Overview
God’s treasured possession is a phrase used throughout Scripture to describe something acquired and set apart as belonging exclusively to God. In the Old Testament this was Israel: chosen not for her size but because God loved her, and set apart above all others because his presence went with her. In the New Testament, the church becomes the Israel of God and inherits that same identity. Just as a man in Jesus’s parable sold everything he had to buy a field with hidden treasure in it, God gave himself in Christ to purchase and redeem a people for his own possession.
Transcript
What “Treasured Possession” Really Means
In Bible times, every man was his own banker. If a man had wealth, he secured it himself, often by burying it in a field in a spot known only to him. If the owner never returned to retrieve it, someone else might eventually find it. The safest way for that discoverer to protect his find without arousing suspicion was to keep the secret to himself and buy the field, so he could take ownership of both the field and everything buried in it. For a truly valuable treasure, it would be well worth the expense.
Matthew 13:44 refers to this custom: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. He covered the treasure back up so he could secure title to the land before anyone else found out. That’s why he would sell everything he had to buy such a field, it was that valuable.
Israel Was God’s Own Possession
With that background, in the Old Testament, Israel was God’s personal property. Psalm 135:4 says, For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession. The words own possession are frequently translated treasured possession, and literally the phrase indicates a treasure acquired for a possession. The King James Version translates this as peculiar treasure, with peculiar meaning, four hundred years ago, that which belongs to one person and to that person only. Israel was a treasure God had personally acquired for his very own.
Exodus 19:4-5 records when this began, at Sinai, when Israel covenanted with God: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. Treasured possession here is translated from the same Hebrew word as own possession in Psalm 135:4. Among all peoples, Israel would be the one treasured.
God has full ownership of his possession because all the earth is his. Psalm 24:1 says, The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. A more literal translation would be, the Lord’s is the created earth and all that fills it, the inhabited world and those who dwell in it. Two things are stated as being the Lord’s: the created earth and all that fills it, and the inhabited world and those who dwell in it. Israel was God’s treasured possession because the whole world was his to do with as he pleased, and it pleased the Lord to choose Israel from among all peoples.
What Set Israel Apart Was God’s Presence
In Exodus 33:12-16, Moses said to the Lord, See, you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. Consider too that this nation is your people. God said, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Moses answered, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?
Israel were distinct and found favor in God’s sight because of the presence of God among them. God going with them is what truly set them apart.
A Treasured Possession Chosen Out of Love, Not Size
Deuteronomy 7:6-9 says, For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you, and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
Israel, for her part, was then to love him and keep his commandments with all her heart and soul. Deuteronomy 26:16-19 lays out the two parts of this covenant, Israel’s declaration and God’s declaration: Israel declared that the Lord is their God, that they would walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments and rules, and obey his voice. The Lord in turn declared that Israel would be a people for his treasured possession, as he had promised, setting her in praise, in fame, and in honor high above all the nations he had made, and that she would be a people holy to the Lord her God, as he had promised.
Today the Church Is God’s Treasured Possession
This special relationship did not vanish with the coming of grace, it grew deeper and more meaningful. In the Old Testament, Israel were the people God set apart. Today, the church is the Israel of God. Galatians 6:16 says, And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. Because we are the Israel of God, we are also God’s treasured possession.
Titus 2:14 echoes it directly: speaking of Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession. A people for his own possession is the same expression translated in the Septuagint as treasured possession, meaning what is over and above, property laid up, and a people as an acquisition. Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us, sounding much like the man who sold all he had to buy the field of hidden treasure.
Titus 2:14 continues, to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. Zealous for good works does not mean zealous for the law, quite the opposite. What distinguishes mere works from good works is grace, good works are works done with God. What distinguishes us as God’s people is God going with us. We partner with him, and he with us, that’s the essence of the relationship, acknowledging God’s lordship in our lives.
When we make Jesus the agent of our salvation, Lord with a lowercase l, we recognize God, the source of our salvation, as Lord with an uppercase L. He is Lord even of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though Jesus is Lord of all, as Acts 10:36 says, it is God who is ultimately all in all, as 1 Corinthians 15:28 says.
1 Peter 2:9-10 sums up who we are as God’s treasured possession in a single passage: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Not only are we chosen, royal and holy, but most importantly, we are his own. Now that we have received mercy, we go forth with him in our very midst, proclaiming his excellence to all who will hear. No longer are we not a people, we are now the people of God, his treasured possession.
Key Takeaways
- Treasured possession, or peculiar treasure in the King James Version, describes something acquired for God’s exclusive ownership, belonging to him and to him only.
- In the Old Testament, Israel was chosen as God’s treasured possession, not because of her size but because God loved her and was keeping his oath to her fathers.
- What set Israel apart from every other nation was the presence of God going with her, not any quality of her own.
- Israel’s part of the covenant was to declare God’s lordship, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments; God’s part was to set her above all nations in praise, fame and honor.
- Today the church is the Israel of God, and inherits the same identity as his treasured possession, purchased and purified by Christ.
- 1 Peter 2:9-10 sums this up: once not a people, now the people of God; once without mercy, now having received mercy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “treasured possession” mean in the Bible?
The words own possession are frequently translated treasured possession, and literally the phrase indicates a treasure acquired for a possession. The King James Version translates this as peculiar treasure, with peculiar meaning that which belongs to one person and to that person only.
Why did God choose Israel as his treasured possession?
It was not because Israel was more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on her and chose her, for she was the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves her, and is keeping the oath that he swore to her fathers, that the Lord brought her out with a mighty hand and redeemed her from the house of slavery.
How is the church God’s treasured possession today?
Because we are the Israel of God, we are also God’s treasured possession. Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, and 1 Peter 2:9-10 sums it up: once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.
Scripture References
Matthew 13:44; Psalm 135:4; Exodus 19:4-5; Psalm 24:1; Exodus 33:12-16; Deuteronomy 7:6-9; Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Galatians 6:16; Titus 2:14; Acts 10:36; 1 Corinthians 15:28; 1 Peter 2:9-10
