1Chron 29:1 Then King David said to the entire assembly, "My son
Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for the LORD God.
1Kin 11:4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
1Kin 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
1Kin 11:6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done.
1Kin 11:9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
Just because God chooses us...
John 6:70 Jesus answered them, "
Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?"
Just because God/Jesus chooses us, is no guarantee we stay in God's grace.
Israel: Chosen by God — and Yet Repeatedly Forsaking Him
A Scripture‑only overview
The Old Testament declares plainly that God
chose Israel out of all the nations of the earth. Verses such as
Deuteronomy 7:6; 10:15; 14:2; 26:18; Psalm 33:12; 105:6, 43; 135:4; Isaiah 41:8–9; 43:10; 44:1–2; 45:4; 65:9; and
Amos 3:2 state that Israel was God’s treasured possession, His chosen people, the nation He set His love upon.
Yet the same Scriptures record that this chosen people repeatedly
forsook the Lord. They abandoned His covenant (
Deut 29:25; 31:16, 20; 32:15, 18), turned to other gods (
Judg 2:12–13, 17; 10:6, 10, 13), rejected His commandments (
1 Kgs 9:9; 11:33; 18:18; 2 Kgs 17:7–23; 17:16; 21:22), and walked away from His law (
2 Chr 7:22; 12:1, 5; 24:18, 20; 28:6; 29:6; 34:25). Ezra and Nehemiah recount the same pattern (
Ezra 9:10–12; Neh 9:26, 28–29), as do the Psalms (
Ps 78:56–57; 106:13, 21). The prophets testify that Israel abandoned the Holy One (
Isa 1:4, 28; 65:11), pursued idols (
Jer 2:13, 17, 19; 5:7; 16:11; 19:4; 22:9; 32:23), and refused God’s statutes (
Ezek 6:9; 16:15; 20:8, 13, 16, 21, 24). Hosea summarizes the tragedy (
Hos 4:10; 7:13; 8:1–3; 11:7).
