Deuteronomy 7:6-11, “For you are a people holy to
the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his
treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the
earth. (7) It was not because you were more in number
than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you
were the fewest of all peoples, (8) but it is because the LORD loves you and is
keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you
out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the
hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (9) Know therefore that the LORD your God is God,
the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him
and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, (10)
and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will
not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. (11)
You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes
and the rules that I command you today.”
For those who
are true believers in Jesus Christ, this has to be one of the most precious
passages in the Old Testament. It reminds us of the love, grace and mercy we
have received from God, through Christ. It declares to us how our salvation is
the sovereign working of God, and what God has caused us to become. Just as
this passage encourages us, it would have encouraged the generation of
Israelites to whom it was first spoken.
They are being
told what their identity is, who they are as people, individuals and as a
nation. They are taught how it is that they came to be such people, and they
are challenged to live in accordance to who and what they are. Moses declares
to them that they are God’s people, God’s holy nation, God’s possession, they
are the ones who God has chosen to set His love upon. God has given evidence of
His love for them and His favour upon them by rescuing them from their slavery
in Egypt and bringing them to the Promised Land. But why have they received so
much favour and blessing from God, who are they, that they should be regarded
as God’s chosen people and nation?
Humanly
speaking, we tend to love what is lovable, lovely, or worthy of being loved. We
want to take hold of that which is pleasing, good and will be of benefit to us.
When faced with a choice between the rich or the poor, the strong or the weak,
we will almost always choose the rich and the strong. Did God choose Israel
because they were lovely, worthy, pleasing, good, rich, strong and of benefit
to God? No! We are clearly told that they were none of that. In fact, we could
say they were the very opposite!
The nation of
Israel did not have grand beginnings, nor had its existence up to this point in
time been noteworthy. The nation began with one man, Abraham, who was an
idol-worshipper, a man who struggled to tell the truth, and even when God had
revealed Himself to Abraham, Abraham still struggled to trust God and tried to
do things in his own strength. And this one man, only had one son, who in turn
had two sons, two sons that were at odds with each other. Jacob may have had 12
sons, by they were by no means a stellar group of men. Fast forward several
generations and this nation has grown significantly in number, but not in moral
excellence or godliness. The nation of Israel is made up of rebellious,
stubborn, proud, greedy, selfish people, who question God’s every move.
It is hard for
us to understand why God would want anything to do with Israel. But here is
where the sheer wonder and mystery of God’s sovereign plans, purposes and love
come into view. God chose to set His love and favour upon them, and the basis
of His choice was not because of who they were, but because of who He is. God
chose them not because they were worthy of being chosen, but simply because He
chose to!
God, of His own
sovereign will, chose them, and God can do so without having to explain to us why,
for He is God! God chose to set His love upon a group of stubborn, selfish,
rebellious and sinful people. He chose to redeem them out of slavery, declare
them to be His people give them His Word, to bless and prosper them. At no
point was it on the basis of who or what they were. God chose to do this as a
means of demonstrating His love and mercy, as well as His power, with the result
that all men might see that the LORD is God and give Him glory.
The very same is
true of us who believe in Jesus Christ. God did not choose us in Christ because
we were essentially good or nice people. He did not choose us because we
already loved Him, or were interested in God and the Bible. He did not choose
us because we were better than others. Though we cannot understand it, God chose
us, simply because He chose to in His sovereign will. He chose to pour out His
love, favour and blessing upon us through Jesus Christ so as to redeem us from
our sin. He chose to do this before we were born, as Ephesians 1:1-14 teaches
us. He chose to make us His people before there was anything good about us. As
Paul tells us in Romans 5, God chose us even when we were His enemies, when we
were still in all the filth of our sin, hating and rebelling against Him.
We have to
confess that we cannot understand the mind of God when it comes to such matters,
however our responses to passages such as Deuteronomy 7:6-11 should not be an
attempt to dissect and understand, but to simply bow in humble worship and thankful
adoration of God. Such is God’s goodness and love, His mercy, grace and favour,
that even though we were dead in our sins and trespasses, unlovely and enemies,
He chose to rescue and redeem us out of our sin through Christ. God chose to
save us, and to then make us His people, His promised, holy, precious people,
who will live in His eternal kingdom. Why did He do this? God did this because
He is God, because He is sovereign, because He is loving, gracious and
merciful.
Sovereign, loving, gracious and merciful God, rightly
did the Psalmist declare, “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of
man that you should care for him?” We know all to well, our sinfulness and many
imperfections, how unlovely we are. Yet You in grace and mercy beyond what we
can fathom, chose us in Christ, so as to redeem us and make us Your very own.
Whilst we do not completely understand Your will and ways, we bow in thankfulness
towards Your throne and adore You for having given to us such an undeserved
love and salvation. Thank You that You have made us Your people, Your nation.
Help us not to worry so much about trying to understand and explain everything
about who You are and how You work, but instead to trust You, love You and
faithfully serve You. Amen.
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