Believers Are God's Treasured Possession

It was true it took awhile for the people to realize this. As they were slaves in Egypt, they cried out, "Lord, deliver us. Lord, help us. Lord, save us. Have mercy on us." In that way, too, they were drawn closer to God in realizing their utter need for his deliverance. As they stood at the edge of the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh was coming, they realized again how much they needed the Lord. The Lord drew them to himself. He kept them close. Then the Lord tells them why: 5Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. The world at this time looked at Egypt as a great nation and the children of Israel as just a small footnote in history. But the Lord looked at the children of Israel as his treasured possession, his chosen people who believed. Then the Lord also adds: Although the whole earth is mine, 6you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ They were going to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and one nation chosen from among all nations by the Creator of the heavens and the earth in order to be God’s treasured possession. The Lord would do it. He would draw them close to him. The Israelites would become close to God and their wanderings in the wilderness even though they would grumble and complain from time to time.

At times the children of Israel felt far off from God. They thought God had forsaken them and forgotten them. Maybe sometimes we might feel that way. We might throw up our hands and say, "Lord, save us. Lord, help us. Lord, have mercy on us." We wonder if God is truly listening. But we know God does, because the Lord is anxious not to just listen, but also to answer our prayers. What happens? Why is there this dividing wall, this separation that we might feel between God and us? To put it simply it is because we live in this sinful world. We have a sinful nature. We do not always see clearly the purpose of God for us in this day-to-day life that we lead. That separates us. When Jesus walked on the earth, He said this: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (LUKE 13:34). We picture Jesus speaking to the crowds and saying that, but they would not, would not listen. Sometimes the Lord has to say it to us, "How I wish to gather you under my wings, but you would not." We simply walk down the path we have chosen for ourselves, and we would not do what God wants us to do. The root of that is sin.

We heard it today in our first lesson (2 SAMUEL 11:26-12:10, 13, 15). If we look at 2 Samuel and read the verses before that, you see the situation that King David was in and how the prophet Nathan was sent to tell him, "You are the man." King David was walking on top of his palace. David saw his neighbor’s wife, Bathsheba, and committed adultery with her. Then David had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed. Because Uriah was in command of the army, David put him in front of the battle line; so the enemies of God would kill him. David thought nothing of it. For a time what happens? His sins separate him from God. He did not see the wrong he had done--adultery and murder, lying to God. Until Nathan came to David and said, "You did that." So the Lord reminds us that we have sinned against God. That is also our dividing wall. Isaiah 59 says: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" (ISAIAH 59:2). There are times that it seems that the Lord doesn’t hear us because of our sins.