What made the Israelites so special as a people...?

[Truth.Speaks]

I notice you use "we" and "us." Yet you are a Christian. Why in the world would you assume a lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Are you a Jew that has apostatized to Christianity? After all, the Torah was given only to Israel. Over and over, it is written, "And the LORD said to Moses, Speak to the Children of Israel," not to the Nations of the World. When you read verses like your quote from the psalms above, you need to remember that they were written by Jews, about Jews, for Jews.

when i say im a christian i i mean that i follow Christ according to scripture not according to modern Christianity which rejects Christ but i also claim to be a decendant of Abraham Isaac and Jacob making me an Israelite. why do i make that claim?
Romans 8:16
[16]The spirit it selfe beareth witnes with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
the spirit aka the bible "john 6:63" gives me strong reason to believe that my people are the children of God, who are the Israelites and the Israelites only because they are the seed of Isaac "Romans 9:7-8"
the scriptures that bear witness with me and my people being the true decendants of Abraham are Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and joel 3:1-12

 

[sooda]

What made the Israelites so special as a people if their cultural practices and sacrifices were so similar to the Egyptians in the Bible?

They were Canaanites and excellent storytellers.

 

[metis]

They were Canaanites and excellent storytellers.

Especially important since so few people could read back then, plus the vast majority of people didn't have direct access to the scrolls.

 

[sooda]

Especially important since so few people could read back then, plus the vast majority of people didn't have direct access to the scrolls.

They went to a lot of effort to keep themselves separate... with rituals, laws and stories. Rather amazing if you think about it.

 

[metis]

They went to a lot of effort to keep themselves separate... with rituals, laws and stories. Rather amazing if you think about it.

Yes, and a lot of this probably is due to their monotheism, whereas all the other groups were polytheistic. Also, by Jesus' time, Judaism had become signficantly less ritualistic and more based on belief and subsequent actions than during the 1st Temple period.

 

[sooda]

Yes, and a lot of this probably is due to their monotheism, whereas all the other groups were polytheistic. Also, by Jesus' time, Judaism had become signficantly less ritualistic and more based on belief and subsequent actions than during the 1st Temple period.

Perhaps.. I don't see it that way. The Jews of Jerusalem despised the Jews from the north and considered them Hellenized half breeds and fake Jews.

 

[columbus]

There's a batch of historical quirks that came to play.
Had the Persians not rescued the Jews from the Babylonians they'd have probably ceased to exist the way the real Israelites(Northern Kingdom) did when the Assyrians conquered them.
Had the Romans not squelched the Jews around 100CE, and sent them off with their culture and texts into the rest of the world, the Jews would probably have been conquered and assimilated by the Muslims a few centuries later.

Historical quirks, attributed to God by the survivors, and the following centuries of living in essentially hostile cultural territory(Christendom and the Islamic caliphate) resulted in an insular Jewish culture that's survived into the modern world.
Tom

 

[sooda]

There's a batch of historical quirks that came to play.
Had the Persians not rescued the Jews from the Babylonians they'd have probably ceased to exist the way the real Israelites(Northern Kingdom) did when the Assyrians conquered them.
Had the Romans not squelched the Jews around 100CE, and sent them off with their culture and texts into the rest of the world, the Jews would probably have been conquered and assimilated by the Muslims a few centuries later.

Historical quirks, attributed to God by the survivors, and the following centuries of living in essentially hostile cultural territory(Christendom and the Islamic caliphate) resulted in an insular Jewish culture that's survived into the modern world.
Tom

Interesting perspective.. Thank you. Jump in any time.

 

[columbus]

Interesting perspective.. Thank you. Jump in any time.

Ironic, isn't it?
The Roman emperor was the true Jewish messiah.
The Jews would probably not exist today, to start the nation of Israel, had the Romans decided that Judea wasn't worth the bother.
Tom

 

[metis]

Perhaps.. I don't see it that way. The Jews of Jerusalem despised the Jews from the north and considered them Hellenized half breeds and fake Jews.

True, but that doesn't go against what I wrote.

 

[columbus]

Perhaps.. I don't see it that way. The Jews of Jerusalem despised the Jews from the north and considered them Hellenized half breeds and fake Jews.

The Israelites in the north weren't Jews.
Jew comes from the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Judah didn't live in the northern Kingdom.
Tom

 

[e.r.m.]

What made the Israelites so special as a people if their cultural practices and sacrifices were so similar to the Egyptians in the Bible

I think it's because they came from Abraham. As to why Abraham was special, I think God only knows.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

What made the Israelites so special as a people if their cultural practices and sacrifices were so similar to the Egyptians in the Bible?

Please provide an outline of this so-called similarity. Most people, you realize, disagree with you.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

The Israelites in the north weren't Jews.
Jew comes from the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Judah didn't live in the northern Kingdom.
Tom

The word Jew does not come from the TRIBE of Judah. It comes from the KINGDOM of Judah. And who lived in the Kingdom of Judah? All the tribes. You had the full tribes of Benjamin and Judah, an whole awful lot of Levi, and then there were all the refugees of the ten tribes of the northern Kingdom which had fled south to Judah.

All of these went into captivity in Babylon, where they were indiscriminately called Yehudim, Jews, regardless of their tribes.

Basically, even if you prefer not to include the refugees in your count, the tribes of the north no longer exist. Thus Jews are all that is left of the Children of Israel. We are the complete People.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Nothing made them "so special," except in the revisionist histories of those who adopted their religious beliefs as the seed for their own.

We have a COVENANT, 613 laws which set us apart as a priestly people. God says to the faithful remnant of Israel, "I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." Isaiah 49:6 We do this by bringing ethical monotheism to the nations. Egypt did not have this covenant. Egypt is GONE. We walk on its ruins.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I find, Cornelius of Acts of the Apostles 10th chapter was Not a Jew, and Cornelius and family were special.

Not really. There is nothing special in following a false messiah.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

So too bad for you unless you is a jew, you aint special.

There are all different kinds of special. No need to be jealous.

To be a Jew means to have obligations that others don't have. You want that kind of special?

 

[IndigoChild5559]

It is routine for tribal people to give
themselves a name that more or less
means "we, the one true people"

Except that's not what Israel means. Israel means "contends with God." It is the new name given to Jacob after he struggled with God. Abraham also argued with God, as did Moses, out of compassion for others. You might say it is something which we allow for.

 

[Truth.Speaks]

Except that's not what Israel means. Israel means "contends with God." It is the new name given to Jacob after he struggled with God. Abraham also argued with God, as did Moses, out of compassion for others. You might say it is something which we allow for.

if you're referring to the people in israel today claiming to be Jewish as your people. You all are not the people of the Torah. The book you claim to worship

 

[IndigoChild5559]

when i say im a christian i i mean that i follow Christ according to scripture not according to modern Christianity which rejects Christ but i also claim to be a decendant of Abraham Isaac and Jacob making me an Israelite. why do i make that claim?
Romans 8:16
[16]The spirit it selfe beareth witnes with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
the spirit aka the bible "john 6:63" gives me strong reason to believe that my people are the children of God, who are the Israelites and the Israelites only because they are the seed of Isaac "Romans 9:7-8"
the scriptures that bear witness with me and my people being the true decendants of Abraham are Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and joel 3:1-12

It shouldn't surprise you that I am not interested in your verses from your Christian scriptures. Not that any of them say that God obliterated his covenant with Israel, but even if they did, it would have no authority.

As for your two references to the Tanakh, they speak of curses and punishments that God promises if we are not faithful. But never once do they speak of any ending of our covenant.