Chosen People
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ways of obedience, He would have made them “high above all nations
which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor.” “All people
of the earth,” said Moses, “shall see that thou art called by the name of
the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.” “The nations which shall
hear all these statutes” shall say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people.”
Deuteronomy 26:19
;
28:10
;
Deuteronomy 4:6
.
But because of their unfaithfulness, God’s purpose could be wrought
out only through continued adversity and humiliation.
They were brought into subjection to Babylon, and scattered
through the lands of the heathen. In affliction many renewed their
faithfulness to His covenant. While they hung their harps upon the
willows, and mourned for the holy temple that was laid waste, the light
of truth shone out through them, and a knowledge of God was spread
among the nations. The heathen systems of sacrifice were a perversion
of the system that God had appointed; and many a sincere observer
of heathen rites learned from the Hebrews the meaning of the service
divinely ordained, and in faith grasped the promise of a Redeemer.
Many of the exiles suffered persecution. Not a few lost their lives
because of their refusal to disregard the Sabbath and to observe the
heathen festivals. As idolaters were roused to crush out the truth, the
Lord brought His servants face to face with kings and rulers, that they
and their people might receive the light. Time after time the greatest
monarchs were led to proclaim the supremacy of the God whom their
Hebrew captives worshiped.
By the Babylonish captivity the Israelites were effectually cured
of the worship of graven images. During the centuries that followed,
they suffered from the oppression of heathen foes, until the conviction
became fixed that their prosperity depended upon their obedience to
the law of God. But with too many of the people obedience was not
prompted by love. The motive was selfish. They rendered outward
service to God as the means of attaining to national greatness. They did
[29]
not become the light of the world, but shut themselves away from the
world in order to escape temptation to idolatry. In the instruction given
through Moses, God had placed restrictions upon their association with
idolaters; but this teaching had been misinterpreted. It was intended to
prevent them from conforming to the practices of the heathen. But it
was used to build up a wall of separation between Israel and all other