why are JEWS gods "chosen people"?

[MarK]

just been wondering this for long time ..   kinda makes me uncomfortable nowing how most "Gentiles/Others" are betrayed in the bible...
i am no way questioning GOD , but more the writers of the bible...
so i often wondered why Jews are gods chosen people? is it because majority of the Bible is written by JEWS?  so they write Highly of thereselves?
ive read that god plays no favorites .   But then going to church all my life i hear how Jews are the chosen/favorite of god , Gentiles (others) were more like dogs in the old testiment..   But god loves all right? then why does everything center around Iserail ? 
always heard the saying of being a "Spritial Jew"   ,  why do i want to be a Jew?  god loves all right?   what seperate the Jews to the Gentiles(other).
notice i say "other"  cause it seems kinda raciest to me ... theres the Chosen ones from god (Jews)  .. then theres the so called what god fell back on "Gentiles(other)"
im not try'n to sound jealous.   but just something ive wondered....

like  Adam and Eve .. where they JEWS?  what made them a JEW ?  if they were Jews , then the old saying that everyone is Relative in the blood line all down history and Adam and Eve are our greatest grand parents cant be True...   we all didnt desend from Adam and eve seeds?

i believe in gods word . i believe in god..  i believe in living for god...   i just question some teachings ive heard thew out my life.

thanks for any insight...  i just cant follow Christ blindly , believeing everything i was told . i seek the truch , or more understanding...
i often wonder what Kids are getting tought in Sunday school, is really Gods way , or the way the personal person believes....
and telling me to just close my eyes and believe in by faith is no deference then how the other NON god(jesus Christ) religions are tought , you know , just believe what is told to you and dont ask questions.....
and yes i do read the bible and pray ...   but i still have alot of questions due to how i was brought up in church...


just a disclaimer...     i am no way down talking the Jews , or the bible..  i believe in Christ and his teachings....


thanks for any insight and help...
 

[yosemite]

my study is somewhat lacking here but here are my thoughts:

just as cane and able there have always been those who were less choosen or more disobedient to God.
abraham split with his kin and then abraham was told he would have seed that numbered as many as the stars. first section
abraham was told he would have seed that numbered as much as the grains of sand. second section

i beleive the first section to be of the jews and the second of the gentiles. kind of a cane and able if you will. also remember the two brothers and how jacob took the birth right and the blessing of his father and left his brother without.

[Tsalagi]

The Jews are God's "Chosen People" because they were "chosen" to be the line through which Messiah came.

The earth in Genesis can be seen as a type of Adam, who came from the earth.

Adam can be seen as a type of "the Jews", because at one point in time, they were seen as "people" while the goyim were seen as animals ("should I give the children's bread to dogs?" see also Peter's rooftop vision in Acts)

"The Jews" can be seen as a type of the Church, with everyone outside of the Church being the walking dead, potential life on two legs, living yet dead.  Zombies.

So you see that God's Chosen People is the Body of the Messiah.  Only.

He is the Vine and we are the Branch(es).  Branches plural.  We Gentiles were grafted into the True Vine, the early church were Jewish peoples.

Everyone blames the Jews for killing Jesus.  Why?  On the eve of their escape from Egypt, were they not told to kill the spotless lamb so the death angel would pass them over?

The Law is like a ramp leading to Messiah and His death for our atonement.  The high priests had no choice but to slaughter the Lamb, it was their function.

[jdcord]

1st Peter 2: 9-10

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;

10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.


The NT church is now God's "chosen people"; we are the NT "Israel" - God's holy "nation".  .......  The modern day, secular nation-state calling itself "Israel" is NOT God's chosen people;  nor is that secular state the true biblical Israel.  It is, at best, "Israel-Lite";  but really it's just another secular nation in a long list of such nations.

It should also go without saying that the United States of America is, likewise, just another secular nation among many, and does not hold any "special" status in the eyes of God, but that's a whole nuther topic.

   

[mesipie]

[titushome]

The NT church is now God's "chosen people"; we are the NT "Israel" - God's holy "nation".  .......  The modern day, secular nation-state calling itself "Israel" is NOT God's chosen people;  nor is that secular state the true biblical Israel.  It is, at best, "Israel-Lite";  but really it's just another secular nation in a long list of such nations.

