Israel was a separated people, not to co-mingle, intermarry, or evangelize the pagan Gentiles around them. That division carried into the New Testament. Even in Acts chapter 10, Peter, a law-keeping Jew, first answered, 'Not so, Lord,' because he had never eaten anything common or unclean. At the threshold of Cornelius's house, Peter said it was unlawful for a Jew to keep company with another nation. But God had something else in store: He was now going to turn to the Gentiles. Up until that time, it was predominantly only His covenant people. The context also notes Luke 1:69, 'a horn of salvation in the house of His servant David,' showing how Jewish this was.