The Old Testament (pre-Jesus) of the Bible is full of stories and history of the Israelites (now the Jews), and centres on them being God’s chosen people. All the way through the Old Testament, different authors cite God’s specific choosing of them. But why were they the people of God, and not anyone else? And what does that mean of us today? Are the Jews still the only chosen people of God?
This is a challenging question, because the Bible speaks so clearly of the Israelites as God’s chosen people: “And who is like your people Israel – the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to create a name for himself” (2 Samuel 7:23).
When I think about it this does make sense though. The differences between denominations in recent times show that as imperfect people, even within the Church we fail to get things right and have conflict amongst the greater Christian community. Our understandings of God differ, generally in minor details, and these are the cause of disagreements and in some cases conflict.
If God had ‘chosen’ every nation and spoken directly to each nation as He did to the Israelites, then by now the world would have hundreds of different cultures claiming to know the exact nature of God. While they may all be generally right, the minor differences they have would almost certainly end up in conflict, with each claiming to be completely right. The conflicts between Christian denominations now, like Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, are bad enough, without completely isolated communities claiming to know exactly the same God in different ways, and are good evidence of the harm that could be caused if God acted the same way with all nations.
So the way I understand the chosen people of Israel is as an example set by God for the rest of the world. As cultures spread and people moved all around the world, so God spread with them. So in that way, God used his chosen people as the starting point for all people to know Him personally, eventuating in a world where all had the opportunity to know God, and from one source, rather than hundreds of cultural variants that would cause confusion and conflict today. And I think that’s what “create a name for myself” means – God showing Himself through the Israelites. It’s not some ego-related claim, but God saying this is where I’ll start to show my true self to the world.
Similarly, God doesn’t write off other people, but says “foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him… these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:6-7). The temple in Jerusalem had a special area for foreigners to worship, and clearly they were accepted, albeit in a different way, within the Jewish community. And as I looked at in “Faith for the unreached”, this doesn’t mean that people who have never heard of God by name can’t know Him or be granted eternal life.
In the New Testament, writers like Paul confirm this, by preaching to the Gentiles (the non-Jewish people) and accepting all who believe into the community of Christ. The chosen people of today include all races, nations and cultures, so we are all the chosen people of God.
So I guess in essence my way of understanding this question is quite simple – God had to start somewhere. In considering this, and how this doesn’t exclude non-Israelites from faith, I think I can be quite happy with why the Israelites were the chosen people then, understanding that as the word of God has spread, so all people are God’s chosen people.
As for why it was Israel and not, say, Australia? Well, I guess we can’t really know for certain, but it’s understandable, as they are one of the most ancient population centres, and were prevalent in the early historic world of Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures. They lived in areas close to where written history began (and thus there are many written records of God), and existed around many of the major civilisations that we have records of today. Apart from that, I guess it’s just up to God. After all, why not start there?
Some Bible verses to check out on this topic: 2 Samuel 7:23; 1 Kings 8:41-43; Isaiah 56:3-8; John 10:14-16; Matthew 15:21-28.
2 comments:
Interesting... I like, though, how Abraham (and Israel) weren't the 'Chosen' because of what they did, that he was spectacular and perfect, but that God chose him and molded him first.. reminds me of Mother Teresa, actually - it's not that she started out spectacular and perfect, but through her faith, God was able to help her become who she was meant to be.
I think that it is correct for you to say that God had to start somewhere and it's not just 'bragging rights' being the chosen people. Jesus was Jewish, however from this he became a universal figure that is so dominate in many religions and became apart of so many people's lives, regardless of what particular religion they worship. So I think you said it perfectly when you affirm the fact that yes historically they are significant, moreover it was just a 'starting point' from God. God's people are represented in alot of people's minds and souls.
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