God Himself gives Israelites little room to take excessive pride in their election and certainly no permission to abuse or persecute other peoples. Because of Israel's rejection of God, He is now working with select individuals whom He calls, makes a New Covenant with, and converts to His way of life. To these, He gives His Spirit, and they become His witnesses among the nations. But God is not finished with the Israelites, and it is mainly to them that the gospel of the Kingdom of God is preached as a witness against them. When Jesus returns and sets up His Kingdom, He will require Israel to fulfill the job they originally covenanted with Him to do. Then they will truly know that with great gifts come great responsibilities, not superiority.

When God called Israel out of Egypt and formed them into a nation, He was fully aware of the inclination of their hearts and the carnality that would ultimately lead to their destruction. He knew they would stray, mirroring the decline seen in other nations over time. Within the Old Covenant, He included language anticipating their forsaking of Him for idols, which would provoke the wrath of the Angel of the Lord, whom they were commanded to obey in all things. Indeed, Israel did forsake Him, failing to obey the Angel of the Lord, and ultimately became among the most sinful of nations, surpassing even Sodom in their iniquity. God's indictment of Israel and Judah reveals the depth of their apostasy. Their crimes included breaking the covenant with God, diving wholeheartedly into idolatry, repeatedly violating the Sabbath, and foolishly trusting in other nations rather than in Him. This rebellion was not merely a lapse but a profound moral warping, as they suppressed His instructions and became so saturated with sin that they no longer knew right from wrong. Despite having received the Ten Commandments and witnessed divine manifestations at Mount Sinai, they reached a state of immorality akin to the pre-Flood world, where every intent of their heart was only evil continually. God's judgment against Israel was intensified by their special, intimate relationship with Him. They had formally agreed, through a blood-ratified covenant, to worship and obey Him exclusively. Yet, they flagrantly sinned and rebelled, deserving severe punishment under His justice. Only His mercy prevented their utter annihilation. Through prophets and various calamities—famine, drought, blight, locusts, disease, destruction, and war—He warned them repeatedly, but they remained spiritually obtuse, failing to connect their disasters with their sins and refusing to return to a right relationship with Him. Their religious practices were corrupted, turning worship into a spectacle for personal gain rather than sincere devotion. They mixed philosophies and religions, creating their own ways at places like Bethel and Gilgal, where they transgressed and multiplied their sins. Even their women, meant to be the backbone of society, became as self-indulgent and cruel as the men, signaling the nation's doom. Israel's apostasy was complete; they abandoned all of God's commandments, engaging in idolatry, child sacrifice, witchcraft, and soothsaying, selling themselves into enslavement to ungodliness and becoming wholly anti-God in their rebellion. Their rejection of the Sabbath, a sign of their covenant with God, further distanced them from Him, leading to a loss of their identity as His people. By forsaking the Sabbath, they drifted into paganism, blending into the world until they became the lost tribes of Israel. Ultimately, their persistent idolatry, equated with sin itself, and their alliances with foreign nations—viewed by God as spiritual adultery—provoked His anger, resulting in their exile by the Assyrians and Babylonians, alongside famine, disease, and loss of identity for many. Yet, despite this severe punishment, God's forbearance and mercy endured, holding out hope for a future restoration through great tribulation, when Israel will finally hallow His name and fear Him.