Why did God make Israel a special people according to this teaching?
God made Israel a special people because He is sovereign and all the earth belongs to Him. He chose them as a treasured possession, intending them to be a kingdom of priests—a go-between to reach the pagan world around them.
Les teaches that God's purpose for Israel was rooted in His sovereignty. Because He created the world and owns all the earth, He could set Israel apart as His treasure above all people, as stated in Exodus 19. God intended this little nation to be a particular people of value, not for their own sake but to reach the pagan nations. If they were obedient, they would be a kingdom of priests, and since a priest is a go-between, every Jew was to be prepared to mediate between the pagan world and Israel's God. This explains why Paul's mention of Gentiles later caused such an uproar in Acts.