The Nations Are as Spittle: What Yahuah Really Meant

What does it mean when Yahuah says the nations are as spittle?

One of the strongest statements concerning Israel’s election appears in 2 Esdras 6. Because the language is severe, some have interpreted the passage to mean that Yahuah cares exclusively about Israelites and that people descended from other nations cannot receive salvation.

Scripture does not support that conclusion.

The key is understanding what Scripture means by a nation, how Yahuah distinguishes Israel from the nations, and the difference between the judgment of nations and the salvation of individual people living among those nations.

The nations are as spittle

2 Esdras says:

2 Esdras 6:55–59

“All this have I spoken before thee, O Lord, because thou madest the world for our sakes. As for the other people, which also come of Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, but be like unto spittle: and hast likened the abundance of them unto a drop that falleth from a vessel. And now, O Lord, behold, these heathen, which have ever been reputed as nothing, have begun to be lords over us, and to devour us. But we thy people, whom thou hast called thy firstborn, thy only begotten, and thy fervent lover, are given into their hands.”

Notice the context.

Ezra's complaint concerns national rule and covenant status.

Why have the nations been permitted to rule over Yahuah's chosen people?

The comparison with “spittle” emphasizes the insignificance of the nations before Yahuah compared with His covenant inheritance. It does not establish that every human being born among those nations is personally worthless to Him or incapable of salvation.

Isaiah uses almost identical language:

Isaiah 40:15

“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance...”

Then Isaiah says:

Isaiah 40:17

“All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”

This is the same idea found in 2 Esdras.

The nations are nothing before Yahuah.

Yet Isaiah later describes foreigners joining themselves to Yahuah.

Therefore, “the nations are nothing” cannot mean “every non-Israelite human being is nothing to Yahuah.”

It concerns the standing of the nations themselves before the King of creation.

Israel is different because Israel belongs to Yahuah

Deuteronomy 32 provides important background for understanding this distinction.

Deuteronomy 32:8–9

“When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people... For Yahuah's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.”

An ancient textual reading of verse 8 preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls refers to the nations being divided according to the “sons of God.”

The picture is significant.

The nations were divided and allotted, but Jacob belonged to Yahuah.

Israel therefore occupies a position among the peoples of the earth that no other nation occupies.

Yahuah told Israel:

Exodus 19:5–6

“Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”

Israel is Yahuah's covenant nation.

Amos says:

Amos 3:2

“You only have I known of all the families of the earth...”

Yahuah obviously knew that Egyptians, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Moabites, and all other peoples existed. So when He says of Israel, “You only have I known,” He is speaking about a unique covenant relationship, not simple awareness.

Scripture itself compares Yahuah’s covenant with Israel to a marriage. Yahuah says in Jeremiah 31:32 that Israel broke His covenant, “although I was an husband unto them.” In Ezekiel 16:8, He describes entering into covenant with Israel and says, “thou becamest mine.”

That makes the meaning of “known” much clearer. Scripture also uses the word “know” for the unique intimacy between a husband and wife, as in Genesis 4:1, where Adam “knew Eve his wife.” Adam already knew who Eve was, so “knew” describes a deeper, intimate relationship.

The same principle applies in Amos 3:2. Yahuah knew every nation in the ordinary sense, but He knew Israel as His covenant people, the nation He had taken to Himself in a relationship Scripture itself describes as a marriage. Israel’s uniqueness therefore comes from this covenant bond with Yahuah, not from the idea that Yahuah was unaware of or unconcerned with every other people on earth.

That is Israel's distinction.

Israel received the covenants, commandments, promises, priesthood, inheritance and Kingdom promises.

No other nation received Israel's position.

That is why comparing another nation with Israel is like comparing a drop from a bucket with Yahuah's own inheritance.

A nation and the people living within it are not necessarily the same thing

This distinction changes how we understand many prophecies.

Scripture frequently announces the destruction of nations.

That does not automatically mean that every individual descended from those peoples must be destroyed.

A nation is a collective order. It possesses rulers, laws, institutions, territory, armies, religious systems and political authority.

Yahuah can destroy that national order while preserving people who repent and submit themselves to Him.

Zechariah proves this point.

