Who is God’s Favourite?

Have you ever experienced a situation where it was evident someone was favoured over someone else? Maybe you were the one on the receiving end of that. Perhaps you felt like one of your siblings was favoured by a parent or a grandparent. Maybe you felt like you were overlooked at work by bosses who seemed to prefer someone else over you for that opportunity or promotion. Or maybe you have felt ‘on the outer’ in your circle of friends, that they seem to confide in each other or spend time together more than they do with you.

Whatever the situation is, how did it, or how does it make you feel? While I don’t know your exact situation, from my own experiences in life, it is definitely not a nice feeling. The effects of this kind of favouritism are also destructive, leading to wounded souls and broken and damaged relationships. This is evident in Scripture, as we see the consequences of Isaac favouring one of his twin sons over the other, and then Jacob favouring Joseph over his other sons.

We also see that those who are ‘favoured’ can often then have a smug or condescending attitude towards others. A prime example of this is the Jews. By the time of Jesus, they had a very ‘elitist’ attitude towards others. They hated the Samaritans because they were considered to be half-breeds as they were not pure-blooded Jews. They also hated Gentiles, or non-Jews, because they were considered to be uncivilised, barbaric and unclean (racial division and tension is nothing new). Jews saw themselves as God’s favourites, as they were God’s chosen ones in a special covenantal relationship with Him.

To be honest, for a long time, I thought God viewed the Jews as His favourites as well. However, over the years, God has shown me that this is not actually the case, and there is plenty of evidence in Scripture to back this up.

The Jewish people are descendants of Abraham and Sarah, and in Genesis 12, God appears to Abraham (then called Abram) and promised him that he would have a child, even though he and his wife were old and past childbearing age. We don’t really know why God chose Abraham, but what we do see is that even at this early stage in history, God had a heart for everybody. In Genesis 12:3, God promises Abraham that “all the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Even though God chose Abraham and Sarah, and even though God blessed him and raised up a nation through him, ultimately it was all about everybody on earth being blessed through Jesus, who was born as a Jew, but died and rose again for all of humanity.

Skip forward a few hundred years later, and the descendants of Abraham, the Israelites, are led out of Egypt by God through Moses where they had been slaves. This is the beginning of God revealing Himself to the Israelite people and entering into a covenant, or agreement with them. In this covenant, God promised He will love, provide, and care for them and give them a land of their own to live in, and in return they are to love and worship Him.

In this covenant, God talks a lot about His deep love for the Israelites, and how out of all the nations on the earth, they were His chosen people. It can be easy to think that this is because God favoured the Israelites and loved them more than other people. But, as part of the covenant, God repeatedly talks about foreigners.

“Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:33-34 NLT)

God very clearly states that foreigners living among them are to be treated the same as they were to treat each other. When the Israelites left Egypt, it mentions in Exodus that a ‘multitude’ went with them. This was likely Egyptians that were amazed by the miracles of God as He delivered the Israelites from Egypt. God’s heart was that these people would walk in relationship with Him just as much as the Israelites.

When the Israelites defeated Jericho in a mighty display of God’s power, they destroyed the entire city, except Rahab, a Canaanite woman and her family, who were spared and allowed to join the Israelite community and begin a new life with them in the Promised Land. She even became known as one of the ‘heroes of the faith’ mentioned in Hebrews 11.

During the time of the judges, Ruth, a Moabite woman, moved to Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi after they both became widows. Ruth’s response to Naomi was, “your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.” The story of Ruth also shows God’s hand in protecting and providing for these women, and ultimately through the provision of Boaz, a man who gave her a new life as her husband, and a picture of what Jesus has done for each of us.

Skip forward in time, and we meet the prophet Jonah. His journey was a unique one for many reasons – it’s not everyday somebody spends three days inside a big fish! But, the purpose of his journey and calling, at least that we are made aware of, is his mission to share a message with the people of Nineveh, which was the capital city of the nation of Assyria. At the time they were a prosperous and powerful empire, but were also known for their extreme cruelty in how they treated people. God told Jonah to tell them that in 40 days they would be destroyed, but, in a surprise turn of events, they listened to this message, and they repented and changed their ways.

