I heard a Pastor preach that Israel is NOT God's chosen holy nation and based the sermon on Exodus 19:5-6 which says: "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."
He stated that because the children of Israel did not obey the voice of God they could therefore not be "a peculiar treasure" and a "kingdom of priests" and "an holy nation".
He further used 1 Peter 2:9-10 to demonstrate that Israel was never the "chosen ones" but that we are the "chosen ones".
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
With my limited knowledge (I still have much to learn) from reading the pages of the Bible, the children of Israel have always been set apart by God and are referred to as His people. I understand that through Jesus Christ, we (Christians) now become a royal priesthood. I guess what I am wondering is if the children of Israel are His chosen nation based on the statement made in Exodus 19 (the "if" and "then" statement). The same Pastor had some other "theories" too, but unfortunately I cannot recollect all of it that related to this topic.
I am hoping that someone could please share some wisdom in this regard (without it turning into the usual "let's see if we can turn this into a debate" replies)