Yahuah judges the nations that attacked Jerusalem. Yet afterward Scripture says:

Zechariah 14:16

“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahuah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”

Notice what happened.

The nations came against Jerusalem.

Yahuah judged those nations.

Yet people were left from those nations.

Those people then came to worship Yahuah.

Therefore, destroying a nation does not necessarily mean exterminating every human being associated with that nation.

This distinction is critical.

Yahuah will destroy the nations that oppressed Israel

Scripture repeatedly promises judgment upon the nations because of what they did to Yahuah's people.

Baruch says:

Baruch 4:31

“The wicked that have afflicted thee, shall perish: and they that have rejoiced at thy ruin, shall be punished.”

Jeremiah gives an even stronger prophecy:

Jeremiah 30:11

“For I am with thee, saith Yahuah, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee...”

Jeremiah repeats it:

Jeremiah 46:28

“Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Yahuah: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee...”

Joel explains why the nations come into judgment:

Joel 3:2

“I will also gather all nations... and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”

Israel's oppressors will answer for what they did.

Their kingdoms will not continue forever.

Their political authority will not compete with Yahuah's Kingdom.

Their systems will fall.

Yet Zechariah demonstrates that people surviving from those nations can come under Yahuah's authority afterward.

The nation is destroyed as a rebellious power, while people from that nation can submit themselves to the King.

Foreigners were always permitted to join Israel

The Torah itself destroys the idea that Yahuah has no concern for people outside Israel.

Yahuah established provisions for foreigners who desired to live among His people and worship Him.

Numbers 15:15–16

“One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you... One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.”

Likewise:

Exodus 12:48–49

“And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to Yahuah... he shall be as one that is born in the land...One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.”

The foreigner did not create another covenant.

The foreigner joined the covenant order Yahuah had established through Israel.

That pattern continues through the prophets.

Isaiah says:

Isaiah 56:6–7

“Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to Yahuah, to serve him, and to love the name of Yahuah, to be his servants... Even them will I bring to my holy mountain... for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”

That statement is explicit.

Foreigners could join themselves to Yahuah.

Israel remained Israel. The covenant remained centered upon Israel. Yet foreigners who desired Yahuah were welcomed under His covenant order.

Yahuah called foreigners to repentance

Jonah provides another decisive example.

Nineveh belonged to Assyria, one of Israel's great enemies.

Yet Yahuah sent Jonah to Nineveh specifically to warn its inhabitants.

They repented.

Yahuah spared them.

At the end of the book Yahuah asks Jonah:

Jonah 4:11

“And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons...?”

Why warn Nineveh if repentance were meaningless because they were not Israelites?

Yahuah gave them an opportunity to repent because Yahuah's judgment responds to righteousness and wickedness.

Ezekiel gives the principle:

Ezekiel 33:11

“As I live, saith Adonai Yahuah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live...”

Yahuah desires repentance.

Yahusha came to Israel first

Yahusha's earthly ministry unquestionably centered upon Israel.

He said:

Matthew 15:24

“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

He instructed His disciples:

Matthew 10:6

“But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Israel came first.

Paul preserved that order:

Romans 1:16

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah... to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

The word first matters.

Israel possesses priority because the promises belong to Israel.

Yet “first” does not mean “only.”

After His resurrection, Yahusha told His disciples:

Luke 24:47

“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Again, notice the order.

It begins at Jerusalem.

Then it extends among all nations.

Yahusha also commanded:

Matthew 28:19

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations...”

The gospel going to the nations does not abolish Israel's election. Instead, the nations are being invited to submit themselves to Israel's Messiah and Israel's Elohim.

Yahuah loved the world

Yahusha said:

John 3:16

“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.”

The text says whosoever believeth.

John later says:

1 John 2:2

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Israel's election and Yahuah's concern for humanity are therefore not opposing ideas.

Israel is the covenant nation through which Yahuah brings His Kingdom order into the earth.

People from other nations can enter that order through faith, repentance and obedience.

The coming Kingdom remains Israel-centered

The inclusion of people from other nations never requires the erasure of Israel.

Revelation shows exactly the opposite.

The New Jerusalem has twelve gates:

Revelation 21:12

“...and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.”

The names of the twelve tribes remain permanently written upon the gates of the holy city.

