And that makes a lot of people jealous, then resentful, then angry, then murderous. People with a sense of inferiority (like a significant proportion of the Muslim populace) would rather blame Others than themselves.
The Jews are not a race; there are Jews of every race.
Then why the emphasis on genealogies in the Bible?
Goldberg, the representative of the Jewish people on earth, wanted to meet the boss.
The arrangements were made, and Goldberg was soon ushered into the Gates of Heaven. He was expected. After a short delay, he was brought into the office.
Goldberg said, Hello, I am Goldberg, the representative of the Jewish people on earth. They have sent me here to see YOU.
The Boss responded, Yes, Mr. Goldberg, what can I do for You?
Goldberg approached HIM. You see, they wanted me to ask you if it is true, the we Jews are the chosen people?
The Boss said loud and clear, YES Mr. Goldberg YOU are the chosen people.
Goldberg hesitated a moment, but then spoke.
Well could you do us a favor? Woud you mind choosing somebody else for a change?
Maybe there really isn’t a ‘chosen people’, and this concept is man-made?
Chosen, yes. But.... chosen for what?
Not only that, but the Christian view of the Jews as chosen people is much different than the Jewish view of chosen people.
In fairness.. and this really must be applied here.. the Eastern religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism (as much as that is a philosophy/religion) have no beef with the Jews
In fact in those religions (that cumulatively claim 2 billion+ adherents) don’t spend any/very much time thinking about the Jews
This unhealthy Jewish obsession is strictly a Christian/Islamic phenomenon
:)
Hmmm...
Are the Jews the chosen people? Of course. But there can be long arguments about the purpose for which they were chosen.
Romans 9: 6b - 8: “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.”
Vv. 30 - 32: “30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
It seems there is a physical Israel and a spiritual Israel.
“Namely that God, for whatever reason, chose the Jews.”
God sets down in the OT exactly why he chose the Jews (Israel).
There is an aspect of self-fulfilling prophecy with this whole matter. Dispensationalism etc. That does figure in though I can’t say it is the whole answer.
Not a particularly popular point of view around here, but in my opinion the New Testament is very clear that the Jews WERE God’s chosen people.
They lost this status when they, as a group, chose to reject their Messiah, his son.
Since then, Spiritual Israel has been God’s new chosen people. It is made up of all those who choose to follow Christ, and includes many ethnic Jews on an equal basis with all other ethnic groups.
In the sense that yes, they are the people of God's patriarchs, kings and prophets, who were chosen to bring and safeguard the sacred Scriptures, and later to bring in the Messiah, the savior of all nations, being the recipient of God's covenant with mankind, than yes, of course, the Jews are God's chosen people.
In terms of being superior, and loved at the expense or loss of the rest of mankind, no....
ANYONE may accept the greatest Gift God has given humanity, His chosen Messiah, as God is no respecter of persons....and then, they become born as God's REAL Chosen People:
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (the Jewish Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:11-14)
From the article:
“Can reason alone explain how a hodgepodge of ex-slaves was able to change history — to introduce the moral God-Creator we know as God; to write the world’s most influential book, the Bible; to devise ethical monotheism; to be the only civilization to deny the cyclical worldview and give humanity belief in a linear (i.e., purposeful) history; to provide morality-driven prophets and so much more — without God playing the decisive role in this people’s history?”
“Can reason alone explain ...” No. And thus the entire premise of the author of the article fails. Reason does not explain why God chose whom He did. Christ does. And since Christ is missing in the article’s discussion, all that is left is reason, in this case, the author’s reason. And it is lacking.
- Attempts to destroy all Jews, both historically (Esther) and modern day (Hitler and Muslims).
- The establishment of a Jewish state in 1948.
- The return of Jerusalem to the Jews in 1967.
- The fulfillment of numerous other prophecies regarding the Jewish people and the land of Israel.
But the real reason that the Jews are God's chosen people is because that was God's unconditional, irrevocable covenant with Abraham, which He repeated to Isaac and Jacob:
"Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." {Gen. 12:1-3}
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you. {Gen. 17:7}
Now, I could go on and on, but some key points need to be made:
1) the Jews, through Abraham, were "given" the land of Israel (the Muslims need to take notice of the boundaries), but the promise did not say they would always inhabit it. One of the signs of the end times is that the Jews would be gathered back to Israel from the four corners of the earth, which is happening as we speak.
2) the Jews have not always followed God, so they have not always been blessed (in fact, they have been punished by God on several occassions), but their status as God's chosen people has never changed.
3) neither the Jewish people nor the nation of Israel are a threat to Christians. In fact, Christians have been grafted by God into the same promises - we are fellow heirs.
Somebody ought to tell il Pomposo that the Jews are to be honored above all others as the Chosen People of the Old Testament. That is B.C. We are now living in A.D. While there is tremendous respect, deference, and all honor paid to the Jews in the New Testament, it is quite clear that their tenure as the Chosen People was to be considered over. (Except apparently, for Dennis Prager)
Christian are honor-bound to treat Jews with respect and deference. They are the people who were chosen to prepare the way for Christ, whom huge numbers of them accepted as their Saviour when they became the very first Christians. In fact, the very first Christian controversy was over whether or not one had to become a good Jew before one could become a Christian! (See Paul, Galatians 3:29)
Of course, those Jews who have not yet accepted Christ still consider themselves the Chosen People. Humor that belief. We can straighten them out in Heaven.
There was a Comedy Central sketch a while back, the gist of which was “So you’re the Chosen People of God? Way to blend in!”
I would say that they carry the burden of man in history.