What happened when Paul mentioned Gentiles to a Jewish audience in Acts?
When Paul mentioned Gentiles to a Jewish audience in Acts, the response was an uproar and a riot. The mere mention of the word Gentiles to that Jewish audience produced a riot. This happened even though God had intended Israel to be a people He could use to reach the pagan world.
Les teaches that by the time of Acts, when Paul so much as mentioned the word Gentiles to that Jewish audience, he had an uproar, a riot. Les points back to God’s original purpose: it began with good intentions, as God intended this little nation of people to be a particular people of value that He could use to reach all those pagans. That was the whole concept. In Exodus chapter 19, God says Israel is a treasure unto Him above all people because all the earth is His; He is Sovereign. God also promised that if they were obedient, they would be unto Him a kingdom of priests. Since a priest is a go-between, every Jew was to be prepared to be a go-between between the pagan world around them and Israel’s God.