What role did God give Israel in His plan of redemption?
Israel was chosen to be the vehicle through which God would communicate and bring about the entire plan of redemption to the whole human race. God selected Abraham and his descendants to become a nation distinct from all others, serving as His channel for redemption.
Les explains that in Genesis 12 God does something totally different. Out of the one race of Adam, He picks one man, Abraham, down in Ur of the Chaldeans. God promises Abraham that out of him He will bring about a nation of people totally different than any other race of people on earth. They are going to be the vehicle through which God will communicate and bring about the whole plan of redemption to the whole human race through Israel. God gives Abraham the Abrahamic covenant, promising to make of him a great nation, to put them in a geographical area of land, and one day to come and be their king and government.