God’s chosen people disappointed him in a mighty way. But he had made a promise to them, and he never breaks his promise. He actually made promises to different members of his chosen people, the Israelites. His promise was that he would bless them and their descendants and make a great nation of them.
Before God gave promises to Isaac and Jacob, he made a promise to Abraham which set the stage for the Israelite nation. Abraham and Sarah were getting up in years without any children, and Abraham knew that he would have to leave his wealth to his servant if he had no sons. But God promised Abraham that his family line would grow to be too numerous to count. He would have children. And he promised this many, many years before Isaac was born.
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-3
Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Genesis 15:5-6
Abraham did not see the beginning of that promise until he was a very old man at his son Isaac’s birth. This promise to Abraham became the stepping stone to the nation of Israel, because out of Abraham’s family line came Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David and a long list of others. The family line can be traced down to Jesus. No wonder God showed favor on this group of people.
Abraham’s son, Isaac, also received a promise from God that he would be blessed. He lived in obedience to God and lived a long life, but he never met his son Jacob’s children. Before God had established with Jacob that he was the head of the Israelite nation, he reconfirmed his promise to Jacob’s father, Isaac.
A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father. I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.” So Isaac stayed in Gerar. Genesis 26:1-6
Abraham’s grandson Jacob, who was Isaac’s son, made an early mess of his life. He coerced his older twin brother into giving away his inheritance and his birthright. This meant that Jacob now would be the successor to their father’s wealth instead of Esau. This caused great trouble in the family, so much trouble that Jacob fled for his life. He went to his grandfather’s house and eventually married two cousins, the sisters Leah and Rachel. Long story short, Jacob fathered twelve sons with the sisters and their two handmaids. Thus began the nation of Israel.
Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord , and he said, “I am the Lord , the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Genesis 28:10-15
He is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout the land. He always stands by his covenant—the commitment he made to a thousand generations. Psalm 105:7-8
Why am I telling the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? What does it matter that God kept his promise even when his chosen people dishonored him time and time again? What does that mean for us today? What can we learn from Israel’s blatant disobedience to a God who chose them over all the other peoples on the face of the earth? Should we give up hope that life will be good even when our nation seems to be crumbling around us?
What did God do in his time of disappointment in a people he had specifically chosen to honor and bless? And believe me. The Israelites disappointed God and angered him not once, but many times over. They sure tested his patience.
The Israelite nation not only bowed to false idols, but they ate sacrifices offered to the dead. They traded their Holy God for a manmade image of a bull. They forgot God and all the wonderful things he had done for them. So he vowed to destroy his chosen people because of their disobedience.
Although the Jewish people turned their back on God long ago, he still calls them favored. He still loves them with an undying love that will never be revoked. He is still keeping the promise he made so many, many years ago. But they won’t escape punishment for their wayward acts of sin and rebellion. We Gentiles must know that we don’t enjoy favored nation status with God, but we will be grafted in when we repent and turn from our wicked ways.
God doesn’t applaud or encourage sins, not for his chosen people or for anyone else. We can’t expect him to show us favor when we don’t show it to him. He requires obedience and humility in our service to him, not haughty pride and self-righteousness. The book of Micah lays out a case against the unkindness, idolatry and injustice of the Jewish nation, but we know that God is in the business of forgiveness for anyone who repents.
Those who call on him have the right to be called children of God. Then and only then do we have full access to his eternal blessings. This is a lesson for us that gives hope and peace in troubling times. God loves us with an everlasting love. He will hear us when we sincerely call on him and obey him with a fully surrendered heart.
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. John 1:12-13
Mercy for the Day 