Why did God visit the Gentiles according to Acts 15:14?
According to Acts 15:14, God visited the Gentiles to take from among them a people for His name. This calling out of a Gentile people preceded God's return and rebuilding of David's fallen tabernacle, as James declared, agreeing with the prophets.
Les explains that Acts 15 records the dispute over whether Gentiles could be saved without circumcision and law keeping. After the run-in with Paul and Barnabas, the leadership was convinced Paul was on the right track, and James made a tremendous statement. James declared that Simeon had reported how God first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. Les suggests James may not have fully understood the ramifications of what he said. The prophets agree: after the calling out of a Gentile people, God will return and build again the fallen tabernacle of David, so that the residue of men and all the Gentiles might seek the Lord. This Gentile calling had been kept secret and had never been mooted before.
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
More Questions
How is God taking a people out of the Gentiles in Acts 15:14?
God's taking 'a people for his name' out of the Gentiles is not a mass conversion; He takes them here and there, one at a time.
What does 'God at the first' mean in Acts 15:14?
According to Les, the 'first' time God visited the Gentiles refers to the occasion when the first Gentiles were approached after Paul's conversion, which was in the chapter immediately after Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus.