Chosen to be Holy: Deuteronomy 7:1-11

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance” (1 Pet. 1:14, NASB). “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all behavior; because it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:15-16).

Recently, I received a message via email from someone who is very dear to me; one that I really love. In the message this person said something that disturbed me greatly. This is a part of what was said. “I had already thought about the plagues in Egypt. Everyone suffered when the first ones hit, the Israelites would have suffered death of firstborn if they didn’t put the blood over their door posts” Now, maybe you read this and your mind focuses on the blood over the doorpost. Maybe you do not see the error in the statement. It is the error in the statement that disturbed me. The sender of the message said something that is true, but there is something in the statement that is not true. What is it? The writer said that the first plagues affected both Israelites and Egyptians alike. This is not true. Exodus 9:1-7 and Exodus 9:22-25 plainly states that the Lord made a distinction between the Israelites living in the northern area of Egypt called Goshen and the Egyptians. This article is motivated by what disturbed me. You see, the account of the ten plagues in Egypt makes clear that God makes a distinction between Himself and other gods. God also makes a distinction between His chosen people and all other people. God is holy and He chooses people to be holy. Let’s us unpack what this means.

Before we get into the scriptures, let us see what this word holy means. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament the word “holy” means to be separate, to be consecrated, to be dedicated. It means to be made clean and set aside from like or similar things to be used for a specific purpose that other like things/people are not used. For us as Christians the word holy means that the God that we serve is different from any other god that is in the world. It means that we too, are to be holy like our God. Just as God is different and separated from other gods, His people are to be different and separated from other people. That’s a pill hard to swallow for many of us that wear the name Christians.

What about this idea that we are chosen. Who or chose us? What was the purpose for which we were chosen? The answer to these questions can be found throughout the scriptures in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. I have selected just two passages for this little discussion today. The passage found in Deuteronomy was selected because it gives us an account of Moses telling the people that the Lord is now their God, and they are His people because God chose them. The passage in 1 Peter was selected because Peter tells the people that the people that they are now are different from the people that they were before they came to faith in Jesus Christ. Before they came to Christ they were just like everyone else in all their ways. Now that they are in Christ they are different. They no longer should live like they used to live. They have been changed. Their relationships and their manner of living should be different.

It would be helpful if the reader of this article would read Deuteronomy 1-7 in order to get a more detailed understanding of what is taking place in our selected text. In our text, Moses and the Israelites are preparing for the people to enter the Promised Land to take possession of it. The Israelites have defeated two kings that stood between them and land of Canaan where they were going (See Deut. 2:26-3:8). As Moses is preparing the people to cross the Jordan River to take possession of the land of Canaan, he begins to teach the people about the Lord; the God that freed them from bondage in Egypt and was giving them the land that He had promised their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give to their descendants.

In Deuteronomy 4:1 Moses instructs the people about their relationship to the Lord their God. He is their only God and besides Him there is none other. If they are to take possession of the land and live successfully in it they will have to depend on the Lord. Their faith in the Lord and their dependence on the Lord will be determined by their allegiance to the Lord as their only God and by their obeying the covenant with commandments, statues, and judgments (4:5). They cannot change the words that the Lord has said. “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (4:2, NASB; See Revelation 22:18-19).

People live in a manner that reflects the god(s) that they worship and depend upon. In Egypt the Israelites saw the Egyptians bow before statues that represented the gods that they served. On the other hand, the people had heard God at Mount Sinai, but they saw no form when God gave the Ten Commandments. This explains the reason that the Israelites were commanded to not make any image or statue to represent God (See 4:10-20). In the land of Canaan they will be surrounded by people that worship their gods as they bow down to images and statues that represent their gods. God is a jealous God. The word “jealous” as used here means that God does not want to lose His people to another god or gods. However, if they do not separate themselves from the peoples of the land, the peoples will cause them to leave God to worship other gods. The danger was so great that the Lord commanded that His people not to make any covenant with the peoples of the land; and they were not to marry them. It is important to note that God did not forbid marriage because of skin color. Rather, it was because of their worship of other gods (See Ruth 1:16, “Your God, my God).

We have seen that God expects His people to be different because God is different from the other gods that the people living in the land of Canaan worship. In our selected passage, Deuteronomy 7:1-11 Moses tells the people the reason that they are to obey the Lord’s commandments. “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (7:6, NASB). The Lord had not delivered them from bondage only to worship the gods of the land and live by the ways of other people. They had not been able to set themselves free from the Egyptians, and they would not be able to prevent the people in the land of Canaan from enslaving them again. This truth is seen throughout the book of Judges. In the book of Judges the Israelites form alliances with other people, leave the Lord and worship the gods of the land only to be plundered and taken into bondage by the people that they made covenants with.

Thus, God did not choose them because they were a great people. “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were fewest of all people” (7:7, NASB). In verse eight Moses tells the people that God chose them because He loved them, and God had made an oath to their forefathers to redeem them out of the house of slavery. God is faithful and keeps His covenant. God never breaks His promise. God chose them because God had promised on oath that they were His chosen people.

This brings us to our selected text in 1 Peter 1:14-16. In this passage Peter is instructing people that had heard the gospel and believed in Jesus Christ who is the Son of God. God the Father and God the Son are One (See Deut. 6:4; John 10:30; John 17:11). In 1 Peter, Peter writes to believers in Jesus that “reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure” (1 Pet. 1:1-2). We can see that in the Deuteronomy passage that God chose Israel to be His people; to be sanctified; that is cleansed and set aside for God’s own purpose according to His promise. Likewise, in 1 Peter, God chose to save people from their sins. He cleansed them from their sins and set them aside to be separate from all the other people in the world. He did this in order to keep His promise to Abraham to save people of every nation, tribe, and tongue in every location in the world. God promised Abraham saying, “In your seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:18, NASB).

Some people may ask who the seed that God is referring to is. Paul gives us the answer to this question. Paul says, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is Christ’” (Gal. 3:16, NASB). For this reason, Peter writes that all who have been saved are saved by the blood of Jesus. God gave His Son because of His mercy. Because of His love and His promises, God extends grace so that anyone that believes in Jesus is saved. Now that they have been saved from their sins, they like the Israelites that were saved from their bondage to the Egyptians are to be a holy people unto God. The reason given in Deuteronomy is the same reason given in 1 Peter. The reason remains true for Christians in the world today. The people of God have been chosen by God. God is holy; unlike any other god in the world. His people are to be holy too; unlike any other people.