Why did God choose the Jews from all to be His people?

[minichibi]

Why would God choose to reveal Himself to the Jews (only!) from all people in this ridiculously full of different ethnicities world? Why did all curses come to the Jews when they worshipped other Gods, while all the other civilizations who worshipped hundreds and tons of different Gods had all the strength, all the glory? Why is Yahweh the one true God, and not Brahma, Zeus, Shiva, Ptah, or any other deity?

 

[minichibi]

Please, I want to know this from a Catholic/Christian/Jew point of view only… no atheistic, pantheistic, buddhist, paganic or other religions replies for now…

 

[studentlove]

From what I understand everything took place in the Middle East. Hence God choose a group of people within that region. God choose Abraham because he was a man of faith. It was through his seed that the Law, Prophets and promises were to be made.

 

[minichibi]

From what I understand everything took place in the Middle East. Hence God choose a group of people within that region. God choose Abraham because he was a man of faith. It was through his seed that the Law, Prophets and promises were to be made.

But the Middle East isn’t the whole world. Why did God “forget” India, China and the Americas? Why not them but the Middle East?

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Why would God choose to reveal Himself to the Jews (only!) from all people in this ridiculously full of different ethnicities world? Why did all curses come to the Jews when they worshipped other Gods, while all the other civilizations who worshipped hundreds and tons of different Gods had all the strength, all the glory? Why is Yahweh the one true God, and not Brahma, Zeus, Shiva, Ptah, or any other deity?

You’re gonna have to ask Him when you see Him - all of these questions cannot be answered here on earth. Well, the last one can - because only God is GOD!

 

[GEddie]

He chose the Middle East because it is the crossroads of three continents, whence His message could go out to all the world.

Within the ME, HE chose the Hebrews/Israelites/Jews because they were the smallest of the nations in the region, so they would depend upon Him. That did not work so well

ICXC NIKA

 

[PennyinCanada]

Why chose the Jews? Because they were the smallest nation. Plus, He had to start somewhere.

Adam: God made a marriage covenant
Noah: God established a household covenant
Abraham: a tribal covenant
Moses: a national covenant
David: a national kingdom covenant
Can you see where this is headed?

Christ, the universal covenant, who placed Peter on the seat of Prime Minister. Worldwide, all nations. Mary, on receiving the news that she was to be the mother of Christ, said, “All generations will call me blessed”. So not only universal, but till the end of the world.

There is a design, a plan, that we can follow, going through centuries, because it is God made.

 

[mark_a]

Why chose the Jews? Because they were the smallest nation. Plus, He had to start somewhere.

Adam: God made a marriage covenant
Noah: God established a household covenant
Abraham: a tribal covenant
Moses: a national covenant
David: a national kingdom covenant
Can you see where this is headed?

Christ, the universal covenant, who placed Peter on the seat of Prime Minister. Worldwide, all nations. Mary, on receiving the news that she was to be the mother of Christ, said, “All generations will call me blessed”. So not only universal, but till the end of the world.

There is a design, a plan, that we can follow, going through centuries, because it is God made.

Hmmm… Something to chew on. I like it!! Thanks for posting!

 

[studentlove]

^GEddie’s post Makes sense to me.

Also salvation was made possible to the entire world through his Son Jesus Christ. So it’s not that God ignored the rest of the world. He choose the people who would best carry out his covenant because of the situation they were in. Other people’s had their own religions etc. Other peoples were better of so maybe they wouldn’t take his covenant seriously I don’t know.

 

[SonCatcher]

But the Middle East isn’t the whole world. Why did God “forget” India, China and the Americas? Why not them but the Middle East?

He didn’t forget them. Many of those cultures has prophesies that a savior would come in the East/West/North/South/Across the sea, all signs pointing essentially to Israel (who had prophesies that the savior would come from their own nation).

