It is often said that God has no favourites. It is indeed a statement that even scripture backs up:
Romans 2:11 “For God does not show favoritism.” (NIV)
Matthew 5:45 ”…Your Father in heaven
…causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (NIV)
However, there are times it can feel that He does have favourites, especially you read certain portions of scripture. It seems as if God gives Abraham a pass even when he messes up with giving his wife to Abimelech. You see God spare Rahab the prostitute as he destroys Jericho. You see God give David special protection as he wanders in the wilderness. You see Ruth’s life turn out bountifully when she meets Boaz. You even see portions of scripture where God speaks about people like Moses like this:
Numbers 12:6-8 Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (NIV)
It seems like Moses is a favourite and the others are part of the crowd. If you don’t have discernment, you can hastily conclude that God has His favourite few and the rest are just NPCs in this world He created. But the scriptures excellentlydisprove this idea of God having favourites. Starting with the chosen people of Israel, God demonstrates to the ancient cultures that the Jews were not favourites, but simple loved and chosen to fulfill a task. He even said it to the Jewish nation.
Deuteronomy 7:7-9 “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. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” (NIV)
So the first thing we see is this- what we often think as God having favorites is actually God keeping His covenant promise. When God keeps His covenant promise, it’s a proof of His love and character. First point, Beloved. God has no favourites; He simply has covenant partners. And to prove this further, you see God keep His covenant even with pagans like the Gibeonites in Joshua chapter 9 and 10. The Gibeonites were due for judgment for their sorcery, murder of children and injustices, yet God spared their lives while He destroyed the other nations in Canaan. Why? Were the Gibeonites His favourites? No. The Gibeonites entered into a covenant with God in Joshua 9. God honoured His covenant with them and spared their lives. Later in 2 Samuel 21 when Israel kills the Gibeonites and breaks the covenant, God fights for the Gibeonites and even brings a famine against the Jews. Friends, you too can enter into covenant with God. How? God has opened a covenant door through the cross of Jesus Christ so that we can be in relationship with Him. Jesus died on the cross so that your sins could be atoned for. Without that sacrifice, you would be an enemy of God. Through that sacrifice, we can enter into an eternal peace with God. It is a covenant of love for our salvation. The cross of Jesus offers a door for all humanity to receive the special blessing of salvation. Those within the covenant are not His favourites; they are simply His covenant partners.
Secondly, one can also hastily conclude that God has His favourites when you see differing judgements on people. A good example is King David committing adultery versus King Saul offering the sacrifice on behalf of Samuel. Saul’s action cost him the throne. David’s action, on the other hand, cost him a less strict penalty. Is David God’s favourite? The Bible tells us a major difference between David and Saul. See the words of prophet Samuel distinguishing David from Saul. This is Samuel speaking to Saul.
1 Samuel 13:13-14 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (NIV)
David is distinguished from Saul insofar as obedience is concerned. David’s heart is after God’s will. See what Doctor Luke wrote about David.
Acts 13:22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ (NIV)
Listen to those words describing David: “…a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” The difference between David and Saul is simple- Saul wants his way and David wants God’s way. Let me explain it more. Imagine yourself heading east towards Mombasa city as your destination. Now imagine as you approach Mombasa, you take a wrong turn at Voi town that leads you off course. You lose some time but you do so on your way to Mombasa. Now imagine that you have Mombasa as your destination and yet you are heading west towards Kisumu city. If you are heading in the wrong direction, it does not matter how many times you take the right turn to the main highway; you are heading in the wrong direction.
God disciplines David for taking the wrong route at Voi but doesn’t dethrone him- David’s heart is heading to Mombasa. David is obedient. Furthermore, David accepts correction and repents. Conversely, God disciplines Saul and dethrones him because not only is he headed in the wrong direction but he is also stubborn, arrogant and too proud to receive correction. David is not God’s favourite. He is God’s intimate friend- a man after God’s heart. God’s intimate ones are those that delight to do His will. They desire to obey Him. Pastor Benjamin Njatha once said, “The things you hold on to or get angry at God for not giving you, other people are giving away to honor and serve Him.” The latter are not His favourites; they are His intimate ones. The former are likened to King Saul.
So, one may ask, shouldn’t we just say that God’s favourites are His covenant partners and His intimate ones? No we shouldn’t. Because the very idea of having favourites implies that these people get away with injustice. If anything, God’s covenant partners and His intimate ones are often the first to get the hard side of God. Moses, whom we think is God’s favourite, did not enter the promised land of Canaan. David, whom we think is God’s favourite, did not get to build the temple. God allowed Joshua and Solomon respectively to do those honourable tasks instead.
May you realise that God has no favourites. But may you also realise however that God shows favour to those that align with Him as His covenant partners and His intimate ones who delight to obey Him. Peter realised this early in His ministry when He saw God bless pagans who repented and became God’s covenant partners and His intimate obedient ones.
Acts 10:34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism” (NIV)
Peter later taught us that those covenant partners and intimates are the first to receive God’s judgement.
1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (NIV)
Even that the pastor and the preacher that you think are God’s favourite are due for a harsher judgement.
James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (NIV)
So come to Him without fear. You can receive His favour as a covenant partner and an intimate one. And that is not a club for a select few. It is an open invitation to everyone who would desire to know the Creator of Heaven and Earth personally.
