mself. He told them that they would be His people and He would be their God. He gave them His commandments and promised that as long as they obeyed Him, He would bless them as a people. Israel did not obey God, but followed after idols. They were made to wander in the wilderness for forty years, and then after finally coming to the Promised Land, their sin resulted in them being taken captive and deported to other nations. God chose them for Himself, but they would not obey.

Jesus came as the reconciliation between God and Israel. Jesus came to do what Israel could not do - namely, be completely and utterly obedient to God. Remember what Jesus said in John 6:38? "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." Jesus' life was devoted to being obedient to His father?even when this obedience required His death on a cross.

So when God causes Jesus to be brought out of Egypt like the nation of Israel, or later, when He moves Jesus into the wilderness for forty days and nights, He is clearly trying to display to the Jews that Jesus has come to take their place. Jesus has come to be the obedient people that they could not be, and to pay the price that they deserve, so that they could once again and forever be God's chosen people.

If you are a Christian, you are a spiritual Jew. Paul teaches in Romans 11 that God has chosen some Gentiles to be "grafted it" to His chosen Jewish tree. Furthermore, the Bible says that when this world is over, all believers will dwell in a new "Jerusalem" and we will be God's chosen people forever.

America has often been called "The Great Melting Pot", because so many people from vastly different ethnic heritages are citizens of the USA. Yet heaven will be the true "Great Melting Pot". Consider this mystery: In heaven, Israel - the chosen people of God - will be made up of Jews, Americans, Mexicans, Brazilians, Ecuadorians, South Africans, Australians, and Chinese, Russians, Japanese, and many, many more!

Jesus came to earth and lived and died so that every person who has faith in Him might be reconciled to God. Have you been reconciled to God? If so, praise God for His marvelous grace in Christ Jesus! Rest your faith completely on the merits of Jesus, and take time to consider your heavenly Home and the many different kinds of people you will be with there.

Justin Nale is the pastor of Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, NC - http://www.mhmbc.org

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