Ephesians Devotionals
Bob Morris
Plan A: Israel (and the rest of us) Chosen for his Praise (Ephesians 1:11-12)
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Do these verses make you a little uncomfortable? All this talk of predestination, someone else’s plan for our lives, conformity to someone else’s will – it all smacks of the manipulation and control of a previous generational culture. To add to the discomfort, there is an implied elitism - what Lesslie Newbigin has called the unforgivable sin of the 20th century. When Paul says “in him we were…chosen” he is speaking as one of God’s chosen people, the Jews, and contrasts what he says here with “you [Gentiles] also” of verse 13. The prophet Isaiah wrote of Israel,
Do not be afraid for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth – everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made (43: 5-7).Both Paul and Isaiah had a sense of God’s having chosen Israel for the purpose of praising him. Paul connects this idea with the early Jewish believers who made up the majority of the early church initially. For Paul, Jesus was not “Plan B” for the Gentiles because “Plan A” failed with the Jews; rather Plan A from the beginning was that all believers, Jew and Gentile alike would put their hope in Christ, those in Old Testament times looking forward in faith to his coming, those since his death and resurrection looking back in faith. Plan A included mission, which is implied in the Biblical phrase “kingdom of priests”.
The phrase “kingdom of priests” first appears scripturally when God through Moses said to Israel,
Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19: 5-6)
God makes it clear that they were to be a holy nation; that is, set apart for God’s purposes. All the surrounding nations had priests, who were mediators between the people and their gods. Thus, in the context of all the nations, Israel was to act as mediators between YHWH and the nations of the earth. They were to teach the nations God’s ways, and plead for mercy to God on their behalf. The writers of the Psalms were very much aware of this missional call:
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all people
(Psalm 96: 3)
Peter, a visceral Jew, unhesitatingly applied the same priestly imagery to the Church in 1 Peter 2: 9-10:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
The purpose of being a royal priesthood and holy nation was to declare God’s praises among the nations. Peter went on to write, “Live such good lives among the pagans, that…they may see your good deeds and glorify God…” (1 Peter 2: 12).
Finally Paul says, “[God gave me] the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God [to the Gentiles]” (Romans 15: 16). The choosing of Israel (and subsequently the church) was not to grant exclusive favour to them, but rather to assign to them the holy responsibility to declare his glory among the nations, so all could come out of darkness into his marvelous light and become the praise of his glory.
Print
Email
