Why did the Lord send Paul to the Gentiles?
The Lord sent Paul far hence to the Gentiles because Jerusalem would not receive his testimony concerning the risen Christ. The resurrected, ascended Lord commanded him to depart from Jerusalem, and Paul was sent to the Gentiles by direct revelation, not from men.
Les explains that in Acts 22, Paul was praying in the temple and fell into a trance, seeing the resurrected, ascended Lord. The Lord told him, 'Make haste, get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.' Paul reminded the Lord how he had imprisoned and beaten believers in every synagogue and consented to Stephen's death, holding the raiment of those who slew him. The Lord then said, 'Depart from Jerusalem, for I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles.' Les also points to Galatians 1:12, where Paul says he neither received the gospel of man nor was taught it, but by the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Les teaches that Paul was distancing himself from the twelve apostles of Israel—Peter, James, and John—to keep his apostleship pure from any of the legalism of Judaism, which they epitomized. Thus the Lord sent Paul to the Gentiles because Jerusalem rejected his testimony and to give him a pure apostleship by direct revelation.
And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
More Questions
who sent Paul to the Gentiles and why did he have to leave Jerusalem?
The resurrected, ascended Lord Himself told Paul to depart from Jerusalem because He would send him far away to the Gentiles.
What did Jesus tell Paul about being sent to the Gentiles in Acts 22?
Paul, after rehearsing his conversion before the Jerusalem Jews, said that the Lord Jesus from heaven had told him, 'Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.'