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Why did God choose Israel to be their God?


For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  Deuteronomy 7:6-8
After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. Deuteronomy 9:4-6
            We know why God didn’t choose them.  It was not because they were a numerous, mighty nation.  We know from history it’s not because they were a compliant nation.  Israel was stubborn and selfish.  It was not because they were a righteous people with integrity either. 
            The reason God chose them out of all people on the earth was because he made an oath to their ancestors, starting with Abraham.  God fulfills his promises and never breaks them.  That promise lasted centuries.
            God also chose Israel as a rod of punishment against the great evil the nations in the promised land were doing—worshipping false gods.