The Jews: God's Chosen People

(Gen 22:15-18) And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, -16. And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: -17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; -18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. Our subject this morning is: The Jews, God's Chosen People. As you study with us today, we will take you through the scripture and show you who has been, now is, and will be God's Chosen people. You will see that you can be a Jew today and that you can enjoy all the rights and privileges of being one of God's Chosen people. You will see that this right is offered to you regardless of your ancestry, race, gender, or past religion.

Our text shows us that God made a promise to Abraham that was twofold. One he was promised that his family (seed - offspring) would be blessed. Second he was promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. As you follow the story of Abraham down through the years, you will find that indeed God blessed them in a very special way. You will also find that when they were disobedient, they suffered at the hand of God as well. This expectation of obedience should teach us that the blessings of God are conditional. They depend on our obedience to God's law.

Abraham's faithfulness to God so moved God that God considered Abraham a friend - (Gen 18:19) For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (James 2:23) And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. And so we see that the covenant between God and Abraham was kept by both parties. We see this concept of faithfulness demonstrated again and again down through the ages of time. It is yet today the concept that will guarantee you the blessings of God. If you will be faithful to Him, He will be faithful to you.

The promises given to Abraham were passed down through Abraham's son Issac and then to Isaac's son, Jacob. It was Jacob that had his name changed to Israel and from that name change came our expression the children of Israel. To this day we still refer to the Jewish people as The Children of Israel. (Gen 32:24-28) And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. -25. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. -26. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. -27. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. -28. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Now as we follow the story of Jacob, we find that Jacob had twelve sons and those 12 sons became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. Each son's descendants becoming a tribe and all the descendants of Jacob (Israel).

One of the twelve tribes was that of Judah. In time there came a division between the tribes and the men of Judah were referred to as Jews, meaning a member of the kingdom of Judah. The name Jew is used 32 times in the Bible. When Jesus was crucified a sign was made and placed above Him: (Luke 23:38) And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. And so we have established that the literal Jews were the members of the kingdom of Judah. Jesus was a descendant from the kingdom of Judah. We have also established that the original covenant with Abraham promised that all nations of the earth would be blessed and not just the nation of Judah.

(Gal 3:7-9) Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. -8. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. -9. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. (Gal 3:24-29) Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. -25. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. -26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. -27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. -28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -29. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Here the Apostle Paul is explaining to us that through Christ the promise of justification was extended to all nations. His explanation shows us that this was God's plan from the beginning and that the law of Israel was only a schoolmaster to bring us the fulfillment of God's promise. Therefore, if you are baptized into Christ and have put on Christ, you are a spiritual Jew. You become a child of God with all the rights and privileges of any other child of God. There is no difference between you and a person that is born a literal Jew in the sight of God. You are entitled to all the same blessings that the other children are entitled to.

(Rom 2:28-29) For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: -29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Paul says that it is the inward circumcision of the heart that makes you a Jew. Praise God, I am a Jew!, You can also be a Jew, one of God's chosen people. The process is one of having a new heart put within. A heart that works to live according to the law of God. It does not matter who your parents were or what nation you were born in, you can be a Jew, one of God's chosen people. (Ezek 36:24-28) For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. -25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. -26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. -27. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. -28. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. This is one of the promises given to the literal Jews and it applies to the spiritual Jews as well. That is why Jesus gave his invitation not just to the Jews, but to all mankind.

(Mat 11:28-30) Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. -29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. -30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Yes, Jesus invites all that labour and are heavy laden. His death on the cross was for all men not just for one nation, but for all nations. (Rev 22:17) And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Yes, whosoever will may come. Whosoever will can accept the invitation of our Lord and of the church. You can be one of God's chosen people, if you will come unto the King of The Jews. He will be your King as well as my king and the king of all that will come unto Him.

Now, since Jesus is our King it stands to reason that we are subjects of His kingdom. As His subjects we are expected to obey His laws and pay our tribute to Him. After all He is our King and He provides many services to us. It is through His Holy Spirit that we are able to deny the flesh when it is tempted to sin. It is through His Holy Spirit that we are able to enjoy the benefits of living in a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. He is our King and we are His chosen people. It is our responsibility to obey Him, to be good citizens of this heavenly country.

The writer of the book of Hebrews instructs us - (Heb 12:14-28) Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: -15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; -16. Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. -17. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. -18. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, -19. And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: -20. (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: -21. And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) - we are come to a different place than that of the old literal Mt. Sinai where Moses received the ten commandments. We have come to a different Mount through Jesus our Lord - -22. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, - it is this heavenly Jerusalem that all Jews come unto. You do not get here by taking an airplane ride or a cruise. You get to the heavenly Jerusalem by accepting Christ as your Saviour and letting Him be the Lord of your life. - and to an innumerable company of angels, -23. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, -24. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. -25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: -26. Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. -27. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. -28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

With the coming of Jesus Christ, the promise to Abraham was fulfilled. Now the history of God's Chosen people is no longer the history of a literal nation, but it is the history of a spiritual kingdom that has filled the whole earth. Daniel prophesied of this grand event in (Dan 2) And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. -2. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. -3. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. -4. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. -5. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. -6. But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. -7. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it. -8. The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. -9. But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof. -10. The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. -11. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. -12. For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. -13. And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. -14. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: -15. He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. -16. Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. -17. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: -18. That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. -19. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. -20. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: -21. And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: -22. He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. -23. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. -24. Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation. -25. Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. -26. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? -27. Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; -28. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; -29. As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. -30. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. -31. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. -32. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, -33. His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. -34. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. -35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. -36. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. -37. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. -38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. -39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. -40. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. -41. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. -42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. -43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. -44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. -45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. -46. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. -47. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. -48. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. -49. Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.