When did Israel first learn that they were a set-apart people?
Israel first learned they were set apart as a people when they became a nation in Egypt. God told them in Egypt that He would put a division between them and the Egyptians; Deuteronomy calls them a separated people, and Exodus 19 says they would be a kingdom of priests.
Les teaches that Israel’s sense of being set apart was a national phenomenon, not a put-down. They had it pounded into them ever since they became a nation in Egypt that they were a set-apart people. They were God’s covenant people, and God told them in Egypt He would put a division between them and the Egyptians. Deuteronomy says plainly they were a separated people unto Him, and Exodus 19 says they would be a kingdom of priests. Les notes this separation carried into Paul’s day, so when Paul began going to the Gentiles, the Jews hated him for it. In Acts 22, Paul, under Roman protective custody, addresses the Jewish crowd in Jerusalem and rehearses his salvation, including the Lord’s command to leave Jerusalem because they would not receive his testimony.