I've been trying to figure out what's so bad about being one of the direct descendants of the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were the grandfathers of all the twelve tribes of Israel.

Everywhere I look in history, I find these folks the victims of ruthless killing, confinement, torture. Everywhere I look today, I find bigotry, separatism, ruthless killing, confinement and torture.

You can try a little experiment. Imagine telling one of your friends that you have recently discovered that your heritage leads back to Abraham. That you're one of the, "Chosen People." Whatever form your friend's reaction takes, I guarantee, it will express disdain. Don't, under any circumstances, tell this to your Minister.

What's behind all this persecution? I'm going to pin it on Fear. Fear is the only thing I know that makes people crazy . I also know that the only thing we can be afraid of, is that we'll not be kept equal with everybody else. Every time I analyze a fear of mine, I find that my fear has driven me to "cover my act" in some manner. Trying to make sure I'm all right. As good as I deserve. I think of it as Validity Insurance.

If I'm "insuring" myself with money, for instance, I may be the guy that, "dresses real funny, but he's got a lot of money." My wealth is the "insurance" that lets me get away with rotten behavior. For example, I might revel in taking advantage of store clerks with my stormy outbursts, knowing that they'll take it because I spend so much money in the store.

Well, if people lash out because they feel they're not considered equal, maybe that's why God's Chosen People have been under the gun so long. The Bigots probably think that God singled out these people for some special reward and no one else qualifies. I tell you, I'd be hoppin' mad if I thought anyone, including God, figured that some other human being was better than me. I know people. I see them everyday. And they ain't perfect. By the same longshot that I'm not perfect. If I didn't know better, I'd be mad at God for Choosing those Israelites, too. I'd say God was an Elitist. That He engaged in nepotism. The unfairness of a God, to select out a single group of people to shower His blessings on, makes Him unworthy of my respect or worship.

Thank God! That's not the way it worked. In fact, it was just the reverse. God put those Israelites to work for Him. The pay was good when they did a good job, and bad when they didn't. God dumped the overwhelming responsibility of HIS work on the poor Hebrew people. And of course, being the Boss, He didn't ask. He told Abraham what to do.

God's work. Is it too presumptuous for us to think we can discern the work of God? Not always. Only in the aspects that we can't understand. My theory is, that God gave His creations the stuff to find out how to get on down here, AND what to do to get "out There." Anybody can work for God. Anyone can find His messages on how to live on earth. But the two aren't the same. One isGod's work, one is our work. God's work is to tell everyone He's on their side and wants them to come live with Him. "Go tell it on the mountain," and all that.

OK, so the Chosen people were pressed into service to do God's Work down here. See, when Jesus was here, He did small miracles, but God can get away with real whoppers. He does that mostly so there's no mistaking that He did it. Here're some examples.

He took a small band of prosperous shepherds to represent Him and His Ways on earth. To open the door to people, not close it. He parted the Red Sea, killed the first born of Egypt, moved people around for four hundred years to keep His promise of a land of their own, even fulfilled prophesies 2500 years old. This just to motivate the rest of the world to come to Him.

Sure, these marvels also helped the Israelites when their faith flagged. Call that a perk. The blessing was a cycle. God told them to live a certain way so He could bless them and show the other people; so they would live that way and God would bless them and they would tell other people and they would live that certain way and God would.......

God's pretty smart. God's Breeder Reactor. Righteousness breeds Blessing. Blessing breeds Righteousness.

Let's take a closer look at the mission of the Chosen People. Chosen. Big deal! First, they were to proclaim, by their worship, that there was only one God. Most of the people of the old days were idol-worshippers. There was Baal and Bel and Tammuz and Osiris, to name a few. Most any old God or Goddess would do. As long as the God didn't care if you got drunk and had a party when you worshipped Him. Have you noticed how the Money God has been worshipped lately? Idol worship lives on.

Secondly, the Hebrews were to be a living demonstration of the Blessing Cycle we just talked about. And it's recorded over and over how they prospered when they served God, and fell on hard times when they didn't. The United States is a clear example of prosperity being the reward for doing it God's way. I have to call America a Christian nation. And even though we can't call ourselves Chosen like the Jews, we still try to live by those same Laws. Well, I guess you know what nation of the earth is the richest. Worshiping that one God, and only Him, has resulted in His blessing us. Makes sense to me.

Third on the list, is to receive, preserve, and transmit the scripture. We know that the God of the Bible didn't reveal His word through the people of China. They have a different story of eternal things. The Chosen People are to keep the word alive, and pass it down to their children. God also wanted the Israelites to pass the word to other nations. Not much to get excited about.

Last, and lowest on the list of "gifts," is that the bloodline from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was to provide the vehicle for the Messiah's birth. Not much benefit to Abraham, 1400 years before Jesus. In fact, not much benefit to anyone from the time of the promise to Abraham to the present; even if I count myself his direct descendant. Oh sure, "all the families of the earth shall be blessed," says that because of Jesus, the world is blessed. But that doesn't put food on my table. Yours?

And what about the ridicule that the Chosen People ran into? And continue to suffer today? People just don't want to admit to an all-powerful, controlling God, and resist being told of one. I can see some pea-brain thinking that one God in charge of all this doesn't wash. That God couldn't handle that much work, just because he can't.

Take the blessing part. You ever had a quarter, when everybody else only had two cents? When I was a kid, I was expected to cheerfully subsidize my friends: who never seemed to have money of their own. And when I wouldn't buy a coke and split it six ways, I was a miser, a cheapskate. You know the story. People just naturally seem to be envious of others. When the Israelites were riding high, they were hated by the other kingdoms.

Worst of all the "wonderful" things that God provided for His Chosen Ones, was being able to claim kinship to someone said to be the Saviour of the earth. The Hebrews now become the most elite crowd in the history of man. People hate elitists.