We often imagine that animosity between Jews and Gentiles must have prevented Jews from
positively influencing Gentiles. That this was frequently not the case is another
demonstration of God’s compassion for all peoples. To gain some idea of the extent of Jewish
influence, consider the following facts:
* Moses told the Isrelites to obey God’s laws ‘for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." ‘ (Deuteronomy 4:6)
* Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the temple is most instructive:
* Hezekiah’s prayer:
* In the Old Testament we see representatives of God’s chosen people raised to positions of prominance in important nations – Joseph in Egypt, Daniel and his friends in Babylon, Queen Esther and Mordecai in the Persian Empire.
* Consider this outcome of the events described in Esther:
‘. . . And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.’ (Esther 8:17)
* When the northern kindgom went into exile they were replaced by people from several other countries. The Lord caused lions to be such a problem that they concluded it was because they were not worshipping the God of Israel. Amazingly, the king of Assyria sent a Jewish priest to teach these people. Most of them ended up mixing this knowledge with their own religions, but regardless of what they did with the information, they were taught the ways of God. (2 Kings 17:24-34)
* Let’s not so focus on Jonah’s missionary reluctance that we overlook the key fact that this story of God’s longing to save Gentiles from divine judgement is part of the Jewish Bible. The Old Testament is liberally sown with verses divinely designed to inspire missionary endeavor. (I urge you to at least quickly scan these significant Scriptures.) With such a Bible as their guide it is not surprising that we find considerable evidence of Jewish missionary activity in the inter-testament perod.
* Long before Christ, the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the language of the Gentiles.
* In 139 BC some Jewish missionaries were so zealous that the Romans were provoked to expel them from Rome. (Reference)
* Jesus acknowledged that the Pharisees would ‘travel over land and sea to win a single convert’ (Matthew 23:15)
* The Roman centurian whose servant Jesus healed dearly loved the Jews and their religion. (Luke 7:3-5)
* Jews must have profoundly influenced the Ethiopian eunach for him to travel all the way to Jerusalem to worship and to be found by Philip reading Scripture. (Acts 8:27-28)
* The Jew, Philo, wrote for a cultured Gentile audience, seeking to show that Greek philosophy was related to Judaism.
* The famous Jewish historian, Josephus, writing just after the time of Christ, sought to present the Bible and Jewish history to a Gentile audience.
See also The Distribution of Jews in Ancient Times
1 Kings 8:41 As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name – (42) for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm – when he comes and prays towards this temple,(43) then hear from heaven, your dwelling-place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
2 Kings 19:19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from
his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.