The Chosen Nation

24 June 2018

Lately, I have been reading through the book of Genesis for my quiet time.  And I could not help but notice that the 12 tribes of Israel, which came from the 12 sons of Jacob, was such a dysfunctional family.

We all know how Jacob was conned by his uncle, Laban, to marry both his daughters.  Jacob loved Rachel and he worked 7 years for Laban in order to earn the right to marry Rachel.  And according to scriptures, because of his love for Rachel, the 7 years seem like a few days to Jacob.

But on his wedding night or rather the morning after the wedding night, he discovered Laban had given him the elder sister Leah, instead of Rachel.  So, he had to work another 7 years for Laban in order to marry Rachel, too.

But Rachel was barren.  And Leah bore Jacob 4 sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi & Judah. 

Rachel was jealous of Leah because she could not give Jacob any children, so she gave her maidservant to Jacob as his wife and bore him 2 sons, Dan and Naphtali.

Now it was Leah’s turn to be jealous, so she gave her maidservant to be Jacob’s wife and she bore him 2 sons, Gad and Asher.

Leah then gave birth to 2 more sons, Issachar & Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah.

Finally God opened Rachel’s womb and she gave birth to Joseph & Benjamin.

There you have it, Jacob has 12 sons and 1 daughter, from Rachel and Leah and their maidservants. 

And these 12 sons of Jacob are not exactly the role model kind of guys.

In Genesis 34, we read how Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, raped Dinah, after which he decided to ask for her hand in marriage.  The 12 sons of Jacob deceived Shechem and Hamor that if all their men were to be circumcised, then they will let Shechem marry Dinah.  So Schechem and all the men in the village were circumcised, and while they were recovering 3 days later, the sons of Jacob attacked and killed Shechem, Hamor and all the men in the village, and carried away their women and children and plunder.

This is the origin of the 12 tribes of Israel, the foundation of the Israelite nation.  Not very pretty, right...?  And yet God chose Israel to be his special nation,

to be the custodian of His law,

to be a blessing to the world,

to bring about His grand, redemptive purposes for mankind, from which one day will come forth the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

How come?

God did not choose Israel because they were special.  Israel was special because God chose them, in spite of their imperfections, failings and weaknesses. 

God did not choose Israel because they were smart or a great nation, or because they were better than anyone.  God chose Israel because of His grace.  God is sovereign and He can use whomever He want to use to accomplish His purposes.

As we think about ourselves.  God does not love us because we were lovely, or because we were smart or better than anyone else… .

God demonstrated His love towards us in that

while we were yet sinners

while we were yet His enemies

while we were yet ungodly

while we were yet far away from Him

Christ died for us.

And through the death of His Son we can now have forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. And this is the marvelous grace of God that He has lavished upon us.

Praise God!