In The Word
Read: Romans 11:1-10
Israel Has Not Been Rejected
11 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” 4 But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace.
7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; 8 just as it is written:
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes to see not and ears to hear not,
Down to this very day.”
9 And David says,
“May their table become a snare and a trap,
And a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
10 May their eyes be darkened to see not,
And bend their backs continually.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
During the time of Paul’s writing to the believers in Rome. There was a dispute that God had replaced the unbelieving nation of Israel with the accepting Gentiles. Paul is adamant in the rejection of this theology, “May it never be!” (Romans 11:1). He proved this by his own testimony: that he himself was an Israelite and a believer in Jesus Christ. For God to reject the nation of Israel, He would have to break His covenant. That simply is not possible. Hebrews 11:6 assures us that it is impossible for God to lie. This would be counter-character. We know that God does not change His mind.
What we do know through Scripture is that in spite of our faithlessness, God is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). Had the majority of Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah? Yes. But there was a minority, a remnant, that still believed.
Did everyone see and hear the good news? No, but there will be a day when the darkness will be removed and they will accept Jesus as their Messiah and Kinsmen-Redeemer. God has a lasting covenant that will one day be fulfilled. This truth applies even to us, because God is faithful when we are unfaithful (2 Timothy 3:13). Because He will not break His covenant with Israel means He will not break His covenant with us. God’s covenants are not dependent on who believes it, but on Who made it. Place your trust in God today, He will never break His promises.