For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Deuteronomy 14:2 KJV
I do not believe many of us, Jew or Gentile, truly understand this statement by the Lord to the people of Israel. To be a holy people means God has set them apart from all the other people of the earth in a unique way. It does not mean they do everything right; Biblical history clearly shows they have not; neither does it mean they can behave any way they want. This rest of the chapter makes this clear. Although God set them apart to himself, he also expected them to live in a way that showed their distinction. However, their position is by his choice, a choice their behavior has never changed, and a choice the rest of the world has never changed. They are a small nation, but peculiar, in that they hold the attention of the world because of their unique relationship with God. Our failure to accept this truth places us in opposition to God and promotes instability for the world.
Lord, I don’t have to fully understand your choice to accept it. I do understand the intention of your choice is to bless the world and you have, for through Israel we have the Scriptures and the Savior.
