Are Jews really the "chosen people"? What is the source of that phrase? What does that make the rest of us?

Question

Would God really favor one group of people above all others? That doesn't sound fair.

Answer 1

What seems fair to us is not the definition of what is fair. You have to understand that God is working to redeem ALL of mankind - not just the Jews - but that He needed a people that He could work through to do that. He is trying to bring us from a place of extreme imbalance to a place of balance.

What I mean is this. When mankind sinned against God in the garden, we essentially knocked the entire earth off of its axis. The Lord has been moving on earth ever since that time to put things right, and this will eventually culminate when He returns to earth to destroy His enemies.

But we need to understand also, that the one thing that got us all into trouble in the first place - our free will - is what has resisted Him from "fixing" the problem that we created to start with.

He initially created the Jewish nation from the seed of Abraham with the intention of making them a covenant people (or in very simplified terms, a "chosen" people) that were separated from sin for Himself. This "separation from sin" that He established them in was a temporary deal until He could bring the Messiah onto the scene and make the separation from sin a permanent deal. The separation from sin that they had was entirely dependent upon them doing all kinds of works to satisfy Him, and that was successful only on a temporary basis. He promised to send them a "Messiah" (or, deliverer) that would bring them rest from all of this activity by making them separated from sin once and for all without all the strain and activity (in other words, He would come to earth and please God on their behalf and make peace once and for all between God and His people).

Well, this plan almost worked. The problem was, like I said before, the free will of man. The Jewish people were intended to be God's vehicle for the redemption of all mankind - and He did send them the Messiah as He had promised (Jesus Christ) - but they did not receive Him as such. This is the part of the story where I say, "I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news." The good news is, the non-Jewish people of earth (us Gentiles) get to be grafted into the family of God by believing on Jesus the Messiah - see Romans chapter 11 for details. The bad news is, the Jewish people fell into unbelief and were scattered throughout the entire earth because they rejected their Messiah.

I said ALL OF THAT to say this (in answer to your question): the Jewish people ARE the chosen people of God. The church, which is predominantly Gentile, is redeemed in Christ as a benefit resulting from the Jews rejecting their Savior (see Romans 11:15). Now, it has been a tradition of error in the church to say that we have REPLACED Israel as God's chosen people. But that is as I said before - error. We have not replaced them. And again, if you will read Romans 11, it will explain in greater detail how that God is not throwing away the Jewish people, but has every intention of saving them.

We are right now approaching the time described in Romans 11:25, that the FULLNESS of the Gentiles will come in. In other words, all of the Gentiles that will accept Jesus Christ will have come into the church, and the spotlight will swing over to Israel, and they will be saved by acceptance of Jesus Christ (verse 26).

A miracle that is greater in magnitude than the parting and crossing the Red Sea during the Exodus of Israel has happened since the year 1900, and few people have had their eyes open to see it for what it truly is. The Bible prophesied thousands of years ago that Israel would be dispersed from the promised land, and that they would one day be brought back into the land. They have fulfilled these prophecies by flocking back to the land by the millions. In 1948, Israel became a nation again for the first time in nearly 2,000 years. That in itself is a remarkable thing. But the gathering of them back into the land is nothing short of miraculous. And it is a sign of the times. It indicates that the end of the church age is drawing near, and the events of end time prophecies are about to be fulfilled.

So has God thrown away His "chosen people" the Jews? Has He replaced them with someone else? No to both questions. The entire Bible is centered around God and His relationship with His people, Israel. This is what the Gentile church has failed to recognize. Israel has been in the earth for roughly 4,000 years. The church age has been for the second half of that. We got pencilled into their script. That's the reality of the situation. And we should be eternally grateful for this, because we were bound for hell and without hope before hand.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

In the Old Testament, yes the Jews were the "chosen people." They were God's special followers. All the rest of the world back then was pagan; they worshiped idols, creation, and created things. They did not worship God. God revealed himself to the Jews.

Today, everybody can be God's chosen people. As for the O.T. times, I suppose God, in is ultimate and omnipotent wisdom, just chose the Jews because that's what God does. But since Jesus Christ, things have changed. Jews and Gentiles alike are God's chosen people if they accept him.

Answer 4

The Jews were the chosen people for God to bring salvation to the world through. Not chosen as in favored, or pampered.
The Jewish nation was supposed to keep itself pure, living cleanly, and tell the world about God.

Answer 5

I personally am an atheist, so no group of people was chosen in particular by a god.

1) The Old Testament traces the lineage of essentiall only Jews after the time of Abraham, with one or two exceptions.
2) Exodus 19:6 says that, "...and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." This suggests that in the Bible, God chose the Jews to spread monotheism.

Answer 6

The Jews were the chosen people when Moses was around and until Jesus came along. Then the Christians became the chosen people because they followed Jesus's teachings and a renewed belief in One God.

Today, the Muslims (The definition of the Arabic word "Muslim" is: ANYONE who submits his will to The One and Only True God) are the chosen people of God because they follow the most recent of God's renewed message, Islam.

Answer 7

God is not fair but He is righteous. The Nation of Israel was at one time God chosen people. He chosen them to take dominion over the earth that Adam lost to Satan. The Lord Jesus Christ came to be King of Israel and set up His kingdom on the earth. They rejected Him and had Him killed and when He died on the cross He died for the sins of the world. Romans 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. He has no chosen people today only the one that have put their faith and trust in what He did on the cross for all that would believe. Today all people are alike in His eyes and can be saved the same way. Galatians 3: 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.

Answer 8

Biblically, the father of the Hebrews, now called Jews, was said to have obeyed God. Because Abraham did this, God is believed to have promised that Abraham's generations will be God's chosen ones.

Answer 9

Not any more, The followers of the Messiah, Christ, are now his people, its in a really Great Book called the Bible, check it out.

Jewish people need to realize the power of God, in the old testament the Israelites were commanded to recored the Genealogies of the tribe of David, because this is the line through which Christ would come, Funny thing is, the temple where these records were kept burned in 70 ad about 40 years after Christ died.
do they think that God would command them to do this in vane?

The records were very important in proving that God kept his promise, so once they were Gone how will he keep his promise?... sadly they are still waiting on The Christ.

Answer 10

AT THAT TIME, the Hebrews [Semites/Jews] were the WEAKEST and the LEAST among all the other nations around. There were seven other nations greater than them as a people, according to Deuternomy, Chapter 7:

"1When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

...

6For 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.

7The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:..."

Hope that helps answer your question.

Peace be with you.