Can IO (Israel Only) be true if prominent members of ancient Israel held a view that was the opposite of IO? Can IO be valid if well-known leaders of Israel believed, desired, prophesied, and taught that non-Israelites could and would know and worship the Lord?
The small group of IO proponents whose favorite hobby is to antagonize Christians day and night on Facebook and YouTube, and who reject Christ yet promote themselves as the world’s most accurate Bible teachers, are not Israelites and can only speak as outsiders when it comes to the things of ancient Israel. On the other hand, the following sample of anti-IO statements were made by very influential leaders who were … drumroll … actually Israelites themselves. These anti-IO Israelites include kings, prophets, apostles, disciples, Bible authors, a well-known Rabbi, and a famous Jewish philosopher. Consider the likelihood of an “Israel Only” paradigm surviving, let alone prevailing, during Israel’s history in light of what these leaders had to say and in light of their influence on the people of Israel. This is only a sample. (Please take note of the numerous “so that” statements, which I’ve highlighted in red font):
[1] Solomon: “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but who comes from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple; then hear from heaven Your place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all people of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name” (II Chronicles 6:32-33).
In Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the temple, he prayed concerning non-Israelite foreigners who were drawn to the temple in Jerusalem from far-away lands because they acknowledged that God’s name was great, that He was powerful, and that His arm was stretched out. Solomon prayed that not only would God answer their prayers, but that “all people of the earth” would know God’s name (His nature, character, reputation, etc.) and fear Him just like Israel did. Consider the resounding and far-reaching effects when God answered their prayers and they told their non-Israelite family and friends what the God of Israel had done for them. That was the point. That was the purpose for Solomon’s request that God would answer the prayers of those who were not of his people, Israel. It was so that all peoples would know the Lord’s name and fear Him.
Solomon was not IO, and he understood Israel’s purpose to be a blessing to all nations. Solomon understood that Israel was not meant to hoard God’s dwelling place only for themselves. Also note that Solomon prayed this prayer “in the presence of all the congregation of Israel” (II Chronicles 6:12). When Israel was at its greatest heights, the entire nation heard their king pray an anti-IO prayer on behalf of “all people of the earth.”
Solomon’s prayer lines up well with Isaiah’s prophecy, also quoted and applied by Jesus in His day, that the temple had a purpose of serving as “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7; Mark 11:17).
Solomon’s heart for the nations is also revealed in his only Psalm (72), in which he said things like “All nations shall serve Him” (verse 11), “His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed” (verse 17), and “let the whole earth be filled with His glory” (verse 19).
[2] David and Asaph: “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son. Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession’” (Psalm 2:7-8); “Arise, O God, judge the earth; for You shall inherit all nations” (Psalm 82:8).
Israel was God’s inheritance (e.g. Deuteronomy 32:9; I Kings 8:51, 53; Psalm 106:40), as IO proponents love to point out, but I doubt you’ve ever seen them point out these two texts about God inheriting all the nations. In Psalm 2, written by David, the Son was promised all nations for His inheritance. The Son here is Jesus, as Acts 13:33 affirms. In Psalm 82, Asaph, a chief of the Levites, declared that God would inherit all the nations. Actually God was going to “re-inherit” the nations which had previously been disinherited at Babel (Genesis 11), as is well demonstrated in this teaching by Michael Heiser.
[3] Unknown author (perhaps David or Asaph): “God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Psalm 67:1-4).
“Us” in this passage refers to the people of Israel. “All nations“, “peoples,” and “the nations” refers to nations and peoples distinct from Israel, which was one united nation at that time. The author of this Psalm expressed his desire that God’s way and His salvation would be made known among all peoples, and that they would praise Him, be glad, and sing for joy. This person was not IO, and he understood Israel’s purpose to be a blessing to all nations.
Why did he want God to be merciful to Israel, bless Israel, and cause His face to shine upon Israel? It was so “that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations…” – one of numerous passages confirming that Israel was chosen for a purpose greater than itself. This followed the pattern given to Abraham to not only be blessed, but to also be a blessing and to be a channel of blessing for many others (“I will bless you… and you shall be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” – Genesis 12:2-3).
[4] David: “Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name” (Psalm 86:8-9).
The scope of David’s declaration here is universal at every point, as all gods and all nations are in view. Again, Israel was one united nation at this time. God made all nations (cf. Acts 14:14-17, Acts 17:24-27), not just the singular nation of Israel. David prophesied that all nations would worship before the Lord and glorify His name. David wasn’t interested in these acts being reserved for Israel alone and none of the rest of God’s creation. People from every nation have been doing exactly this for centuries.
[5] Isaiah: “And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him… Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth’” (Isaiah 49:5-6).
