God Chose People Not Because They Were Better, But Because they were weak in the eyesight of man!
God’s chosen people were not chosen by God because they were better than anyone else. They became the beneficiary of a righteous man’s obedience to God which required Abram to leave his relatives and familiar land for a place God would take him. His obedience and Faith in God is what is credited to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:6). He would become the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5) and if they followed his example of faith and obedience even when it got uncomfortable… they too would be counted as righteous. That righteous man, although imperfect, would go on to walk in the promise God declared in Genesis 17:5… “Father of MANY nations.”
Later on down the timeline, the Israelites would be that group of people without a home to call their own. They were in a foreign land known as Egypt. They were multiplying faster than the Egyptians who were in power. They had once had favor in that land, but there was a new Pharaoh who saw them as a threat.
Exodus 1:8-12 (NIV)
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
In this passage of scripture you begin to see many things working here.
1) Pharaoh fearing he would lose power.
2) The tree that God planted continued to grow branches even in the midst of extreme oppression.
3) Pharaoh needed the Israelites to build cities, because he or his people could not do it on their own.
4) The strength of the Israelites built those cities in the face of physical and mental abuse by their slave masters.
5) They still survived and built big things… carrying the weight of another people who feared them but could not make it without them. And through all of that, they still multiplied.
6) They were not crushed under the weight of oppression. This went on for over 430 years.
7) Some might say God was silent during this time, but the mere fact that the people were not crushed and multiplied spoke for the tree God planted through Abraham.
I can hear God saying… “let me plant this tree and watch it grow. Let me show the world that no matter how much it tries to destroy the tree I planted… it will still grow and there is nothing you can do about it. In fact, the tree you are attempting to destroy… it’s by the strength of those branches… which I flow through (John 15)… you are being buffered from a free fall that will destroy you.
The Egyptians saw the Israelites as least… weak people. Yet they leaned on “least” and “weak” people to build their cities. The Egyptians were idol worshipers... but they needed others to build the things they worshiped. They worshiped the power they thought they had, and they lifted themselves up. It was the fear of losing that power that led them to enslave the Israelites. When you are led by fear, you are not being led by God. As it is written in 2 Timothy 1:7 “God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power (Kingdom power) and a sound mind.”
God’s tree was firmly placed in the midst of an idol worshiping society. That society did not realize how blessed they were by having that tree and its many branches there. They dread it even more as it is written. They dread the very thing they could not live without. Their dread was based on fear. They chose to enslave a population that prospered in generational growth while their growth declined. It was not growing at that pace. The more the Egyptians did to oppress… the more the generational branches of the Israelites grew. The oppression and what that manifested in the lives of the Israelites appeared as weakness. It appeared that way to the oppressor who could not build those cities without the Israelites. That’s what satan will have his children believe… that they are strong by how they inflict harm on others. It’s an illusion of strength, but it truly is a sign of immense weakness. Pride blocks a person from seeing it as a weakness. Pride sees it as brut physical and intellectual strength to develop schemes (Ephesians 2:2-3) to do what is being done by Pharaoh.
The Egyptians dreaded the very tree and its branches that were preventing it from falling to a fiery death. That’s how it is when we attempt to be God when God is all around us. We begin to hate the things of God when it requires me seeing myself the same as others in the eyesight of God. Pride prevents this and it leads to destruction as Pharaoh would witness later down the timeline.
God did not choose the strong to show the world what a God led nation looks like. He took something that was weak and broken in the eyesight of wicked people and grew it. The people still rose above anything and everything that was thrown at them. It was nothing special about the people… but instead… it was God honoring a promise to a righteous man (Abraham) who trusted God. Their growth showed the presence and power of God even in the midst of oppression that seemed like they did not have power. But true power comes from that which is unseen to the human eye. Despite harsh conditions as slaves, the strength of God was being demonstrated. You just have to know what you are seeing. It is only seen in the spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
Scripture tells us that the least of these is where God’s heart really is. The “least” is based on how this world looks at people. The world I speak of is defined in Galatians 5:19-21. If a person is not walking with God, pride will lead the person. He will view himself as better forsaking those around him because of how he sees himself. God is not with this kind of person. As it is written in Proverbs 3:34
He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
James 4:6 also speaks to this passage of scripture. Abraham was humble. It takes humility to be obedient to God. Humility puts us in position to lean on God’s direction which makes His will and His way the first and only priority in our lives. This requires us to love God and love everyone as it is written. This requires a person to see himself the same as everyone else. If you cannot do that… then you are NOT his chosen people. Chosen people are those who did what Abraham did. Trusted and obeyed God’s word. Jesus demonstrated what that looks like in the natural. It is written that Jesus is the truth, the way and the life. No one gets to the Father but through Him. He showed us the WAY IT IS DONE. He is the TRUTH. And if we replicate what He showed us… that leads to life right now and life everlasting. You become a part of the tree that you once attempted to destroy…but it continued to prosper… it continued to grow. It did not die as it continued to multiply. When you are connected to the tree of Life… you have overcome the Galatians 5:19-21 world. They tried to destroy you… but just like Jesus… STILL I RISE.
The world still views you as least… but the world cannot live without your strength. It’s because of the strength flowing through your branches that impossible things happen. It should have been impossible for the Israelites to survive and grow in the face of horrible oppression… but yet they still multiplied. The tree of life was in them even if they did not realize it. Man cannot kill what God has planted in you. It will grow and spread. But as long as you look to man to define you… you will miss what God created you to be. When you realize this… your branches will bear so much fruit that it will confound the wise people of this world. Your fruit comes when you understand what is in you. When you understand what is in you… you will understand WHO YOU ARE! You too are God’s chosen people.
Vincent J. McCaskill - Senior Pastor
By God Inspired Fellowship
bygodinspired.org
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