Who is called a Gentile, heathen, or uncircumcised in the Bible?
In both Old and New Testament language, anyone who is not a Jew—not born of Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons—is called a Gentile, Goyim, heathen, or uncircumcised. This distinguishes Israel from all other peoples, and Psalm 2 specifically uses the word heathen.
Les explains the Old Testament program: after the first 11 chapters of Genesis—Adam, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel—comes the call of Abraham and the appearance of the nation of Israel. Then, 500 years later, Moses, the Exodus, and the Law, followed by the rest of the Old Testament writers, the prophets, and the Psalms. All of it prophetically looks forward to the First Advent of Christ, His birth at Bethlehem, when He came to Israel. In that context, Les points to Psalm 2 as the outline of the prophetic program. He notes that in Old Testament language and even in the New, anyone who was not a Jew—not born of Isaac, Jacob, and the 12 sons—is called a Gentile or the Goyim, or referred to as heathen or uncircumcised. In Psalm 2, the specific word used is 'heathen.'
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?