1. Israel was Created by God

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 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.” Genesis 12:1-3

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8

13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Romans 9:13

5b the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. Revelation 5:5b

2. Israel Became God's Chosen People

8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:8

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. Genesis 31:1

5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6a you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ Exodus 19:5-6a

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Joshua 1:1-4

6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 7:6

4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession. Psalm 135:4

8 For this is what the LORD Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye— Zechariah 2:8

13 Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. 2 Chronicles 12:13

3. Through Israel God Promised to Bless the Earth

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:11-12

8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” Galatians 3:8