“Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:22-31).

In Paul's judgment, the people of Athens had become far too superstitious. They built temples to house the gods of their own making. In their devotions, they also worshipped an “UNKNOWN GOD” that had only an altar. Since this God was “unknown” to them, they had no idol to represent it. Paul saw this as an open door to proclaim the one true God to them. Although the Gentiles began to worship the creation “more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25), they still knew there was a High God. However, as time went on, He began to fade further and further into the background until He became “unknown” to the Gentile nations of the world.

Wilhelm Schmidt, the great philologist and ethnologist, gives an excellent summary of the nations of antiquity:

“As external civilization increased in splendor and wealth, so religion came to be expressed in forms of ever-increasing magnificence and opulence. Images of gods and demons multiplied to an extent which defies all classification. Wealthy temples, shrines and groves arose; more priests and servants, more sacrifices and ceremonies were instituted. But all this cannot blind us to the fact that despite the glory and wealth of the outward forms, the inner kernel of religion often disappeared and its essential strength was weakened. The results of this, both moral and social, were anything but desirable, leading to extreme degradation and even to the deification of the immoral and antisocial. The principal cause for this corruption was that the figure of the Supreme Being was sinking further and further into the background, hidden behind the impenetrable phalanx of the thousand new gods and demons.
But all the while, the ancient primitive religion still continued among the few remainders of the primitive culture, preserved by fragmentary peoples driven into the most distant regions. Yet in their condition of stagnation, poverty, and insignificance, even there it must necessarily have lost much of its power and greatness, so that even among such peoples it is much too late to find a true image of the faith of really primitive men. It remains for us, by dint of laborious research, to put gradually together from many faded fragments a lifelike picture of religion.” (The Origin and Growth of Religion: Facts and Theories, p. 289-290, 1931)

Almost every nation around the world, although they now believed in many gods or spirits, still had faded recollections of a High God or Creator (See Appendix III, High Gods in Low Places). The Aboriginals of North America believed in a Supreme Being or Creator although they knew Him not. For example, the Ojibways had a common belief in “Kitche Manitou (The Great Spirit)”. They called him, “the Great Mystery”, and “the creator”. (Ojibway Heritage, p. xv, and The Manitous: The spiritual world of the Ojibway's, Basil Johnston, p. xxi)

Throughout the centuries, the Ojibway's Creator eventually became known as “the Great Mystery”, for they had no revelation of who He was or what He was like, just a dim and now diluted view of what their ancestors had orally transmitted from the time of the Flood and Babel. Since that time their knowledge of God was passed on from one generation to the next through the oral traditions of the people. But as tradition goes, their legends are, “told and retold, reshaped and refitted to meet their audiences changing needs” (American Indian Myths and Legends, Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz, p. xi).

What essentially happened is that the creation came to be worshipped rather than the Creator resulting in a plethora of new gods and goddesses. He was the God of the sun, moon and stars, and every creature that moves about, the God of rain, thunder, wind, and every other force of nature. But now each of these aspects of creation became a god or an individual god came to represent each of them.

As the years went by, much of what they originally knew of their Creator became lost, as multitudes of other gods and spirits were raised to the forefront, and ever so subtly His very nature or character as Creator became a “Great Mystery” to them.

Further south, in the more temperate regions of the Americas, “The Maya recognized a supreme being, the creator god, but, like the Mexicans, appear to have accorded him little worship, presumably because he was regarded as remote from human affairs” (The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization, J. Eric S. Thompson, p. 268, 1966).

A placard in the “Museo Nacional de Antropologia”, in Mexico City states, “The Maya believed that mankind was created by Hunah Ku, who, rather than being a specific god, was an abstract, invisible deity, so superior to mere mortals as to be almost unknown to them and of whom it seems there was no known representation”.

In Mexico, “the Aztecs believed that beyond the world and the gods of nature there must be a Supreme Creator” (Encyclopedia of World Mythology, New York: Galahad, 1975, p. 70). They called Him “Teotl, “God,” or Ipalnemoani—“he by whom we live,” and Tloque Nahuaque,--“he who has all in himself” (The History of Nations, Mexico, Central America, and West Indies, Brantz Mayer, p. 90, 1907).

However, “by the advent of the Spaniards, Tenochtitlan's (the capital of the Aztecs) major gods numbered more than 40, and there were dozens of lesser ones” (Ancient America, Jonathan Norton Leonard, p. 104, 1967). All of these gods were either the personifications of the host of heaven or various aspects of nature.

Such were the gods of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor, where Paul and Barnabas traveled on one of their missionary journeys. When they came to the Lycaonians with “the gospel” (Acts 14:7), God confirmed their preaching with a miraculous sign. Paul had healed a man who was lame from the time of his birth. But when the Lycaonians saw this miracle, they did not respond with a desire to know more about Paul's God, rather, they thought the gods “Jupiter” and “Mercurius” were “come down … in the likeness of men” (Acts 14:11-13). The priest of Jupiter then brought oxen and garlands to prepare a sacrifice for the people.

