What was God's plan for the Gentiles?
God had not forgotten the Gentiles; His plan was to use the favored covenant nation, Israel, to reach out to pagan, idolatrous Gentiles at the appropriate time. However, because Israel was dragging their feet, that appointed time had not yet arrived. God sovereignly kept this secret until He chose to reveal it.
Les teaches that in Acts chapter 3, Peter and John still did not understand what God would accomplish through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. At that point they only understood that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, and had proved it by His miracles, but they thought He was only for the nation of Israel. Yet God had not blanked the Gentiles out of His thinking. His plan was to use the favored nation, the covenant people, to reach out to those pagan, idolatrous Gentiles at the appropriate time. But Israel was dragging their feet, so that time had not yet come. Les points to Deuteronomy 29:29, where Moses writes, "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God." He emphasizes that one of the terms of deity refers to the everlasting God, yet He is capable of hiding things. Even the psalmist asked why God hides these things, but He is sovereign and has the right to do so.