Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. (Exodus 19:5 [Amplified Bible, Classic edition])
People read this verse and often wonder what an odd word choice God used to speak about people. In today’s understanding, “peculiar” means odd. In the Hebrew language, this word does not mean that. It comes from the word segullah meaning to earn and to acquire. This adjective describes something or someone valuable by which the owner acquired or earned through his or her own exertions. The owner worked for it; he gave something for it. With this understanding of that definition, it might seem unusual for God to say He exerted Himself to possess the people about whom He spoke.
Consider these people and through what they went. These people were the Hebrews, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To these men, God promised descendants greater than the stars of the sky and the sand of the earth. When God spoke to the Israelites through Moses, He called them His “peculiar possession.” In considering the definition of “peculiar” as the Israelites understood it, we realize He meant He exerted Himself to acquire or earn the deliverance of the Israelites to be His own people. This statement takes the hearers and readers to what God did in the Israelites’ lives.
What did God do before He made this statement? He reminded them of this in Exodus 19:4, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to Myself.” God reminded the Israelites and us about what He did to the Egyptians. He caused the crashing of the Red Sea waves to swallow the bodies of Pharaoh and his army. God dried a passage across the Red Sea bed by which Israelites could escape from Pharaoh. His action for them was like eagles’ wings that bore them to safety. God revealed Himself again to the Israelites as I AM, the one and only God, the almighty One and only One whom they should worship.
With verse five, God spoke to the Israelites using a conditional statement. “If you will obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession.” He gave the Israelites a choice to be His people. When God created humanity, He made them in His image. He gave them the freedom to choose things for themselves. This means people can choose their own way or the best way, God’s ways. Sin occurs when a person chooses contrary to God’s will. Sin, which separates people from God, is the reason humanity needed salvation from the time God created them. With this conditional statement in Exodus 19:5, God, because of His love, allowed the Israelites to exercise their freewill to choose Him for their God or to go their own way. If they chose God, they would obey Him and be faithful to their covenant with Him and He would make them His peculiar possession. Being God’s possession means anything they needed-safety, provisions, shelter, deliverance, redemption, etc.-God would provide. A covenant is a two-way promise by each party to the other party. God chose the Israelites for His own to show His glory to other people and nations. God wanted to be in a relationship with humanity when He created Adam and Eve. At that point, He provided a way for them to receive cleansing from their sins, so they could be holy (see Genesis 3). God did this because He wants a relationship with each person. God’s faithfulness to His covenant with humanity began at creation. His bringing the Israelites out of Egypt continued to show His faithfulness to the promise He gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just as He gave these patriarchs a promise, and they believed in and worshiped Him, He gave the descendants of these patriarchs the choice to covenant with Him. God chose them to be His peculiar people. He gave them the option of joining with Him in covenant. Would the Israelites be faithful to Him by obeying and keeping their promise that He would be their only God?
One last statement by God in this covenant needs understanding. He said if they kept their covenant with Him, He would do more than provide for and protect them. God said the Israelites would be a kingdom of priests to Him (Exodus 19:6). That may seem like an odd phrase and a big goal to set before any person. Still, we should realize one thing; the calling and ability to be priests for God comes from God. If the Israelites would stay faithful to their covenant with Him, He would be for and do for them what they needed. What did the Israelites need in Exodus 10? Continued deliverance. These two words take us back to the Hebrew word segullah. In its first usage in the Old Testament, in Exodus 15:16, this word meant God purchased them. God said it again in Deuteronomy 7:6 when He told the Israelites they were holy and set-apart to the Lord. The Lord is the one who makes a person holy and set apart. Nothing a person can do gives them deliverance from the stain of sins in his or her heart, mind, and spirit. No one can make themselves holy. In Exodus 19:6, God’s exertion of Himself for the deliverance of the Israelites is what made them holy. In the New Testament, the meaning stays the same, God delivering/redeeming people. The Greek word for redeeming is lutroo. Titus wrote in Titus 2:14, “God gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” Peter stated the same in 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light” [NIV]. Deliverance (segullah in Old Testament) and redemption (lutroo in New Testament) mean essentially the same thing, as these verses show. God delivers and redeems people from the sins and people who make them captives. He makes them holy and His peculiar/special possession. God’s faithfulness to His covenant with people spans from creation into eternity. In looking at the past, we notice people proved faithless to their covenant with Him. God has always been faithful to people.
These three verses hold the nuggets of truth about God and His relationship with humanity. The nuggets are three-fold. First, God makes Himself known to people in several ways, through creation, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, the testimony of other Christians, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and biblical teaching and preaching. God wants each person to know Him and has made Himself known to people. The second nugget is God gives people the choice and opportunity to covenant with Him. He calls people to come to Him, to make them holy and call His children. Jesus said in Matthew 7 people should ask, seek, and knock, then they will receive, find God, and have His door opened to them. Romans 10:13 states, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Peter said, in 1 Peter 1:15, that the Holy One calls people to Himself. Psalm 55:16 says those who call upon God will receive His salvation. Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 1:2, people answer God’s call to them. God said, in Isaiah 65:24, before people call to Him, He will heed and answer them. Many more passages in the Bible speak about God calling to people. He calls them to come to Him and be in a relationship with Him. The third nugget of truth in Exodus 19: 4-6 is that when people covenant with Him through the new covenant Jesus provides, God makes them holy and part of His “peculiar people”. He redeems them and makes them His own. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7 that Jesus gives redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins. He wrote in Galatians 1:4 that Jesus gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this evil age. In Hebrews 9:15, the writer says, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance-now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” In Isaiah 44:22, God said He swept away the offense of the Israelites and told them to return to Him because He redeemed them.
God did not choose only the Israelites to be His peculiar people. He chooses each person He created. He wants to deliver and redeem each person. John said Jesus came to save anyone who would believe in Him in John 3:16. 2 Peter 3:9 states, God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 1 Timothy 2:4 says, God wants everyone to receive salvation. The new covenant, given through the death and resurrection of Jesus, is God’s never-ending and perfect covenant offered to people. The Israelites often proved themselves unfaithful to their covenants with God in the Old Testament. With the passing of time and because of God’s mercy, some Israelites returned to their covenant with Him. Still, without the perfect sacrifice for sins, each of them became stained again with their sins. The legal requirement was to offer another imperfect sacrifice to atone for their sins. Jesus, being the perfect sacrifice, need never sacrifice for the sins of humanity again. The holiness of the sinless Son of God gave the perfect sacrifice for humanity’s sins. People need never offer another sacrifice once he or she repents and confesses of his or her sins and trusts in Jesus for salvation.
The covenants in the Bible have the same basic format. God makes Himself known to people. He gives them a choice to join with Him in covenant-to worship and serve only Him. God provides everything a person needs for life and makes him or her His peculiar (acquired and treasured) possession. With the Old Testament covenants, God acquired the people as His possession by His delivering them from servitude and difficulty. He showed His covenant faithfulness to them. In the New Testament, God acquired believers as His treasured possession through the greatest cost, the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.
God gives each person the opportunity to recognize Him, turn to and choose Him, and receive salvation through Jesus, be made holy by Him, and be His child (His “peculiar people”). Today, He has shown Himself to you. Will you recognize Him? Will you turn to Him, repent of your sins, and confess Jesus as the Son of God who died for your sins? Once you recognize, repent, and confess Jesus as God’s Son and your Savior, God will make you one of His peculiar people, His treasured child.
You no longer have to be odd.
You can become treasured.
The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what he promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 [AMPC])
