Some Christians get offended when they hear pro-Israel believers talk about the Jews being “God’s chosen people.” Almost immediately, someone who holds to replacement theology will answer, “Jesus made us all God’s chosen people. We’re all equal in God’s eyes.”
And I don’t disagree with that statement, if you’re talking about salvation, inheriting God’s Kingdom, and being loved, cherished, and favored by God.
You were chosen, too
In that sense, yes, anyone who is saved by faith in Jesus Christ is a cherished, favored, and chosen child of God. The Scriptures make that clear. You are not a second-rate citizen in God’s eyes.
The whole reason God “chose” Abraham is that He needed someone who would trust and obey Him, someone He could partner with to bring salvation to the whole world. You were the end game: the point, the ultimate goal of the everlasting covenant God made with Abraham. In that way, you were chosen. So any thought that you might be inferior in God’s eyes can be put out of your mind.
That being said, God did make an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants, and there are ways that covenant is still relevant today. It’s important to understand how, especially at a time when Israel is at the center of worldwide controversy.
“Chosen” never meant “saved”
First, the covenant God made with Abraham was not a promise that his descendants would receive eternal salvation just for being his descendants. Many people wrongly conflate the Abrahamic covenant with the salvation of your soul. The two are not the same.
Being part of God’s chosen people did not, and does not, equal being saved. Not in the Old Testament, and not in the New Testament. It has never meant that. Old Testament Israelites who didn’t have faith in God went to Hades when they died, even though they belonged to God’s chosen people.
People in the Old Testament were saved by faith, just like we are. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6). The Old Testament saints had faith in God’s promise to Abraham that the whole world would be blessed through him. They didn’t yet know Yeshua’s name, but they believed in God’s plan to bless the entire world, a plan we now know was fulfilled through Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah. Being Jewish was never a ticket into Heaven. They had to have faith in God, just like now.
So what did “chosen” mean?
If being God’s chosen people didn’t equal being saved, what did it mean? And if Jesus saved us all, why should Israel have any special place?
Because there’s more to the covenant than salvation. God promised to give Abraham a multitude of descendants who would form a great, divinely blessed nation that would never cease to exist before Him. He also promised to bless the entire world through Abraham.
God fulfilled that part of the covenant by speaking to humanity through Abraham and his descendants. The Hebrews recorded God’s laws, heart, and character in the Bible. Most importantly, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, came from Abraham’s line. And the very first Christians were Jews who carried the message of Jesus not only across Israel, but to all of us Gentiles as well.
God’s plan of redemption for all mankind was carried out through Abraham’s descendants. That is what being God’s chosen people was really about: God chose a people He could partner with to carry out His plan to redeem the whole world. They were elected for revelation, because of Abraham’s faithfulness.
Is the covenant still relevant today?
Yes. The promise that Abraham’s descendants would become a great, blessed nation dwelling in the land God gave them is still very much in effect, and the New Testament speaks to it in prophecy quite a bit. According to both Old and New Testament prophecy, Israel plays a significant role in the end times. The New Testament also prophesies the Jewish people’s return to Christ at the start of the millennial reign, when Jesus returns to rule physically from Jerusalem and Israel takes its place as the head of the nations for a thousand years. As Paul wrote, “all Israel will be saved… for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:25–29).
Why this matters right now
Because Israel is in the middle of a fight over its land. A movement is growing across the world that labels Israel as invaders in their own land. For decades they have suffered attack after attack from neighbors who want to wipe them off the map, and now much of the world, including the United Nations, is siding with the terrorists. People are starting to believe Israel has no right to its God-given land, and that it is arrogant for Israel to believe it has a divine right to it, the very attitude the Scriptures warn against.
Since Israel’s land is at the forefront of so much political and spiritual debate, it’s important to know God’s opinion of it, and to make sure we don’t drift from His will. Our opinions won’t change what happens to Israel, but they could change what happens to us. If it is God’s will for Israel to remain in their land, and the Scriptures make clear it is, fighting against God’s plan is a guaranteed losing battle. Every nation that has tried to conquer or destroy Israel, and there have been many, has ultimately been defeated or destroyed. Yet Israel remains, and they will continue to remain.
I hope the United States will continue to support God’s plan for the land of Israel, because it will only strengthen us to do so. As I watch popular sentiment begin to shift away from supporting Israel’s right to live in their land, I’ve already seen a troubling trend toward sympathy for terrorists, along with strife and division that could deeply damage our nation and change its course.
Israel is guaranteed to last until Christ returns. The USA is not. The best way to make sure we last, too, is to become a character in the story who moves the Author’s plot forward. Characters who don’t drive the plot forward have a way of disappearing.
Individually, you are loved, cherished, and chosen by God. As a nation, we are not guaranteed anything. So let’s do our best to stay relevant to the story God is telling.
