Recently, an essay entitled The Chosen People: Israel, ‘Christian’ Zionism and the Middle East Crisis was posted on April 28, 2014 by State of the Nation.  This piece joins a single quote from Theodore Hertzl’s diary to a purported letter from Albert Pike to conclude that Zionism is the cause of WWI, WWII, and now, WWIII.

There are a couple of issues that are worthy of discussion in this article, but the topic I am going to discuss is the issue of the Chosen People.  The author of this article asks the following questions:

I.  Who chose the Chosen People?

II. Why did ‘they’ choose The Chosen People?

Can anyone answer these questions with any degree of authority?  Who were the characters who wrote the books of the Bible which state that the twelve tribes of Israel were ‘the chosen people.’  Chosen by who and chosen for what?  Conferring such special status has proven to be a tremendous burden which the Jewish race carries right up to the present day.

Let us consider these questions in detail.

The one first chosen is the father of nations whose name is Avraham (Avram).  Avraham is recognized by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as the father of nations.  Not all nations, to be sure, because Noach (Noah) would be the father of all of the tribes of the earth.  Avraham is the father of the nations of the covenant. 

To the secularist (the non-believer), the ancient scriptures are myth, fairy tales, and poetry, and nothing more.  To the believer, these same ancient scriptures – the most reliable ancient texts in the world – are historically true.

Fortunately, the lynch pin which gives credence to the claim of historic accuracy is what we call the first of the ten commandments, or the Decalogue:

Shemot (Exodus) 20:1-3

AND ELOHIYM spoke את eth all these words, saying, 2 I am YAHUAH ELOHAYKA, which have brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other elohiym before me.

Here we have three claims: 1) I AM; 2) I am YAHUAH; and 3) I am ELOHAYKA (your EL).  Although the Hebrew word used for I AM is anchi, it could easily be what is given in Shemot 3:

Shemot (Exodus) 3:14-15

And ELOHIYM said unto El-Mosheh, HAYAH ASHER HAYAH (I AM THAT I AM): and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Yisra’el, HAYAH has sent me unto you. 15 And ELOHIYM said moreover unto El-Mosheh, Thus shall you say unto the children of Yisra’el, YAHUAH ELOHIYM of your fathers, the ELOHIYM of Avraham, the ELOHIYM of Yitschaq, and the ELOHIYM of Ya`aqov, has sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my mention unto all generations.

The first of the ten commandments gives us the phrase, I am YAHUAH ELOHAYKA.  Should we use the word HAYAH for the concept I AM, we find the following:

HAYAH YAHUAH ELOHAYKA

But consider the name disclosed to Moshe: HAYAH ASHER HAYAH (I AM THAT I AM), which in Hebrew is rendered thusly:

אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה

Examining this phrase, we find some interesting things.  All three words begin with the Aleph (א).  This letter is silent in the first and third words, or in the alternative, may be pronounced “ah” or “eh” at the beginning of the word.  Should it be pronounced, the elaboration would be eh’ha’YAH, or ah’ha’YAH. Whether pronounced or not, the “ah” portion is a marker of capitalization, the “ha” portion means the, and YAH is the ultimate name, which means in the easiest understanding, I AM.

Let’s divert for a moment to discuss this concept further.  The Aleph (א) in this case may be a signifier – a stamp, if you will, of ultimate authority.  Like a capital letter, but even more so; the capital letter. Now consider the word את eth. If this rule holds true, then in this application, the Aleph (א) is the capital marker, and what remains is the tav (ת); which is to say, the mark of salvation (Yekhezq’el [Ezekiel] 9:4).  In this sense, the את eth would then mean “divine salvation.”

Returning to the first of the ten commandments as a proof text: it is written that at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of threeֺ witnesses, shall the matter be established. Devaryim (Deuteronomy) 19:15b.

Within the commandment, two witnesses are offered as evidence to the essential truth claim, I am YAHUAH ELOHAYKA: which have brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage.

Two historical facts are given: 1) It was YAHUAH who brought Yisra’el out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt); and 2), It was YAHUAH who brought Yisra’el out of the house of bondage.

This historical record can be easily verified, and is accepted as true in Egypt and throughout the region.  Archeology attests to the exodus of the tribes of Yisra’el from Egypt to the land of the promise, such as the recent discoveries of Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb, and even Sodom and Gomorrah.

It is a certainty that the house of Yisra’el was not freed from its slavery because of some moral revelation arrived at by the Egyptians; nor was a civil war the cause of Yisra’el’s freedom, where the nation rose up in opposition to slavery; nor was their freedom obtained by a liberating army; or by any other man-caused events.  Instead, the record is clear that it was a series of Acts of God (in the modern vernacular) which caused Egypt to relinquish its grip on its bountiful slave class, and which caused Egypt to allow their departure with all of the wealth of Egypt.

