1. The Chosen People

World Scripture

All Israel shall have a part in the world to come, as it is said, “And they people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.”
(Isa. 60:21) Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10.1

If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Exodus 19.5-6

O Children of Israel! Remember My favor with which I favored you, and fulfill your covenant, and I shall fulfill My covenant; and fear Me.
Qur’an 2.40

The Holy One desired to make Israel worthy, so He gave them many laws and commandments.
Mishnah, Makkot 3.16

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples; but it is because the Lord loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments…
And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out upon you, and your foot did not swell, these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him.
Deuteronomy 7.6-9, 8.2-6

The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name, He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant only to reestablish the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 49.1-3, 6

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Among all religions in human history, Judaism alone was established by a people who claimed that they brought victory for God. It originated from Jacob’s victory in the fight against the angel. Jacob did not win against a human being but an angel, a being from the invisible spirit world. The people of Israel stand on this tradition of spiritual victory over the fallen angelic realm… Hence, they could become the chosen people of God.
Thoroughly equipped with the belief that they are the chosen people, the Jews have never forgotten their history and tradition despite the suffering of wandering throughout the world for 2,000 years. Wherever they went, no matter what circumstances they faced, they maintained their belief that they were chosen by God. Such a history never existed among any other people on earth.²⁷
(149:85, November 17, 1986)

God appointed the Israelites to a central role and wanted all people to honor them. He wanted all people on earth to follow Israel’s example; then they would praise Israel just as God would. However, the Israelites could not set up such an exemplary historical tradition. Israel began from Jacob, who was God’s champion of love. However, subsequent generations of Israelites could not maintain his tradition. The Israelites should have been superior to any other people in the world in loving God and fulfilling God’s Will and providence. However, while they raised their awareness of being the chosen people, they forgot their mission and their calling for the Will of God.
What is the purpose of the chosen people? The chosen people should love the world on God’s behalf and, as God’s representatives, set the example for all in loving the world. However, the people of Israel did not fulfill their exalted calling. Though they were supposed to give God’s love to all the world, they wanted to receive love instead. That was the problem.
(169:265-66, November 1, 1987)

What is the path that God has decreed for Israel and Judaism? It is a path with universal significance. It is a universal mission. God chose the one specific people, Israel, to fulfill a mission not only for themselves but for humankind. (168:304, October 1, 1987)
Besides Judaism, there are numerous religions in the world, such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism. The religions differ, but they must not fight one another; instead, they must travel the road to one unified world. Likewise, the peoples of the world must not fight one another, but become one. There must be one teaching that can lead all the religions not to fight, but to unite. The Jewish people in particular, who have the responsibility to lead the world’s peoples and unite them into one, should have such a teaching. Because the realization of God’s ideal of creation is universal, Judaism and the Jewish people should uphold a teaching that corresponds to God’s ideal of creation.
(168:304, October 1, 1987)