The thoughts birthed from this particular chapter ran so long, that I am going to give each of the three points, their own blog post.
We begin in verse 6 of Deuteronomy Chapter 7:
Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
This verse gets first mention because there are people out there who act as if they don’t know this verse exists. Go around mentioning Israel and the Jewish people as God’s Chosen People and it’s thoroughly possible to run into at least one person, or sometimes more than one, who will get their nose out of joint claiming all God’s Children are chosen, not just Israel. We will encounter this concept later in Deuteronomy 14 when God says:
Deuteronomy 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Notice how similar this is to a verse in the New Testament:
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Peter of course, was writing to the Jewish believers, however the context of this verse is talking to ALL believers who have been grafted into the olive tree through Jesus Christ. Paul, when writing to the Church in Rome, had this to say:
Romans 11:17-28 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? 25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
John 15 bears reading by the reader at this point in our discussion as well. I would strongly urge the reader to do this as part of today’s engagement with this topic. There are those who believe that due to God’s divorce of Israel that God gave up on her altogether. These verses in the New Testament not only prove otherwise, but state that we gentile believers have not overtaken Israel as some preach and teach, but instead have been grafted into the same tree, having become Abraham’s children through adoption afforded us through Christ’s death and resurrection as He Himself in human form was born into a Jewish family having come from the loins of Abraham. So rather than espouse any kind of replacement theology, it is necessary to listen to Paul above and humbly and gratefully accept our newfound position in Christ, for without Christ, we would be forever lost, although Israel’s place in God’s heart would continue.
Continuing in the first point, we discover in the first Psalm recorded as given to Asaph and his musicians, King David writing the following line:
1 Chronicles 16:13 O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
The Psalms go on to share the same thought:
Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Psalms 105:42-45 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. 43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: 44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; 45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
Psalms 135:4 For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
There’s that word “Peculiar” again. God reaffirms this status of Israel with the prophet Isaiah:
Isaiah 41:8-9 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
Six more times in the book of Isaiah, God reaffirms Israel’s status before Him as a Chosen People. Consequently, it should not come as an insult to a single gentile believer, that God continues to refer to Israel as His Chosen People, as His Inheritance. We gentile believers must never take our position in Christ for granted! We are grafted into an existing olive tree, we have not replaced it with a new and completely separate tree.
