Take a moment to read Acts 21:37-22:29 before reading the devotional below.
Paul has just been arrested, and in today’s passage he speaks to the crowd of onlookers. He shares his testimony of how he met Jesus in a very dramatic fashion while on his way to the city of Damascus. If you haven’t read that story, go back to Acts 9 and read all about it. Paul’s gripping testimony has the crowd on the edge of their seats until he utters a single word: Gentiles.
The Jewish crowd does not approve of Paul’s statement that Jesus led him to preach to the Gentiles. This was a major point of conflict for Jews in the time of the early church because in the past God had told them to avoid relationships with non-Jewish cultures. Why the sudden switch? Did God change his mind about the non-chosen rest of the world?
God is consistent, and his desire to reach the Gentiles was not new. Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets spoke of a time when the whole world would worship the one, true God. The Bible often speaks to the way in which God went about revealing himself to the world: first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. There are a variety of examples of non-Jewish people following God in the Old Testament, like Rahab and Ruth. God’s heart has always been open to those who want to follow him. He had always warned his people not to be affiliated with people and cultures who engaged in evil practices, and that’s still true for Christians today.