Chosen (Deut 7:6-14)

GOD'S UNIQUE ELECTION CRITERIA (Deut 7:6-14)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2019

We elect officials to solve problems, but sometimes a solution comes from combining problems.

Bill was lamenting to Fred, "Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in this country lately: illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, wild animals attacking humans in Florida. Not me. I concentrate on solutions to problems, and the result is a win-win situation:

• Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.
• Use the dirt to raise the levies in New Orleans.
• Put the Florida alligators in the moat.

We elect officials to solve problems. One official who is particularly good at solving problems is God. The problem He is facing after Israel's exodus from Egypt is how to integrate this newly formed people group into a large and diverse community of nations, especially when Israel is the only member state that recognizes Him as God. The solution He chooses is to make Israel the preferred recipient of His blessing and guidance.

Before Israel enters the Promised Land, Moses gives the people a pep talk, emphasizing their unusual relationship with the one who recently freed them from slavery in Egypt. God has chosen them to represent Him among the nations. How does the Lord make this selection? Why does Israel stand out among other people groups of the world? What are God's Unique Election Criteria?

I. God uniquely values His people, Israel (Deut 7:6).

Deut 7:6 You are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

Moses describes four ways in verse six that God ascribes worth to the Israelites. The first way God ascribes worth to them is that...

A. He sanctifies them beyond others: "You are holy" (v. 6).

Elsewhere, Moses tells how sinful the Canaanites are and warns the Israelites not to emulate them:

You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. (Lev 20:23)

The Israelites are to maintain a difference in their behavior that distinguishes them from these current residents of Canaan. The LORD expects the Israelites to maintain a certain degree of sanctity, and...

1. He uses Himself the exemplar of that state: "Be holy, because I am holy" (Lev 11:44,45; 19:21; 20:26).2

...moreover...

2. He uses Himself the facilitator of that state: "I am the LORD, who makes you holy" (Exod 31:13; Lev 20:7).

The second way God ascribes worth to the Israelites is that...

B. He distinguishes them from others: "You [belong] to the LORD." (v.6).

Although God made all peoples, only the Israelites have an exclusive relationship with Him. The LORD indicates their special status by what He and Moses say about it.

1. God confirms it saying, "You are my...people" (Exod 22:3 1; Deut 28:9). 

...and...

2. Moses affirms it saying, "You are a people [belonging] to the LORD your God (Deut 14:2, 21; 26:19; 28:9).

Hiram (1 Kings 5:1-12)

DAVID'S COMPANIONS
Hiram—A family friend (1 Kings 5:1-12)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2019

People are often oblivious to matters they do not think should concern them, a tendency that others may notice.

Karl listened from the other room as his wife patiently said to their five-year-old daughter, "Please pick up your toys." After a few minutes, she again said, "Please pick up your toys." Finally, and with some exasperation in her voice, his wife asked, "Why aren't you picking up your things?" Karl rolled his eyes when he heard their daughter's answer, "I'm playing house and I'm the dad...so I don't know where anything goes."

People are often oblivious to matters they do not think should concern them. That is not so with Solomon who is very concerned with a matter he inherits from his father— the task of building a temple.

When Solomon succeeds David on the throne of Israel he has an ambitious construction agenda, the most grandiose item being to replace the portable and temporary tabernacle with a stationary and permanent temple. David cannot take on this project because his administration is too involved in foreign military ventures. By the time Solomon comes to power, however, the kingdom is at peace, and the new king can focus on domestic matters, including building projects he wants to complete, such as the temple. Solomon says,

Because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David. (1 Kgs 5:3-5)

Solomon accomplishes this project with considerable help from one of David's Companions, Hiram—A family friend. Hiram helps David build a "palace" (2 Sam 5:11) and will now help Solomon build a temple.

David does not have many friends among his Ancient Near Eastern neighbors. Most consider him their enemy. The reason for this is, in part, the adversarial role God's commandments require:

When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city....put to the sword all the men in it.... This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby. In the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them.... Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God. (Deut 20:10-18)

Tyre is north of Israel, outside the sphere of God's primary concern for pagan influence, and Hiram, the ruler of Tyre, is on good terms with his neighbor to the south. So, when the Israeli government changes with Solomon's ascension to the throne, Hiram sends the new administration his good wishes.

I. Hiram congratulates Solomon upon his coronation (1 Kings 5:1).

1 Kgs 5:1 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David.

It is customary on such an occasion to send representatives with gifts, and these representatives may be diplomats wanting to secure for Hiram the same formal relationship he had with David.

Ittai (2 Sam 15:19-22)

DAVID'S COMPANIONS
Ittai—An unconditional friend (2 Sam 15:19-22)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2019

There may be a sense of comradery for those who find themselves in the same situation even if they have little else in common.

John's cell phone quit working just as he tried to let his wife know he was caught in traffic and would be late for their anniversary dinner. As he waited for the long line of cars ahead of him to move, John composed a message on his laptop computer, asking other motorists to call her, printed the message on his portable printer, and taped it to the rear window. When John finally arrived home, his wife greeted him with a big kiss. "I know you love me," she said.... "At least 70 people called and told me so."

There may be a sense of comradery for those who find themselves in the same situation even if they have little else in common. David is significantly different from a particular officer under his command, but the two men still forge a friendship, despite that one is a Jew and the other is a gentile. Among David's Companions is Ittai—An unconditional friend.

