The Chosen - Part 1

     My good friend, Roger Cromwell, asked a pertinent question? “Why were the Jews God’s chosen people?” First off, it is important to know who is a Jew. “Jews” are those of the nation of Judah; the nation left last-standing from the Hebrew people. Judah became a nation, not from the tribe of Judah alone, but Benjamin and Judah. The other ten tribes were scattered throughout the world. Of the two, Judah was chosen by God, as can be seen with the following: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Gen 49:10).  In that context “Shiloh” means “Pacificator.” (Jewish Voice; 8-30-2018). It should be obvious, then, that Judah, namely the Jews, would be the tribe from which Jesus would be born.
     Jews did not always exist; It was not always the Jews who were God’s chosen people but different people in different times. We shall see in this commentary who are God’s chosen and who are not!
     If one examines all the passages, Jews, as “the chosen people” was a winnowing process, and ironically, the “winnowing” took place at Ornan’s threshing floor, better known as The Foundation Stone or the Axis Mundi (Axis of the Cosmos). There are two stages in threshing: stomping the harvest to drive out the grain from the chaff, and then to winnow by blowing the chaff from the grain. Ornan’s threshing floor represents judgment and a decision process, and it appears that was why God chose that location for His Temple to be built by Solomon at the instruction of David.
     Not only was Judah the last tribe standing in the winnowing process, but David was the last man standing! God had found his Jew from which Shiloh would come – King David.  With whom did the “winnowing” start? “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mat 1:1). Note that in Matthew 1:1 that scripture speaks of the generation of Jesus, and not by coincidence, Genesis 1:1 speaks of the generation of the Heaven and Earth. God’s Plan from day one was Jesus Christ as King of the Heaven and Earth – the Heaven as His throne, and the Earth as His footstool. (Isa 66:1).
     The winnowing process began with Adam. "The Word" of God struck a deal with him: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). God chose for Himself a man to redeem mankind. Animals would not suffice, but were a temporary sacrifice to be repeated yearly by the High Priest. The winnowing began with a living soul. God chose Adam for the winnowing process because he required redemption. Adam wasn’t a Jew, though. He was mankind. His name even means “man” (Etymology Online). Keep Adam’s name in mind, though, because Genesis 3:15 has great meaning for all mankind!
     The winnowing process continued with Noah, as he represented righteous mankind. He would be David’s line as well as all mankind’s. Jesus, of course, was the “second Adam” but Noah was a facsimile of Jesus as he was the Pacificator who saved mankind by himself being righteous. The first inkling of a Jew came from Noah… Shem by name. Shem is the father of the Semite nations – Jews and Arabs. God chose Shem as the pathway to the Messiah because he was more righteous. The winnowing process was still active, as God had another idea in mind when it was written:

And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (Gen 9:25-27)

     Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  Shem and Japheth covered Noah’s nakedness out of respect after Ham apparently disrespected Noah. The winnowing process eliminated Ham’s line, and his son, Canaan was cursed. He would not be the line of David nor the Pacificator because it was Shem and Japheth who pacified Noah and God. The two, in effect, covered the flesh (sin) of Noah and were both symbolic of what Jesus would do for all mankind!
     It appears that both Shem and Japheth were righteous and Noah prophesied that Japheth would dwell in the tents of Shem. They are joint heirs of God. Shem represents the Jews of Judah which is well-known by the term, “Semite.”  Japheth represents most of the northern and western hemisphere – the Gentile world. Noah left a clue there; the Semites would lead and the Gentiles would follow. Keep that in mind as the winnowing process is narrowed to Shem’s descendants.
     Next came the Hebrews, the namesake of Eber, the ancestor of the Ishmaelites and Israelites; the former being the son of Abraham, and the latter the son of Jacob, called “Israel” by pre-incarnate Jesus. Keep in mind, that as Jesus was “The Word” throughout patriarchal times, Jesus (God) was selecting his own flesh, and establishing his own genealogy by who was the most righteous.
     Of course, that raises the question, “Did God make them righteous for His Name sake, or were they inclined to prefer righteousness?” Since all are called: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28), that some degree of love pre-exists in those who respond. (That is in opposition to “total depravity, by the way. Mankind would be totally depraved if it was not sensing that God cares for them.)
     Now let us back-up a bit: Cain was somehow illegitimate. I believe that he was born in iniquity as was David. What I mean by that, is that he was a result of pleasure, not obedience to multiplication. Eve exclaimed, “I have gotten a man from the Lord” (Gen 4:1). Cain was from sinful Eve whereas Jesus was from righteous Mary. That is true, as the following demonstrates: “Cain, who was of that wicked one” (1 John 3:1). Eve begat Cain but it was through the law of sin of the Devil. Satan hand-picked Cain as heir to Jesus, but God picked righteous Abel.
     The world is not just one big automaton with humans having no influence on events. God surely picked Abel as the chosen one, but Satan circumvented that! However, because of God’s foreknowledge, He knew the chain of events. He as much as told Adam and Eve (Gen 3:15) that it would not be through Cain who was not yet even born. In order to continue the winnowing, since Satan killed God’s chosen one, Seth became the new heir for God. Genesis 3:15 was meant for Seth’s line, and the winnowing continued to see who was the most righteous!
     The Abrahamic Covenant was God choosing his people. He even arranged a test of faith. He asked Abraham to do to his son, what God would do to His own Son years later. Abraham was faithful. His line was chosen because Abraham demonstrated faith. He was willing to sacrifice his only remaining son.  “Willing” is a key word in scripture. Obedience is not the final straw, but the willingness to obey! Paul validated that when he wrote, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41).    Thus, it is the attitude toward God that is meaningful, not the action. Righteousness is based on attitude, then, not obedience to strict laws. Everyone of God’s chosen, even pre-dating the Jews, was selected based on their attitudes toward God. It seems, then, that God was choosing those for His own flesh according to their attitudes; are they willing to trust Him?
     Abraham was the epitome of faith. The faith of Christians to this day are measured against the faith of Abraham (Rom 4:16). That raises another question, “Was God really choosing them, or were they choosing God?” Perhaps the choice was theirs and God honored their choice just as he does today with all Christians, remembering that all are called but few are chosen!
     With the Abrahamic Covenant, God winnowed some more. Thereafter the Hebrews were the chosen people because of Abraham’s great faith. The Covenant even promised that the Pacificator would come through Abraham’s seed – his genes.
    Not to cover each step, but the winnowing continued in eliminating the Ishmaelites who became children of Cain, so to speak, and have their own religion – Islam. Then Esau was winnowed out as Isaac took his birthright. Shortly thereafter, Jacob wrestled with Jesus and won out (Gen 32:24)! Jacob showed respect for Jesus as well as fortitude. Jesus chose Jacob to bear him, and renamed him “Israel.” The Israelites became the chosen people, and the winnowing continued! God had chosen Israel, the person and the nation for David’s line and Jesus as the Son of David:

In this house (David’s), and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: (2 King 21:7),  And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel. (2 King 23:27)

     God was showing his future plans for the birth of the Pacificator. Israel was chosen, but he warned that Judah was in jeopardy just as the nation of Israel had been. Israel, under King David and Solomon, was split into Israel and Judah. Israel destroyed itself by sinful living; they were not willing to obey God, and Judah was poised to do the same thing! God always used the same criteria in winnowing, and Israel was about to be winnowed off the threshing floor. The criterion for being to good seed was who and what peoples were holy, according to the following:

Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. (Num 16:5)

(Cont. tomorrow).