Editorial - God's Special Treasure
In the Bible we are left in no doubt who the Lord's special treasure is: "For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his special treasure" (Psalm 135:4). We are also assured that there is a good reason for God's choice, and a very important responsibility attached to His choice of a special treasure. And there are conditions to be met.
Moses was God's mouthpiece as far back as Mount Sinai. Soon after the Exodus from Egypt, he stated the IF's attached to the promise of God's choice. "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people" (Exodus 19:5).
At the end of his life, when Moses was rehearsing all the wonderful works of the Lord, from Egypt right up to Israel's imminent entry into the Promised Land, he reminded them: "The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth" (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2).
But although "today the LORD has proclaimed you to be a special people, just as he promised you," once again comes the challenge: "that you should keep all his commandments" (Deuteronomy 26:18).
God intended that His special treasure, on whom He would lavish all His bounty, would be used to bless all the nations, "all the families of the earth" (Genesis 12:3) as He promised Abraham. Firstly, through them, He would give to the world His written Word, the Scriptures. Secondly, through them, He would send His Son, the living Word, the Messiah, to be the Redeemer of mankind.
The Lord has surely fulfilled His purposes as to these two world blessings, so we may ask, "Why then are the people of Israel still in such dire straits? Why are they still estranged from God as a nation? Why is Satan still free to produce anti-Semitism world-wide, his aim being to wipe them out completely?"
These are very valid questions and the only valid answer to them must come from God's Word. According to the prophet Zechariah, the situation promises no relief until they as a nation "look unto him whom they have pierced" and "mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for him as one grieves for a first-born" (12:10).