by Leonard V Johnson
Have you ever wondered why the LORD God (the Elohim, the family of God ── which at this time consists of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ) raised up the children of Israel – the kingdom of Israel – yet denied them the glorious Holy Spirit and eternal salvation, except the prophets?
I’d like to cover this important subject.
Why Is There A “Chosen People”?
Why did the LORD God choose the people of Jacob/Israel ── yet come to deny them the glorious Holy Spirit to beget them into eternal life?
What were they “chosen” for? Was it be a “special people”? Was it for “special favors”? Is the LORD God a respecter of peoples?
Well… to help us to properly understand, let’s go back within God’s living word to Adam & Eve. Because the true reason behind why the people of Israel became the LORD God’s “chosen people” is actually an integral part of God’s Master Plan ── From the Beginning.
Also, have you ever realized that God’s living word – the Holy Bible – is actually a Book concerning one man’s family ── the family of Abraham. And that God’s living word only speaks of other peoples as they come into contact with that one man’s family ── that being the nation of Israel?
Also, and here’s something that you might not realize ── or, for that matter, realized by any religion, including Judaism, the kingdom of Israel was not Jewish. We find that the first place within God’s word in which the term “Jew” is used is in 2 Kings 16:6, where Israel is at war against “the Jews”! The term “Jew” is derived from the name of Judah, who was the fourth son of Jacob/Israel.
The descendants of Jacob/Israel were indeed chosen by the LORD God. Yet, they were not chosen as a “teacher’s pet,” or for any “special favors.” They were truly chosen for a special purpose to prepare the glorious kingdom of God ── a purpose which they would come to refuse to comply with.
The LORD God is actually REPRODUCING THEMSELVES (Genesis 1:26) in and through man. And the LORD God’s ultimate purpose is far beyond anything that mankind can imagine! (1 Corinthians 2:9)!
So, again, to properly understand, let us go back a bit briefly.
The First “Humans”
The Word (John 1:3) created our very first parents ── Adam & Eve ── created physically in God’s image and in God’s likeness. Yet, they were unfinished pieces of God’s work, because spiritual character was yet to be developed in them and their offspring. And the LORD God cannot just create godly character by fiat; it has to be developed.
Physically, this pair was “very good” ── meaning they had no chronic ailments or tendencies toward any physical illnesses or diseases. Surely this is evidenced by the fact that Adam lived to be 930 years old and died (Genesis 5:5). Adam & Eve had several sons and daughters, but only THREE SONS are named in his genealogy ── Cain, Abel, and Seth.
Now, both Adam & Eve had rejected the LORD God as the ultimate revealer of right knowledge and had rejected the kingdom of God. They instead had chosen only “the knowledge of good and evil” ── meaning they instead only wanted to rely on themselves to determine what they consider “good” and what is “evil.” And it’s no different today. They had instead chosen the way of vanity, pride, covetousness, envy, jealousy, the wrong kind of competition which leads to strife and contempt, violence and self-destruction, and an outright rebellion against right authority.
Their oldest son, Cain, became a murderer and a liar. And even though Seth was born after “righteous Abel” was murdered, and “men began to call on the name of the LORD” ── which meant that men began to include the name of God (El) in their name ── mankind as a whole would descend into ever-greater violence and the ‘wickedness of man became great in the earth, every intent of their heart was only evil’ – Genesis 6:5.
In fact, according to God’s word, from the time of Adam until Noah, only one man is recorded as having truly “walked with God” ── Enoch.
So, ‘it came to pass, when men began to greatly multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God (those of the lineage of Seth) saw the daughters of men (those of the lineage of Cain), and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose’ – cf. Genesis 6:1-2.
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12) So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” – Genesis 6:11-12.
What was this “corruption”? In the Old Testament, corruption can refer to literal, physical decay (cf. Job 17:14; Psalm 16:10), but mostly corruption is used to indicate moral corruption and depravity (Exodus 32:7; Hosea 9:9). And this outright lawlessness and global corruption were rampant, causing great suffering, anguish, and frustration upon an evil humanity.
The LORD became ‘sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He became grieved in His heart. So, the LORD decided to destroy mankind whom He had created’ ── Genesis 6:5-7.
