The Benefit of Being a Jew

So, there’s no benefit to being a Jew?

Israel certainly has a favored relationship with God.

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.Exodus 19:6

Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.Deuteronomy 10:14-15

For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.Deuteronomy 14:2

Being a Jew did not guarantee eternal life.

Being a physical descendent of Abraham did not make one a spiritual descendent. Only faith does that.

Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.Galatians 3:6-9

Faith and repentance were still required for salvation.

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.Isaiah 55:6-7

Jews had been favored by being entrusted with the Word of God.

The Word of God came to them first.

Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.Ezekiel 20:10-12

God’s Word was a great comfort to them, but also required obedience from them.

Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 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

The Jews had rejected Jesus as Messiah.

Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.Acts 3:25-26

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.John 1:10-11

Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.Acts 13:26

While the Jews had first chance at salvation, they also had first chance at condemnation.

Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.Luke 20:13-16

The Jews had focused so much on their privileges that they ignored their responsibilities.

So, since the Jews had broken their end of the covenant, God would cast them off?

No, God is always faithful and keeps His promises.

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?Numbers 23:19

God is longsuffering.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.2 Peter 3:9

God’s character stands in stark contrast to the character of mankind.

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.Deuteronomy 32:4

We must view the Word of God for the gift that it is.

Having access to the wisdom and promises of God gives us an advantage over those who do not have the Bible.

To whom much is given, much is required. There is a greater level of accountability for those of us with access to the Bible.

When you fail God, don’t give up on God’s Word.