Why did God choose the Jews?

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marco
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Why did God choose the Jews?

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Post by marco »

Assuming Yahweh is a genuine God, why would we suppose he had a favourite tribe? The famous saying is: How odd of God to choose the Jews. And the reply:

But not as odd as those who choose a Jewish God and spurn the Jews.


But I think on balance it is much odder for God to choose some human group.

Why did he choose the Jews?

Does this mean Yahweh is not anyone else's God?

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JehovahsWitness
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Re: Why did God choose the Jews?

Post #61

Post by JehovahsWitness »

1213 wrote:
JehovahsWitness wrote: Yes you are correct that God did gather his people after their exile in Babylon,
Yes, but the scripture I quoted says “…among the nations…� it is not just one nation, but among many nations. Also this following scriptures shows, it is not just one nation, but from many nations, which I think is nowadays happening and could not have been just the case of Babylon or Egypt.

It shall happen, when all these things are come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you, and shall return to Yahweh your God…

Deuteronomy 30:1-4

So, your point is what?

If you think that there is a present day fulfillemt to the "typical" event I would agree, but not that the present day (20th century) fulfilment applies to the literal State of Israel.

As one of Jehovahs Witnesses I don't believe reference to "Isrelites/Israel" (related to the kingdom promises in the Christian scriptures) applies to natural descendents of Abraham, but rather to SPIRITUAL Israel (born again Christians).

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bluethread
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Re: Why did God choose the Jews?

Post #62

Post by bluethread »

marco wrote:
I think there is a stage in our talk about God when we bump heavily into embarrassment. Do we see God as signing his divine name with his divine pen presumably in divine ichor while humans wait to add their signatures? Yes, yes, it's all metaphor and metaphysics. But surely at some point we must sensibly shout "Stop!" lest bible studies destroy what wisdom we have.
No, Adonai passed between the sacrifices, indicating that if He violated the Covenant, He would become like the sacrifices. That said, we see Adonai kept His covenant with Avraham, by blessing a multitude of nations through His seed, which He redeemed from slavery, and, in our time, gathered from those nations.

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Re: Why did God choose the Jews?

Post #63

Post by bluethread »

Willum wrote: [Replying to post 58 by bluethread]

It is fascinating, these conversations always seem to come down to your opinion.

I rarely do this for example:
It is certainly true that a people willing to lie about a God are willing to lie about language, covenants, history and many other things.

And this is what we observe, not my opinion.
How is what I said incorrect? You asked my opinion with regard to whether the Covenant is magical or mundane. You then criticize me for stating that opinion. I then provide a description of what a covenant is. Did I get that description wrong?

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Re: Why did God choose the Jews?

Post #64

Post by EarthScienceguy »

[Replying to post 1 by marco]


Marco you have way of asking questions with an economy of words which require a plethora or words to answer.
Assuming Yahweh is a genuine God, why would we suppose he had a favourite tribe? The famous saying is: How odd of God to choose the Jews. And the reply:

But not as odd as those who choose a Jewish God and spurn the Jews.
1st Why did Yahweh choose the Abraham's family?

In Genesis 3:15 God made the promise to the Adam, Eve and the serpent.
I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other.
I will make your descendants
and her descendant hostile toward each other.
He will crush your head,
and you will bruise his heel.�
So a descendant of the woman will crush the serpents head. If it was going to be a descendant of the woman, that descendent would have to come from a family. So out of all the families on the Earth Yahweh choose the family of Abraham.

God promised Abraham that all the nations would be blessed because of Him.
Genesis 22:18

and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.�
Because Jesus was going to be born into this family God chose to bless the entire family line.





But I think on balance it is much odder for God to choose some human group.

Why did he choose the Jews?

Does this mean Yahweh is not anyone else's God?

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Re: Why did God choose the Jews?

Post #65

Post by Willum »

[Replying to post 63 by bluethread]

Well, about the ultimate truth in the universe, I expect more than an "I think."
I mean I can show historical references, even logical references to justify my stances, but you get to get away with, "I think."

You see, I KNOW that the Covenant was stolen from Egyptian practices, and can quote Herotodus.
But you think... and I am supposed to say, you're right?

Ho-hum.
I will never understand how someone who claims to know the ultimate truth, of God, believes they deserve respect, when they cannot distinguish it from a fairy-tale.

You know, science and logic are hard: Religion and fairy tales might be more your speed.

To continue to argue for the Hebrew invention of God is actually an insult to the very concept of a God. - Divine Insight

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Re: Why did God choose the Jews?

Post #66

Post by 1213 »

JehovahsWitness wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:57 am
1213 wrote:
marco wrote: ...Why did he choose the Jews?...
Because they were loyal to God and showed righteousness.
I can't agree with this. God chose to adopt the Israelites because he had made a prior promise to His friend Abraham to do so. He made this promise because of Abrahams outstanding faith and unwavering loyalty....
I agree that not all of them have been loyal and it was mainly because of Abraham.

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Re: Why did God choose the Jews?

Post #67

Post by Purple Knight »

marco wrote: Thu Oct 25, 2018 10:54 amDoes this mean Yahweh is not anyone else's God?
Yes. Yes it does. And if god or gods are real it has pretty horrible spiritual implications for the people worshiping a god not their own, while starving their own gods of worship and presumably killing them.

The evidence I have of this is that a god not obligated to a certain people could simply be lying to them. A lie to a non-Jew doesn't necessarily count as lying to Yahweh, just as killing non-Jews doesn't always count as murder. If there were many gods and one that wanted to be the only one left, I can think of no better way to do this than for one of them to invent Christianity and claim He was the God of All.

Now, this is just my thinking on the matter, and as I've said in other threads, evidence for X does not amount to a claim that X is absolutely fact. But why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? If you can essentially lie to get worship and have that come with zero obligations, and have it not even count as a lie, why wouldn't you do so?

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