Shocking News! There Is No Longer a Chosen People!

Are all God's promises still valid for us today? Or have some of them expired? Or have some of them been rendered invalid? When it comes to Israel, the debate over God's promises becomes a testy one, often resulting in heated arguments.

At a recent meeting of the Synod of Bishops at the Special Assembly for the Middle East, the Greek-Melkite Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros of Newton, MA, said "the concept of the promised land cannot be used as a base for the justification of the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of Palestinians." He further stated that "sacred Scripture should not be used to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestine." The archbishop further stated that "There is no longer a chosen people."

Did you read that correctly - NO LONGER A CHOSEN PEOPLE? Wait a minute! Has someone told God about this? Has someone shared with Him that He no longer has a chosen people? Has someone explained to Him that, because of the current situation in the Middle East, He no longer can have a chosen people? Have you ever heard of anything more blasphemous than that statement - "There is no longer a chosen people?"

Have we forgotten the promises that God made to Abraham concerning descendants (which would be greater than the sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky) and a certain piece of property that bordered the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea linking three continents of the world? Furthermore God stated that these were "forever" promises. Now, does "forever" have an ending? Can we safely state that "forever" will run out in the year.......? Of course not! "Forever" is just that - forever. And this "forever" promise was reiterated to Isaac and to Jacob and to the people of Israel through Moses and Joshua. It was affirmed through the centuries by judges and prophets.

Somehow today we have become smarter than God, or at least we think we have. So now we can declare, "There is no longer a chosen people!" Nonsense. I think it would be easier to change a leopard's spots than to nullify one of God's promises. Furthermore, if His promise concerning Israel being His chosen people is no longer valid, then how can we accurately state that His promises concerning our salvation are still valid? Perhaps those have been nullified as well.

The problem is that Israel is settling on land they justifiably took during the 1967 Six-Day War and then successfully defended during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. I find it very strange that the world community does not demand that North Viet nam give up its claim to South Viet nam. Seems to me that the same principle applies - the North Vietnamese won the war. Israel has willingly given control over certain portions of their land to the Palestinians. What have they received from these peace-offerings? A continual state of terror and threat of war. Yet the present Israeli government is willing to negotiate.

So, is there no longer a chosen people? God forbid! as the Apostle Paul would say. I doubt if we will ever understand why God chose the Hebrews to bear His name before the world, but we cannot deny that He made that choice. It is not for us to debate their validity, but to accept it. And they will continue to be His chosen people long after the Archbishop from Newton, MA has disappeared from the world's stage.