Poets have a way of stating mysteries in such a fashion as to make them both memorable and a permanent part of human reflection. A. E. Housman queried:
How odd
Of God
To choose
The Jews.
To which it has been added:
But not so odd
As those who choose
The Jewish God
And spurn the Jews.
Housman has identified the mystery of divine election. The other has identified the mystery of iniquity.
—C. John Weborg in Covenant Companion (July 1986). Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 14.
Elesha Hodge, comp., Today's Best Illustrations – Volumes 1-4, (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 1997), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "ELECTION".
Exodus 6:7 (TEV) I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the LORD your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 4:37 (TEV) Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt.
Matthew 25:34 (TEV) Then the King will say to the people on his right, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.
1 Peter 1:2 (TEV) You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure.