So, God changes His mind and decides to spare them, much to Jonah’s frustration. Why does God do all this? Why does He warn them and then change His mind and save them? Because He loves them! When Jonah was complaining to God, His response was, “But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (Jonah 4:11 NLT)

Lately, I’ve been reading through the book of Isaiah. The other day, I was struck by one of the prophecies that Isaiah gave, which were messages not just for the nations of Israel and Judah, but also the surrounding nations. The book of Isaiah is filled with recurring messages of both judgment, but then restoration, leaving the reader with hope for the future.

While reading, I noticed some prophecies concerning the nations of Egypt and Assyria. God makes this declaration in Isaiah 19:

“In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord Yahweh in the middle of Egypt and a sacred monument to honour him on its border. It will be a sign and a visible reminder in the land of Egypt of the Lord Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies. And they will cry out to him when they are oppressed, he will send a mighty deliverer and champion to their rescue!

The Lord Yahweh will reveal to them who he really is, and the Egyptians will know him intimately. They will worship him with sacrifices and burnt offerings. They will make vows to the Lord Yahweh, and they will keep them.

The Lord Yahweh will wound the Egyptians, but when they turn back to him, he will heal them. Yes, the Lord Yahweh will listen to their hearts’ cry, and he will heal and restore them.

In that day there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria. Like long lost brothers, the Egyptians and the Assyrians will be joined together and they will worship and serve the Lord Yahweh! And in that day, Israel will become the third partner with Egypt and Assyria as a blessing to all the earth. For the Lord Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt, my people! Blessed be Assyria, my handiwork! And blessed be Israel, my inheritance!” (Isaiah 19:19-23 TPT)

In the Scripture, we see that there is an obvious desire for God to walk in intimacy with not just the people of Israel, but other nations too.

There are many more examples that I could mention, but I think by now you are getting the picture. And when we skip forward to the New Testament times, we see that while Jesus was a Jew and ministered mostly to the Jews (although there are a number of exceptions to that in the Gospels), we quickly see that God’s ultimate plan was for the Gospel to not stay with the Jews, but to reach Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

Throughout the New Testament we see that non-Jews who come to Christ share the equal rights as children of God as Jews because of Jesus. We see that we are grafted in as branches, and that the walls that previously divided people are torn down because of Jesus.

Let’s make this more personal. I remember one time I was praying, and while praying I saw a picture of God on His throne, and there were these musical notes flowing from the throne to me. As I saw this picture, Zephaniah 3:17 came into my mind:

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)

I knew that God was singing over me, but I didn’t know what the words were. So, I asked God, but I didn’t hear anything. So I waited, and a couple of weeks later, God showed me what He was singing. This is what He sang:

“You are my son, whom I love, and with you I am well pleased.”

I instantly knew those were the words the Father spoke over Jesus when he was baptised by John. I remember thinking, but those words were for Jesus. Surely they weren’t for me. Surely Jesus is God’s favourite because he’s God’s beloved Son.

But God then began showing me verses like the prayer of Jesus in John 17:

“For the very glory you have given to me I have given them so that they will be joined together as one and experience the same unity that we enjoy. You live fully in me and now I live fully in them so that they will experience perfect unity, and the world will be convinced that you have sent me, for they will see that you love each one of them with the same passionate love that you have for me.” (John 17:22-23 TPT)

That’s a pretty astounding truth! Friend, God loves you and I as much as He loves Jesus. Which brings me back to what we were talking about at the beginning of this little ramble of mine. God doesn’t have favourites – we are all His favourites! If you are someone who has been hurt and felt on the outer from the favouritism of other people, soak in the truth that you are God’s favourite – always have been, and always will be! He sees you, He knows you, He loves you, and He has not forgotten you. You are the apple of His eye.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1.     How does it feel to know that you are God’s favourite and He loves you as He loves Jesus?

2.     What gets in the way of you fully accepting and receiving this truth?

3.     Have you opened your heart wide to receive the fullness of God’s love? If not, what is God inviting you to do in this moment?

PRAYER

Thank you, Father, that I am your favourite. Thank you for loving me with the depth, height, and breadth of love that You love Jesus. Give me a revelation of Your infinite love for me. Teach me to think and act like you love me, and help me love others through Your Spirit’s power. In Jesus’ name, Amen!