God’s Chosen People? > What does it mean to be chosen of God? It likely means a great deal of responsibility and opportunity you will be well rewarded for someday, if you’re faithful to the calling. It can mean great hardship and persecution, as well as great joy, power, and reward. Through the precious blood of His Son, Jesus, God now has many chosen people in His heavenly family, but what of Israel? What can we say of Israel in particular, as we see the center of the earth continues to be the Temple Mount?

Do we stay with Israel even when we may not like what we see them doing? First, lets consider the feelings of Jesus in human terms. Israel is the nation of people whom God chose in Abraham for Jesus to be born into. Therefore, the Jews are His earthly kin in the flesh! His earthly mother, father, brothers and sisters, friends, relatives, and so forth! How do you feel about your earthly family? We too, have both an earthly and heavenly family. When we get born-again in Christ, do our feelings for our family in the flesh just fall away?

Israel, Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, and Temple Mount are still our Lord’s earthly home. The place God chose for His Son to grow up. Even though they were under Roman rule and Jesus would eventually be nailed to a cross by Roman rule and Jewish manipulation, that whole area is still Jesus earthly home. He played there as a child. He likely had his favorite places. Worked with his earthly father building houses. He began and fulfilled His ministry there, and Jewish disciples ran with His message! His ministry that began in Israel has succeeded to the whole world! God’s Word seems to indicate that area will always be special! Would it not be to you, if you chose it out of all the earth?

Third, consider the persecution and suffering they have endured because Jesus was born unto them. Remember all the babies that were slaughtered three years old and under? And that was just the beginning! Israel is directly connected to the Bible and birth of Christ, and this world is not going to let them forget! Every Bible hating person likely blames Israel at least in part. God has seen how much they have been persecuted because God chose them, and He will not overlook that fact.

If you knew you would be targeted of all nations, would you want to be chosen? Would you say, yes, choose me? Their whole life has been a fight to survive and accomplish their task from God. Thousands of years now, and it is still going on. Even as Israel believes they need to rebuild their Temple in order to get back to fulfilling their God assigned holy task. Their struggle against the unfairness of this world continues.

But here is the thing, we know, according to God’s Word, somehow Israel comes back to God and plays a big part in the end times. Perhaps God shows us this so that during this time of questionable and confusing events, we can know Israel is still who you want to be with in the end! Book of Revelation, chapter 7, we see a “holy pause” on events and God declares this: >

“Then I saw another angel rising from where the sun rose, carrying the seal of the Living God. He thundered to the four angels assigned the task of hurting earth and sea, ‘Don’t hurt the earth! Don’t hurt the sea! Don’t so much as hurt a tree until I’ve sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!’ I heard the count of those who were sealed: 144,000! They were sealed out of every tribe of Israel: …” (Revelation 7:2-4 Message Bible).

Israel will yet be the Champion of God she is called and chosen to be! The Apostle Paul speaks about how the natural limb can be grafted back in, so much easier than a wild branch, which is us! And it sounds as if these 144,000 will go forth in the worst of times with the greatest of messages! They will be protected of God, and they will accomplish the task in the most critical of times. In the end, we will be very proud of them, even as we are grateful to them now, even though they may not yet understand. Their eyes are going to be opened! And look out earth, when that happens!

So yes, maybe we struggle now and question if Israel are doing the right thing? But God has shown what they shall be! I cannot say how they get there. Likely through even more pain and suffering. But I know in the end, who I want to be standing with. How about you? L7D.