God’s Israel

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Amos 3:1–2
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God’s Israel
God calls the nation of Israel his family. He has only known Israel out of all the nations of the earth. They alone have known him and yet they have forsaken him. Therefore, he promises to punish. He declares that sin needs to be paid for and he will not let the debt go. He will not forget that he is the one who delivered Israel out of slavery in Egypt because he cannot forget that we are actually enslaved to sin and death. He cannot abide by his holy people being enslaved to anyone. Remember, this is a jealous God. He will allow us to belong to no other. He will not allow us to serve any other god. He will not allow us to be enslaved to the devil. To free his holy people, he must punish the sinless and perfect Jesus for the sins of the nation. He must punish Jesus for your sin. Jesus lives the perfect life offering himself to the Father as a perfect sacrifice—a Lamb without spot or blemish. On the cross he takes the punishment for the whole world’s sin, not just Israel, but everyone from Adam onward. This perfect Lamb satisfies the wrath against the sinner. Covered in Jesus, we are made righteous. We are transformed from death into life and now we rejoice in the love of our God who has won the victory to have us as his own: one big happy family.