In their ignorance, they thought nothing to incorporate the gospel message with their polytheistic beliefs. However, Paul directed them, not to modify their false religion, but to “turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein” (Acts 14:15). To add anything to the gospel “would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:7), in effect, making it “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6) that cannot save.

Like the people of Athens, they needed to know that there was only one God and Creator who “made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein” and therefore could not be represented by things that are made.

After the apostasy at Babel God, “suffered all nations to walk in their own ways … and the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 14:16, 17:30).

Although He allowed the nations to go their own way for a season, God was longsuffering, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). During the interim between Babel and the first coming of Christ, God continued with his plan of redemption, working primarily through the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish nation.

God told Abraham, “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). This “seed” was not referring to the multitude of Abraham's offspring but “one… seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). This was God's covenant and promise to Abraham that through him would come the Messiah to bless “all the nations of the earth”. The nations were the Gentiles who rebelled and turned away from Him at Babel.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). From eternity, the plan of salvation was ordained, wherein God the Father would give His only begotten Son to be, “the light of the world” (John 8:12). Not for the Jews only, but a light for the whole world, to shine into the hearts of the Gentile nations also. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

When the angel of the Lord announced the birth of Christ to a group of shepherds, he said, “behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10). Not just to the Jews, but to “all people”.

When the prophet Simeon beheld the infant Jesus, he declared, “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32). Simeon saw in Jesus Christ the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6).

Not only was Christ to be the New Covenant for the people Israel, He would also be the “light of the Gentiles”. In His ministry here on earth, Jesus often stretched His arm out to the Gentiles, to the disgust of a prideful Jewish nation. However, this would be a sore lesson to bring them to the realization that God was now going ahead with His plan to fulfill His covenant with Abraham, and to bless all peoples of the world.

It is interesting to note that Christ's ministry first began in “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matthew 4:15), and the “people which sat in darkness saw great light” (Matthew 4:16). Many Gentiles were touched by His compassion and tender mercies. Among them were a Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13), a Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28), a Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11-19), and a Samaritan woman (John 4:4-35) to name a few.

Even the Samaritans thought it was a bit strange that Jesus would talk to them since “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). On one occasion when Jesus was passing through a village of the Samaritans, they did not readily receive Him. Some of his disciples then thought it best to send fire down out of heaven and destroy them. However, Jesus rebuked them saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55-56).

It appears that most of the people of Israel had long forgotten the promise and oath that God had sworn by His own name, saying that all nations would be blessed through Abraham, not just his physical descendants.

On another occasion, Jesus rebuked the Jews saying that the Gentile nation of Nineveh would rise up in judgment and condemn their generation because the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and the Jews would not repent when one greater than Jonah was in their midst (Matthew 12:41-42).

When Jesus came to His hometown of Nazareth He rebuked the people because they were only interested in His miracles, and reminded them of the days of Elijah, when there were many widows and a great famine in the land, and God only sent Elijah to Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a Gentile widow. And again, in the days of Elisha, when there were many lepers, God healed only the leprosy of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, who was a Gentile (Luke 4:25-27).

God was also concerned with the Gentiles, but when the people of Nazareth heard these things they were filled with wrath and thrust Jesus out of their city with a mind to kill Him, however, He passed through the midst of them and left their city. It appears that the Jews could not comprehend how God could show favor to the Gentiles.

When Jesus came to the temple in Jerusalem, He saw that the leaders of Israel had turned the “court of the Gentiles” into a marketplace for buying and selling, and in righteous anger He overthrew their tables. “And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17). It appears that “all nations” were now excluded from accessing the house of God, and even if they could, they would see that it was no longer a house of prayer but a den of thieves.

Israel had waxed cold towards their God and did not even recognize their Messiah who had come to redeem them. He came to the Jewish nation expecting fruit for His kingdom but He found none. Towards the end of His ministry, Christ told the parable of the Householder (Matthew 21:33-46) and concluded it with these words, “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43).

Seeing that the Jews rejected the gospel, it was now time to bring the Good News of Salvation to the nations. Before Jesus ascended into heaven He told His Jewish disciples, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), and commanded, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47).

At Babel, the “nations” (same word as Gentiles and heathen) were formed when God confused their language and scattered them throughout the whole world. Since the Gentiles had now filled the earth, “unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8) they must go, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins...” (Acts 26:18).

However, it is quite evident that “the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8) had not yet been reached for Jesus Christ until Columbus rediscovered the Americas in 1492. The Spaniards came later lusting after gold, bringing with them a “false gospel” that enjoined paganism with Christianity [For further reference see Appendix I]. Still others came looking for adventure and new opportunities. Nevertheless, others eventually came many years after the Spaniards, faithful men, obedient to the Lord's call to preach the true gospel “unto the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47).