The LORD brought about ‘floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.’ ── Genesis 6:13-17.
Yet, one man found grace in the eyes of the LORD ── Noah. “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” – Genesis 6:8, 9.
The LORD God was willing to give humanity a fresh new beginning.
One Man “perfect in his generations.”
Noah ── “blameless” in his generations-- has listed in his genealogy, THREE SONS ── Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So, there became three major racial strains upon the earth ── white, yellow, and black. All peoples have come from these three racial strains. Now, contrary to popular belief, there is evidence that Adam & Eve were created as what is known as “white.” Also, I’ve taken an art class ── you cannot get the color white from black. Also, the LORD God’s chosen peoples were “white.” Our Lord Jesus Christ was “white.” As I have conjectured before, Noah had what has come to be known as “albinism.” 1 Men with albinism can have children with different-colored skin. The LORD, within His living word, reveals to us the skin colors of Noah’s three sons by where their descendants would come to dwell.
By the time of Noah, “the sons of God (those of the lineage of Seth) had taken as wives the daughters of men (those of the lineage of Cain)” – Genesis 6:2. Now, using the general guide provided by the Bible, it is possible to isolate many specific features about the society before the Flood. Consider, first of all, the “giants” of Genesis 6:4. Can they be identified in terms of archaeology and history? The English word “giants” is used in various places in the Authorized or King James Version of the Bible. It is translated from two original Hebrew words – Rephaim and Nephilim. The Rephaim are mentioned only after the Flood; they were tall men, like the Anakim. The term Rephaim [the Moabites calling them Emim] is translated “giants” in Deuteronomy 2:11, 20, and other places; and they are mentioned directly in Genesis 14:5 and 15:20. I speak of “giants” in our sermon “Giants On the Earth In Those Days” as well as in our articles “Why So Many Don’t Understand Pentecost” and “Evaluating Evolutionary Theories Around Life’s Origins.”
So, these “mighty men who were of old, men of renown” born from this unwholesome union between the children of God and the daughters of men had only brought about ‘every intent of the thoughts of mankind's heart evil continually.’ Our Lord Jesus Christ has told us, looking toward the end of this present evil age, just before His return and the establishment of His kingdom, that world conditions would be ‘as in the days of Noah’ – cf. Matthew 24:37-39. “’ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, …’” – verse 38. So again, unwholesome unions.
As I have been proclaiming for a while now, when our Lord Jesus Christ asks, “’ Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes will He really find faith on the earth?’” – Luke 18:8, He’s not just speaking about “faith in God,” or “Faith in Jesus,” or even “faith in the gospel” ── but rather it’s more akin to FAITH IN A CREATOR! Before the Flood, family religion was put to an end through marriage, and children were being trained up according to the world's maxims of those parents who were without belief in a Creator or any fear of a God. Today, millions of people globally do not care for the living word of God, becoming known as “nones.” 2
So then, in what way did ‘eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage’ have to do with the extreme evil which caused the LORD God to destroy ‘everything that was on the earth’ at that time? Except for the eight people in Noah’s family? Again, His phrase ‘eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage’ signifies a time of indifference to God and of mankind’s complacency toward a Creator, where people will again be solely engaged in their everyday activities without a thought of God or their impending judgment.
To Note: The reason that the LORD God abhorred the sons of God (those of the lineage of Seth) and the daughters of men (those of the lineage of Cain) to intermarry had nothing to do with skin color or ethnicity. Rather, it had to do with religion. A similar principle of spiritual purity is laid out in the New Testament. Still, it has nothing to do with race: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14). God’s living word does not teach against interracial marriage. Anyone who claims that the LORD God only wanted “one pure race” is doing so against the authority of Jesus Christ. We should be reminded that Moses came to marry a Cushite woman, often identified as Ethiopian, after his first wife, Zipporah ── Numbers 12:1. Most people don’t or won’t even mention this – including Shannon Bream in her book The Women of the Bible Speak.
The LORD ‘Scatters’ Mankind Abroad
So, the families of the sons of Noah ──Shem, Ham, and Japheth ── according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the Flood.
