But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Parallel translations
- WEB but because Yahweh loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- KJV But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- NKJV but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- NASB but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- NLT Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God chose Israel simply because he loved them and kept his oath to the fathers, redeeming them from Egypt. Election flows from God's own love and faithfulness.
Overview
The ground of God's choice is his love and his covenant promise, not Israel's worthiness. The exodus is the proof of that redeeming love, accomplished by a mighty hand. Here is the heart of grace: God loves because he loves, a love supremely displayed in the redemption purchased by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 27
- Exod 20:2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Exod 32:13Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
- Jer 31:3The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
- Eph 2:4–5But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Isa 43:4Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.
- Deut 10:15Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.
- Exod 13:14In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Exod 13:3So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His hand. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.
- Luke 1:72–73to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
- Heb 6:13–17When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
- Luke 1:55as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”
- Exod 12:41–42At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions went out of the land of Egypt.
- Ps 105:42For He remembered His holy promise to Abraham His servant.
- 2 Sam 22:20He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
- Matt 11:26Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
- 2 Th 2:13–14But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.
- Deut 9:4–5When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD is driving out these nations before you because of their wickedness.
- Ps 44:3For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.
- Deut 4:34Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?
- Ps 105:8–10He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
- Deut 4:37Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,
- Gen 22:16–18saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,
- Zeph 3:17The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
- Deut 4:20Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
- Titus 3:3–7For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- 1 Sam 12:22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- 1 Jn 4:19We love because He first loved us.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 7:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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