From: Deuteronomy 7:6-11
[6] "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has
chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples
that are on the face of the earth.
God's Election of Israel
[7] "It was not because you were more in number than any other people that
the LORD set his love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all
peoples; [8] but it is because the LORD loves you, and is keeping the oath
which he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a
mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt. [9] Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the
faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him
and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and requites to their
face those who hate him, by destroying them; he will not be slack with him
who hates him, he will requite him to his face. ''You shall therefore be
careful to do the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I
command you this day."
Commentary:
7:6-16. It is fair to say that Deuteronomy 7:6-7 is the classic passage in
Old Testament revelation on God's special election of Israel. That election,
and the love which it evidences, are themes basic to this book; it keeps on
stressing them (cf., e.g., 4:20, 34; 9:5). God makes his choice first--quite
independently of the qualities or merits of the people or of individuals.
The only reason for his choice is pure love and (in the case of the
Israelites) the promises he made to their ancestors (cf. the note on Ex
1:8-14). Consciousness of this election, awareness that Israel is God's
special possession, runs right through Holy Scripture. The New Testament
upholds this privilege that belongs to Israel: John 1:11 ("He came to his
own home") must be interpreted in the first instance as meaning that the
Word comes specially to his people Israel; in the second instance he comes
to all mankind. Romans 9:4-5 carries the same message: "They are Israelites,
and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the
law, the worship, and the promise, and of their race, according to the
flesh, is the Christ [...]."
Verses 7-8 give the theological explanation of this election: God's pure
love, his predilection, is totally unmerited by Israel; this means that God
is sovereignly free to choose whomever he wishes for the mission he has in
mind; and no one has any right to be chosen specially by God.
What happens in the collectivity of the people of Israel also applies when
God singles out individuals for special assignments. In the New Testament,
it says apropos of the apostles, that "he called to him those whom he
desired" (Mt 3:13); and the case of St Paul is particularly apposite: Jesus
called hin though he "had blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him
[Christ]" (1 Tim 1:13).
"Vocation comes first," [St] BI. Josemaria Escriva reminds us. "God loves us
before we even know how to go toward him, and he places in us the love with
which we can respond to his call. God's fatherly goodness comes out to meet
us. Our Lord is not only just. He is much more: he is merciful. He does not
wait for us to go to him. He takes the initiative, with the unmistakable
signs of paternal affection" ("Christ Is Passing By", 33).
7:10. This verse touches on something very important as regards human
behavior: God rewards those who do good and punishes those who do evil.
Everyday experience does not always seem to bear this out: evil people enjoy
success whereas good people are mistreated and despised. Men have always
asked themselves how God's justice can be compatible with these facts.
The prophet Jeremiah will ask the Lord: "Why does the way of the wicked
prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?" (Jer 12:1). Many psalms
echo the same idea (cf Ps 37; 38; 29; 49; 73; 92). But the place where the
matter is dealt with most dramatically is the book of Job. The Wisdom books
of the Old Testament do a lot to provide an answer to this question, but it
will not be until the fullness of Revelations in the New Testament that it
is fully solved. Throughout the New Testament reward or punishment is not
depicted as a mathematical calculation, to produce instant recompense in
this life; rather, the way a person behaves in this life decides his or her
fate in the next life. If the wicked are successful in this life, that is
something very short-lived; whereas the joy of the righteous will reach its
fullness in eternal beatitude. Prior to that, the righteous often suffer
contradiction, pain and sorrow: it purifies their lives and gives an
increase of divine grace.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
