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Why did God choose Israel? We begin answering this with Abram, a pagan who became the progenitor of the Hebrews. He obeyed the voice of God and left the people and culture of his country to follow God, and God covenanted with him. God made promises to him that are not dependent on Abram, but God himself, as it was an unconditional covenant Let’s read of the biblical history: Gen 12:1-3 “ Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” God has promised to Abraham and his offspring, (nearly 2000 years before Christ) a land, a nation; if anyone, any nation curses them or tries to do harm to them they will be cursed, for the blessing for the whole world comes from them as God ordained that the Messiah would come from Jews (Jn.4:22). Gen. 15:17-21 “ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates-- the Kenites, the Kenezzites, and the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." God’s glory appears between the sacrifice and makes a covenant naming the land He will give Abraham (Canaan). Gen. 17:1-8 “ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nation s. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." At 99 year’s God comes to Abraham and his wife and reaffirms the covenant, changing his name to reflect what He will accomplish for Abraham, the promise that a land given to him and his offspring will be everlasting. He and his people as the nation, will be the people God forever. [Paul writes, God has NOT cast off his people. Israel as a nation rejected the Messiah but that does not mean that God has rejected Israel. Even in their unbelief, they are still his people. (Rom.11:28-31)] Gen 17:19-20 God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.” The Lord then promises a miracle, Abraham’s wife will become pregnant in her old age and the child will be the beginning of forming the nation; and from Isaac came Jacob. God again confirms the covenant with Jacob that he spoke to Abraham, Gen. 28:13-15: And, behold, Jehovah stood above it, and said, I am Lord the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed; and your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you whithersoever you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken to you of.” Approximately 400 years transpire, Abraham’s sons Isaac and Jacob are gone and Israel, the nation is then found captive in Egypt. Ex 2:23-25 “the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob . And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” Because of God’s previous covenant He responds to their prayer to relieve their sufferings in their generation. To Moses the Lord said, “I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ”(Ex 6:4-6) God rescues Israel by successive 10 plagues released on Egypt. In Israel's wilderness journey He says to his people “ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exod. 19:5-6) God has begun to establish them as a nation that is to become the apple of his eye. This Mosaic covenant is based on their response, it was conditional. The Abrahamic covenant was unconditional, God will fulfill His covenant regardless of what the people do. God repeats his promise, Deut. 7:6-8 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples ; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers…” Whenever something is repeated by the same author or by others afterward, it becomes more important. We then learn why they were chosen, because they were the least of the nations, God set his love upon them. This was grace in action. This was to make them humble and dependent on God. Deut. 14:2 “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself , a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” Israel is given God's laws and commandments that no nation on earth was given. Here we see the nation of Israel as a theocracy, a people, a nation who alone is under God, to be led and instructed by him. His hand is continually on them as his elect even when they disobeyed him. Zech. 2:8-9 “ for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” Since Moses’ time God has said, “For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. "He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye” (Deut. 32:9-10). David later prayed in Ps.17:8 “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.” Ps. 89:3-4 “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David : 'Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.'" Ps. 105:60 “seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones !” 1 Chron. 16:12-13 “Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, O seed of Israel His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! This explains the covenant made with Abram in Gen.12, what is developed is them being chosen of God, because they are from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Ps. 105:42-45 “For He remembered His holy promise, And Abraham His servant. He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations, That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws.” Isa. 41:8-11 "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend . You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' "Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish.” God's right hand of righteousness is the Messiah Jesus. … Even when Israel was “in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them ; for I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.'" (Lev 26:44-45) Isa. 43:10-11 He speaks to all of Israel " You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior.” Israel then becomes a witness of another servant he chose from them, so he becomes their savior (Isa.63:8) as God incarnated among mankind. God promises blessings for obedience and punishment for not obeying under the Mosaic covenant.Isa. 43:20-21 I “give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen . This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.”(He did this by water coming from a rock to replenish the thirst of the people) Isa 44:1-5 "Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, And Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you:'Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring ; They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.' One will say, 'I am the LORD's'; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, 'The LORD's,' And name himself by the name of Israel.” Over and over repeatedly God calls Israel his chosen people. And tells them in the future he will pour out his spirit upon them. Ps 33:12 “ Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance. Israel was God's firstborn, they are called Gods son as a nation, as he is their father. Isa 49:7 “Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,…The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You." Because Israel, the people, and the land are chosen by God, Satan opposes them vigorously by every means available. Zech. 3:2 With the high priest Joshua standing before the Lord, “ And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you ! God also chose Jerusalem. 1 Kings 11:36-37 And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there . So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel” (2 Chron.6:6) Ps 132:13-14 “For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: "This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” Zion is another name for Jerusalem. So Matthew writes (12:17-18) “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.” Israel who broke their covenant, the Messiah came to fulfill it in their place. He fulfilled all the laws they were unable to obey. After the new covenant was fulfilled The Messiah gave to his 12 apostles the new commands to be carried to the people. Acts 1:2-3 “after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen.” (John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit”) The new covenant has individuals who are called, chosen both of the Jews and the Gentiles, grafted into the olive tree, the covenant.remnant according to the election of grace. All believers in the gospel of Christ are adopted as a child of God (Rom. 8:15, 23; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:4-5) Romans 11:1 “I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid.” If God does not keep his promise[s] to Israel (by covenant), the land, or the people how can we believe he will keep his promise to us, the Church? Rom 11:2 “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Israel was chosen by God therefore God cannot cast off Israel. Isaiah writes (44:1-5), that God chose Israel from the very beginning. However, Israel has yet to become the people she was called to be by God. This will be done by 144,000 Jewish evangelists (12,000 from each tribe Rv.7). In the future time reserved for the nation (70 th week of Daniel) Israel calls upon the Lord Jesus, God will pour out His Spirit upon the entire nation (the Latter Rain) the remnant in the tribulation. This will result in bearing fruit and remaining faithful. (Isa 14:1-2 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob). it is then she will receive all the land promised to her in the covenant as the Messiah returns to rule from Zion.
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