This is one of several “servant songs” in Isaiah demonstrating that the Messiah would take over and carry on the role of God’s Servant which had formerly been entrusted to national Israel, fulfilling Genesis 49:10 (“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people“). The Servant’s purpose was first to bring Jacob back and gather Israel to His Father. However, raising up “the tribes of Jacob” (all 12 tribes) and restoring the preserved ones of Israel (who needed to be restored) was too small of a purpose. Jesus was also given as a light to the Gentiles who were distinct from the 12 tribes of Jacob. As it is elsewhere, the pattern is Israel first, but not Israel only (e.g. Mark 7:27; Acts 3:25-26, 13:46; Romans 1:16).
This prophecy in Isaiah 49:5-6 is alluded to in Luke 2:30-32, where Simeon also spoke of the people of Israel as distinct from the Gentiles who would receive God’s revelation, and He spoke of God’s salvation being prepared before the face of all peoples. Isaiah 49:5-6 is also quoted and applied to Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:47, and is most likely alluded to in Acts 26:23.
Isaiah 49:5-6 is only one of numerous prophecies given by Isaiah that other peoples besides Israel would know the Lord.
[6] James / Luke / Amos: “Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, ‘Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: “After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things”’” (Acts 15:13-17).
James, speaking before the Jerusalem Council, quoted the prophet Amos in order to explain why and for what purpose God was rebuilding the tabernacle of David, rebuilding its ruins, and setting it up. God was doing this “so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name.” Yes, God healed the tragic division in David’s house between the southern kingdom (two tribes) and the northern kingdom (10 tribes) of Israel, but this was not the end all; this was not His only plan and this was not all He did. He healed this division in order to gather others who were distinct from the southern and northern kingdoms, i.e. non-Israelites also, into His kingdom.
In previous times, when Israel was broken and corrupted, God’s name was dishonored among the nations, and the nations were not being drawn to seek the Lord. Israel was not living out the purpose for which they were chosen. We see this numerous times in Israel’s story. For example, Israel profaned God’s name among the nations, causing God much displeasure (Malachi 1:12) because His desire was that His name would be great among the nations (verse 11) and among the Gentiles (verse 14). Similarly, God had this to say about Israel’s dismal track record of misrepresenting His name among the non-Israelite nations, and why and for whose sake He was going to renew Israel:
“When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name… But I had concern for My holy name… Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake… And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes”’” (Ezekiel 36:20-23).
God cared about how those nations viewed Him and esteemed His name. His promise to renew Israel and give them new life wasn’t even for their own sake. It was for the sake of His holy name, to sanctify His great name, not just in Israel’s midst but before the nations. God declared that the nations – distinct from the nation of Israel – would know that He was the Lord because of His work through Israel. Malachi 1 and Ezekiel 36 are two of many indications that God’s dealings with Israel were for a purpose greater than themselves, and that God wanted His people to be healthy, whole, and faithful in order to shine like a lighthouse and attract the nations to Israel’s God.
Another indication that James and Peter, while addressing the Jerusalem Council, were speaking of non-Israelite Gentiles is that they connected the forefathers of Israel to themselves and to the apostles and elders (Acts 15:6), but not to the Gentiles who had heard the gospel and believed (verse 7). While maintaining a difference in identity between themselves and the Gentiles, Peter said this:
“So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them [the Gentiles], by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they” (Acts 15:8-11).
If the Gentiles Peter was speaking about were Israelites, it would have been appropriate to ask “…why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither their fathers nor we were able to bear?” However, Peter did not do this. Instead he connected the fathers of Israel only to his fellow apostles and elders with the phrase “our fathers.” He did not make a connection between the fathers of Israel and the Gentiles who had believed, as if those fathers were their ancestors by blood.
Lastly, we can note that when James quoted the prophecy given by Amos, he expanded “the remnant of Edom” (Amos 9:12) to that which Edom represented, which was “the rest of mankind” and “all the Gentiles” (Acts 15:17).
[7] Paul: “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious… God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us’” (Acts 17:22-27).
Prior to giving this address, Paul’s reasoning in the public marketplace about Jesus and the resurrection “with those who happened to be there” made him seem like “a proclaimer of foreign gods.” Afterwards, standing in the Areopagus, where the people of Athens and foreign visitors loved to tell or hear new things (Acts 17:21), Paul stated that every nation throughout the earth was made for the purpose of seeking the Lord “so that they should seek the Lord.” What a blow to the Israel Only idea. Furthermore, in verse 26 Paul made a clear reference to the 70 nations of Genesis 10-11 and their scattering at Babel:
“…And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do, and nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:1-9; see also Genesis 9:19, 10:5, 10:20, and 10:31-32).
“When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples…” (Deuteronomy 32:8).