The Spaniards may have got their gold, but the most valuable commodity the world could ever know, the “glorious gospel of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4), came to the shores of America to set the people free from their bondage to sin and death. They were now called to repent and turn to God, believing “that Christ died for our sins … was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Seeing that Christ rose from the dead, their fear of death could be replaced with the “hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2). Trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, their fellowship and relationship with God could be restored. They could have a God whom they could call Father, a home in heaven with Jesus, a peace that surpasses all understanding, and a place in the everlasting kingdom of God where righteousness shall reign from sea to sea when Christ returns.

They could now put away their bloody sacrifices, which could never take away sins, and trust only in the finished sacrifice of Christ, “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10), on Calvary's cross, which could cleanse them of all their sins. Trusting only in His blood, shed for sinners, they could have peace with God.

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:1-3).

It was God's will from the beginning “that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him” (Daniel 7:14). Although the Gentiles had turned from God, there were numerous passages in the Old Testament that declared how God would show them mercy and that the Gentiles would one day come to Him for salvation. But how could this be seeing they had drifted so far from Him since the time of Babel? How could they trust in Him whom they knew not?

This mystery was hid throughout the ages, but in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, and made it known through His apostles and prophets, “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).

God had promised Abraham, long before Israel became a nation, “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). In Abraham's day, the nations had already drifted away from the one true God, however through Abraham would come the Savior to bless all the nations of the world. “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Galatians 3:8).

Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). It was through preaching the light of the glorious gospel of Christ that the Gentiles would also be made partakers of all the promises of God. Paul said, “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).

Until Christ came into the world the Gentiles were lost, groping about in the darkness, having no hope. “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time 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: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us… And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:11-19).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to the “Jew first” (Romans 1:16), but after many years of reasoning out of the Scriptures, the majority of Israel rejected Him. “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:46-48).

Now that Israel had rejected their Messiah, the time had come that God would move ahead with His promise to be a light of the Gentiles, and to fulfill His oath that He swear to Abraham, saying, “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18), that their fullness might also enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).

During Israel's blindness Jesus said they would be “led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

One future day however, Israel would seek the Lord and find Him. “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them” (Deuteronomy 4:29-31).

In that day the Lord said, “I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive” (Jeremiah 29:14). “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people … and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:11-12). “After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord” (Acts 15:16). “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27).

The Bible tells us, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13), and one future day Israel shall call upon Him and be saved (Zechariah 13:9). As for the Gentiles, they had a desire to worship God, but they could only do so in ignorance because they had no access to the revealed Word of God. They had an innate belief in a High God and Creator, but whom or what He was, they knew not.

The apostle Paul then reasons, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:14-15)

This Scripture is a quote from the prophet Isaiah and was in reference to Jesus Christ who came preaching the good news on the mountains of Israel. But when He had finished the work His Father gave Him to do, “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21).

Many down through the history of the nations had true yearnings to know the one true God. One such person was the illustrious prince, Nezahualcoyotl, the king of Texcoco. He lived just prior to the discovery of the Americas, and his great grandson, Ixtlilxochitl, who flourished during the century of the Conquest, chronicled his life.

Nezahualcoyotl had become disillusioned with human sacrifice and the worship of gods made with human hands. He saw the folly of it and therefore sought to wean his subjects from their degrading superstitions. He built a pyramid with a temple upon the top and dedicated it to “the unknown God, the Cause of causes”. “No image was allowed in the edifice, as unsuited to the 'invisible God'; and the people were expressly prohibited from profaning the altars with blood, or any other sacrifices than that of the perfume of flowers and sweet-scented gums.” (Prescott's Mexico, Vol. 1, p. 147-149, 1898).

This great monarch “put no faith in the idolatrous worship of the country … and sought, above all things, to obtain light for knowing the true God. He believed in one God only, the Creator of heaven and earth, by whom we have our being, who never revealed himself to us in human form, nor in any other” (Ibid., p. 151).

This may appear strange, especially since he predates the discovery of the Americas, however, the Bible tells us that God has set eternity in the hearts of men (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He has placed within man an innate awareness that there is a God and that He has a purpose in Creation. Paul says, “he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).

The Lord has not left Himself without a witness for He is the Great Cause of His Creation, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). “There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalms 19:3-4).

The Lord told Israel after they had turned away from Him, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 29:11-14).

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth…. the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:24, 23). The promise is that those who seek Him shall find Him. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Many souls who have determined in their hearts to find Him have found Him: Rahab the harlot, Ruth the Moabitess, the Ethiopian eunuch, the Samaritan woman at the well, the queen of Sheba, and ten thousands of other Gentiles. He would never turn away those who were earnestly seeking Him.

There was a rich publican named Zacheaus who, “sought to see Jesus” (Luke 19:3). Jesus had dinner with him that day and He was saved. Jesus says to all, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Today He is earnestly knocking on the hearts door of mankind, desiring to be welcome in for intimate fellowship with those who have for far too long been locking Him out. Do you hear Him?