What It Means to Be God’s Chosen People in Scripture
Understanding the Idea of Being "Chosen
Many misunderstand the term "the chosen people" in addition to when some people want to redefine it using contemporary ideas versus scripture. In the Bible, the "chosen people" refers to the Israelites. The Israelites' chosenness was not based on their greatness; the number of people in the group; nor their righteousness. The chosenness of the Israelites was due to the love, purpose, and covenant of The Most High.
Deuteronomy 7:7-8 indicates this. The Most High stated to Israel that He did not choose them because there were more of them than the other peoples; for they were one of the smallest groups. He chose them because of His love for them, and because He desired to maintain the oath He had sworn to their fathers. This is a profound reality. The chosenness of Israel originated in the love of The Most High, and the covenant promise of The Most High.
Chosen Due to Divine Love and Covenant Faithfulness
The call of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not arbitrary. The Most High made promises to their lineage, and these promises continued into the nation of Israel.
When He redeemed Israel from slavery IN ancient Egypt, He acted upon the oath that He had sworn to their ancestors. Their election was rooted in covenant history. It was personal; it was intentional; and it was sacred.
A Separated People
Being chosen in Scripture also indicated being separate. Israel is separated from the surrounding peoples in worship, law, identity, and covenant obligations. They were not to assimilate into the surrounding cultures, nor were they to follow the religious practices of the surrounding peoples.
Deuteronomy 6:14 instructs Israel, "You shall not go after other gods of the gods of the peoples which are around you." This is evidence that the surrounding peoples had their own gods. Therefore, the Israelites were not called to join the surrounding peoples, to emulate them, to center their identity upon serving the religions of the surrounding peoples. Israel belonged exclusively to The Most High in a distinctive covenant relationship.
Their calling was to remain holy and obedient unto Him. They were chosen to be the people of The Most High, selected above all peoples on the face of the earth. Scripture presents this as a divine relationship of possession, love, and separation.
Not Just One More Nation Among Many Nations
Perhaps the greatest error in the discussion of chosenness today is the effort to define chosenness as the opposite of what Scripture defines as such. The Bible does not portray Israel as simply another nation among the many nations. Neither does it state that their identity existed solely for the purpose of validating other peoples. The nations each had their own gods, their own ways, and their own paths.
Israel was chosen for a covenant with The Most High.
This resulted in Israel having responsibilities. They were to observe His laws, to live holy lives, and to remember who they were. Chosenness was not license for arrogance, nor was it to be diminished to the point where it became meaningless. It meant that Israel belonged to The Most High uniquely in a manner established by His promise.
Being Chosen
To be chosen in Scripture means to be loved, claimed, and bound by covenant. To be chosen in Scripture means to be called out from among the nations to be the inheritance of The Most High. It means to understand that Israel's identity was not created by human politics, nor by later tradition, but by the divine promise.
The Israelites were chosen by The Most High because He loved them and because He remembered the oath He had sworn to their ancestors. This is the scriptural basis of their chosenness. Chosenness starts with Him, not with the approval of humanity, and not with the expectations of other nations.
Judith Asher, Author of The True Hebrews Book series