Yes—God sovereignly called Israel His 'peculiar treasure,' a people of intrinsic value set above all nations, conditioned on their obedience and covenant-keeping.
The promise is recorded in Exodus 19:5-6: if Israel obeys God's voice and keeps His covenant, they will be 'a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.' Les Feldick teaches that 'peculiar' in the original language does not mean odd or strange but refers to intrinsic value—a treasure whose worth cannot be measured. God can set one nation above all others because He is sovereign and all the earth is His. Israel's calling was to be a kingdom of priests, a go-between people prepared to bring the pagan world to a knowledge of Israel's God.
Exodus 19:5 — The foundational verse where God tells Israel that obedience and covenant-keeping will make them His peculiar treasure above all peoples.
Exodus 19:6 — The companion verse Les calls crucial, revealing Israel's calling as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Deuteronomy 7:6 — Moses repeats Israel's chosen status as a special people above all the nations on the face of the earth.
The foundational promise is found in Exodus 19:5-6, where God speaks to Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai: 'Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.' The verse opens with the conditional word 'if'—Israel's becoming a peculiar treasure was tied to obedience and covenant-keeping. God's right to designate one people above all others rests on His ownership of everything: 'for all the earth is mine.' Moses reiterates this choice in Deuteronomy 7:6: 'For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.' The Scripture further reveals Israel's central place in God's ordering of the nations. In Deuteronomy 32:8, Moses writes that when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, 'he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.'
Les Feldick draws three main points from Exodus 19:5-6. First, the promise is conditional. He highlights the little word 'if' and explains that God never takes away the free will of men or nations—Israel was to obey His voice and keep His covenant (Clip 0, Clip 2). Second, the word 'peculiar' does not mean odd or strange. In the original language, it speaks of intrinsic value—a treasure whose worth cannot be measured or comprehended (Clip 1, Clip 4). Third, God's right to set Israel above all peoples rests on His sovereignty: 'all the earth is mine,' so He may do as He pleases (Clip 1, Clip 2). Les ties this promise back to the master covenant God made with Abraham, repeated to Isaac and Jacob: Israel would become a great nation, dwell in their own land, and one day have God Himself as King and government (Clip 0). The purpose of this special position was not favoritism for its own sake—Israel was to be a kingdom of priests, with every Jew prepared to be a go-between between the pagan world and Israel's God, bringing all nations to a knowledge of the one true God (Clip 4, Clip 5). Israel was sovereignly lifted out of the mainstream of humanity into covenant relationship (Clip 6), a position no other nation can infringe upon (Clip 3). Even today, Les notes, Israel stands at the core of the human experience—God set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel (Clip 7)—and in the end-time scenario Israel will once again be the head of the nations (Clip 2).
Les Feldick explains that the King James word 'peculiar' in Exodus 19:5 does not mean what we usually think of—someone odd or a little bit different. In the original language, the word carries the sense of intrinsic value. Israel is not a peculiar treasure as a curiosity; Israel is a treasure whose worth cannot be measured or calculated. God says to the nation, 'I have made you of an intrinsic value to Me, because the world is Mine.'
Yes. Exodus 19:5 begins with the little word 'if': 'Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant.' Les points out that the word 'if' is conditional—God leaves Israel with free will, even though they are under a sovereign God. The obedience required is closely related to faith, and it is paired with keeping God's covenant. Les ties this back to the one master covenant God made with Abraham, repeated to Isaac and Jacob: Israel would become a great nation, dwell in their own land, and one day have God as their King and government.
Les points to the end of Exodus 19:5: 'for all the earth is mine.' Because God is sovereign, He has the right to designate one nation above all others. Man can shake his fist in God's face all he wants, but that will never diminish God's sovereignty. So in sovereignty God says to the nation of Israel, 'you shall be a special people unto me above all people.'
Israel was to be 'a kingdom of priests' (Exodus 19:6). Les explains that a priest is a go-between, so every Jew was to be a prepared person to go between the pagan world around them and Israel's God. God sovereignly designated Israel for a unique role in His overall program for the whole human race: to bring all the other nations of the world to a knowledge of Israel's God. This did not mean God had blanked out the Gentile—the favored nation was prepared for the express purpose of reaching the nations.
Les teaches that Israel's position above all the other nations 'will never change.' Although the dispersions interrupted the visible outworking of that position, God will bring Israel back and finish the end-time scenario, when Israel will once again be the head of the nations. Israel remains at the core of the whole human experience—in Deuteronomy 32:8, God set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel. As Les puts it, 'everything else is going to fall in place as it begins with Israel.'
The Conditional 'If' and the Abrahamic Covenant
Les highlights the word 'if' in Exodus 19:5, showing the promise is conditional on Israel's obedience and covenant-keeping, and connects it to the master covenant God made with Abraham, repeated to Isaac and Jacob.
Peculiar Means Intrinsic Value
Les explains that 'peculiar' does not mean odd or strange; in the original language it means of intrinsic value, and God can set Israel above all people because all the earth is His.
Israel Elevated Above All Nations
Les teaches that Israel is elevated to a position above all other nations by God's sovereign choice, and that Israel will once again be head of the nations in the end-time scenario.
A Unique Set-Aside Nation
Les emphasizes that Israel has been positioned as a unique set-aside nation that no one can infringe upon, pointing to Deuteronomy 7:6 as the Old Testament confirmation.
Every Jew a Priest and Go-Between
Les teaches that God made Israel of intrinsic value because the world is His, and that Israel was to be a kingdom of priests—every Jew a go-between between the pagan world and Israel's God.
Chosen to Bring the Nations to God
Les explains that God sovereignly designated Israel for a unique role in His program for the human race: to bring all the other nations to a knowledge of Israel's God.
Lifted Out of the Mainstream of Humanity
Les shows how the covenant promise in Exodus 19 lifts Israel out of the mainstream of humanity and places them in covenant relationship as God's favored, chosen people.
Israel at the Core of History
Les uses Deuteronomy 32:8 to show that God set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel, placing Israel at the very core of human experience.
Exodus 19:5: Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Israel stands at Sinai and hears God's conditional promise that obedience will make them His peculiar treasure above all peoples.
Exodus 19:6: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
God explains what that treasure status looks like: Israel becomes a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Deuteronomy 7:6: For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Forty years later Moses affirms that God has chosen Israel to be a special people above all the nations.
Deuteronomy 32:8: When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
Moses reveals that God ordered the nations' boundaries around the number of Israel, showing their central place in history.
Yes. Exodus 19:5 begins with the word 'if': Israel was to obey God's voice and keep His covenant. Les Feldick notes that God never takes away the free will of men or nations, so Israel's blessing was conditioned on their response of obedience.
The King James phrase 'peculiar treasure' does not mean odd or strange. Les Feldick teaches that the original language speaks of intrinsic value—a treasure whose worth cannot be measured. Israel has that kind of value in God's economy.
Because God is sovereign and all the earth is His (Exodus 19:5). Since God owns everything, He has the right to designate one nation as His special people above all others, and He chose Israel for that unique role.
A priest is a go-between. Every Jew was to be prepared to go between the pagan world and Israel's God. The express purpose of the favored nation was to bring all the other nations to a knowledge of Israel's God.
Les teaches that Israel's position above all nations will never change. Though the dispersions interrupted it, God will bring Israel back and finish the end-time scenario when Israel will once again be the head of the nations.
Watch the Teaching: The Abomination of Desolation: Why Israel Must Flee (Matthew 24)