Throughout the reading, I noticed many occasions when God showed favoritism towards the Isrraelites during troubled times. For example, in 1 Samuel while the Israelites were at war against the Philistines, “Yahweh thundered violently over the Philistines, threw them into panic and Israel defeated them.” This favoritism goes against the idea that God loves everybody on earth equally, something that Christians are taught from the time they are in Sunday School. To me, it doesn’t seem fair to favor the lives of one group of people over another. Although I find this favoritism problematic, maybe it could be justified by saying that it was necessary to ensure the survival of the Israelites and their history. Additionally, this intervention in the war could have served as a harsh punishment on the Philistines for stealing the ark.
Another occasion that demonstrated Israel’s relationship with God that throughout the reading, there were many moments when the Israelites seemed to forget Yahweh and all the things he had done for them. Even though Yahweh brought them out of Egypt, many of them worshiped other Gods. I think that this shows the inherent fickleness of human loyalties. We tend to change our minds quickly and don’t always follow a leader who is best for us. Sometimes we follow whoever is more convenient, or whoever we heard speak last. Because of this, the Israelites need constant reminding of Yahweh and his power.
Anna Janzen 
While reading these sections of the Bible, I hadn’t really thought about God favoring the Israelites, but rather depending on them to spread his word. I think that your point about God favoring Israel, but we are taught that he loves everyone is a very interesting point and I agree that it could be in order to ensure Israel spread the word of God and created this history.
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