All Are Invited
Jesus took the punishment for us all.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
Psalm 47
1 Oh clap your hands, all you nations.
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
2 For Yahweh Most High is awesome.
He is a great King over all the earth.
3 He subdues nations under us,
and peoples under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
5 God has gone up with a shout,
Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth.
Sing praises with understanding.
8 God reigns over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together,
the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God.
He is greatly exalted!
********
In this Psalm all the nations are invited to worship God. This was the goal of God’s covenant with Abraham. He told him he would be the father of many nations and that through him all the world would be blessed. Abraham had two sons, one by his wife’s maid, Hagar. That son was named Ishmael. But the son that God had promised would come through his wife Sarah. And that son’s name was Isaac. Isaac was the son of promise, but Ishmael was only his son after the flesh. When Isaac started a family, his wife would have twins. And God told her this:
Genesis 25:23 Yahweh said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb.
Two peoples will be separated from your body.
The one people will be stronger than the other people.
The elder will serve the younger.”
The twins were Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first, with Jacob coming immediately afterwards. So Esau was to get the blessing of the firstborn. But Jacob desired this blessing more than anything. Jacob tricked Esau into trading the blessing for a bowl of stew.
This is important because it shows us that the promise of God belongs to the one who desires it more than anything. Whole nations are built around this. But whole nations are also invited to receive the promise. That is why Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and create disciples, and to teach the Nations to obey God. Those who believe the promise and receive Christ are part of the kingdom of God, a Holy Nation. Those who reject the promise are like Esau, who traded it for material things.
The Kingdom of Heaven is going to be inhabited by people from every tongue tribe and nation. We see this in the Book of Revelation. The kingdom will be made of all peoples. But not all people will be in Heaven. Those who reject the promise will be rejected and kept out of the Kingdom of God. This is why it is important that the Gospel be presented to all nations. And when that happens, the end will come.
Matthew 24:14 “This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