The question, then, which the secularist might ask: Who chose the The Chosen People? can be answered: I am YAHUAH ELOHAYKA.  And this answer is corroborated with the testimony of two historical witnesses, that by the acts of YAHUAH, Yisra’el was taken out of Egypt, and taken out of bondage.

To the non-believer (the atheist), this answer continues to operate in a vacuum, because if you conclude that there is no Creator – a conscious being capable of creating that which is – then there can be no chosen people, because this group was not chosen because it gave an egomaniac an opportunity to lead a couple of million people around the dessert for forty years. No, the reason for the choice is also given in scripture:

Devariym (Deuteronomy) 7:6-8

For you are a holy people unto YAHUAH ELOHAYKA: YAHUAH ELOHAYKA has chosen you to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 7 YAHUAH 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: 8 But because YAHUAH loved you, and because he would guard את eth-the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, has YAHUAH brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Phar`oh king of Mitsrayim.

Bear in mind here, that this discussion is not given to the Jews (the tribe of Yahudah), it is given to the whole of the house of Yisra’el (all of the twelve tribes), and all those who sojourned with them.

So, we begin with the covenant which is the oath which YAH had sworn unto the fathers of Yisra’el; namely Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’akov:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 15:12-18

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Avram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Avram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Emoriym is not yet full. 17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. 18 In the same day YAHUAH made a covenant with  את(eth)-Avram, saying, Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Mitsrayim unto the great river, the river Perath:

So, the covenant is made between YAHUAH and Avram, which is the giving of the land, from the Nile (the river of Mitsrayim) to the Euphrates (the river Perath).  Now, some people, including the author of the essay in question here, believe that this is a land mass called the Greater Israel, which is a territory marked by an arbitrarily drawn southern boundary line which includes Iraq and Kuwait. However, consider the following:

Above is approximately the size the Renewed Yerushalayim described by Yahuchanon in his revelation, which stretches from the Nile to the Euphrates, but as you can see, it does not stretch from the entirety of the Nile to the entirety of the Euphrates; rather, it touches both the Nile on the southwestern corner, and the Euphrates on the northeastern corner.  This size is discussed with particularity in Chizayon.

Chizayon (Revelation) 21:16

And the city lies foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadion. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

It is the giving of the land, whose eventual size and shape is as described above, which is the covenant given to Avraham, and it is the covenant that then passed to Yitschaq:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 25:5

And Avraham gave all that he had unto Yitschaq.

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 17:1-8

AND when Avram was ninety years old and nine, YAHUAH appeared to El-Avram, and said unto him, I am EL SHADDAI; walk before me, and be perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. 3 And Avram fell on his face: and ELOHIYM talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall your name anymore be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham; for a father of many nations have I made you. 6 And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be ELOHIYM unto you, and to your seed after you. 8 And I will give unto you, and to your seed after you, את eth the land wherein you are a stranger, את(eth) all the land of Kena`an, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their ELOHIYM.

So, we have this expression describing the covenant as an everlasting covenant. It is within this covenant that the house of Yisra’el, the generation to follow the twenty-two generations from the breathing of the RUACH into the nostrils of Adam, would be selected as the chosen people.

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 17:19-21

And ELOHIYM said, Sarah your woman shall bear you a son indeed; and you shall call his name Yitschaq: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20 And as for Yishma`el, I have heard you: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with את eth-Yitschaq, which Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time in the next year. 

Now consider how this covenant was expressed anew to Yitschaq:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 26:3

Sojourn גּוּר (go-ur) in this land (not Mitsrayim), and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give (natan) all these countries (eretz), and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Avraham your father;

So, Avraham gave everything he had to Yitschaq, and YAHUAH expressed the covenant anew to Yitschaq concerning the giving of the land (eretz). 

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 25:29-34

And Ya`aqov sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30 And Esau said to El-Ya`aqov, Feed me, I pray you, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31 And Ya`aqov said, Sell me this day your birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33 And Ya`aqov said, Swear to me this day; and he swore unto him: and he sold his את eth-birthright unto Ya`aqov. 34 Then Ya`aqov gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his את eth-birthright.

So it is that the first son of Yitschaq – Esau – despised his birthright and sold it to Ya’aqov.  So it was when Avraham gave everything he had to Yitschaq, so it would be that Yitschaq would give everything he had to Ya’akov, which later included even the blessing.

