Human history

All of human history as seen by the Bible is the history of God in search of man. In spite of man's failure, over and over, God does not abandon His hope to find righteous men. Adam, Cain, the generation of the flood, the generation of the Tower of Babel--it is the story of failure and defiance ... but the Lord did not abandon man, and in His search determined to choose Abraham, so that in him might "all the families of the earth be blessed."
Israel's faith is not the fruit of a quest for God. Israel did not discover God. Israel was discovered by God. the Bible is a record of God's approach to man.
--Abraham J. Heschel