How did the nation of Israel begin out of the Gentile nations?
The nation of Israel began when God, by His sovereign decree, separated Abraham out of the Gentile stream of humanity. That Gentile line came from Adam through Noah’s sons and the nations scattered at Babel. God declared Abraham the father of the Jewish race, though he was not originally a Jew.
Les explains that the Gentile line is the mainstream of humanity coming from Adam, through Noah’s three sons, and through the nations scattered at the tower of Babel. Out of that stream, God pulled the little nation of Israel by separating the man Abraham. Abraham was not a Jew; he was born of Syrian parents. When Isaac went to Haran for a wife, Rebekah was a Syrian, and later Jacob’s wife came from Laban, who was still a Syrian. But by God’s decree and sovereignty, God declared Abram the father of the Jewish race. Les says that if you want to be real technical, the first real Jew would be Isaac, yet God refers to Abraham as the father of the Jewish people even though he came from one of the other nationalities.