Let’s look into this interesting biblical topic.

Here are biblical passages–or links to them–that show that people outside of ancient Israel and the law of Moses had a level of the knowledge of God, most likely because God revealed himself to them, after a fashion.

Let’s get started.

I.. Old Testament

A. Examples

1. Melchizedek

He was priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:17-24).

2. Pharaoh

God spoke to Pharaoh in a dream to rescue pagan Egyptians: “Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, […] ‘God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do'” (Gen. 41:25).

3. Balaam

God revealed himself to Balaam (Num. 24).

4. Rahab

Rahab the prostitute had faith (Josh 2:1-11; Heb. 11:31).

5. The Ninevites

Jonah preached to Nineveh, and they repented in sackcloth and ashes. After he left, did some of them experience lasting salvation, even though they were not part of the covenantal chosen people (Jonah 3-4)? Jonah preached in the early to mid 700’s and Nineveh was sacked in 612 B.C., but maybe at the time of Jonah some experienced a level of salvation.

6. King Hiram

King Hiram acknowledged God (2 Chron. 2:11-12).

7. General Naaman of Aram

Naaman acknowledged God (2 Kings 5:15).

8. Ruth the Moabite

She accepted her new life in Israel, even though a Moabite could not enter the assembly of the Lord to the tenth generation (Deut. 23:3); she was an ancestor of David and Jesus.

9. Neco, king of Egypt

God spoke through Neco, king of Egypt (2 Chron. 35:20-24).

10. Egypt “my people”

After God through Isaiah prophesied judgment on Egypt, he promised that Egypt would be God’s people, and so would Assyria (Is. 19:19-25). Egypt is called “my people.”

11. Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar spoke words of faith (Dan. 2:46-47, 3:28, 4:34-37, 6:25-27).

12. Cyrus

The Lord moved on the heart of Cyrus, the Persian king, to allow the temple to be rebuilt (Ezra 1:1; Is. 45:1).

B. Summary

Those passages indicate that God spoke through and to these pagans; they had a certain kind of faith and knowledge of God, and he approved of them. It seems God overlooked some things and his judgment was not as severe, as they walked in the light that moral law offered them.

II. New Testament

1..Canaanite woman

As Jesus was currently ushering in the kingdom of God: A pagan Canaanite woman sought him and had great faith (Matt. 15:21-28). Admittedly, she may have had this faith because she had observed Jesus in action or had heard of him before she approached him.

2. We are his offspring

Paul proclaims that humankind exists by the breath of God to the council of Athens::

²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring. (Acts 17:27-28)

3. God’s creation provides

God causes the sun to rise and rain on the just and unjust (Matt. 5:45).

4. Patience and forbearance

God shows kindness and forbearance to unrepentant people, so that they could come to repent (Rom. 2:2:4)

C. Summary

I believe these are just samples of what he actually did, outside of recorded history. We will never know, nor can we deny for sure whether God revealed himself in the same way around the globe, just because he loves people.

III. Application

A. God honors seekers around the globe.

2 Chronicles 9:16 says: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Surely the implication is that he found some who were committed to him after a fashion. It does not seem the eyes of the Lord came up empty.

B. God spoke to pagans.

Those passages indicate that God spoke through and to these pagans; they had a certain kind of faith and knowledge of God, and he approved of them. It seems God overlooked some things and his judgment was not as severe, as they walked in the light that moral law offered them. These are just samples of what he actually did, outside of recorded history. We will never know, nor can we deny for sure whether God revealed himself in the same way around the globe, just because he loves people.

And so God’s active presence does not forsake his creation but is involved in it, particularly his highest earth-bound creation: humankind.

C. Moral law

He gave humanity moral law. Some people followed it and can be called righteous, and other people did not follow it and can be called wicked. Clearly the righteous are judged by a different set of standards than the wicked. This is general or universal revelation.

Living far away from the gospel of Christ or before his gospel came, some people lived exemplary moral lives. How did they know to do this? Moral law is a gift of God. Many of these people followed it as closely as humans could. There is a strong probability that God will judge them by good or bad works as they walked in the light of the moral law that he gave them.

However, moral law can be malleable and often unclear, open to a variety of interpretations, so ultimately we need the Scriptures and the life of Christ. This is special revelation. So be warned about depending too heavily on general revelation and not enough on special revelation.

But no one can deny that God communicated with these pagans.

But I cannot claim that these communications from God were enough to save the recipients, but the revelations may lessen the sentencing phase of final judgment.

D. Questions about judgment

It is natural that the question of final judgment will come up.

Let’s look at the clearest teaching of all about God’s judgment before the law of Moses was sent down from heaven. This is relevant because the people listed above lived outside Israel, where revelations were the clearest.

In Gen. 18:23-25, Abraham asks God, before the law of Moses, about punishing righteous and wicked people together, as if God would get them mixed up.

Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:23-25, emphasis added)

Yes, God will judge righteously in answer to the question in v. 25. So whatever happens to the righteous and wicked before or outside the law of Moses was thundered from on high at Mt. Sinai, God will not be confused. Everyone who is outside of Christ and biblical revelation will face the great white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). Whatever happens to them, he is perfectly loving and perfectly just, so he will judge them with perfect justice and perfect love.

We can trust him in that.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I depend on J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology, vol. 1, chapter 6.

Works Cited