[Colofornian]

You might want to read the Old Testament. I seem to remember He had a Covenant with a certain people

My last post to you AppyPappy was my "illustrative" response...my Biblical response to this is two-fold:

#1

God loves His chosen people; yet this didn't wasn't triggered unto God because of some lovable trait in them. Deut 7:8 says:
"8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

IoW, that covenant was due PURELY to (a) God's LOVE; and (b) God by Nature is a PromiseGiver and a PromiseKeeper

It wasn't due to some lengthy inventory of traits He observed in this people.

(The problem HERE is MANY Mormons are STILL influenced by the long-standing Lds teaching of that certain people groups were cursed on earth because their pre-existent spirits were less "valiant" during the rebellion in heaven by attempting to stay "neutral"...hence Mormonism has programmed people to think in terms of God respecting some spirits over others...going back to "the pre-existence!")

#2

Look at Stormprepper's post #67...his #2: 2. Abraham was blessed that whole nations would rise from his posterity

The very original covenant God made was with Abraham, as found in Gen. 12:3:

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and ALL peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

So e'en in this covenant God's idea from the start would be that EVERY tribe of the earth would be blessed! (I see only cross-tribal respect there!)

In fact, to "book end" this, we see the "end game" of this in Revelation:

* "23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it." (Rev. 21)
* "On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS." (Rev. 22:2)

[AppyPappy]

” toward the biblical God who, according to the Bible, is no respecter of persons and who shows no favoritism. “

My reading of the Old Testament shows he showed favoritism to the Jews, especially over the pagans who sent their children through the fire.
He also showed favoritism to Noah.
God is not impressed by what we do. He is not impressed with churches or religions. God made a Covenant with the Jewish people, not their religion.

[StormPrepper]

"my Biblical response to this is two-fold:"

All: Colofornian is totally wrong....and anything but Biblical.

#1

"IoW, that covenant was due PURELY to (a) God's LOVE; and (b) God by Nature is a PromiseGiver and a PromiseKeeper

It wasn't due to some lengthy inventory of traits He observed in this people."

Abraham was blessed -after- he was tested by the Lord. Because Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son as commanded by the Lord, he was blessed.

To look at Abraham you also have to look at Job.

Job 1:
8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Because of Job's faith and his works, God pronounced him perfect.

Job 1:
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

In other words, because Job was perfect, God put a wall around him and everything he owned and blessed everything he did. Job was blessed with wealth. And Satan couldn't touch him unless the Lord gave him permission.

The same eternal laws applied to Abraham. Because Abraham was righteous and perfect and great in the eyes of God, He was blessed. He was tried, he proved himself, he was blessed from it, and Job was blessed the same way.

#2

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and ALL peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

So e'en in this covenant God's idea from the start would be that EVERY tribe of the earth would be blessed! (I see only cross-tribal respect there!)

Again we see Colorfornian not understanding the words or intentions of the Lord. Colofornian, how much does the ministry you said you were a part of, pay you for this stuff?

Through Abraham came King David and through King David came Jesus and through Jesus all the peoples of the earth were blessed. This has nothing to do with the individual blessings that each tribe was given.

"Rev. 22:2"

Completely irrelevant scripture reference.

However, here's one that is irrelevant:
Luke 1:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

The promises of God to the fathers and the 12 tribes of Israel are carried down through the ages through to all the children even to us today. Which includes, yes, even black people.

In the days of Moses the priesthood of God was restricted to just the Levites. At the time of Jesus, the priesthood was given first to the Apostles, Bishops, Elders, among the Jews, then to certain of the Gentiles, then eventually after the restoration of the gospel, to the whole earth.