What It Means to Be Chosen

Deuteronomy 7 works as a whole. It begins with God's instructions for His people to totally destroy the nations they are entering. It ends with a reminder not to desire or keep any of these nations' objects of value. In the middle of the chapter, God tells them why.

In the second verse:
Deuteronomy 7:2 (ESV) and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.

And the end:

Deuteronomy 7:25–26 (ESV) The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.

Why are they to totally destroy these objets and all the seemingly valuable things of the nations? God informs them of one important fact: They are being used by God to pronounce the message that He is God and there is no other worth serving.

Notice God's reasoning:

Deuteronomy 7:7–8 (ESV) 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.

Israel was to be a symbol to the world that a people who trust in God's Word will be empowered over any people that trusts any other vain thing no matter where they begin. Israel were slaves, small and insignificant. Yet today they still operate much of the world's leading institutions. Israel teaches us that "God with us" is always far better than any other power for us. 

Deuteronomy 7:9 (ESV) 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,

Israel was to teach the world there IS no OTHER God. Their God was not the god of the sun or the moon or the trees or fertility. He is the source of all things, the Universe's creator. Still to this day, most people understand that. Why? Because of Israel's experience and knowledge of God.

Deuteronomy 7:12–13 (ESV) “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.

Israel was to teach the world that only when we live by God's law can we truly be blessed in God's Universe. These fundamental truths of the Judeo-Christian worldview are all being rooted here in Deuteronomy. It's amazing how we take them for granted today. But Israel was the foundation on which God chose to reveal Himself to us through their experience.


Deuteronomy 7:22–23 (ESV) The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23 But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.

Israel was the trust the process in which God would verify His presence, truth and power among them. They would not be an overnight success. Yet God would be working through them over time to bring about His good purpose. 

This is the one we struggle with most often. We want great things now, blessings now, completion now. But God sees the other things that could work against us when we get things or get somewhere too quickly. I wonder how many Christians get importance, fame or riches far too quickly only to be overridden by the beasts of pride, pleasure and self-reliance. What an incredible truth Israel is presented here. God is in the process of enlarging your life. It will not be too quickly, it will not be too late. Trust the timing and see the results in HIS SEASON.

This is what it means to be chosen. It is a high privilege and brings with it wonderful prosperity. YET it is ultimately for the proclamation of the God we serve! We are chosen to bear witness to the world that HIS WAY is THE WAY. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to know and have REAL LIFE. We may not look like much now, we may be in process, we may have far to go but God purposes and plans do come to pass. Trusting Him and serving Him will bear the fruit of His faithfulness in our lives for the furtherance of His Name.