Verse 7

The Basis of Israel’s Election It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the LORD favored and chose you– for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples.

Referenced Verses

  • Deut 10:22 : 22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.
  • Rom 11:6 : 6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
  • 1 John 3:1 : 1 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children– and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.
  • 1 John 4:10 : 10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
  • Ps 115:1 : 1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us! But to your name bring honor, for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness.
  • Isa 51:2 : 2 Look at Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who gave you birth. When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, but I blessed him and gave him numerous descendants.
  • Matt 7:14 : 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it!
  • Luke 12:32 : 32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom.
  • Rom 9:11-15 : 11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad(so that God’s purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling)– 12 it was said to her,“The older will serve the younger,” 13 just as it is written:“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For he says to Moses:“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
  • Rom 9:18 : 18 So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.
  • Rom 9:21 : 21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?
  • Rom 9:27-29 : 27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel,“Though the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, 28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.” 29 Just as Isaiah predicted,“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have resembled Gomorrah.”