The Scene at Babel |
“So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:1-9). | “When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples…” (Deuteronomy 32:8). |
Paul in the Areopagus |
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth…
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and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation… |
Purpose for Making Every Nation |
so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us’” (Acts 17:26-27). |
By appealing to the scattering of the 70 nations, which took place prior to the birth of national Israel, and by declaring that God had purposed all along for those nations to seek Him, Paul made it clear that he was casting his net far wider than if he was merely interested in gathering scattered Israelites.
One disciple who followed Paul after this visit to Athens, Dionysius the Areopagite (Acts 17:34), is said to have lived until the year AD 96. Like Timothy, Titus, Luke, John, Linus (II Timothy 4:21), and others, Dionysius followed Christ and was active in ministry both before and after AD 70, contradicting Israel Only’s false claim that “the story ended in AD 70.”
[8] Paul: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham… Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith… Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ… And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:8-9, 13-14, 16, 29).
Paul once again appealed to a foundational event which took place before Israel became a nation. In this case it was the promise given to Abraham that in him all the nations would be blessed. This blessing was nothing less than the justification of the nations by faith in Christ. This was the preaching of the gospel, and this was the Scripture foreseeing what Paul was involved with and witnessing in his lifetime.
Who were those nations? They were the 70 nations, the families of the earth, which were outlined in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10):
“From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to their families, into their nations” (Genesis 10:5).
“These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations” (Genesis 10:20).
“These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations. These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood” (Genesis 10:31-32).
“…and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:9).
Against this backdrop came the promise to Abraham:
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3).
“And the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?’” (Genesis 18:17-18).
“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:18).
…and also to Isaac:
“And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 26:4).
…and also to Jacob:
“Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 28:14).
Paul cited a key, foundational promise given to Abraham which was anti-IO to the core. This was not a promise, as IO would have you believe, that “[1] in your seed [2] all your seed will be blessed.” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not promised that their descendants would be blessed in their descendants. How profoundly redundant would that be? The seed would bless itself? No. It was a promise that nations and families of the earth, distinct from and outside of Abraham’s descendants, would be blessed – again, blessed with justification by faith in Christ. See Genesis 18:18 and Amos 3:1-2 for examples of this clear distinction between the singular family/nation of Israel and the families/nations of the earth.
There was a reason and a purpose for why God carefully articulated the genealogy of 70 nations in Genesis 10:1-11:9. He did this just before He announced a key, foundational, and mission-oriented promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – a promise that was reinforced during the following centuries (e.g. by David and Solomon) and quoted and applied by Peter in Acts 3:25-26 and by Paul in Galatians 3:7-9. This was God’s clearly articulated plan from the beginning to build up Abraham and his descendants as His chosen people so that all other nations would be blessed through them. They were chosen for a purpose that went far beyond themselves.
Before the 12 sons of Jacob were born and the 12 tribes of Israel were even on the scene, the concept behind Israel Only – the idea that one ethnic group was chosen for their sake alone and that no other peoples were included in God’s redemptive purposes – was dead and buried six feet under. Before anyone had even heard of Israel, and before Israel was chosen as a people, her missionary purpose was clearly laid out. The concept of Israel Only was dead on arrival and doomed to failure from the start.
Why were Israelites redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13)? Once again it wasn’t even simply for their sake. It was so that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:14). This was the PURPOSE of redemption from the curse of the law – extended to the nations which were distinct from Abraham’s physical descendants. As a result, both Israelites and the Gentiles received the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14).
Ultimately, Paul argued, the promises were made to the singular Seed, Christ, and not to the many physical descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). Therefore, Paul essentially argued that Abraham was promised that in the Messiah (Christ), the singular Seed, all the nations would be blessed with justification by faith (verse 8). This was fitting because national Israel often failed in their purpose and their mission to be a blessing and a light to the nations around them, but Jesus didn’t fail. And all who are Christ’s are also counted along with Him as Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promises (Galatians 3:29).
[9] Rabbi Elazar: “These seventy bulls that are sacrificed as additional offerings over the course of the seven days of Sukkot, to what do they correspond? They correspond to the seventy nations of the world, and are brought to atone for their sins and to hasten world peace. Why is a single bull sacrificed on the Eighth Day of Assembly? It corresponds to the singular nation, Israel” (Sukkah 55b.9).
Rabbi Elazar was a first century AD Jewish religious leader and also a direct descendant of Ezra the Scribe. Not only was Rabbi Elazar clearly anti-IO, but in this statement he confirmed that Israel had a mission-oriented role to play with regard to the 70 nations of Genesis 10 all the way up to the first century AD. He confirmed that Abraham’s descendants were not chosen to selfishly hoard God’s blessings for themselves or chosen only for the purpose of blessing themselves.
