Chosen From Among All The Others

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

We had an exciting day today. Each year we get to vote on the "Teacher of the Year" at our school. That teacher then has the chance to be selected to represent the county, and ultimately be considered for the State Teacher of the Year. Today we had a surprise visit from the State School Superintendent. He came to tell our school's teacher of the year that she was in the top 10 considerations for State Teacher of the Year. How cool is that! This teacher was selected by her peers. She was selected by her county, and now she has been selected by the state as one of the top 10. It must feel amazing to know that people think that highly of you in your profession. The only thing that could be better is to know that God has selected you!

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“For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

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This is a long passage with a simple message. Moses challenged the people of Israel to find another people group like them. He told them to find a people group which God has ever dealt with so plainly or clearly. Find a people group that God has delivered so miraculously. The answer was that there had not ever been another nation like them. Israel was unique!

Some people struggle with the fact that Israel is God's chosen people. Yes, I used "is" because they are still presently God's chosen people. They will always have that honor. Some people teach that they have been replaced by the church, but that is not taught in the Bible. There are distinct honors for both the church and Israel. Nowhere in scripture does it teach that the church is now God's chosen people, and Israel has been abandoned.

Why did God choose Israel? Because He wanted to and because He made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He picked them because He is God, and He can do that. Then He made a promise to them. Now, He will keep that promise because He is faithful and does not lie. If God replaced Israel with the church, then He has lied to Abraham. That is not a possibility because of God's holy and righteous nature.

While Israel is God's chosen people and, unless you are Jewish, that excludes you, we can still rejoice in our being chosen by God. If you are a Christian, Ephesians 1 teaches that you were "chosen before the foundation of the world" (v.4). God's choosing Israel is not a rejection of everyone else. His choosing Israel was the means by which He brought salvation to the rest of the world and could thereby bring about His choosing of people from every race, nation, and language. His choosing Israel made possible our being chosen. While He knew all of this in eternity past, it had to play out in time.

Final Thought: The fact that God has not abandoned Israel for "someone better" should be a comfort to us. If Israel could rebel against Him over and over again, and He still held them as the "apple of His eye" (Deuteronomy 32:10; Zechariah 2:8), and if He does not reject them, then He will not reject us if someone better than us comes around. Israel is secure in their being chosen, and we are secure in ours!

Father, thank You for being consistent. We argue and debate over things that should be clear. You do not reject those who are Yours. We like that doctrine for ourselves, but we sometimes forget to apply it to others. Father, when we forget that we are secure in You, help us to remember that just as You never abandoned Israel, so You will never abandon us.