 

[danserr]

Why would God choose to reveal Himself to the Jews (only!) from all people in this ridiculously full of different ethnicities world? Why did all curses come to the Jews when they worshipped other Gods, while all the other civilizations who worshipped hundreds and tons of different Gods had all the strength, all the glory? Why is Yahweh the one true God, and not Brahma, Zeus, Shiva, Ptah, or any other deity?

Yahweh is the true God because the evidence we have indicates that he revealed Himself in the person of Jesus of Nazareth who was professed to unique divine authority and who rose from the dead.

The Jews were required to worship God because they had made a covenant promising that they would be faithful to God. When they violated that covenant then, the were punished for it. Those worshiping other deities were not treated likewise because they had not made the same covenant with God. (though this did not give them a free pass, they sometimes were punished for their wicked behavior).

Why did God choose the Jews? I don’t know if we have a full answer to that, and I don’t know that we need one. We know that when God tested Abraham, God made a promise to Abraham to bless him and his descendants, so it seems that Abraham’s faithfulness to God is why God chose the Israelites. God revealed Himself specifically to the Israelites in that way to prepare them for His final revelation in Jesus of Nazareth. At this point (after the Resurrection), the apostles were commanded to preach the Gospel to all the world.

 

[meltzerboy]

Why would God choose to reveal Himself to the Jews (only!) from all people in this ridiculously full of different ethnicities world? Why did all curses come to the Jews when they worshipped other Gods, while all the other civilizations who worshipped hundreds and tons of different Gods had all the strength, all the glory? Why is Yahweh the one true God, and not Brahma, Zeus, Shiva, Ptah, or any other deity?

Of course one might also ask why G-d chose this one small planet in all the universe to reveal Himself. But leaving that question aside for the moment, there is a belief in Judaism that G-d actually chose other people to give them the Torah before He chose Israel, the least likely candidate in terms of its might and power. However, the other nations did not freely choose G-d, at least not the monotheistic G-d common to the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. And before Moses, Abraham had already initiated the process by himself choosing G-d on the basis of his reason as well as his faith. This response no doubt avoids the whole issue of why G-d had to choose anyone or any nation to spread His Word. I think it is based on the important concept of free will, namely the necessity of our approaching G-d rather than the reverse. The people G-d chose came closest to approaching G-d, although there have certainly been many times they have not lived up to their status. The notion of chosenness is not meant to suggest any kind of superiority, but is instead an awesome responsibility.

 

[Vouthon]

The Jews were a weak, oppressed people. God exalts the humble and humbles the exalted

I have heard it said that God called all nations to receive Torah but only the Jews heeded the call. Their “chosen”-ness is not a superiority over other races but rather Israel is God’s chosen instrument through which to bless every other nation and bring the knowledge of God and the Covenant to them.

It was thus their receptivity, as well as pre-ordained foresight, which motivated God to choose the Jewish people as his own and take them under his wing.

 

[Dorothy]

Why would God choose to reveal Himself to the Jews (only!) from all people in this ridiculously full of different ethnicities world? Why did all curses come to the Jews when they worshipped other Gods, while all the other civilizations who worshipped hundreds and tons of different Gods had all the strength, all the glory? Why is Yahweh the one true God, and not Brahma, Zeus, Shiva, Ptah, or any other deity?

Because the Jews worshipped one God, not many strange gods like the pagan nations around them. In Scripture it tells about Abraham, our father in faith, and the beginnings of the Jewish faith. God made a covenant with Abraham, and other prophets.

This was in preparation for the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate in Mary, and ultimately died so that we may live forever. Jesus had to be born of Jewish lineage, because they were the people in whom the Incarnation would take place!

When the Jews broke the covenant by not obeying God and inter-marrying with pagans who did things such as sacrificing their infants in fire, and also temple prostitution, then the Lord allowed them to suffer many hardships according to bring them back to the purity of worshipping one God and following the commandments.

So the “curses” were to bring His people back to Him! Thankfully there was always a remnant that lived righteously, but the majority were disobeying the Lord and doing their own thing.

The Jews and the Christians got their faith from Divine Revelation. God revealed Himself to them.

