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The Beginning of the End
Why God Chose Israel
The prophet says, “Let grace be shown to the wicked, yet he
will not learn righteousness ... and will not behold the majesty of
the Lord” (
Isaiah 26:10
). This is how it was after the Flood. The
inhabitants of the earth again rebelled against the Lord. The world
had twice rejected God’s covenant—both the people before the Flood
and the descendants of Noah threw off the divine authority. Then
God entered into a covenant with Abraham and took to Himself a
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people to become the guardians of His law.
Satan immediately began to lay his snares in order to entice and
destroy these people. The children of Jacob were tempted to marry
the heathen and worship their idols, but Joseph’s faithfulness was
a testimony to the true faith. In order to shut out this light Satan
worked through Joseph’s brothers to cause him to be sold as a slave,
but God overruled. Both in the house of Potiphar and in the prison,
Joseph received an education that, with the fear of God, prepared
him for his position as prime minister of the nation. His influence
was felt throughout the land, and the knowledge of God was spread
far and wide. The idolatrous priests were filled with alarm. Inspired
by Satan’s hostility toward the God of heaven, they set themselves
to quench the light.
After Moses fled from Egypt, idolatry seemed to conquer. Year
by year the hopes of the Israelites grew fainter. Both king and
people mocked the God of Israel. This spirit grew until it was
fully developed in the Pharaoh whom Moses confronted. When the
Hebrew leader came before the king with a message from “the Lord
God of Israel,” it was not ignorance of the true God, but defiance
of His power, that prompted the answer, “Who is the Lord, that I
should obey His voice ...? I do not know the Lord.” From first to
last, Pharaoh’s opposition resulted from hatred and defiance.
In the days of Joseph, Egypt had been a safe place for Israel.
God had been honored in the kindness shown His people, and now
the long-suffering One, full of compassion, gave each judgment
time to do its work. The Egyptians had evidence of the power
of Jehovah, and all who were willing could submit to God and
escape His judgments. The stubbornness of the king resulted in