This Is For All Nations

Zechariah 14:17
If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain.
Zechariah 14:19
This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

We live in a world where every continent or nation or language or people or territory seem to have their own gods and religion. As Christianity goes global, some try to localise it and others reject it as not being their own religion. We live in a world where deep hatred has turned out to define us. We are divided by race, nationality, gender, etc. Deep-seated emotions have caused some to either re-write scripture or brand it as racial. The consistent message that the Bible favors one race and not others is not aimed at liberating nations from mental slavery but at desensitizing minds from divine expectations. We must affirm without fear of contradiction, that this message of the Bible and its blessings is for all nations.

There are arguments that Jesus was not white but black. Arguments from blatant eisegesis pretend to give evidence that Jesus was black. There are other arguments that the Bible was designed to enslave blacks under whites. As a result, we have emerging pictures of black Jesus. Yet the most important thing in scripture is the humanity of Jesus. It is still a powerful show of divine love that Jesus became human. Whether Chinese human, African human, American human, it doesn’t matter. Those with issues against Imperial superpowers like America and NATO nations should know that Jesus wasn’t American or European, Jewish, and it is no big deal. Jesus of whatever race and all scripture is for all nations!

Some dictionaries would even define biblical concepts as Jewish. Sabbath is Saturday for Jews and Sunday for Christians, some dictionary would wrongly write. As a result, naive people will build their faith on the erratic dictionary instead of building their faith in scripture and on God. This is one of the numerous attempts to confine scripture to one people group and exclude the whole world from God’s expectations and blessings. Yet this is for all nations on earth!

Certain details in scripture are inconsequential to its general purpose and teaching. Details such us who helped Noah build the ark. Details such as whose cock crowed when Peter denied Jesus. Details such as whose house was used for the last supper. In fact, other details are deliberately left out. Details such as the birthday of Jesus. The Bible may tell us Jesus rode a donkey to Jerusalem. What is critical is the humility of Jesus and not the details of the donkey. Jesus appeared to John the Revelator and that is what is critical and the subsequent revelation. The narrations of how Jesus appeared were not to feed our racial problems with data that will mislead us from the critical. The Bible and its teachings are for all nations!

Our text today is one of the many texts that consistently remind us that the Bible religion is for all nations. Those arguments on religion and spirituality are neither here nor there, they are just attempting to look informed without saying much. Those concepts are practically inseparable, Whatever heart or soul convictions (considered spiritual) one has must be expressed in a certain lifestyle. That lifestyle expected of a convicted person is what is taught (doctrine) and understood by others as religious demands. The Jewish leaders focused on such minute details that they lost the purpose of scripture. Matthew 23:17 and Matthew 23:23 are examples in that chapter where Jesus condemned irrelevant attention to detail. It is this same line of thinking that is making the mistake of presenting the Bible as biased, yet this is for all nations!

Exodus 12:37-38
The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.

When Israelites left Egypt, they left with people of many other nations. Israelites were not alone when they left Egypt. God allowed other nations to leave with Israelites from Egypt. This is for all nations!

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—

This is the prayer of King Solomon as he dedicated the magnificent temple. He and the people expected foreigners to come and worship. This is for all nations!

Isaiah 56:7
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations. ”

Mark 11:17
And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

The emphasis of the prophet Isaiah and the words of Jesus is that Bible-based worship is for all nations. At a time when it seemed everything was Israelite centered, God sends a reminder that it is for all nations. This is for all nations!

Matthew 28:19
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,

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus in the great commission asked all believers of all time to go and preach to all nations. No nation is excluded from God’s grace and kingdom. Jesus was sending Jewish men of Galilee and He didn’t expect their nationality to be an issue. He did not send them to emphasize the race Jesus came from. He did not send them to show how African or non-African biblical teachings are. He expected that although these messengers were jews, people of all nations would be converted. This is for all nations!

Disciples of Jesus even today are to desist from nationalism and racism that demeans the message of scripture. All nations are welcome. All nations are to come together and worship God. We are to emphasize our common faith in God snd, not our apparent differences. This is for all nations!

Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 14:6
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth —to every nation, tribe, language and people.
Revelation 14:8
A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

Divisive identities should not be in the body of Christ. All nations are one in Christ. Not even gender should be an issue. The gospel is to all nations because all nations have been corrupted by Babylonian maddening wine or false teachings. This is for all nations!

Our text today tells us that God expected all nations to worship Him or risk punishment. All nations were to worship God on a festival that was totally considered Jewish. This is because worship cannot be Jewish. This is for all nations!

May God help us to desist from irrelevant clever-sounding teachings and arguments that demean the core scriptural message. May God help us to be accommodative and not divisive in our worship and lifestyle. Accommodative of another gender, language, tribe, race, nation, etc. May scriptural blessings be ours regardless of our nationality, in Jesus’ name, Amen!