Not long after the Flood, ‘the whole earth had one language and one speech.’
“And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar [Southern Mesopotamia, which corresponds to modern-day Iraq], and they dwelt there.” – Genesis 11:2. So the world’s population was all speaking one language and one speech, and gathering together they came to build the ‘tower of Babel.’ They built for themselves a city (called Babel) and a tall tower.
Why did they create a city and this tall tower?
To make a name for themselves ── which truly means for human ambition, pride, pursuit of self-glorification instead of the LORD God (Genesis 11:4).
And why did the LORD God come to scatter them abroad over the face of the whole earth? In the Old Testament, God commanded the children of Israel not to marry certain people to avoid idolatry, not to try to enforce racial separation. As an example, Deuteronomy 7:3-4 cautioned the children of Israel against marrying Canaanites due to their idol worship, not their ethnicity.
“And the LORD said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now NOTHING that they propose to do will be withheld from them.’” – Genesis 11:6.
So, again, not long after the Flood, the LORD God had commanded humanity to “Be fruitful and multiply, and FILL THE EARTH.” – Genesis 9:1. But, humanity decided to do the exact opposite. They came to travel from the east and landed in the plain of Shinar. They ── all speaking one language and one speech ── decided to construct a giant, tall tower as a symbol of their power, their prestige, their glory, to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4).
“’ Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ 8) So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, …” – Genesis 11:7, 8.
So, the LORD confused the languages there in the city of Babel to enforce their command for humanity to spread throughout the entire world.
Now, I do want to remind you that I have said before that the LORD God never designed any nation to be a great “melting pot.” Book of Acts – Verse 26, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and had determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”
Israel Raised Up
Here we come to Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. A direct descendant of Abraham’s. The prophet Moses led the LORD God’s people through the Exodus, and the kingdom of Israel was brought into being. Now, although God’s word doesn’t specifically reveal to us how Moses discovered that he was a Hebrew, or heard about the God of the Hebrews, it does, however, reveal that “when Moses was grown, he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens.” – Exodus 2:11. Surely, the LORD God caused Moses to be trained specifically for this commission by having him raised as a prince to the Pharaoh of Egypt.
So again, the question is asked, why did the LORD God raise a “special people” that would become the kingdom of Israel? And then not allow them access to His glorious Holy Spirit?
The answer: Notice Deuteronomy 7:7-9 ── “’ The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8) but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.’” – Deuteronomy 7:7-8.
The LORD God chose the descendants of Jacob/Israel to be the people through whom our Savior, Jesus Christ, would be born. The LORD first promised the Messiah after Eve was deceived (1 Tim. 2:14) ── Genesis 3:15. And the LORD later confirmed that the Messiah would come from the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ──
“Now the LORD had said to Abram: … 3) … And in you [Abraham] all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” – Genesis 12:1, 3. Which has a dual meaning. The blessings that would come to the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and her Commonwealth Nations, as well as because of the glorious birth of our Messiah.
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the ultimate reason why the LORD chose Israel to be His “special people.” Again, and I can’t emphasize this enough ── Anyone who claims that the LORD God only wanted “one pure race” is doing so against the authority of Jesus Christ.
The LORD’s Covenant with Israel
Israel ── the name ISRAEL – Leviticus 23; ‘the children of Israel’ – ISRAEL means “struggle with God” #3478 – However, many other Bible help books (and I realize that the Strong’s Concordance isn’t the most accurate, or maybe the most extensive word study help you can use; my hardback states “struggle with God” – the Online Strong’s states “He will rule as God”). Think about all the times in your Bible we hear about the children of Israel, the house of Israel, the people of Israel – even the Church at times is called the Israel of God. In the very name Israel, is the destiny of all humankind!
Through Moses, the LORD spoke to the children of Israel His proposition. “’ 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; … 6) And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ …” – Exodus 19:5, 6.
“Then all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do.’ …” – verse 8.
IF they would obey His voice and commands and keep His agreement, He would prosper them and make them the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. But understand, all of the LORD’s promises were of a national and material nature ── none included spiritual salvation.
At that time, they agreed. So, they became the LORD’s chosen nation.
