The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Amos 3:2,
"You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins."
It seems there is some confusion in folks minds as to why God hand-picked Israel as his chosen people. God chose for himself a people out of an agenda he has pursued.
When God created mankind, he wished to have for himself those he would share eternity with. Not desiring robots, he created them with a will of their own to exercise and freedom to chose and embrace him as their God. He was after a loftier relationship than simply Creator/created, Master/slave, King/subjects. God made mankind out of a desire to embrace his creation in love. He desires for himself all who will chose him for themselves, those who will embrace him in faith.
John tells us God is love, 1 John 4:8. When mankind rejected God in Eden and developed a sinful nature, God responded by making provision for all who would turn back to him. Consequently, we read in 1 John 4:10 that God sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for sins that he might redeem all who will embrace him in faith. This is God's agenda: an agenda of redemption.
God determined he would pursue this agenda by engaging some of mankind to unfold his great program of redemption to all mankind. As God looked upon mankind, he found in Abraham the faith he desires from all of us. In Genesis 15:5 we read, "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Paul later tells us that it was because of Abraham and the other patriarchs (who were likewise men of faith), that he chose Israel. In Romans 11:28-29 we read, "... as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable."
What was it God wanted to do through Israel in carrying out his program of redemption? In Romans 9:4-5 we read, "Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!" God wanted a people through whom he would bring his Son into the world to offer as a sacrifice to satisfy his own divine justice. He also desired to communicate to the world through prophets he raised among this people. Both through verbal communication as well as through Israel's life-experiences as captured in the Scriptures, we read of God and his agenda.
Israel is the chosen nation of all the families of the earth God pursued his program of redemption through. As the Lord tells us that his purposes will never be thwarted, Isaiah 55:11, when Israel wandered from its usefulness for the Lord's agenda, he brought what was needed to keep his program of redemption on track. This is one reason Israel has always been set apart for scrutiny from God, "You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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