“King David rose to his feet and said: ‘Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me, “You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.” Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. Of all my sons -- and the LORD has given me many -- he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel’” (1 Chronicles 28:2-5, NIV).
Unlike King Nebuchadnezzar who claimed he ascended to his throne by his own “mighty power” (Dan. 4:30), David acknowledged that “the LORD, the God of Israel, chose…” him to be king.
We also read in Psalm 78:70-71, “He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance.”
It was only after a very painful lesson that Nebuchadnezzar realized that “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses" (Dan. 4:32, NKJV).
But David knew that God is the Most High who chooses.
He chose not only David as king of Israel. He chose also “the tribe of Judah to lead Israel.” And from Judah, God chose the family of David. From among the many sons of David, Solomon was chosen “to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel” and to build God’s house (1 Chron. 28:6).
As the Most High, He chose not only to whom a particular kingdom be given, but also chose a city where to put His name – where to build His physical temple. We read in 2 Chronicles 6:5-6, “`Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built for my Name to be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be the leader over my people Israel. But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel’” (also 1 Kings 14:21).
In the Old Testament, He chose a group of people for Himself. Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 7:6-9:
“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands” (also Deut. 10:14-15; 14:2).
And among the Israelites, “the LORD chose… (the Levites) to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before him forever” (1 Chron. 15:2).
He had chosen also the inheritance for His people, as we read in Psalm 47:4, “He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.”
We also read in Ezekiel 20:5-6, “…`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of the house of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, "I am the LORD your God." On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.’”
Indeed God is portrayed in many instances in His Word as the Sovereign One who chose.
Before, He revealed Himself to His chosen people in Egypt and, now, He has also chosen a people whom He is revealing Himself to them.
Isaiah prophesied it in Isaiah 43:10-13, “’You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed -- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?’"
When Christ was here on earth, He said: "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to WHOM THE SON CHOOSES TO REVEAL HIM” (Matt. 11:27).
Aside from revealing Himself, why did God choose them? When did He choose them? Could we identify them? Is there anything “special” about them why He chose them?
Paul wrote the believers in Ephesus, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…“ (Eph. 1:3-5.)
Believers in Christ have so much to praise and thank God for the blessing just to be chosen to belong to Him, not only to know Him. We read in Psalm 33:12-17, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth -- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.”
God who chose them is able to save them. He declared, “Apart from me there is no savior.” On their own the Israelites could not free themselves from the slavery in Egypt. On our own, we cannot also save ourselves from the slavery of sin and from its penalty.
Again, Paul wrote, this time the believers in Thessalonica, “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13).
Carefully note that those God chose “in Him”, or in Christ “before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” in Ephesians 1 – according to 2 Thessalonians 2, God chose them “to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
And they are chosen to be saved, not when they just started to believe – but “from the beginning” – “before the creation of the world.”
Notice what James wrote:
“He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (James 1:18).
The “birth” he mentioned does not refer to physical birth, but the new birth in John 1:12-13, wherein we read:
“Yet to all who received him (Christ), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God -- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
It was a kind of birth – “NOT of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, BUT BORN OF GOD” – according to James, it was God who “chose to give us” that birth.
Apostle Peter referred to it in 1 Peter 1:23, “For you…” – you, according to verses 1 and 2, the “God’s elect…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ...” – “…have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
According to Peter, God’s elect were chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God,” while in the writings of Paul, they were chosen --“from the beginning” or “before the creation of the world.”
Also, Peter wrote that they were born again – “not of perishable seed” – while John wrote, “not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will.”
And while Peter wrote, “…but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” – James stated, “He chose to give us birth THROUGH THE WORD OF TRUTH.”
Why did God choose them?
When Moses told God, “Now show me your glory,” the Lord answered him:
“I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” ( Ex. 33:19).
It is in God’s glory – in all His goodness – on whom He will show His mercy. We read in Romans 9:22-24, “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath -- prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory -- even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?”
God’s choice of His people is not based on their merit, but on His mercy – on His unconditional love for them. In the selection of the nation of Israel, we read: “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deut. 7:7).
David also acknowledged his unworthiness before God: “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, O God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men, O LORD God” (1 Chron. 17:16-17).
During our time, no one could also boast why God would choose him. No one could say he is chosen, because he is a Jew, for instance (Gal. 5:6; 6:15). Paul wrote:
“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world… God chose the weak things of the world... He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not…so that no one may boast before him. It is BECAUSE OF HIM that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:26-30).
While there are those who claimed that every person now on earth are chosen by God, Paul wrote that we could really know those who are truly chosen.
How could we recognize them?
Paul wrote, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:4-6).
Has God also chosen us?
Do the gospel – God’s Word – come to us not simply with words, but also with power? Do we experience the dwelling of the Holy Spirit? Do we deeply believe in Jesus Christ? Are we aware of the sacrifices made by God’s servants? Do we imitate them, as they imitated the Lord? And in spite of various hardships, are we able to rejoice as the Spirit reveals to us God’s Truth?
PRAYER: Our Most Sovereign God – who is aware of all our weaknesses and sins, yet because of His grace, has shown us Your mercy, choosing us to behold and rejoice in Your Goodness and Love. May You inspire more of Your chosen ones to promote Your Greatness. May You cause more people to be captivated in Your Beauty. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.