There is a common ethnicity that binds together the descendants of Abraham. Yet more important than their common ancestry is their common deity and His revelation to them:

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? (Deut 4:7)

No other nation...know[s] his laws. (Ps 147:20)

Gentiles, though they lack a common ethnicity, can still acknowledge this deity, and they do. Through contact with Jews, many gentiles become aware of Israel's God. More importantly, through contact with Jews, some gentiles adopt Israel's God for their own, as He makes the opportunity available to them. Some gentiles in that latter category are easy to identify because the biblical description of them is sufficiently detailed. Other gentiles in that latter category are difficult to identify because the biblical description of them is less detailed. Still, the biblical author may provide sufficient intimation to point the reader in that direction, as is the case with one of David's Companions, Ittai—An unconditional friend, who appears briefly in the biblical text with just enough detail to suggest that he is one of those gentiles who adopts Israel's God.

Abiathar (1 Sam 22:18-23)

DAVID'S COMPANIONS
Abiathar—A protected friend (1 Sam 22:18-23)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2019

Do you ever feel trapped between a rock and a hard place? The situation is embarrassing, but you have nowhere to turn.

One evening Jackie and her teenage daughter Kim were out shopping when Kim decided to make a purchase. She greeted the cashier with only a "Hi," then proceeded to dig nervously in her wallet. She was having obvious trouble counting out the correct bills and change. But rather than help, the cashier simply stood and watched while Kim fumbled and mumbled her way to the correct amount. Finally, the transaction was complete. As Jackie and Kim were walking to the car, Kim turned to her mother and said, "That was my math tutor."

Do you ever feel trapped between a rock and a hard place? That is how Abiathar the high priest may have felt, trapped between David, the commander of Israel, and Saul, the king of Israel.

Among David's Companions is the priest Abiathar—A protected friend, whose relationship with David forms out of his concern for the cleric's safety when David learns that King Saul is trying to kill him. The king thinks Abiathar has "conspired" (22:13) with David against him. Abiathar does help David but not for some nefarious purpose. David visits the priest at Nob, having had to leave the court suddenly with no time to pack adequate supplies:

David asked [Abiathar] "Don't you have a spear or a sword here? I haven't brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king's business was urgent [giving Abiathar 'plausible deniability']." The priest replied, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one." David said, "There is none like it; give it to me." (1 Sam 21:8-9)

Doeg, a minor functionary in the king's court ("Saul's head shepherd" I Sam 21:7), informs Saul of this encounter: "I saw the son of Jesse...at Nob. [The high priest] gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine." (1 Sam 22:9-10) The report fuels Saul's paranoia and leads to his turning against the religious community at Nob. Later, Doeg becomes the king's executioner, and as an Edomite, he has "no qualms about killing Israelite priests [willing] to do what Saul's Israelite officials refused to do" (Youngblood 1992:736).

Jonathan (1 Sam 20:1-43)

DAVID'S COMPANIONS
Jonathan—An instant friend  (1 Sam 20:1-43)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2019

Social media have revolutionized how we interact with other people and sometimes determine if we interact with other people.

The modern phenomenon of Facebook enables you to maintain contact with a vast number of individuals called "friends" who can remain apprised of your most exciting activities by reading or viewing what you post on the networking site. Should you become displeased with someone, for whatever reason, you can "unfriend"—an awkward new word now found in some modern dictionaries—you can "unfriend" that person, removing his or her name from your list of favored individuals who have access to your Facebook account and have the privilege of seeing whatever gems you post there.

Geico insurance company pokes fun at the phenomenon in a commercial that features three older women, two of whom do not quite grasp the Facebook technology. One woman brags about how easy it is to post pictures, as she refers to several photos she has taped to an actual wall. When a second woman expresses some displeasure at one of the pictures, the first woman thinks she can keep her from looking at all the pictures simply by saying out loud, "I 'unfriend' you," whereupon the third woman, obviously tech-savvy, says, "That's not how any of this works."

Social media have revolutionized how we interact with other people and sometimes determine if we interact with other people. Back in days of yore, when David lived (c. 1000 B.C.), long before social media, people talked with each other face-to-face, and people made friends face-to-face. Among David's Companions is Jonathan—An instant friend, with whom a relationship forms almost immediately, upon first meeting.

Despite the fact that David is one of the most prominent figures in sacred writ, the biblical author says very little about him before his confrontation with Goliath, giving only a brief description of his entry into the king's employ:

David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse [David's father], saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." ...But David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. (1 Sam 16:21-22, 15)

David entered the court of King Saul where he became fast friends with Jonathan, the monarch's son.

Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. (1 Sam 18:1-3)

A friendship forms between the two boys almost immediately. The characterization of their relationship as one of "love" (v. 3) is not sexual but political, as the repeated description of it as a "covenant" (18:3; 20:8, 16; 22:8; 23:18) also evinces.

Despite their comradery, though, David and Jonathan appear together in the biblical text only twice more before parting ways, separated at last by Jonathan's untimely death at the hands of "the Philistines" (1 Sam 31:2). Both times they are together the conversation is about Saul's animosity toward David, which seems to follow the public's declaration after Goliath's defeat: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands" (1 Sam 18:7).

Saul is determined to kill David, but he does not succeed, despite his having several opportunities to do so. David, on the other hand, is determined not to kill Saul, despite his having at least one opportunity to do so. David says, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD." (1 Sam 24:6) David patiently bides his time, confident that God will bring him to the throne when the moment is right according to His plan.