Yes, God chose the “nation of Israel” to be His people who would be “separated FROM other nations” and “separated TO Himself.” Listen to His words to the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 7:1-4, “When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has CAST OUT MANY NATIONS BEFORE YOU, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites,  SEVEN NATIONS GREATER AND MIGHTIER THAN YOU, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following ME, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly” (NKJV). In this passage God is assuring Israel, which was living in bondage in the land of Egypt, that He would bring them into the Promised Land (Canaan) and they would possess the Land after “casting out the nations that lived there.”

The Lord goes on to say, “For you are a HOLY PEOPLE to the LORD your God; the LORD your God HAS CHOSEN YOU TO BE A PEOPLE FOR HIMSELF, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (verse 6). What an amazing blessing for the nation of Israel; to be chosen by the One True God to be “a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples (nations) on the face of the earth.” Why were they chosen? We have the answer in verses 7-8, “The LORD did not set His love on your nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were THE LEAST OF ALL PEOPLES; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, 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.” We see here two reasons why the Lord chose Israel: 1) Because He LOVED THEM, and 2) Because He would KEEP HIS PROMISE that He made to their fathers. Regarding #1, it is NOT because Israel was a great nation that He loved them or because they had a such a great love for Him; it was because “God is LOVE” (1st John 4:7-8) and in His sovereign grace He “set His love upon them.” Regarding #2, God had promised their fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…see Exodus 3:15) that He would make them a great nation and bring them out of Egypt into the Promised Land. “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I WILL MAKE YOU A GREAT NATION; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:1-2). “And Joseph said to his brethren, ‘I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and BRING YOU OUT OF THIS LAND TO THE LAND of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Genesis 50:24).

As we read through the Old Testament, we see God’s dealings with the nation of Israel. We see how Israel failed time and time again to obey God’s commandments and to bring glory to Him (though there were times of faithfulness where they did honor the Lord). Yet through it all, God LOVED THEM and would KEEP HIS PROMISE that He made to their fathers. You might be thinking, “But Israel was dispossessed of the land for hundreds of years, dispersed throughout the world, and persecuted to this day.” Yes, that is true, for after rejecting God’s prophets who foretold the coming of the Messiah and then rejecting Jesus Christ as their true Messiah, God had to visit them in judgment (see Matthew 21:33-46; 23:29-37). Because of this, many believe that God is done with the nation of Israel. But has His unconditional love for them changed? And has He reneged on the promise He made with their fathers? No, no, no! We saw that His love is “without cause” so Israel’s failures do not affect God’s love. We saw that He swore an oath to Abraham (and Isaac and Jacob) and God can never go back on an unconditional promise He has given. I would encourage you to read prayerfully Romans chapter 11 which starts out by saying, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not” (verse 1)! The rest of the chapter brings out that Israel has been TEMPORARILY SET ASIDE. God will indeed make good on His promise by delivering Israel from their enemies and blessing them in the Promised Land when their Messiah returns to establish His kingdom. I will close by quoting Romans 11:25-29:

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that BLINDNESS IN PART HAS HAPPENED TO ISRAEL until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election THEY ARE BELOVED FOR THE SAKE OF THE FATHERS. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”  (DO)  (568.3)