Society & Culture

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At the Exodus, Jehovah made Israel a nation, i.e., a self-aware social unit, bound by a common language and culture, sharing descent from a common ancestor. More than that, Jehovah made Israel a people of God. He made them a nation devoted to the worship of the one, true, and living God, called by His name and ruled by His precepts.

Even in the Old Testament, God disclosed that His plan included many peoples. Eventually both Egypt and Assyria would become peoples of God (Isa. 19:19-25). Indeed, the poets and prophets regularly called upon all the peoples of the earth to acknowledge Jehovah as the true and living God and to worship Him (Ps. 67; Ps. 148:11). In eternity future, God will be served by many peoples (Rev. 21:3, 24, 26; 22:2).

In the meanwhile, God has created the church and called it to be His people. In 1 Peter 2:9-10, some of the same language is applied to the church that was applied to Israel. For this language to work, the church must somehow be very like Israel. Nevertheless, the church is not only distinct from Israel, it is actually a different kind of people, constituted by the Holy Spirit who, in a unique sense, places saints in Christ by uniting them to His body.