Who it is about
The nations
The Gentiles — always in view, from Abraham's blessing onward.
“But this is also a prophecy of setting up the kingdom of the Messiah, and bringing in the Gentiles.”
“Ministers were raised up among the Gentiles for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
“He mentions the Gentiles, to show thereby how faulty it was. For it is of the Gentiles to seek after precedence.”
The word "Gentiles" simply means the nations — everyone who is not ethnically part of Israel. It sounds like a category of outsiders, and for much of the Old Testament story, that is exactly how it functions. But even from the beginning, the Gentiles were never meant to stay outside for good.
God's call to Abraham already points outward. In Abraham, all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Israel is chosen, but not chosen to keep the blessing to itself — chosen to carry it to everyone else. The prophets pick up the same note centuries later. Isaiah says of God's servant that he is given "for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). The mission was written into the story before most of Israel's history had even happened.
When Jesus is a baby, brought to the temple, the old man Simeon holds him and calls him "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:32) — Jew and Gentile named in the same breath, both blessed by the same child. Jesus finishes his earthly ministry with the same widened scope, sending his disciples to teach all nations (Matthew 28:19). The good news was never meant to stop at a border.
The book of Acts shows this promise breaking into real history, and it is not tidy. Peter has to be shown a vision before he will go to a Gentile household, and even then he needs convincing: "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). When he reports back to the other apostles, their response is astonished relief — God has granted repentance unto life to the Gentiles too (Acts 11:18). Paul takes the message further still, quoting an older word about himself: he is set to be a light of the Gentiles (Acts 13:47).
Paul's letters spell out what this means in practice. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). And in Christ, the old dividing line dissolves: there is neither Jew nor Greek, for all are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). To the Ephesians, once Gentile outsiders themselves, Paul writes that they who were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). Distance is not the last word; nearness is.
The whole story ends the way it began — with the nations. John sees a great multitude, too large to number, of every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne (Revelation 7:9). What started as a promise to one man's family becomes, in Christ, a gathering too large to count. The Gentiles were never an afterthought. They were the point, all along, of a blessing that could never stay small.
Read in full, not just cited
The 3 verses the essay above leans on hardest
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”12 passages
Where Scripture speaks
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”Abraham's blessing was always aimed outward, at all the families of earth
“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,The Servant given as a covenant, a light to the Gentiles
He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”The mission widened: salvation to the end of the earth, not Israel alone
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,Jesus sends His own out to teach all nations, without a border named
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”Simeon names the infant Jesus a light to the Gentiles in the same breath as Israel
Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,Peter's turning point: God is no respecter of persons
When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”The Jerusalem church's astonished response: repentance unto life granted to Gentiles too
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”Paul takes up Isaiah's words as his own commission to the Gentiles
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.The gospel's power for salvation named for Jew and Greek alike
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.In Christ the old dividing line between Jew and Greek dissolves
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.Once far off, Gentile believers made near by the blood of Christ
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.The story ends with a multitude from every nation before the throne
Who it is about