What did God promise when He called the nation of Israel out of all the other nations?
God promised that the nation of Israel, called out from the mainstream of humanity, would become a kingdom of priests. He prepared them through the law, temple worship, priesthood, and the Old Testament, intending that they would eventually carry the knowledge of salvation to the Gentile nations.
Les explains that out of the mainstream of humanity God called one little nation, Israel, and made promises that they would become a kingdom of priests. To prepare them, God placed them under the law and gave them the temple worship, the priesthood, and the Old Testament, the Word of God. The Gentiles were left outside the covenant promises, without hope and without God, until Israel could be funneled back into the Gentile nations to bring them to a knowledge of their God. Les notes this was all prophecy, pointing to future events, including the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, though in subdued language that was not understood at the time.