Why did God choose the Jews?

Many wonder why God chose the Jews out of all the nations on earth. Was it favoritism, or something deeper? This reflection traces five moments when God’s anger reshaped humanity — from Adam to Israel — and reveals how, behind every judgment, grace was quietly at work. In Abraham’s story, we find not just the origin of a people, but the heartbeat of God’s plan for all nations.

Have you ever sat down, read your Bible, and suddenly found yourself deep in thought — not because something's confusing, but because it's getting clearer? That’s what happened to me a few months ago. I realized God doesn’t just get angry for sport. Every time He’s angry, something shifts. So, I started tracing moments when God actually got angry — not mildly upset, but “pack your bags and leave” angry. I found four-five big ones. The fifth one will be in the future.

First: With one man — Adam. He disobeyed, and God said, “Out you go.” Paradise lost, just like that (Genesis 3:17–24).

Second: With most men — in Noah’s day. God looks around and sees violence, corruption, and chaos (Genesis 6:5–13). So, He floods the world but spares one family. Mercy floats on water that was meant to destroy (Genesis 7:23).

Third: With all men — at Babel. Imagine humanity uniting to build a tower that touches the sky, not to glorify God, but to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:1–4). God comes down (because human pride never actually reaches up) and mixes their languages (Genesis 11:5–9). Project Babel becomes Project Babble. People scatter into groups — not because they wanted to, but because they couldn’t understand each other anymore.

Fourth: With one group of people — Israel. This one is different. He’s not dealing with the whole world, but with a special group of people. These are the ones He’s been revealing Himself to since His third burst of anger. They’ve seen His power, eaten His manna, walked under His cloud (Exodus 13:21–22; 16:4,15; Numbers 14:22) — yet still chase after other gods (Exodus 32:1–6). This time, God doesn’t flood, confuse, or exile humanity at large. He goes silent. Four hundred years of divine radio silence (Amos 8:11; Malachi 4:6–Matthew 1:1).

Fifth: we'll get to that later.

Think about it: One man — sent out. Most men — sent flood. All men — sent confusion. One nation — sent silence. In three out of five, God’s anger was aimed at humanity as a whole. But in one, it was aimed at a chosen people — the Jews and in another it will be aimed at another special group of people. And that got me asking: Why the jews? When did this nation begin? And who led it?

Before we can answer why, we’ve got to ask when. Back then, the whole world spoke one language — the original “mother tongue.” No one knows what it was, though I’m sure it wasn’t Kisii or Somali — those two languages sound angry even when the speaker is excited 😂. But after Babel, everyone began speaking in different tongues and drifted apart. Nations were born from broken communication (Genesis 11:9).

Now, when people scattered, their hearts scattered too. Many started worshipping new gods — gods of their own imaginations (Romans 1:21–23). I believe this is where Kambas started worshipping rocks, Kikuyus trees, Hindus cows, Muslims the moon god, etcetera. Maybe because they were angry at the God who scattered them, or they had that God-void that needed to be filled. It’s as if everyone carried a tiny piece of rebellion and religion in their luggage.

But then, when God’s anger cooled and He reentered the scene, He found one man still faithful in a world full of idol worship. One man who hadn’t bowed to local gods or family idols. That man was Abram. And what God told him was historic: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation” (Genesis 12:1–2).

In short — “Leave what the scattered people settled for, and I’ll show you Me.” This is where the story of Israel begins: with a man, a promise, and a journey. God found one who still believed, and through him, He would build a people who would remind the world who He is and who they should direct their worship towards. That’s why God is proud to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:6; Matthew 22:32).

But here’s the twist — this wasn’t a “Jews only” deal. God made that clear early: “In you all families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). So while the patriarch (Abraham) was chosen, he was chosen for the world, not instead of the world. They were God’s bridge to bless the rest of us — not a fence to keep us out.

Why the Jews? Because from among them, there was a man who had not turned to other gods (Joshua 24:2–3). Through him, we and them are blessed if we believe — “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1). For this reason, Abram had to leave the scornful, the ungodly, and the sinners — his country, his family, and his father’s house.

Through Abraham, grace was revealed to all who will believe (Romans 4:16–17; Galatians 3:6–9). And if you look closely, you’ll see that every time God got angry, He left behind a seed of grace:

With Adam — a promise of redemption and some covering for their nakedness (Genesis 3:15,21).

With Noah — a rainbow of peace, a reminder that never again will God destroy humanity in that manner (Genesis 9:11–13).

With Babel — a preview of Pentecost, where languages would unite again (Acts 2:4–11).

With Israel — silence before the Word Himself came (John 1:1–14; Galatians 4:4).

Every anger carried mercy. Every judgment hid grace. Every silence made room for a Savior.

So maybe, just maybe, God did not choose the Jews but rather a man who happened to be Jewish. He needed a family line through which redemption could enter the world. And He found it in Abraham — a man who lived righteously when everyone else was raving (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3).

In the end, God chose him who became a nation so that all nations could find their way back to Him. He narrowed His focus so that the world could see His face — in Jesus (John 14:9; Matthew 1:1–2). Through Jesus, we now have a new nation. A nation which you must be born into (John 3:3). A nation where we speak the language of love (1 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Peter 2:9), a nation whose Master and Lord is Jesus Himself. And that’s the beauty of it.

The story of the Jews is the story of one righteous Jew. I have a feeling if Abraham was a righteous man who was from the Oromo community, the Bible would be revolving around the culture of the Oromos and not the Jews. God is not for a specific nation, but any man who believes in Him (Acts 10:34–35). God was not against the rest of the tribes, but only in one tribe (Jews) did He find a righteous man back then. A man who still believed even after God scattered them. God’s anger may burn, but His mercy never runs out (Psalm 103:8–10).

This is so clear in His fourth burst of anger. The Jews/Israelites were safe just because God is faithful to His word (Deuteronomy 7:8–9). However, if you read Malachi, His anger can be felt and even touched (Malachi 1:2–10). He was so angry that He wanted a divorce (Jeremiah 3:8; Malachi 2:16). Were it not for the promise He made to Abraham, He would have picked another group of people (Exodus 32:13; Romans 11:28–29).

What does this mean to us today? I believe this means that the true God to be worshiped by all humanity is the God of Abraham (Genesis 17:7; Galatians 3:29). Don’t follow the gods of your countries, families, and fathers if they’re not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t follow the Jews (seeds); follow Jesus (the Seed) (Galatians 3:16). He is the Seed that was promised to Abraham and was fulfilled in Jesus the Anointed One.

Finally, watch out for the fifth and final burst of Gods anger. This will be in the final days when a sword will proceed from His mouth and with one sweep He will do away with all the wicked (Revelation 19:11–15). Then their leader will be thrown to hell and death will follow too (Revelation 20:10,14). It's funny to realize that the devil who puts people in hell has never lived there. There are humans who will stay in hell longer than those it was prepared for.

So, did God choose the Jews over other nations? My answer will be no. He chose a man and out of that man, a nation was born that later came to be called Israelites and now Jews. Endeavor to be a man that God can choose.