Many think that the God of the Bible is a partial God, biased in His dealings with humankind. They quote many instances in the Bible to prove it. This is a common misunderstanding. On a superficial reading it may appear that God favoured the Israelites above all other nations.

Partial means unfair, prejudiced, biased, predisposed. In another sense, it also means incomplete. But our knowledge of God as a perfect and loving God does not agree with this incomplete understanding of Him.

Let’s search the Bible to find out more about this.

Many think that the God of the Bible is a partial God, biased in His dealings with humankind. They quote many instances in the Bible to prove it. This is a common misunderstanding. On a superficial reading it may appear that God favoured the Israelites above all other nations.

Partial means unfair, prejudiced, biased, predisposed. In another sense, it also means incomplete. But our knowledge of God as a perfect and loving God does not agree with this incomplete understanding of Him.

Let’s search the Bible to find out more about this.

Blessed to be a Blessing

The Bible begins with the creation and God telling Adam and Eve to fill the earth. Their disobedience resulted in God driving them out from His presence. Later we find all of the people of the earth gathering at Babel to build a tower to make a name for themselves. God foiled their efforts by confusing the language and thus many languages, ethno-linguistic groups and clans were formed. Out of this diversified group of people, God called one man, Abram, to obey him. God said, “Leave your people and go to the land I will show you.” God then made a promise which is being fulfilled to this day.

    "I will make you into a great nation
       and I will bless you;
       I will make your name great,
       and you will be a blessing…
and all peoples on earth
       will be blessed through you
." Genesis 12:2-3

The larger plan of God is revealed in the promise he gave to Abraham. God intended all the peoples of the earth to be blessed through this man.

Through the line of Abraham, God made a nation, Israel, to show forth His glory. Through Israel, the seed of Abraham, God intends to bless all the families of the earth. In the phrase “all families” God is including all of humankind, irrespective of their colour, race, language and creed – He is including the non-Israelites too. Does that sound like the plan of a partial God?

The Blessing Reaches Beyond Israel

We find many occasions in the Bible where through mighty acts and miracles, God proves to many other peoples that He alone is to be worshipped and feared. He wanted Israel to be the channel of his blessing to all the nations. But the sad part

  • of the story is that the Israelites misused their God-given blessing and were not willing to share it with others. Even in this situation God proves His love for all humankind by selecting many non-Israelites and blessing them. Some examples are:

  • Rahab, the prostitute in Caanan who hid the Israelites spies and was later saved from the destruction of the land and its people by Joshua;

  • Ruth, a Moabitess who decides to follow the God of her Israelite mother-in-law Naomi, and later marries Boaz, who became a forefather of Jesus;

  • Naaman, a Syrian commander with leprosy who was cured of his leprosy by the Israelite prophet Elisha – and Naaman was persuaded to go to the prophet by the witness of a captive Israelite slave working in his home.

  • Jonah, the unwilling prophet was selected by God to preach to the Gentile Ninevites to repent of their sins. Jonah was angry that God wanted to love the Ninevites and bring them back to Him – as an Israelite, Jonah felt that the blessing belonged to him and to his people.

In all these examples we see a change of heart towards God by these non-Israelite people. If God was simply a feudal God of the Israelites, would He have reached out to the nations the way He did?

Jesus – The Blessing For All Nations

The culmination of God’s love for the world is the life of His son Jesus, a descendant of Abraham. Jesus walked and talked with non-Israelites – he journeyed into places like Tyre, Sidon and the Decapolis. He often accused the Jews of having less faith than the Gentiles, and spoke of God's special care for the Gentiles. At Capernaum, he healed a Roman centurion’s paralyzed servant and marvelled at the centurion’s great faith. He cleansed the Temple of money-changers who were defiling the Court of the Gentiles, where Jesus said, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations.” He gave a message of salvation to a Samaritan woman. He healed a Caananite woman’s daughter of demon-possession.

Jesus condemned the prideful and possessive attitude of Israel, which stemmed from the belief that they were the “sons of Abraham” and so the blessing of God was theirs by right and by inheritance. Jesus told them that “God can raise sons of Abraham from stones.”

The blessing is revealed in Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross which saved the world from the terrible consequences of sin. Through faith in Jesus, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, both Jews and Gentiles, can inherit the blessing. Jesus came to redeem all the families of the earth.

We then see Jesus handing over to his disciples and to the church, the mandate of spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth. But how faithful has the church been in carrying out this responsibility? History shows that the Church also used the privilege and was not willing to share God’s blessing.

Hoarding the Blessing

Christians down the ages have been guilty of hoarding the blessing. Isn’t this true in India also? The Gospel reached this country even before it reached many other nations — but we still have so many unreached people groups in India. Selfish Christians interested only in “my God, my church, my family, my people” have thus “proved” to the world that the God of Bible is interested only in certain groups of people.

We learn from the Bible that it is not God who is partial but the people whom He entrusted to bless others. God’s desire is to bless all the nations or families or people groups of the earth.

So who is responsible for the present world-picture of God: Is it God or us? Aren’t we responsible if some unreached people groups blame God for showing partiality to a select few? The answer lies within each one of us.

Are you ready to bless others, that God may receive all the worship due to His name? Are you ready to share the blessing with the world?

Think about it, and do your part in making it happen.

Questions to think about

a) Do you have any instances in life when you felt that God is partial?

b) Do you agree that believers in India show partiality in their dealings with people?

c) In what ways can we prove to others that God is impartial?

Reflection

  • Who is responsible if some people groups in India blame God for being partial? God or Us?

  • Do you have stereotypes in your mind about non-Christians or even about Christians who are not from your own church or denomination? Examine your behaviour and attitudes towards them in the light of God’s promise. How can you change your behaviour to be a blessing to them?

Action Step

  • Find out if your Church supports a missionary and get his name and address and write an encouraging letter.

  • Include the nations of the earth in your prayers. Pray that they may receive the blessing of the gospel.