(LLTB) Why is Israel God's chosen people?

Learning Point The Lord thy God hath chosen thee [Israel] to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.  Deut.7:6

Why is Israel God's chosen people?

In this post I mentioned that most of the bible is written for Israel, God's chosen nation, and that most of the bible is addressed to, and is applicable to them. Why is this? How did Israel get to be God's chosen nation? What happened in the past to get us to the reality of this scenario? Well, let me explain this in a very summarized way.

The timeline above illustrates that in the first 2000 years of humanity, from Adam to Abraham (AB), mankind lived under a code, or principle, of conscience. God had not yet given mankind any form of strict guidelines, similar to the Mosaic laws, the 10 commandments, that we are familiar with today. Instead, God expected men to live by what they knew in their hearts was right. To please God was to live by one's conscience, by what was morally correct based on an inner knowing of right and wrong.

This moral code, or conscience, was innately part of the human heart. It was added to our design ever since Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Gen.3:22. The moment they partook of this tree, they, and everyone after them, had a conscience which would guide them to instinctively know what was right and wrong. God expected mankind to live by this code during these 2000 years.

It is worthwhile to point out that if one should violate their conscience in that day, they could come back into right standing with God by means of a blood sacrifice. God had made provision for this when Adam and Eve had sinned. 

Gen.3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them.

It's a subtle verse, but one has to ask, where did those 'skins' come from? God had to have killed an innocent animal to cover the nakedness (sins) of Adam and Eve. In the same way, Adam had learned from this example, and from the covenant God made with him regarding a future Redeemer, Gen.3:15, and he passed this knowledge down to his children.

With this understanding, regarding living by conscience, we now come to the account of the great flood in Genesis chapters 6 and 7 and also Babel in Genesis chapter 11. These two judgements of God clearly showed that men were ravaged by sin. Their hearts had become seared, and wickedness dissolved the remains of their conscience. 

Gen.6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

It is at this point in history that we reach the predetermined plan of God to create a nation of people who could be His representatives on earth. God would give them His laws, God would tabernacle in the midst of them, God would show Himself strong through this nation and reveal His presence to the world through the holiness of Israel,

Exo.19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

The nation of Israel started through Abraham. God built up their numbers in Egypt and by miraculous means liberated them through the Red Sea and provided them the law. It is through this nation that the Gentile world had hope. It is through this nation that God would send His Son as the promised Redeemer of Gen.3:15. God would use Israel to bring salvation to humanity. This is how and why we know that the next 2000 years on the timeline belong to this nation. Similarly, the promises and prophecies that were uttered during this time belong to Israel. These define their law, their lifestyle, their covenants with God, their future, and their inheritance. This is scripture that you and I can learn from, but it is not scripture, promises, or prophecies that we can claim for ourselves. It belongs to Israel. 

We will learn in other posts about what scriptures belongs to us. For now, review the timeline above and revise the scriptures to gain understanding of the fact that we need to carefully exercise the discipline of rightly dividing the scriptures so we can ensure we learn and live by the scriptures that are uniquely addressed to, and belongs to us today.