You shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. Exodus 19:5
This verse is a conditional promise. The condition is to obey the voice of the LORD and keep His covenant. This happened when Israelites had gone out of Egypt and came to the wilderness of Sinai. The LORD gave these words to Moses at Mount Sinai, to speak to the children of Israel. God has a reason for rescuing the Israelites from slavery. Israel was to become a holy nation, a kingdom of priests in which anyone can approach God freely. First of all, why did God choose Israel as His nation? God knew that no nation on earth was good enough to be deserved to be called His nation. He chose Israel only because of His love and mercy, despite the wrong they have done and would do. God wants to have a special nation on earth to represent His way of life, teach His Word, and be an agent of salvation to the world.
“All the nations of the earth” would be blessed through Abraham’s descendants (Gen. 18:18) and gentiles and kings would come to the Lord through Israel. Isaiah has also predicted, that through the nation of Israel, the Messiah, God’s chosen Son, would be born. God chose one nation so that one day it could be a channel for his blessings to the whole world. In Genesis 15 and 17, God made a covenant with Abraham, promising to make his descendants into a great nation. God promised to bless them and care for them then people promised to obey Him, the covenant was thus sealed. But they had experienced tragic consequences of disobedience. God then established Aaron’s descendants from the tribe of Levi as priests, representing what the entire nation should have been but with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has once again extended His plan to all believers. we are to become a holy nation, a royal priesthood, His own special people (1 Peter 2:9). Finally, the death and resurrection of Christ has allowed each one of us to approach God freely, what a great privilege!