While biblical history focused on the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God remained concerned for other peoples, as shown by the book of Jonah. Though a prophet to Israel, Jonah was sent to Nineveh, capital of Assyria. He called on the Ninevites to repent of their many sins. They responded and God forgave them—much to Jonah’s disgust. Later, Nineveh returned to its wicked ways and God sent the Judean prophet Nahum to announce Nineveh’s destruction. In the same way, God used the prophet Obadiah to pronounce Judgment against the nation of Edom. Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, while sent to their countrymen, also prophesied about surrounding nations.
After Israel and Judah were conquered and taken captive to foreign capitals, prophets like Daniel delivered God’s messages to pagan kings. Indeed, the enslavement and scattering of Jews helped to spread some knowledge of God to many places (Acts 15:21). But the great majority of non-Jews remained in ignorance (Acts 17:30), often willful ignorance. The New Testament book of Romans summarizes much of Gentile history by showing how they forgot God and “God gave them up” to their wickedness and its consequences (Romans 1:18-32).