THE IRREVOCABLE BLESSING & BURDEN OF ELECTION
Is being “God’s chosen people” a good thing or a bad thing for the Jewish people? The answer to this, and to most good questions, must begin with, ‘it’s complicated.’ It isn’t complicated because everyone has valid points in their unique perspective on the state of Israel or the Jewish people. Neither international criticism nor Evangelical praise for Israel make the matter more complicated—just more noisy. What makes the question a complicated one is the context that the Bible gives for the election of Abraham and his family and the way being the chosen people has played out throughout history.
The Biblical narrative opens with a series of incidents which depict all our ancestors as rebels against the Creator. These stories form the early points of the Biblical redemptive narrative. Adam and Eve, of course, featured in the earliest story. The well-known ‘forbidden fruit’ episode[1] establishes the backdrop in which all their descendants would become protagonists—the great curse on creation. This is followed by Genesis 6 which gives us a snapshot of the setting which prompted the global flood. “When the LORD saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.”[2] The last event in this early series of human tragedies is found in Genesis 11. It chronicles a great rebellion that took place on the plain of Shinar—located now in southern Iraq. We knew it in Sunday school as the Tower of Babel story.
God’s response to the rebellion at Shinar, unlike the flood, was not the destruction of the rebels. It was a plan for their redemption. It began with a dispersion, a universal diaspora. By confusing their languages, the story portrays God dividing them into family groups—later called nations. In the language of Deuteronomy 32:8, God, ‘separated the sons of men’ and ‘set boundaries’ for them here. Here God separated them from one another, but more significantly for the larger story of God’s redemptive plan, from Himself. That is, the story recounts the ‘disinheritance’ of the nations which dramatically affected the Creator’s direct involvement with these families. The text in Deuteronomy[3] goes on to say that they were separated ‘according to the number of the sons of God’[4]. Later Jewish commentators see this as the appointing of ‘spirits to rule’[5] over these recently established nations.
Genesis 12 begins with God choosing one man, Abraham, and his family for the holy purpose of redeeming the other families.
“I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you…and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”[6]
These people are the recently scattered families of the earth after the great revolt at Shinar, recorded in the prior chapter. So, God’s plan from the start was to take one family, to entrust them with his oracles, teach them his ways, and through them to restore the families who had all gone astray.
Prophets like Isaiah were later directed by God to remind them of the holy calling,
“You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified…I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”[7]
The Psalmist shares the same conviction. Israel’s blessing is for the turning of the nations back to God.
“May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine upon us [Selah] so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you.”[8]
Their blessing wasn’t intended for their enjoyment. It was in order that the way of God would be known among the rebellious families. The Apostle Paul maintained this same sense of corporate calling and frequently referenced this to his Gentile audiences.
“They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.”[9]
These, in the mind of a first century Jew, make up the blessing of being a chosen people. All these elements mediated the nation’s nearness to God. A nearness that they were ultimately called to invite the nations back to.
Yet, they didn’t always steward the blessing in a way that was honoring to the God of Israel. It is here that we find the paradox that being chosen is both a blessing and a burden. Those things that the other nations can get away with, Israel cannot. Turns out, being in an eternal covenant and having an irrevocable calling from the God of Israel is no walk in the park. Being a holy people and stewards of the holy things compels holy behavior. That is, it requires behavior that is different and unique to the way the rest of the nations function. The uniqueness of the God of Israel from the gods of the nations should be reflected in Israel’s uniqueness from the nations around them. The way that the nations behave has never been an acceptable path for the Jewish people. It is a heavy calling and there is no opt-out option for the Jew. Again, it is irrevocable.
The conclusion of the book of Deuteronomy underscores God’s unwavering commitment to redeem the world through Abraham’s family. If they attempt to forsake the calling and opt out of the covenant, He will not oblige. Rather, He will discipline them until they return.
Plagues, sickness, withholding rain, empowering enemies, even exile might be employed in order to maintain the covenant and its stipulation of holiness. The prophets of Israel reiterated what Deuteronomy had already told us. God takes the covenant and the calling of Israel way more seriously than they do.
Yet, according to Deuteronomy, the cycle of rebellion-chastisement-repentance won’t continue forever. The grand finale of this pattern that has defined Jewish history appears to be looming. The burden of being the chosen people is becoming increasingly heavy. Jewish tradition (and I include the Apostolic writings here) has long foreseen a time of Jewish hatred engulfing the world just before the Redemption. Yet, this prediction isn’t the foretelling of a time when God’s strength is restricted. Rather, it is the climax and ultimate expression of God’s covenant faithfulness in this present age. He has fixed Himself to this plan to redeem the world, and He won’t choose another way. Israel will be a holy people. Purified by the fires of calamity and international hatred, the people of Israel will one day direct the procession of nations coming to seek the Lord in Jerusalem.[10] All of the nations will turn back to their Creator and eternal life will be restored to the planet.
My hope in writing these things isn’t simply an improved theological take. As disciples of the coming king of the Jews, history will likely show that joining ourselves to this holy, blessed, and burdened people in the days ahead will be our greatest expression of devotion to the Master. As God’s commitment to the covenant with Abraham’s descendants is seen in these last days through the hatred and rage of the nations, my hope is that it may also be seen through the faithful witness of Jesus’s followers amidst the nations who lay their lives down for their friends.
Maranatha.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Comprehension: God’s covenant to bless Israel has also played out historically as a burden. In what way is God’s covenant with Israel both a blessing and a burden?
2. Conversation: History is playing out according to the will and plan of God. This is certainly true of Jewish history. How has God’s covenant with Israel influenced how history has unfolded?
3. Obedience: As majority Gentile disciples of Jesus, what are some ways that we can honor God’s plan and election of Israel?
[1] See Genesis 3
[2] Ge 6:5–6 CSB
[3] Some translations of this passage read ‘sons of Israel’ here. Newer manuscript findings have proven that the original reading was almost certainly ‘sons of God.’ For more info on this translation see, Michael S. Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” Bibliotheca Sacra 158 (January-March 2001): 52–74
[4] The language ‘sons of God’ is familiar to us from Jewish literature like Job 1:6, I Enoch 6:2, Jubilees 5:1, et al. In these and other passages the reference is clearly to angels or to some sort of divine being.
[5] See Jubilees 15:31
[6] Genesis 12:2–3 CSB
[7] Isaiah 49:3-6 CSB
[8] Psalm 67:1–3 CSB
[9] Romans 9:4–5 CSB
[10] See Isaiah 2:2-4