Previously, God promised to make of Israel a nation and a In Exodus 19:1-6, what kind of nation and kingdom does he say they will be, if they obey him and keep his covenant? What impact does he plan for his “firstborn Son” Israel to have on the world?
God promised that Israel will be a Kingdom of Priests. A Holy Nation. I believe God wanted Israel to be source of our Salvation? Our Lord Jesus, His "first born son" takes on Himself this role. I need a bit more for the second part of the question.
God promised that they will be his treasured possession of all people.
Yes Julin. If we recall what all the Israelites went through (they were captured, enslaved in present day Iraq, etc), we also can see how strict God was with them. Fast forward, He allowed Oct 7th 2023 to happen. I understand this is a complicated and touchy subject. In my opinion, it is very important for us Christians to look at our society in the light of what we learn from the Scriptures. For natural disasters we blame climate change. But we don't consider what were Israelites doing (in terms of their behavior and attitude towards God and His Laws) and find a pattern. What I mean is, every time when they sinned, God allowed some form of disaster. Are we going through, in the present age, something like that? Abortion, misleading God's people for one's own advantage, etc. Are these taking the Graces away from us a society? At society level it is difficult for us to act upon to make a difference. However, at an individual level we can reflect and contribute to the society to keep God's Grace and not Grace to be taken away.
The above can be confusing. Hopefully we can discuss this when we meet.