Yet Revelation then says:

Revelation 21:24

“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it...”

Notice those words carefully:

“The nations of them which are saved.”

The Kingdom remains centered upon Israel, while saved people from the nations participate in that Kingdom.

Revelation 7:9 likewise describes:

“A great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues...”

This does not diminish Israel.

It demonstrates the magnitude of what Yahuah accomplishes through Israel's Messiah.

The nations disappear, but Yahuah's Kingdom remains

This brings us back to the statement that the nations are as spittle.

Yahuah is not saying that every human being outside Israel is worthless.

He is declaring the insignificance of the kingdoms of men compared with His covenant people and His coming Kingdom.

Babylon falls.

Egypt falls.

Assyria falls.

Edom falls.

Every kingdom raised against Yahuah eventually falls.

Daniel describes the final outcome:

Daniel 2:44

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed... it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

That is the point.

The nations appear powerful today. They establish governments, borders, armies, economies and laws. They conquer people and imagine their kingdoms will endure.

Before Yahuah, they are a drop from a bucket.

They are dust upon a scale.

They are spittle.

Their kingdoms possess no permanent inheritance.

Israel does.

Israel is the covenant nation, not the only people Yahuah will save

We therefore need to preserve both truths Scripture teaches.

Israel alone is Yahuah's covenant nation.

Yahuah chose Jacob. Yahuah gave Israel His commandments. Israel received the covenants and promises. Israel is Yahuah's inheritance. Yahusha came for the lost sheep of Israel. The Kingdom promises remain centered upon Israel. The nations that oppressed Israel will answer for what they have done.

Yet Scripture also teaches:

People from the nations can repent, turn to Yahuah, worship Him and receive salvation.

Those truths belong together.

The nations being “spittle” describes their standing as nations before Yahuah. It does not create a doctrine declaring every non-Israelite human being incapable of salvation.

Yahuah is destroying rebellious kingdoms.

He is establishing His Kingdom.

That Kingdom is centered upon Israel and ruled by Israel's Messiah, Yahusha.

But the invitation to repent reaches beyond Israel.

Foreigners joined Israel under Torah. Isaiah saw strangers joining themselves to Yahuah. Jonah watched Nineveh repent. Yahusha commanded repentance to be preached among all nations. John declared that Yahuah loved the world. Revelation sees people from nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues standing before the throne.

The nations themselves have no covenant standing comparable to Israel.

That is why they are as spittle.

But people from those nations can forsake rebellion and come under the authority of Yahuah and His Messiah.

Teaching that only Israelites can be saved is dangerous

This is where the matter becomes serious.

Anyone teaching that only biological Israelites are capable of salvation is teaching something Scripture does not teach.

Such a doctrine closes a door that Yahuah Himself opened.

Yahuah welcomed the stranger.

Yahuah commanded one law for the Israelite and the stranger dwelling among Israel.

Yahuah sent His prophet to Nineveh and accepted their repentance.

Yahuah promised that foreigners who joined themselves to Him would worship at His holy mountain.

Yahusha commanded repentance and remission of sins to be preached among all nations.

Revelation explicitly speaks about people from nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues before Yahuah's throne.

A teacher therefore has no authority to declare unsavable someone whom Yahuah calls to repentance.

Yahusha gave a severe warning about shutting people out of the Kingdom:

Matthew 23:13

“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men...”

Israel's election should never be diminished. Neither should Israel's election be twisted into a doctrine that contradicts Yahuah's invitation to repentance.

Teachers who proclaim that salvation is available only to Israelites because of their ancestry place themselves in serious spiritual danger. They are teaching people to reject what Scripture plainly reveals about Yahuah's mercy toward those who turn to Him.

Unless they repent of that false doctrine, they themselves face the judgment of the One whose authority they have presumed to restrict.

Yahuah decides whom He receives.

Yahuah decides whom He forgives.

Yahuah decides who enters His Kingdom.

Israel is His covenant nation.

Yahusha is Israel's Messiah and King.

The Kingdom is Israel-centered.

And everyone whom Yahuah calls to repentance must be allowed to come.

The nations are as spittle before Him, but the repentant person from among those nations is invited to bow before the King.