It should also go without saying that the United States of America is, likewise, just another secular nation among many, and does not hold any "special" status in the eyes of God, but that's a whole nuther topic.   

I sort-of disagree: while the Church is the people of God, we have not in any way replaced Israel.  The people of Israel still have their covenant with God, a covenant into which we gentile believers have been grafted.

And while the secular Nation of Israel is not necessarily synonymous with the People of Israel, Israel does still exist as God's chosen people.

[yosemite]

The NT church is now God's "chosen people"; we are the NT "Israel" - God's holy "nation".  .......  The modern day, secular nation-state calling itself "Israel" is NOT God's chosen people;  nor is that secular state the true biblical Israel.  It is, at best, "Israel-Lite";  but really it's just another secular nation in a long list of such nations.

It should also go without saying that the United States of America is, likewise, just another secular nation among many, and does not hold any "special" status in the eyes of God, but that's a whole nuther topic.   

I sort-of disagree: while the Church is the people of God, we have not in any way replaced Israel.  The people of Israel still have their covenant with God, a covenant into which we gentile believers have been grafted.

And while the secular Nation of Israel is not necessarily synonymous with the People of Israel, Israel does still exist as God's chosen people.

well i guess somebody needs to mark this down!! i agree with titus on this one, although jd has a good point.

[dnr1128]

I'm also with Titus on this point.  I was taught growing up that the Church is "spiritual Israel", a principle that isn't found or supported in Scripture.  There are three ethnic groups delineated in the NT;  the Jews, Gentiles, and the Church.  Right now God is primarily focused on the church.  After the Body is raptured out, God will once again focus on the Jewish people.

[yosemite]

hey dnr, back from the wells already? good to see ya. happy fourth.

[jdcord]

... The people of Israel still have their covenant with God, a covenant into which we gentile believers have been grafted.

I hate to break this to you, but the Old Testament (or "covenant") ended at the cross, and a New Testament began - one in which, as Paul pointed out, being born a Jew (racially) means pretty much nothing. ... zero, zip, nada. 

Only the circumcision made without hands (i.e., the New Covenant) matters now - the Old Covenant does not avail a person in any way whatsoever. 


WE are God's chosen people under the New Covenant, and WE are the Israel of that Covenant because WE are God's "nation" under that same Covenant.  The racial descendants of Abraham were the Israel of the Old Covenant, but the spiritual descendants of Abraham are the Israel of the New Covenant.  The Old Covenant has been replaced, and so has its Israel.  Being a Jew racially is now of no advantage, and it certainly does not make one "special" or "chosen" in the eyes of God - only the new birth can do that now.

[yosemite]

jd, i'll say this up front: you have some good points but i disagree on the generalizing of israel. even the new testiment has an IF in it.

IF the jews turn back to God, God will turn favor back to the jews. (israel)

[titushome]

I hate to break this to you, but the Old Testament (or "covenant") ended at the cross, and a New Testament began - one in which, as Paul pointed out, being born a Jew (racially) means pretty much nothing. ... zero, zip, nada. 

When did God ever say He was breaking off His covenant with Israel?

Also, being born a Jew, "racially" speaking, never meant anything by itself.  The true children of Abraham are the ones who have the faith in God that he had - not the ones who can trace their genealogy back to him.  As Jesus said to some of the Jews who did not believe in Him, "Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.' "  (Matthew 3:9)  Any person who was born a Jew yet failed to live in a covenant relationship with God was lost.  Likewise, the door has always been open for any person of any lineage to become a Jew, and enter into a covenant relationship with God, if he or she so desired.

God didn't so much break off one covenant to begin another, as He did bring that covenant to fruition and perfection via the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - and so opened the door for the Gentiles to be grafted into that covenant.

[jdcord]

IF the jews turn back to God, God will turn favor back to the jews. (israel)

Sure.  But how  must they "turn back to God"?  ....... By being born again, of course.  They can't just continue with the Old Covenant, because that Covenant has already been completed and God has moved on to a new one.

