The prophet declares in (II Kings 21:12): "Thus said the L-rd, the God of Israel." The Mekhilta stops on this phrase and asks a question that seems almost impertinent. Is God only the God of Israel? After all, (Jeremiah 32:27) calls Him "the God of all flesh." He is the creator of every human being, the sovereign of every nation, the master of the entire universe. Why, then, does Scripture single out Israel with the title "the God of Israel"?
The Mekhilta's answer is deceptively simple: it is with Israel that He especially unifies His name. God rules the whole world, but He associates His name specifically with Israel. The relationship is not one of exclusion but of particular intimacy. A king governs an entire kingdom, but he may choose one city as his capital, one palace as his dwelling. The kingdom does not shrink. The capital simply has a special status.
This distinction runs throughout Jewish theology. God is universal in power and particular in covenant. He sustains all flesh, but He revealed His Torah to one nation. He judges all humanity, but He bound Himself in a special agreement with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Mekhilta sees no contradiction between these two truths. They coexist, and the prophetic literature alternates between them freely.
The phrase "the God of Israel" is therefore not a limitation. It is a declaration of relationship. God chose to attach His name to this people, and that attachment carries weight in heaven and on earth alike.