No. What I learned was that the Israelites thought that they were the chosen of God, a special breed among all god's creation
Not true. they were chosen to represent YHWH to the world. God reminded them to not think highly of themselves in that they were once slaves in Egypt. They were not a "special breed" but a chosen people who were to inherit the promises of their ancestor, Abraham. Isaiah 43 1-12
, yet when the reality of the world did not comport to this national view, instead of altering such a hubristic view of themselves in relation to the world, they created a cult of excuses (the era of the prophets) as to not only why they have failed, but also why their god is not in charge of this world, but a new world invented where god did reign and their righteousness would be rewarded. All of this started pretty close to the court of king Josiah when he needed to steel the hearts of Judah against the oncoming Syrian assault (which ended up being Persian by the time it arrived). He needed to invent a cultural promise to make his people fight for the land they took. This is when the basic cannon of the OT started to congeal, during this time where a national identity needed to be forged, complete with a promise of god himself, for national survival.
Where did you get this interpretation?
No. Many political events took place in the first 300 years after the sects were first gathering. 1) the destruction of the temple and the disbursement of the Jews leaving Christianity almost completely un-opposed in the Levant as a grass roots cultural phenomenon.
The Christians had already spread due to persecution from the Jews in Jerusalem and surrounding areas even unto Damascus.
2) The spread of Hellenization in the Mediterranean world that allowed for the spread of the sect out of the embattled Levant into a more philosophically explorative, free, and affluent population allowing it to blend with and reflect more palatable Greek and Roman philosophies of the area.
The gospel didn't change. The early Christians were persecuted and spoken harshly against by the Greeks and Romans as they traveled to spread their message to the world as Christ had commanded them. Up until the time of Constantine, Christians were persecuted and frowned upon.
3). Constantine needing to congeal his nation behind a single system of belief to create a more focused and efficient central culture.
This is speculation unless you have a quote from Constantine that this was his motive.
From there it was just a matter of conquest. In the near east the same story played out for Islam. In the Far East it played out for Shinto, and Buddhism.
Islam didn't begin until ~600 ce.
I don't know the history of the East.
The acknowledgement of Rome was the ruin of the church in the west. It no longer resembled Christ.
Why do you believe Jesus would disagree with the ineffectiveness of such a global truth being deployed so parochially?
What do you mean?
Paul warned the Ephesians of the same in Act 20-25-36
29
I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified.
Paul's goal was to spread a big net but he knew that only SOME would respond positively to the gospel. 1 Cor 9: 22
Jesus expected his disciples to spread his gospel to the four corners of the earth. Have you ever read how far the original apostles took his message? Tradition has it that Thomas went to India to spread the gospel.
I never mentioned force. I am merely talking about the lack of global reach of the most important message that every culture on the earth at that time, and now, needed to hear for their sake's and God's.
How do you know that there was a lack of global reach? The apostles brought it out to India, Spain, Rome, Turkey. Those who believed spread it further, etc.
Did you ever read in the book of Acts where the Holy Spirit prevented Paul from going to Asia to preach the gospel? Acts 16:6
Or how Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, was locked up for a couple of years in prison in Caesarea and then again when he arrived in Rome?
Did this hinder the spread of the gospel? Why did God allow it?
Why is the revelation so bound to a singular nation and culture if it is for all mankind? How many generations of Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Ottoman, the Americas, Scandinavian, Germanic, Aborigine, the African, the Pacific Islander had to perish outside the spread of this most important message? How long does it take god to reveal himself if in fact he does want the world reconciled?
The gospel wasn't bound to a single nation but given to all of mankind. Jesus entrusted his disciples to spread this message and God went with them confirming his words with signs and wonders all over the world.
As for the nations that hadn't heard, that's for God to judge. I trust that God is good and just, much more than we are.
My point isn't about those who once thought they knew Jesus but no longer care, or had the opportunity to know Jesus but didn't take it. The point is that Christianity never was a global spiritual movement at all, and not because men loved the darknesss rather than the light, but because Christianity is a cultural phenomenon, not a global one, yet Christianity claims God is the father of ALL mankind.... but his revelation was not.
Can you prove what you are saying?
Why do you think God didn't reveal himself to (not force himself on) all humanity if his goal is the reconciliation of all humanity?
God's revelation of himself was through Jesus Christ. Jesus gave his message of reconciliation to his disciples to spread throughout the earth.
I don't believe you nor anyone else can prove that God didn't enable the spread of his word in the earth. How could any of us possibly know the extent of how far the gospel has been spread by word of mouth from the time of the early church until the beginning of the technological era that we live in?
Are you asking me something totally different? Why did God use humans to spread the good news?
Jesus is the full revelation of God. Jesus has already died on the cross, thereby making reconciliation with God possible by the forgiveness of sins. Jesus has sent his disciples out to preach the gospel to the world with the empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit. What more would you like God to do? What would you have done any different if you were God to reveal yourself to all humanity.