Hosea 2:23, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” Daniel 11:15, “So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.”
I love Pastor Steven Anderson, but I disagree with him on various doctrinal matters. One such disagreement is regarding God's “Chosen People.” In his popular "Marching To Zion" documentary (which I agree 99% with), he errantly teaches that the Jews were once God's CHOSEN PEOPLE, but are no longer God's CHOSEN PEOPLE today. I humbly disagree, because unsaved Jews were never God's "chosen people." God's promises have always followed a line of faith. As we just read in Hosea 2:23, God will call future saved Gentiles “my people.” ...
Galatians 3:6-9, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
Amen, all men are justified by faith. Abraham was a heathen, just like you and me. We're all heathens! In Exodus 19:5-6 we read, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”
Carefully notice the very important word "If". This is a conditional promise from God. God's promise to bless the nation of Israel depends upon their conditional obedience. If they disobey, then God is not bound to bless them. The Jews didn't obey, committing spiritual adultery with pagan idols, so God divorced Israel (Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3:8). Although God divorced the nation of Israel, He never cast away His people. God made a way back, but ONLY through faith in Jesus Christ:
Romans 11:20-23, “Well; because of unbelief they [the Jews] were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee [the Gentiles], goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they [the Jews] also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.”
Respectfully said, Pastor Steven Anderson is correct that we (all Christian believers) are the chosen today! But I think he is wrong that unsaved biological Jews were ever at any time, God's "chosen people." In the following lengthy passage of Scripture, we read the frightening curses which God brought upon Israel because of their wicked disobedience:
Leviticus 26:12-25, “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate. And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.”
Wow! Good night in the morning, that is frightening stuff! God warned the Jews (His people) that if they refused to obey Him, all manner of evil would befall them and their families.
The following Bible passage teaches that obedience is required to be one of God's people:
Jeremiah 7:23, “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”
The following Bible passage speaks concerning saved Gentiles in Hosea 2:23, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy [the Gentiles]; and I will say to them which were not my people [the Gentiles], Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” How does this happen? We just read the answer in Romans 11:23. Unbelieving Jews may be graffed back into their own olive tree BY FAITH ALONE:
Galatians 3:6-9, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
So it is a fallacy that unsaved Christ-rejecting Jews were ever God's "CHOSEN PEOPLE." The only thing that I disagree with Pastor Steven Anderson on is his support of Replacement Theology. I don't believe that Christians (the Church) replaced the Jews, I don't believe unsaved Jews were ever God's chosen people! Every Scripture that I have found teaches that God's promises were always conditional upon one's faith in the Messiah. As I just showed you in Jeremiah 7:23, God only promised to adopt the Jews as "My people" if they obeyed Him.
God's promises and blessings were always applicable to a line of faith. The promises were not made to the Jews, but to Christ. Romans 4:13, “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” The Bible couldn't be more clearer that God didn't make a promise to Abraham, nor to his biological descendants (the Jews), but ONLY to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