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 28:1-4

AND Yitschaq called El-Ya`aqov, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, You shall not take a woman of the daughters of Kena`an. 2 Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethu’el your mother's father; and take you a woman from thence of the daughters of Lavan your mother's brother. 3 And EL SHADDAI bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of people; 4 And give you the blessing of Avraham, to you, and to your seed with you; that you may inherit the land wherein you are a stranger, which ELOHIYM gave unto Avraham.

It is one thing, however, for the patriarch to pass his estate by disposition to his beloved; it is another that YAH also might pass the covenant.  Consider what happens next in this saga:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 28:10-15

And Ya`aqov went out from Be`ersheva, and went toward Charan. 11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of ELOHIYM ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, YAHUAH stood above it, and said, I am YAHUAH ELOHIYM of Avraham your father, and the ELOHIYM of Yitschaq: the land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed; 14 And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you in all places whither you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done את eth that which I have spoken to you of.

And with this we have the expression of the covenant and its passing from the patriarch Avraham to Yitschaq, and from Yitschaq to Ya’aqov, by the expressions of the patriarchs, and the expression of YAHUAH who confirmed this covenant.

Now, we have seen who chose the The Chosen People. And we have answered the question, Why were they chosen?  Let us answer the other questions:

Who were the characters who wrote the books of the Bible which state that the twelve tribes of Israel were ‘the chosen people’?

It is well-settled that the first five books of the “Bible” (the Pentateuch, or the Torah) were written by Moshe.  Of course, none of the original writings remain (that we know of), however the scribes at Qumran secured copies, and the traditions among Jewish scholars also retained copies – scroll after scroll – over the centuries, deadly accurate in their detail, contemplating each letter meticulously and methodically to create a Torah scroll free of error.  There is no text on earth which enjoys the credibility of the Torah in its historical accuracy.  (And all of its competitors are similar scriptures set forth by the early scribes).

Let’s consider the last question asked by the author of the essay in question:

Chosen by who and chosen for what?  Conferring such special status has proven to be a tremendous burden which the Jewish race carries right up to the present day.

Chosen by who and chosen for what?  Ah, yes, such a great question.  I think we have answered the question: chosen by who [sic]? But to review, Avraham was chosen by YAHUAH ELOHIYM, because Avram believed him, and did what he asked him to do.

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 12:1-9

NOW YAHUAH had said unto El-Avram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, unto a land that I will show you: 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Avram departed, as YAHUAH had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Avram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Avram took את eth-Sarai his woman, and את eth-Lot his brother's son, and את eth-all their substance that they had gathered, and את eth-the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Kena`an; and into the land of Kena`an they came.

6 And Avram passed through the land unto the place of Shekem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Kena`aniy was then in the land. 7 And YAHUAH appeared unto El-Avram, and said, Unto your seed will I give את eth-this land: and there built he an altar unto YAHUAH, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beyt-EL, and pitched his tent, having Beyt-EL on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he built an altar unto YAHUAH, and called upon the name of YAHUAH. 9 And Avram journeyed, going on still toward the Negev. 

Now, the writer of the Cepher Ivriym (Hebrews) had a word to say on this issue:

Ivriym (Hebrews) 11:4-8

By faith Hevel offered unto YAHUAH a more excellent sacrifice than Qayin, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, YAHUAH testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks. 5 By faith Chanoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because YAHUAH had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased YAH. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to YAHUAH must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noach, being warned of ELOHIYM of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Avraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Because Avraham believed YAHUAH – he believed that he is – he obeyed.  And because he obeyed, he was chosen.  Because he was chosen, he was blessed.  Because he was blessed, he received the covenant.

Romayim (Romans) 4:3

WHAT shall we say then that Avraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Avraham were justified by works, he has whereof to glory; but not before ELOHIYM. 3 For what says the Scripture? Avraham believed ELOHIYM, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

However, something occurred before the covenant was given to Avraham, something very important in the scheme of all things:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 14:18-20

And Malkiy-Tsadiyq (Melchizedek) king of Shalem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of EL ELYON. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Avram of EL ELYON, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be EL ELYON, which has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

18 V’meleki tsadiyq melek shalom ha’v’yatsa lechem v’yayin v’hu cohen l’EL ELYON. 19 V’y’barachu v’amar baruch Avram l’EL ELYON, karaw shamayim v’ha’aretz. 20 Baruch EL ELYON asher magan tsariq b’yod v’nathan lo ma’aser ma’kole.

Avraham receives a direct blessing from “our king of righteousness, the king of peace” who “brought forth bread and wine.” Before the covenant is given to Avram with the sacrifice of animals in a dream, the covenant is given in person from the king of peace with the sharing of bread and wine.  And Avram delivered to the king of peace one tenth of all that had been delivered to him.