[10] Philo: Philo (20 BC – AD 50) said “that the offering at the altar of the first-fruit from the land of Israel serves an efficacious purpose ‘both to the nation…& for the whole human race… The reason for this is that the Jewish nation is to the whole inhabited world what the priest is to the State’” (Spec. Leg. 2.162-163, quoted by G.K. Beale in The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 2004, pp. 164-165).
Philo was a first century AD Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who was influential in the Jewish world. He was not IO, and he affirmed that Israel was chosen to serve as priests to the entire human race. He affirmed that their first fruit offerings were conducted on behalf of non-Israelites everywhere.
SUMMARY
1. Solomon prayed before the entire congregation of Israel that God would answer the prayers of those who were not of His people, Israel, so that all peoples would know and fear God as Israel did (II Chronicles 6). Solomon was not IO.
2. David and Asaph both prophesied that God would one day inherit all the nations, not just Israel, which was already His inheritance and His chosen people (Psalm 2; Psalm 82). Neither David nor Asaph were IO.
3. The author of Psalm 67 (perhaps David or Asaph) prayed that God would bless His people, Israel, and cause His face to shine upon them so that His ways and His salvation would be known among all nations, and that all peoples would praise Him, be glad, and sing for joy. This person was not IO.
4. David prophesied that all nations would come and worship before the Lord and glorify His name (Psalm 86). David, who was a forerunner and type of Christ (e.g. Isaiah 55:3-5; Ezekiel 34:22-23, 37:24-25; Acts 2:29-36, 13:34-37), and a man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22), was not IO.
5. Isaiah prophesied that Christ would not only raise up the 12 tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved ones of Israel, a work that was “too small a thing” for Him as God’s Servant, but He would also be a light to the Gentiles and God’s salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49). Isaiah was not IO.
6. James quoted and applied a prophecy by Amos stating that the tabernacle of David was to be rebuilt and set up so that the rest of mankind and all the Gentiles would seek the Lord (Acts 15). James was not IO. The same can be said of Amos, whom he quoted, and the same can also be said of Luke, who recorded this account.
7. Paul stated that every nation throughout the earth was made so that they would seek the Lord (Acts 17). Paul alluded directly to the scene at Babel and the 70 nations of Genesis 10-11. Paul was not IO.
8. In Galatians 3, Paul cited a promise given to Abraham which specifically stated that the 70 nations of Genesis 10-11 would be blessed in him. Paul defined that blessing as justification in Christ, and said that in Abraham’s day the Scripture foresaw this happening in the future. Paul said that this was the gospel preached to Abraham. Anyone of faith is blessed with believing Abraham. Abraham and his descendants were clearly chosen for a purpose much greater than themselves. By promising Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that in their seed all the nations/families would be blessed in Christ, God made “Israel Only” 100% impossible before there even was a nation called Israel.
Paul argued that redemption from the curse of the law took place so that the Gentiles would receive the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus and so that everyone (those formerly under the law as well as the Gentiles) would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Paul insisted that the promises were made to the singular Seed, Christ, and that anyone who belongs to Christ is therefore also Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promises. This is just a fraction of the evidence that Paul was not IO.
9. Rabbi Elazar, a 1st century Rabbi and direct descendant of Ezra, explained that 70 bulls were sacrificed during the seven days of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) in order to atone for the sins of “the seventy nations of the world” and to hasten world peace. He said this was in contrast to the one bull sacrificed on the 8th day for “the singular nation, Israel.” Rabbi Elazar was not IO.
10. Philo, a 1st century Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, stated that Israel’s first fruit offerings were conducted on behalf of non-Israelites everywhere, and that Israel was like a nation of priests chosen to serve the entire human race and the whole inhabited world. Philo was not IO.
CONCLUSION
These anti-IO statements were not made by unknown Israelites who went rogue and temporarily strayed from the Israel Only paradigm held by everyone else. They were made by an assortment of the most prominent, most well-known, and most influential leaders that Israel ever had – kings, prophets, apostles, disciples, Bible authors, a Rabbi, and a philosopher. This essay could be duplicated more than once with even more anti-IO statements made by the same leaders of Israel and by others as well.
Take note of the numerous “so that” statements in these accounts, all the indications that Israel was chosen for a redemptive purpose much greater than itself, that Israel was chosen to bring glory to God and make Him known to the nations around it. Israel (the type) often failed to do so, but Jesus (the fulfillment) did not. This is one of the big picture paradigms that the Israel Only movement refuses to see or hopes you won’t notice. IO is selective, shallow, narrow-minded, myopic, short-sighted, and exhibits tunnel vision and cherry picks the Scriptures.
Since prominent members of ancient Israel publicly held a view that was the opposite of IO (Israel Only), can IO be true? Since a substantial collection of well-known leaders of Israel believed, desired, prophesied, and taught that non-Israelites could and would know and worship the Lord, can IO be valid? Of course not. From the beginning, God made IO impossible anyway.
Answering Israel Only 