When did the separation of humanity into Jews and Gentiles occur?

The call of Abram is a solemn era in the history of the world. The national division of the earth had been effected by Divine power in judicial contravention of the human will. The universal family of man thus sundered, and kept separate by diversity of tongue, obeyed alike the bias of an evil will that liked not to retain the knowledge of God, and grudged Him His true glory, though they knew Him well. It was from a family of idolaters that Abraham was chosen by the God of glory (Joshua 24:2). The selection of one man to be the head and father of a separate race, may be regarded as the era of Gentile reprobation of which the apostle speaks (Rom. 1:21-28). God turned aside from an apostate world to choose one man who should become the father of a people, whose distinctive glory among the nations, who served lying vanities, was to be their knowledge and worship of the true and only God. Meanwhile He left the Gentiles to their own dishonoured way. (Acts 14:16).

1908 63 Of Jews and Gentiles there has now been created "one new man," where national distinctions no longer obtain (Eph. 2:15-16; Col. 3:11), so that whilst before the cross all mankind were comprised under two heads (whether believer or unbeliever), namely, as either Jew or Gentile, it is not so since the cross. There is now the introduction of a third class, hitherto non-existent, as in 1 Cor. 10:32, "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God."

When we come to look upon the Lord's life and ministry here, we find that He was constantly going beyond the middle wall of partition which surrounded the Jewish enclosure, in the outflow of His own blessed grace to those who had no relationship with God even in an outward way. Witness the woman of Canaan in Matthew 15, and the woman of Samaria in John 4. "He was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." (Rom. 15:8-9.) Still, the middle wall of partition was not really destroyed till the cross, however our Lord's actions may have shown what was coming. We find the position of Jew and Gentile forcibly contrasted in the following scriptures: "Who are Israelites, to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." (Rom. 9:4-5.) And again, "Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." (Eph. 2:11-12.)

(Vv. 11, 12). Before setting forth the present position of believers in Christ, the Apostle contrasts the former position of Gentiles in the flesh with their new place. So far from the church being the aggregate of all believers from the beginning of the world, there existed in times past (the times before the cross) a God-appointed distinction between Jew and Gentile which, as long as it existed, made the existence of the church impossible.

The Apostle reminds the Gentile believers that, at that time, there existed very sharp distinctions between Jew and Gentile. In the ways of God on earth the Jew enjoyed nationally a place of outward privilege to which the Gentiles were entire strangers. Israel formed an earthly commonwealth, with earthly promises and earthly hopes, and were in outward relationship with God. Their religious worship, their political organisation, their social relations, from the highest act of worship to the smallest detail of life, were regulated by the ordinances of God. This was an immense privilege in which the Gentiles, as such, had no part. It was not that the Jews were any better than the Gentiles, for, in the sight of God, the great mass of the Jews were as bad as the Gentiles, and some even worse. On the other hand, there were individual Gentiles, such as Job, who were truly converted men. In the ways of God on earth, however, He separated Israel from the Gentiles, and gave them a special place of privilege, for, even if unconverted, (as was the case with the mass), it was an immense privilege to have all their affairs regulated according to the perfect wisdom of God. The Gentiles had no such position in the world, not enjoying public recognition of God, nor having their affairs regulated by divine ordinances. Indeed, the very ordinances that regulated the life of the Jew sternly kept Jew and Gentile apart. The Jew, therefore, had a place of outward nearness to God, while the Gentile was outwardly afar off.

But during the time of the dispersion of Israel, and even before it began, from the moment that their guilt was consummated, this heavenly purpose of God was gradually manifested upon the earth. But we must remember that the Church, besides being the object of God's eternal counsels, and having a glorious portion in heaven along with Christ, for which we are waiting, has also an existence upon earth, and enters into the dealings of God here below. This is the point at which we are arrived in this epistle. We have had the deeper thoughts of God; but as the epistle does touch upon the ways of God on the earth, we should not have had a full view of the Church's place if it did not give us the dispensational succession here below. Accordingly we have the elements which compose the Church: "Wherefore remember that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands." Here we are on totally different ground. It is no longer "children of wrath," persons that were by nature one as bad and dead as the other; but here men are distinguished on earth — the uncircumcision on the one hand, and the circumcision on the other. So that you are on earthly ground, the ground of dispensational dealings, where you have God separating one part of mankind from another by His own will; not because the one was better than the other, but for the display of His own wisdom and purpose. The great mass of the Jews were just as evil in the sight of God as the Gentiles; and some of the Gentiles were converted, such as Job, while there were many of the Jews that perished in their sins. But for all that, God did put a difference between Jew and Gentile; and He says, "Remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh." You were among the rest of mankind, left out of the call of God; you were not brought into a place of separate witness for God as Abraham was; you are called the uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision. "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." They had no part in the polity of God set up in Israel; and they were "strangers from the covenants of promise." God gave glorious promises in the form of a covenant, and bound Himself to accomplish them. The Gentiles had no part nor lot in them. There were promises about Gentiles, but none to them. Israel were the direct parties concerned in the promises — they, and they only. And we must carefully remember what these promises meant. They were not made to Abel or Enoch, much less to Adam and Eve, though it is common to speak of the promise made in the garden of Eden. But Scripture never talks of promise there. And if you examine Genesis 3, you will find the wisdom of God in this; for it could be in no sense a promise. To whom could it be a promise? To whom was it uttered? To that old serpent. No believer could imagine a promise to him. It was a threat of the extinction of his power. God was judging the sin which had just entered the world: is this the suited time when promises are made? It is strictly a revelation of God, not in the form of a promise at all, but a declaration which comes out in denouncing judgment upon the serpent, and which showed that the Seed of the woman was to bruise his head.

