www.ArgumentCenter.org - Where hard questions are answered

< OK Because Abraham chose to obey God, and thus God chose him and his descendants.

All of humanity is God's people- for God created everyone and everything. In the past, however, the world "slipped away from its relationship with God, and eventually the entire world" were idolators, worshipping other gods. "Abraham re-discovered the idea of one God, and chose to accept the challenge to change the world through an understanding of monotheism and morality. Through his dedication and willingness to give up everything for God, he was chosen- and his descendants after him- to become the teachers of morality. In other words, Abraham chose God, and thus God chose Abraham." - Rabbi Shraga Simmons

Traditional Jewish belief is that Abraham, and the Jewish people, were chosen to share God's word and make the idea of one God known to the world.

-http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_chosen.htm

< OK There are several factors involved in why God chose Israel. They were chosen for the Messiah to be sent through them.

The Jews were chosen to be a blessing to the nations of the world (Gen 12:2,3), and were not to be given any preferential treatment so to speak. The same passage where it says God chose the Jews also says that God doesn't show partiality amongst people, and commands the Jews to love others as well (Dt 10:17,19). The Jews weren't chosen because of their own righteousness (Dt 9:6), as evidenced by their sins and disobedience. They were chosen to be a blessing to others, mainly through the birth of the Messiah.

Allabouttruth.org gives some factors that were involved in God's selection of Israel: His instructions to mankind, as a whole, had been challenged by a united rebellion of the people against Him at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), and He then forcibly confounded their languages and divided them into distinct nations. His promise of a coming Redeemer to reconcile a lost world to Himself required that God should become man some day and He would thus have to be born into a particular nation and people. Such a nation would have to be prepared, both by divine revelation and national experience, to be the nation through which the Savior would come. All of the nations formed as a result of the judgment at Babel were already in rebellion against God and unsuitable for this purpose. God, therefore, chose one man, Abraham, to establish a new nation through which "all families of the earth would be blessed." -http://www.allabouttruth.org/gods-chosen-people-faq.htm

"Although it would be unfair for God to show partiality to one people group, this is not what was meant when the Bible said that God chose the Jewish people. The Bible indicates that God chose the Jewish people as the people through whom He would send the Messiah. Being chosen did not always bring great blessings, since the Jews were held to a higher level of accountability, and were judged for their failures. The Bible makes it clear that God does not show partiality, since He created all people. He commands His people to behave likewise."

- http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/gods_chosen_people.html#n01

< OK God chose them in order to make a covenant with a portion of humanity.

God chose these people, not because of who they were, but because of who He is, as an outlet of His mercy to at least some of the people He had created, and who had become at odds with Him when Adam ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden.

When God chose them, He was choosing to make a treaty with a portion of humanity. The Pentateuch, which is the first five books of the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Torah, represents a treaty between the Israelites and God in the style of what's called a suzerain-vassal treaty. David Malick shows in his Introduction to the Pentateuch that he suzerain-vassal is a treaty between a king and his people that starts with the king, the suzerain, showing what he has done to protect his people, and includes stipulations that the people must follow, as well as blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. This was a treaty for peace with man, not because of who the Jews were, but because of who God is, and He would, and will, follow it through to the very letter

-Erik Wesley, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1648995/why_are_the_jews_gods_chosen_people.html?cat=38

< The "Jews" aren't God's chosen people, but instead the "Hebrews."

Many are under the false impression that "the Jews" are God's Chosen, but this is not entirely true. "The Jews" has simply become a blanket description for all Israelites - but in actuality, only someone born into the Tribe of Judah can claim they are Jews. Remember, there were 12 Tribes, Yehudah (Judah/"the Jews") being only one of them, albeit the "favored" one because Yehudah was charged with bringing Torah to the world. And don't forget, Yeshua came from the Tribe of Yehudah...But the fact is, there were no Jews until after Jacob begat the Tribe of Yehudah (Genesis 29:35; Matthew 1:1-2). The Tanach (OT) shows that His Chosen were called Hebrews (Genesis 12), which means "to cross over." (See the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Tanach).

The good news is believing Gentiles who are grafted into the Olive Tree (Israel) automatically become part of Israel. They are "ONE" in Messiah - which doesn't mean they are "Jews"; it means they are are now "Hebrews" and part of spiritual Israel; they are Torah observant believers in Messiah Yeshua.

-http://www.therefinersfire.org/chosen_people.htm