Zeus and the others were made up characters by the pagan people who did not have Divine Revelation.

 

[minichibi]

Thank you all for all your GREAT answers All of them seem to be equally valid to me

 

[minichibi]

Because the Jews worshipped one God, not many strange gods like the pagan nations around them. In Scripture it tells about Abraham, our father in faith, and the beginnings of the Jewish faith. God made a covenant with Abraham, and other prophets.

This was in preparation for the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate in Mary, and ultimately died so that we may live forever.

When the Jews broke the covenant by not obeying God and inter-marrying with pagans who did things such as sacrificing their infants in fire, and also temple prostitution, then the Lord allowed them to suffer many hardships according to bring them back to the purity of worshipping one God and following the commandments.

So the “curses” were to bring His people back to Him! Thankfully there was always a remnant that lived righteously, but the majority were disobeying the Lord and doing their own thing.

The Jews and the Christians got their faith from Divine Revelation. God revealed Himself to them.

Zeus and the others were made up characters by the pagan people who did not have Divine Revelation.

Good point, but why didn’t God stop the pagans from doing all these “evil things”? Why didn’t God reveal to them in the beginning of times so that they would have known better what is right and what is wrong?

There are also “prophets” from other religions that claim as much that their god spoke to them… what about Zarathustra who claimed to have spoken to his god? What about the prophets of Baal? What about Mohammad? And Buddha? The Shamans? Did they all make their deities up? Why did they create imaginary deities and believed in the existence of the imaginary deities they created themselves? Seems rather ilogical to me

 

[GEddie]

But the Middle East isn’t the whole world. Why did God “forget” India, China and the Americas? Why not them but the Middle East?

He did not forget them . Saint Thomas (who touched our LORD’s resurrectional limbs) made his way to India by AD 45, and no doubt their descendants went on to China.

As to the Americas; God for His own reasons created a world geography that could not be all reached without oceanic crossings. Remember how in Scripture the Hebrews were kept in Egypt until the Land was “ready” for them? No doubt God had very good reasons for leaving the New World alone until the children of the Covenant were ready to get in the water

ICXC NIKA.

 

[Dorothy]

Good point, but why didn’t God stop the pagans from doing all these “evil things”? Why didn’t God reveal to them in the beginning of times so that they would have known better what is right and what is wrong?

There are also “prophets” from other religions that claim as much that their god spoke to them… what about Zarathustra who claimed to have spoken to his god? What about the prophets of Baal? What about Mohammad? And Buddha? The Shamans? Did they all make their deities up? Why did they create imaginary deities and believed in the existence of the imaginary deities they created themselves? Seems rather ilogical to me

God gave everyone free will. What God gives He does not take back. When the ten plagues were sent to Pharoah’s land, Pharoah saw that the God of the Israelites was powerful. Pharoah then let the people go, and then he changed his mind to go after them. So what happened? They all drowned.

Pharoah and those pagan people were aware of the power of God, but stayed with their pagan beliefs.

Prophets from other religions can claim they heard God all they want; none of them rose from the dead.

 

[eternalrest]

Why would God choose to reveal Himself to the Jews (only!) from all people in this ridiculously full of different ethnicities world? Why did all curses come to the Jews when they worshipped other Gods, while all the other civilizations who worshipped hundreds and tons of different Gods had all the strength, all the glory? Why is Yahweh the one true God, and not Brahma, Zeus, Shiva, Ptah, or any other deity?

Because Abraham trusted in him and obeyed him, so God blessed Abraham and created children from him. Read Salvation is from the Jews by Roy Schoeman salvationisfromthejews.com/

 

[farpinho]

I would also recommend this book, amazon.com/A-History-Jews-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060915331/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top A History of the Jews, by Paul Johnson.

“The Jews,” Paul Johnson writes, “stand right at the centre of the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of a purpose. Does their own history suggest that such attempts are worth making? Or does it reveal their essential futility?”

Also, according to Paul Johnson, “The Jews were the best historians of the ancient world”, because they believed that God was teaching them through History.