From this point, the call of Abraham, the divine plan unfolded with greater rapidity. There sprang up from his descendants Israel, the chosen people, who were constituted a nation when delivered from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, the apostle of the law-system. They were to be entirely separated from the surrounding nations sunken in idolatry, in order that they might be God's witness-bearers in the earth.

Another and a different display of God's wisdom, and power was yet to follow these three ancestral heads of races, and their divisions and settlements in the earth; for the set time was now come for Moses to bring forth the nation of Israel out of Egypt according to that word - "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people, and Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." In this fourth circle of promise and blessing, when all mankind were classified under the head of Jews and Gentiles, it is evident we could nationally have no part or portion, being, "called uncircumcision, by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ … having no hope, and without God in the world." Moreover, we were aliens, from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise; so that personally, relatively, and dispensationally we could not be numbered among the twelve tribes and their promises, under Moses, nor could we inherit the blessings with them under Joshua when the land was divided and allotted, or even claim protection under the kingly rule and power of David, or the throne and sceptre of Solomon.

After the flood evidently history repeated itself. Even Noah's posterity lapsed into idolatry, so much so that out of idolatrous surroundings Abraham was called. With the call of Abraham (Gen. 12:1) separation again comes into view. In the nation of Israel, which sprang from Abraham's loins, separation was rigidly enforced. The householder did indeed hedge his vineyard round about. (See Matt. 21:33.) The law of Moses, given at Sinai, is witness to the high and elaborate hedge of legal ordinances and provisions there instituted. Best of all, God vouchsafed the symbol of His presence in the midst of His people. Alluding to that presence, Moses said, "so shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth." (Ex. 33:16.)

In order that we may understand this very important aspect of the Church, the apostle reminds us of the distinct position held by Israel in the times before the cross. At that time there existed a very sharp distinction between Jew and Gentile. In the ways of God on earth the Jew enjoyed a place of privilege to which the Gentile was an entire stranger. Israel formed an earthly commonwealth with earthly promises and earthly hopes. They were in outward relationship with God. Their religious worship, their political organization, their daily pursuits, their domestic affairs, all, from the highest act of worship to the smallest detail of life, was regulated by the ordinances of God. This was an immense privilege in which the Gentiles, as such, had no part. It was not that the Jews were any better than the Gentiles, for, in the sight of God, the great mass of the Jews were as bad as the Gentiles, and some even worse; and on the other hand, there were individual Gentiles who were truly converted men, such, for instance, as Job. But in the ways of God upon earth, He separated Israel from the Gentiles and gave them a place of special outward privilege; or even if unconverted (as indeed was the case with the mass) it was an immense privilege to have all their affairs regulated according to the perfect wisdom of God. The Gentiles had no such position in the world. They enjoyed no public recognition by God. Their affairs were not regulated by the ordinances of God. And the very ordinances that regulated the life of the Jew, sternly kept Jew and Gentile apart.

Unity was the original condition of mankind. The Abrahamic covenant had effected a division of the mass into two very unequal parts. By the preaching of the Cross, a new and heavenly election has reunited them in Christ; the members of His mystic body being gathered, by the sovereign grace of God, from both indifferently. Presenting Himself to the faith of Jew and Gentile alike, the Son of God becomes, in every sense, His people's peace. He unites them to each other, by first reconciling both to God. The Jew, who has fled for refuge to the cross, finds there, as the partaker both of his confession and his hope, the believing sinner of the Gentiles. The necessities of an awakened conscience are mightier and more imperative than the antipathies of race, or the traditional pride of a religious superiority. For to be convinced by the law as a transgressor, changed the bond of national confidence into a new and double condemnation, since such conviction not only reduced the legal worshipper to the level of those who had sinned without law, but sunk him far below it. To the exposure of his moral nakedness as a man, there was super-added the curse of a violated covenant. When, therefore, the middle wall of partition* was dissolved, it was not done in order to admit the Greeks, who would see Jesus, into the fellowship of a privilege which was already the natural inheritance of the Jew. That barrier, which recognized distinctions of clean and unclean, according to the letter of a carnal commandment, was taken quite away, by the power of a truth which declared the whole world guilty before God, and knew no longer any difference, where all had sinned (Rom. 3:9, seq.). The true worshippers are now united in another and a heavenly court.