So even if they have all the "faith" in the world it will avail them nothing as long as they are still placing that faith in the Old Covenant.  If they want to be the children of Abraham now, they must place whatever faith they have in the New Covenant - otherwise they might as well be placing their faith in Buddha, for all the good it will do them.

The Old Covenant was the schoolmaster, the example, leading and pointing them directly to the New Covenant.  .......  So then, quite simply, by rejecting the New Covenant they reject the Old Covenant as well, along with rejecting God himself in the process - meaning that in rejecting the New Covenant they actually make themselves a people without any Covenant at all, and at that point there is simply no way that they can then still remain God's "chosen people".

The only way for them to still abide by the Old Covenant is by embracing and abiding by the NEW Covenant - because by rejecting and denying the New Covenant they have rejected and denied the Old Covenant right along with it, and thereby have unwittingly renounced their former status as God's chosen people in the process.

[tsully]

God is not done with the nation of Israel as has been suggested here. Daniel 9 discusses the 70 weeks that God has determined upon Israel and the Holy City (Jerusalem) vs 24.
This is a prophecy concerning Gods' dealings with Israel. Also in Revelation 7 we are told of the 144,000 that are sealed during the tribulation period. These 144,000 are from the nation of Israel. SO to say that we, as the N.T. church have replaced Israel is not supported Biblically. God has turned His attention to the gentiles for a season and a time but He will turn back to Israel because they are His chosen people.

[titushome]

Sure.  But how  must they "turn back to God"?  ....... By being born again, of course.  They can't just continue with the Old Covenant, because that Covenant has already been completed and God has moved on to a new one.

So even if they have all the "faith" in the world it will avail them nothing as long as they are still placing that faith in the Old Covenant.  If they want to be the children of Abraham now, they must place whatever faith they have in the New Covenant - otherwise they might as well be placing their faith in Buddha, for all the good it will do them.

The Old Covenant was the schoolmaster, the example, leading and pointing them directly to the New Covenant.  .......  So then, quite simply, by rejecting the New Covenant they reject the Old Covenant as well, along with rejecting God himself in the process - meaning that in rejecting the New Covenant they actually make themselves a people without any Covenant at all, and at that point there is simply no way that they can then still remain God's "chosen people".

The only way for them to still abide by the Old Covenant is by embracing and abiding by the NEW Covenant - because by rejecting and denying the New Covenant they have rejected and denied the Old Covenant right along with it, and thereby have unwittingly renounced their former status as God's chosen people in the process.

I might argue a few semantic points (if I thought it worthwhile), but I completely agree with the basic gist of what's written above.  Great thoughts!

[Melody]

Ok, speaking about a "people" rathan than individuals separately....

Rom 11:7-11  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but [rather] through their fall salvation [is come] unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Rom 11:14-20  If by any means I may provoke to emulation [them which are] my flesh, and might save some of them.  For if the casting away of them [be] the reconciling of the world, what [shall] the receiving [of them be], but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit [be] holy, the lump [is] also [holy]: and if the root [be] holy, so [are] the branches. 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; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

Rom 11:25  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.

Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers' sakes.

Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

2Cr 3:14-17  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.

And that is why a Jew can be converted but the general Biblical "nation" of Israel remains blinded.

We have to define what "chosen" means pertaining to Israel.  I believe that Abraham was Favored, and that God kept some blessings for Israel because of that favor.  To always testify of God's kindness.  But how Israel is a chosen nation I believe means they, because of the favor for Abraham, that God made that people an example unto the world.  To teach the rest of the world what God was about.  The world watched time and time again as their Gods rotted away, but Israel seen miracle after miracle, their news was the stuff people learned from. 

Just like there is a difference between a child of God now, there was a difference between a devout Jew and a 'gentile' back then because Jews had so much truth in their lives.  Not the full truth but look at all the laws God set up that we know now are basic hygene even.  So why were gentiles so detested?  Because they lacked an upbringing of a higher standard with a direction toward the REAL God.  Even though Jews were still so flawed, they had THAT much.  While gentiles ran around with all sorts of craziness and shear carnality.  Yet God always made a place for any one of them that wanted in, look at Ruth and the laws about strangers and letting slaves free after a certain time.  Israel was chosen to be the example, and when she was trying, she pleased God and He had favour on them.  No other nation ever collectively tried. 

