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“"All the Earth Is Mine"”
Categories: authority, salvationMoses had led Israel out of Egypt to the foot of mysterious Mt. Sinai. And…
The Lord called to [Moses] out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exod. 19.3–6)
Some believe God only cared about Israel in the Old Testament and only now under Jesus does He care for all nations. Not true! God did not abandon the rest of the world when He chose, blessed, and set His love on Israel. In fact, through Israel He blessed the world. That was always His plan.
Nothing inherently beautiful, wonderful, or good in Israel made God pick them out of the other nations. God assured them of this in Deuteronomy 7 and 8:
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 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, 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.” (Deut. 7.6–8)
God did not choose them because of their strength or numbers.
“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. (Deut. 9.4–6)
God did not choose them because of their righteousness.
God loved them because He loved them. If God chooses to deal with man in this way, who is man to speak back to Him? If God chooses to deal with man today through Jesus Christ, and if He demands that we love Him with heart, soul, strength, and mind, and if He demands that we love our neighbor as ourselves, shall we then speak back to God?
Back in Exodus 19.5, God said, “All the earth is Mine.” Even when He chose Israel, He reigned sovereignly over all the nations, and all nations were still subject to Him. Their relationship with God was different than Israel’s, but God had not abandoned the rest of the world.
In Jesus Christ we see the fullness of God’s plan rolled out to all people, and this is why John 3.16–18 is so sweet to Christians today:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…”
Like Israel of old, God’s new Israel (Christians) are not chosen because we are mighty or super-righteous. He chooses us because He loves us, has mercy on us, and blesses us in His Son—through our faith in Jesus’ name.
Praise God! All the world is His.
