Our last jump into the Book of Romans was in Chapter 10, where I ended my piece as follows:
Through Christ we who have not looked have found Him, that those who have tried to seek Him in vain, would know that they are found by Him.
Personally, it gives me comfort to know that it’s through Christ and His finished work, and not by who I am or what I do, that I am absolutely in right-standing with God, enjoying His presence – even in my failures, and even in the midst of all anxiety and danger.
It is my prayer that we continually heed the conviction of the Holy Spirit, as we marvel at the glory of God in all His creation, and as we enjoy the manifest presence of God, discovering more of His good news in fellowship with the body of Christ.
Note to self: Let us keep hearing, let us keep believing.
Now I’m playing catch-up, and I’m going to keep going with Chapter 11. Considering all that’s going on in my head and all around me, I think it’s just right that I brute force some more Scripture into my being, tonight.
Let’s go.
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
There was a time that folks at church lashed out against the Jews, calling out their propensity to call themselves God’s chosen people, if only to point out how absurd they sound by rejecting Christ.
These verses tell us from the get go: God has not rejected His people.
Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
They may have rejected Him by way of killing His prophets, ignoring their warnings, and so on… But we see a demonstration of God’s grace in the Old Testament, by way of a demonstration of sanctification in the Old Testament: God ‘kept for (Himself)’ – or, what comes to mind is ‘set apart’/’made holy’ – seven thousand men.
And we see a hint of how Elijah would know who these are, by God’s detail – they ‘have not bowed the knee to Baal’; Are we to identify the same remnant (not necessarily seven thousand) ‘at the present time’ the same way?
No, friends, we would know the remnant if we see they are ‘chosen by grace’; that is, chosen ‘no longer on the basis of works’.
What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”
And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
The elect of Israel – or, those ‘chosen’ ‘at the present time’… they obtained what the rest of the nation was seeking, while the rest were given so much that they ‘would not see’, nor ‘would (they) not hear’.
I’m being led to recall how, earlier in Romans 9, Paul mentioned how our eternally wise and infinitely powerful God has mercy on whomever He wills, and hardens whomever He wills (v13) in reference both to Pharaoh (Exodus 7) and Esau (Genesis 25).
I suppose, it’s the same thing here in Romans 11 – just as hearts were hardened, so eyes would not see and ears would not hear… Not for us to see injustice in God’s part, but rather to emphasize how, in His power, He chooses to demonstrate mercy.
So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
It’s no accident that we mention Pharaoh and Esau… because what we just read here would help us make more sense of what God had in mind. We just read, that because ‘Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking’, ”salvation has come to the Gentiles’, and ‘their trespass means riches for the world’
This gives me an idea of what we ought to count as ‘riches’ on our part – it’s salvation, before anything else we could imagine. But more importantly, I could imagine: Through God ‘entrusting’ a hardened heart to Pharaoh, “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:5)
In these examples of one man compromised for the sake of the many, or one nation compromised for the salvation of the world, we remember Jesus; it all points to Him. By His obedience many would be called righteous – the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many (Romans 5:15).
God has NOT rejected His people. From the perspective of eternity, this is certainly true.
See, that’s the thing. We’re to trust in the Lord, ESPECIALLY because He sees so much more than we can, He does so much more than we could ever do. Granted, we could question Him, misunderstand Him, even doubt His moves (or lack thereof) in every season of our own lives… but ultimately, Creation MUST trust in its Creator.
Turbulent times would have us thinking to and fro, but let us not be so hasty – Trusting in the Lord takes the priority, no matter what. We’re celebrating our reconciliation, but let’s not forget the One whom we now call ‘Father’ has always been… and will always be gracious, glorious, and merciful.
I think I’ll stop here for now. I’ll keep going again, very soon.
Until the next post, God bless you.
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