Word of Encouragement (10/25/2023)

And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? ²⁴ And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. (2 Sam. 7:23-24)

In this section of his prayer, David highlights the uniqueness of Israel among all the peoples of the world: “And who is like your people Israel...?” But why was Israel so unique? Was it because Israel was better than any other nation of the world? No. David’s reason had nothing to do with any merit or special qualities of Israel; rather, the reason had everything to do with what God had done for Israel (out of His grace): “God went to redeem [the nation of Israel] to redeem to be his people...” (v. 23).

The first is that God redeemed the people of Israel. This redemption had two aspects. The first was to deliver them from Egyptian slavery: “...whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods.” David was referring to the exodus, of course. Interestingly, David not only mentioned Egypt as a nation but also its gods. God not only punished Pharaoh for his refusal to let go of the Israelites; in the process, God punished the Egyptian gods, or what the Egyptians believed to be their gods. The ten plagues were not simply terrible plagues and disasters to afflict Pharaoh and his people; they were designed to show that the LORD was the true God over nature and its elements, not the Egyptian gods. Neither the mighty Pharaoh nor the gods of Egypt could stop the LORD from punishing them and delivering His people.

The second aspect of God’s redemption was to drive out the Canaanites from the land of Canaan to grant Israel the promised land: “...making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people....” So many Canaanite nations and kings had to be defeated. After Israel’s conquest of Canaan (in addition to the exodus from Egypt), every nation took notice of the LORD, the God of Israel. As you can see, God’s redemption did not just consist of rescuing His people from slavery; it also consisted of blessing them with the promised land where they could live as God’s free people and prosper.

The second thing God did for Israel was to make Israel His people: “God redeemed [Israel] to be his people”; “you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever”; “you, O LORD, became their God.” In fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, He made a nation out of his descendants and established a covenant with them as His people. This was the reason and goal of Israel’s redemption. As wonderful as Israel’s deliverance from the Egyptian bondage and conquest of Canaan, what did it matter if they did not have God as their God and be His people? Countless other nations had independence and their territories. Some of them possessed great power and enjoyed much prosperity. But what did it profit them to conquer all other nations if they had no hope because they were without God in the world?

The Bible affirms that you are special. It is not because you are unique or better than others in certain things. You are special because of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. God has redeemed you from the bondage of sin and death. God has brought you into the kingdom of God as His people—indeed, He has brought you into His family as His beloved children. Who has received such a marvelous privilege? Why don’t you take some time to give Him thanks for your redemption in Jesus Christ? And why don’t you thank Him that He is your God, your heavenly Father, and your most glorious Inheritance?

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