The LORD’s purpose for them had a definite relation to preparing for the ultimate spiritual Kingdom of God ── when the government of God would be established over all the earth, and spiritual salvation would then be offered to all humanity!
So, the LORD entered into an agreement (a Covenant) with the children of Jacob/Israel ── those children being of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Making them His special holy nation. And this agreement (Covenant) also represented a marriage covenant. It was the physical type of the yet to come until the Messiah of the NEW COVENANT.
Preparing A Kingdom
Why did the LORD prepare and raise the kingdom of Israel? And for that matter, why did the LORD God create mankind in the first place? Again, the LORD God is reproducing themselves, eventually creating mankind in their own perfect, righteous, and holy character ── which will 1) Establish their government over the whole earth, to ultimately produce, create, billions of God beings to finish the creation of the unfinished vast universe, and 2) to create even more, which the LORD God has not yet revealed to mankind!
EVERYTHING that the LORD God has done since ‘in the beginning’ ── the creation of man ‘in the image and likeness of God’ HAS BEEN BUT ANOTHER STEP IN THE OVERALL SUPREME PURPOSE THAT THE LORD GOD HAS!
Now, the immediate purpose, certainly throughout mankind’s history, is to prepare for the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon planet Earth (Matthew 6:10), which will first appear at the glorious and powerful return of our Lord Jesus Christ! And by His resurrected and born-again children (and I emphatically do not mean those that have been deceived into believing they are currently “born again”). Be sure to watch and study our sermon “Being Born Again.”
So, how does the Old Testament children of Israel ── the kingdom of Israel ── play a part in the soon-coming establishment of the Kingdom of God?
The Kingdom of Israel Was to Be the Example
The Kingdom of God will be a spiritual kingdom which will include both Church and State ── globally.
Abraham, along with his sons Isaac and Jacob/Israel, will be in the first resurrection and be born into the glorious Kingdom of God, certainly occupying high positions.
Moses ── whom the LORD raised up as His physical leader and lawgiver (even though God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ are the true Lawgivers) -- will also be resurrected and will certainly occupy a high position in God’s Kingdom. Joshua, as well, who succeeded Moses, will be in a high-level position within God’s Kingdom.
What of the physical kingdom of Israel as a whole?
They, despite the LORD God’s favor and His choosing as a “special people,” utterly failed to qualify. When the LORD placed before them their formation as a nation, they replied, “ .. ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do.’ …” – Exodus 19:8. But they broke that covenant and rebelled.
Now, symbolically, they were in a “husband-and-wife” relationship with Almighty God. As the LORD said later of them, “’ Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, So have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,’ says the LORD.” – Jeremiah 3:20.
Now, the Old Covenant (or testament) with the kingdom of Israel at Mount Sinai was a type and the forerunner of the New Covenant that the begotten children of God have with our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Hebrews 4:16; 8:6; 9:11-15; 10:1-4, 11-18). Also, the New Covenant will be implemented immediately after the glorious second resurrection ── the Great White Throne Judgement (cf. Revelation 20:11-13) per-Jeremiah 31:31-34.
Our Lord Jesus’ New Covenant is governed by Law (summed up with the Ten Commandments) that is spiritualized and internalized by the people of God and is energized by God’s Spirit. The sins of the people are forgiven and removed once and for all by true repentance, true baptism, and having hands laid upon them, and the acceptance and belief in the true gospel. And God’s people now have a DIRECT and intimate access to God the Father and our Lord Jesus as Mediator. Gentiles, too, who believe, repent, are baptized, and have hands laid upon them, are included in Christ’s New Covenant!
Now, there were a few of God’s people that were in the Old Testament of the kingdom of Israel who did obey the LORD God and became God’s holy prophets, becoming part of the very foundation of the Church of God built and founded by our Lord Jesus Christ! The Church “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF being the chief cornerstone.” – Ephesians 2:20.
Among these great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Elijah, Elisha, Micah ── all under the authority of our Savior Jesus Christ within His Kingdom established upon Earth.
Praise be to the great God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel! □
1 1 Enoch 106:1-7.
2 O’ Leary, A., America’s Religious Decline Creates New Battleground, GovFacts, 25 Aug. 2025.
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