Question
Gramps,
In Exodus 19:5, why did God pick out one particular people to be especially favored above all other people?
Brad
Answer
Brad,
If you’ve ever asked these questions, you’re not alone. Generations have struggled to understand the nature of God as revealed in ancient times—especially when compared with New Testament teachings and modern revelation. So let’s talk about this challenging topic through a uniquely Latter-day Saint lens, drawing on scriptural insights, historical context, and prophetic commentary. Ultimately, we will see that understanding the God of the Old Testament requires careful attention to His purposes, His covenants, and our own relationship to Him.
The first key to understanding the God of the Old Testament is to consider the context in which these scriptures were written. The Bible—especially the books detailing the history of Israel—deals primarily with God’s relationship to the House of Israel. As pointed out in answers to questions about the severity of Old Testament narratives, much of the text is a record of God’s dealings with a covenant people who, despite great blessings, repeatedly struggled with apostasy, disobedience, and idolatry.
For instance, after the children of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they quickly turned to worshiping a golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law. In response to their disobedience, Moses broke the original tablets. The people’s subsequent history is a cycle of receiving blessings, falling into idolatry, being chastened or punished, repenting, and then (temporarily) returning to God. The severity with which God is described as dealing with Israel is not arbitrary cruelty, but the necessary discipline of a people who had entered into a covenant with Him, promising obedience in return for divine favor and protection.
This is not to say God’s love was absent. Rather, as the scriptures repeatedly affirm, God’s dealings with Israel were motivated by mercy and faithfulness to the promises made with their forefathers:
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:6–8)
The primary focus of the Old Testament, then, is not a general treatise about the nature of God, but an account of God’s covenant dealings with a specific people—often in their moments of rebellion.
To be chosen is not a guarantee of constant blessing, nor a sign of superior personal virtue. In fact, the biblical record shows that Israel, as a nation, was repeatedly “cut off” or chastened for unfaithfulness, only to be forgiven and restored upon repentance.
Further, the privileges and blessings conferred upon Israel were designed not only for their own benefit, but so they could serve as a conduit of salvation for all mankind, culminating in the coming of Jesus Christ:
“The house of Israel became the ministers of salvation to the Gentiles; and this is what the house of Israel was elected unto—not only their own salvation, but through them salvation unto all others; (John 4:22) ‘For salvation is of the Jews,’ (Romans 11:11-32) and ‘through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles.’”
The apparent severity of God’s commands and the consequences administered to His covenant people are settings within this larger narrative: God’s determination to keep His promises, teach His people to honor their covenants, and ultimately prepare the world for the redemption offered by Christ.
From a modern perspective, stories like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the deaths of the firstborn in Egypt, or Israel’s conquests can appear harsh or even irreconcilable with a loving God. Yet, multiple scriptural and prophetic sources emphasize that God is both just and merciful, and His judgments are always for a redemptive purpose.
As explained in Approaching Zion,
“…you owe it all to him. Throughout the book [of Deuteronomy], the refrain is repeated at the end of almost every pronouncement: You must do this in recognition of your dependence to God, because first and foremost he has given you your lives, he rescued you from Egypt, and he redeemed you—that is, he paid the price for you that you could not pay yourself…”
God’s discipline—often severe—is the response of a loving parent preparing His children for a holy purpose. The analogy of a parent, sometimes stern but always purposeful and loving, resonates in both ancient and modern revelation.
This view is consistent with how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints understands the Old Testament God—not as lacking love, but as training (chastening) a rebellious people for their own benefit and, through them, for the blessing of the entire human family.
Scripture repeatedly affirms God’s merciful nature, even in the midst of describing discipline and justice:
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
God’s chastisement is always coupled with an invitation to repent and a promise of forgiveness:
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
A uniquely Latter-day Saint insight is the realization that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the premortal Jesus Christ himself. The personality, attributes, and mission of Christ—full of mercy, justice, and perfect love—are the same across all dispensations.
God’s actions in the Old Testament are part of the same redemptive work that culminated in the mortal ministry, atonement, and resurrection of Jesus. The Old Testament laws, sacrifices, and even sacred violence were all types and symbols pointing to the central reality of Christ’s atonement. The underlying motive—the gathering and salvation of all God’s children—is consistent across dispensations.
As Hugh Nibley observed, the process of being God’s people always involves a call to holiness, to separateness from evil, and to sacrificial obedience. The highest blessings are always tied to faithfulness and willingness to consecrate all to God:
“God has always given his people the same choice of either living up to the covenants made with him or being in Satan’s power; there is no middle ground…Progressive testing takes place along the way in either direction; the same tests in every dispensation and generation mark the progress of the people of God.”
If you have wrestled with the “hard sayings” of the Old Testament, let it lead you—not to despair or doubt—but to deeper reflection, prayer, and study. Seek the God of Israel in all His dealings, remembering that the same hands that bore the marks of crucifixion reached out again and again in love, patience, and hope, inviting all to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.
Gramps
