Whom did God raise up after Israel missed their calling to reach the Gentiles?
After Israel's failure, God raised up Saul of Tarsus, a zealous Jew saved by grace on the Damascus road. He sent Saul far hence to the Gentiles, making him primarily the apostle of the Gentiles, though Saul would also go to the Jew.
Les explains that Israel's stumbling did not mean God was finished with His covenant people. Through their fall, salvation came to the Gentiles, but under a different format. In the Old Testament, Israel was promised that every Jew could be a priest of God to bring Gentiles to a knowledge of Jehovah, but they missed it. God did not stop; instead of taking the whole nation, He raised up one other little Jew, Saul of Tarsus, a renegade zealous for the law, and saved him by grace on the road to Damascus. The first thing God let Saul know was that He would send him far hence to the Gentiles. Saul would also go to the Jew, but he was primarily converted as the apostle of the Gentiles.
More Questions
When did God begin a different program that included Gentiles?
From Abraham in Genesis 12 until Acts 9, God's program was 'Jew only' with a few exceptions, and then in Acts chapter 9 God began to do something different.