God organized descendants of the patriarch Abraham into a nation and gave them a body of laws. He called the nation Israel and made it the custodian of true worship and of his Word, the Holy Scriptures.
“He is telling his word to Jacob, His regulations and his judicial decisions to Israel. He has not done that way to any other nation; And as for [his] judicial decisions, they have not known them. Praise Jah, YOU people!” (Psalm 147:19, 20)
“And by means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have listened to my voice.” (Genesis 22:18)
Thus, people of all nations have benefited.
God chose the Israelites to be his witnesses. When they were obedient, they benefited from God’s laws.
“And YOU must keep and do them, because this is wisdom on YOUR part and understanding on YOUR part before the eyes of the peoples who will hear of all these regulations, and they will certainly say, ‘This great nation is undoubtedly a wise and understanding people.’” (Deuteronomy 4:6)
“YOU are my witnesses,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “even my servant whom I have chosen, in order that YOU may know and have faith in me, and that YOU may understand that I am the same One. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there continued to be none.” (Isaiah 43:10)
“I myself have told forth and have saved and have caused [it] to be heard, when there was among YOU no strange [god]. So YOU are my witnesses,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “and I am God.” (Isaiah 43:12)
By studying the history of the Israelites, we can get to know more about the true God.
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The text above was taken from the Learn from God’s Word series in the February 1, 2012 Watchtower (public) magazine. The article raises questions you may have asked and shows where you can read the answers in your Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses would be pleased to discuss these answers with you.
For more information, see Chapter 19 in the publication, “What Does the Bible Really Teach?” published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
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The Israelites in the first instance are the chosen people of God, and will stay that. It is in their city Jerusalem that the seat shall be of the Kingdom of God on earth.
We don’t believe that to be true. The Israelites WERE God’s chosen race, but no longer. See the recent post, “Why are true Christians organized?” Also feel free to visit the Bible research website of Jehovah’s Witnesses for more information.