Hitchhiker’s Guide (29): Gentiles
I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’
And they will say, ‘You are my God!’” Hosea 2:23 NASB
You are my God – Who is a Gentile? Before you answer with the typical biblical definition, reconsider God’s perspective about citizens of His kingdom. According to most biblical dictionaries, the word goy is used as a term that means “other than Jewish.” But this is an anachronistic definition since the Hebrew itself sometimes uses goy for the Israelites. The Greek éthnē literally means “nations.” We have to wait for the Latin translation of the Bible before we find the term gentilis applied to all who are not Jewish. Following this distinction, we arrive at the Christian claim, “The Bible can be seen as one long discussion of what differentiates Israel from all the other peoples of the world.”[1] But all of this is religious. It misses the point of the biblical revelation, made abundantly clear by the prophet Hosea. Luzzatto clarifies:
“We can interpret the category of foolish gentile in a way that is not an ethnic but rather a moral category. A gentile is one who does not recognize his or her place within the chain of human responsibility. An Israelite is one who does.”[2]
A Gentile is someone who does not accept the biblical responsibility for the welfare of the other. A citizen of the Kingdom, that is, an Israelite, is someone who does.
Who are you? Well, according to Hosea, if you accept God’s divine injunction to serve the other, you are an Israelite. If you believe that the ultimate goal of your existence is to serve yourself, you are a Gentile. Ethnicity has nothing to do with it. God is recruiting Israelites. He is doing so by pressing us to recognize and engage our God-given responsibility for the other. His recruiting technique is to confront you with the demands of your yetzer ha’ra and then show you that left unchecked they will make you an animal. His training technique is to help you strengthen the yetzer ha’tov by putting opportunities to serve the others in your daily life. But it’s up to you to seize those moments, reflect on their importance, and change your behavior. You might think that this is easy. After all, you’re basically a good, caring person. But remember that strengthening the yetzer ha’tov means increasing the challenge of each opportunity, making it more and more difficult to decide to serve the other rather than the self. It’s like lifting weights. If you want to get stronger, you need to add more to each lift.
So, who’s an Israelite? The one who increasingly expands his or her commitment to serve the other. How? By following three simple tasks: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Step 29: Be an Israelite
Topical Index: Israelite, serve, Gentile, Micah 6:8, Hosea 2:23
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentile#:~:text=Gentile%20(%2Fˈd%CA%92%C9%9Bn,synonym%20for%20heathen%20or%20pagan.
[2] Ira F. Stone, in Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Upright, p. 172.
