Feb 5 (Daily reading: Exodus 19-21) “You shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’” (19:5-6). I wrote in my book, “We Love Because God First Loved Us,” about the Hebrew word “segullah.” God’s people are described as His “treasured possession” (19:5, NIV).
I quote from page 20: “God wanted us to know that we, His people, are His prized, even treasured, possession! Why would He even want to claim us, sinners that we are? But He does, and apparently, proudly! ‘For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession (segullah) out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth’ (Deut. 14:2). The concept of segullah in the Old Testament highlights the grace of our God!”
God gave the Ten Commandments to His people because He loved them, because they were His own possession. They were not given to bind His people, but to free them to serve Him and Him only! Remember that He said, “You shall not worship them (idols) nor serve them; I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (20:5). Another quote, from page 26: “(God) has no intention of sharing us with the gods of our own invention, and rightly so. We are honored and not burdened by His jealousy!”
“I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer. 31:33).
-Al Gary
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