Explain what is meant by the phase ‘chosen people’ In Judaism, "chosenness" is the belief that the Jewish people were singularly chosen to enter into a covernant with God. This idea has been a central one throughout the history of Jewish thought. The Jews believe that they are the chosen people of god, and this is an essential element to their faith. According to the book of Deuteronomy, “you are a people holy to the Lord your god; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his possession out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth”. Jews were selected not because they were the most numerous group, but because, ‘the Lord loves you and is keeping His oath which he swore to your father’ (Deuteronomy 7:8) God has made many covenant agreements with the Jewish people because they are his chosen people.
While the entire passage is instructive for the message, the verses that focus on the nature of the Messiah are critical, for therein lies our hope for everlasting peace. So most of our attention will be given to the meanings of the name of the Son, showing how these descriptions fit perfectly the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the first section of Isaiah 9 the prophet declares that in contrast to the dark age he is living in, there is coming an age when peace will reign. It will begin with the coming of the Messiah, the promised future king. So we call that period the Messianic Age.
The Pro-Kingship and Anti-Kingship Debate The pro-kingship and anti-kingship debate as discussed in 1 Samuel is about the request to Samuel from his people for a king. They feel a king is needed because Samuel's sons don't follow his example and are bad leaders. Samuel follows through with their request by asking God for a king. Samuel was hesitant to do so, but asked God anyway and He followed through with their request. In my opinion, the pro-kingship argument brings up some good points.
First, one must understand that the Judean monarchy had a nearly desperate trust that Yahweh was their ultimate provider and protector (“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer”), meaning that Yahweh was also the ultimate provider and protector of the nation of Judah. As Sigmund Mowinckel put forth, the thought behind this is based on the on idea that the identity of the individual Israelite is irrevocably and intricately connected to the Israelite nation as a whole. The bible tells us that Yahweh was considered the Great King, and David was his human representative on earth, making Judah the Great
Law and Gospel in Galatians Sabrina Williams REL 325 Prof Brandt February 13, 2012 Paul’s letters repeatedly address the issue of Law and Gospel. In his letters, he tries to answer the question of salvation. Are we saved by following the Torah or is it through faith in Jesus as the messiah? This is a question that our early church fathers wrestled with and Paul tries to express his view on it and we find proof of that in his letter to the Galatians. During the time of Paul, Jews were so preoccupied with upholding the Law that their lives where devoted to a strict regimented life.
Fortress Press. Minneapolis, 1983.) Paul upholds the election of Israel throughout the text of Romans as while the apostle is driven by his belief that the time to offer salvation to the Gentiles has indeed arrived, the primacy of Israel remains the fulcrum of his theology. The binary understanding of Jew and Gentile is the prism through which Paul understands his mission (“Ἰουδαίου τε πρῶτον καὶ Ελληνος”) and denotes the fundamental Jewishness of the apostle’s worldview. The election of Israel as God’s chosen people and first receiver of his grace underlies even Paul’s most emphatic appeal to the righteous nature of the Gentile; his position is clearly that while the Gentile may indeed be offered a place in the scheme of divine favour (a theme deeply rooted in the Masoretic Scriptures) the privilege of Israel remains undiminished.
The theme of these chapters is the sovereignty in calling out a chosen people who would serve and worship God. There is a very specific emphasis on the history of redemption, in which God chose that through the seed of Abraham the Messiah would come and his people would be heirs of the promise (Gen. 12:1-3). Abraham was the first great Patriarch of ancient Israel. and a
In the time period of ancient Israel, the patriarchal God was a common idea that many people lived by. The book of Job induced the common thought of the patriarchal God as it showed God as the primal authority over humanity. The people of this historical time period had a declaration of trust and hope with their Almighty. Job was a man in the biblical text that had great faith. Job had direct communication with God and he often exclaimed his faith, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon earth.
The faith of the Jewish population is in the love and power of G-d to bring about his purpose for all humankind, which bases itself upon the omnipotent being appointing them to be his chosen people and for them to set an example of holiness and ethical behaviour in the world. (Hoffman, 2008) Judaism, ceases to be one of the most traditional World Religions that sorely focuses on the Torah, G-d’s instruction, and the traditional beliefs and ideologies in which the religion was founded with. There are many aspects within the religion in which are most commonly interpreted as outdated within today’s modern and increasingly agnostic society and these aspects also allow a subjective opinion to be made on whether the religion of Judaism is lost in time. These vary from the beliefs and ideologies, to the Sabbath, food laws and beliefs upon life, death, sex, marriage and festivals to the holocaust and the variety of dominations that make up the religion, from the most traditional form being Orthodoxy to the predominant denomination of Reform Judaism. The argument therefore being posed is that these aspects allow the religion to be outdated and lost in time in many ways, yet is this necessarily a negative thing?
I learned that Orthodox Jewish faith expects the messiah to “restoration of the Davidic monarchy and a just and peaceful society throughout the world, as foretold by the prophets during the age of the Babylonian Exile.” Christianity believes Jesus will come back and do those things upon his return. (Rich, 2011) So the Jewish faith expect the messiah to build the third temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28), gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6), bring world piece "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4), and Make known about God to everyone "God will be King over all the world—on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9). Jews believe the messiah will do all this at the time he is here on earth but Christianity believes he will do this when he