Now we are a part of Israel.  We are the example unto the 'world' of what God is really about.  There is old and new testament differences, but we hold that position now.  And I believe that as much as a true Jew is given to God's law, when the veil is lifted they will have SO much understanding that they will be blown away and astonish this remaining world.

[Tsalagi]

If by any means I may provoke to emulation [them which are] my flesh, and might save some of them.

Main Entry:
    1 em·u·late

Pronunciation:
   \ˈem-yə-ˌlāt, -yü-\

Function:
    transitive verb

Inflected Form(s):
    em·u·lat·ed; em·u·lat·ing

Etymology:
    Latin aemulatus, past participle of aemulari, from aemulus rivaling

Date:
    1582

1 a: to strive to equal or excel b: imitate; especially : to imitate by means of an emulator

2: to equal or approach equality with

[Raven180]

Romans 9:8 is relevant to the question as well.

8. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, there are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted worthy of the seed.

The verse above this one in Scripture clearly shows that in Isaac shall Abraham's "seed" be called. As Isaac is the child of promise (Galatians 4:21-28), so too are we the children of promise. All else are children of the flesh, and Galatians 4 compares the children of the flesh to Mount Sinai, which Paul writes is Hagar and Ishmael.

So then, being a biological descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob avails nothing, because Scripture calls anyone, including those that attempt to live by and be made righteous by, the Law, are really nothing more than children of Hagar, i.e. they are Ishmaelites. They are cast out and are not heirs with Christ, even as Ishmael was cast out and not made an heir with Isaac.

We are the children of promise, we who have received the "Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13) because we have received the promised Spirit by faith (Galatians 3:14). All others are not children, and if not children, then they are not heirs, because it reads in Romans 8:15-17 that those who have received the Spirit cry Abba, their spirit bearing witness with the Spirit, that they are children of God, thus making them joint-heirs with Christ and heirs of God.

Salvation is of the Jews. To the Jews it was first preached. Thousands of Jews received the Spirit of promise and became worthy of the seed of Abraham when they were baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26-29).

However, by the end of Acts, we read this:

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. (Acts 28:28)

So then, who is chosen and who is not chosen? Is it all Jews everywhere, due to their biological heritage? No, because not all are Israel who are of Israel (Romans 9:6)

Secondly, when writing to the churches at Ephesus and at Thessalonica, Paul writes that the members of the church are the chosen in Christ since the beginning, even since the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13).

So then, who are God's chosen?

Collectively speaking, this is the chosen nation:

Psalm 33:13,

12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

The people that God has chosen for His own inheritance are His chosen people, His nation. We know this is us, according to Romans 8:15-17. Anyone who does not have faith in Jesus Christ and who has not received the "Holy Spirit of promise" is living with Hagar as an Ishmaelite. And Hagar's children (see Isaiah 54:1) are not heirs. In fact, they are desolate.

Individually, we know that God's chosen person is:

Psalm 65:4,

4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

The individual person that God has chosen is caused by God to approach unto Himself, that he may dwell in His courts...

This person is anyone and everyone, Jew or Gentile.

Whosoever thirseth is welcome to the Living Water. Whosoever hungereth is welcome to come and eat at the Tree of Life. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, Christ the firstfruits, then after Him, those that are His. It began that only Jews were His, then soon enough, Samaritans were His, and finally Gentiles. Now all (Jew, Samaritan, or Gentile) either are or can be His, if they want to be so.

Because many are called, but few are chosen.

Peace,

Aaron

[jdcord]

Amen! to what Raven said.


Great post!

[onli-one-jehovi]

Yes, well done. 

[sabellius]

Shalom Shalom


            As the  NT says Salvation belongs to the Jews first because of Believing that Yeshua is the Messiah,Redemer.In other words the forgiveness of Sins.


Sabellius