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God Has Not Rejected
1 Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? Certainly not! I am one of the people of Israel, and I myself am a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not turn his back on his chosen people. Don't you remember reading in the Scriptures how Elijah complained to God about the people of Israel? 3 He said, “Lord, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars. I am the only one left, and now they want to kill me.”
4 But the Lord told Elijah, “I still have 7,000 followers who have not worshiped Baal.” 5It is the same way now. God treated the people of Israel with undeserved grace, and so a few of them are still his followers. 6This happened because of God's undeserved kindness and not because of anything they have done. It could not have happened except for God's gift of undeserved grace.
7This means that only a chosen few of the people of Israel found what all of them were searching for. And the rest of them were stubborn, 8 just as the Scriptures say,
“God made them so stupid
that their eyes are blind,
and their ears
are still deaf.”
9 Then David said,
“Turn their meals
into bait for a trap,
so that they will stumble
and be given
what they deserve.
10Blindfold their eyes!
Don't let them see.
Bend their backs
beneath a burden
that will never be lifted.”
Reflect
Have you ever made a promise only to break it? You promised to show up finally at your child’s ball game, but the office meeting went late and you missed it again. Your promise to help your spouse around the house lasted only a week. You confidently assured your parents that you would get an “A” on your next report card but could only muster a “B.” Many times we make promises impulsively. Occasionally our broken promises are the direct result of circumstances beyond our control. Regardless, whenever we break our well-intended promises we reveal the extent to which we can be trusted – or not trusted. The inevitable fallout of a broken promise is disillusionment and confusion; and in some instances distrust and betrayal.
The God of the universe had made promises to Israel (Genesis 12:1-3, 2 Samuel 7:11b-16, Jeremiah 33:14-26, Ezekiel 36:26). Jesus eventually came but was rejected by the Jewish nation, leaving them excluded from the blessings of the new covenant. And as long as the nation rejected the gospel, God seemed to have broken the promise he made to Israel. But has God really abandoned Israel?
Paul answers, “Certainly not! . . . God did not turn his back on his chosen people” (11:1a, 2a). God could not forsake his people because he had “chosen” them, the same word he uses in 8:29. God chose them even though he could foresee this disastrous situation. Moreover, God has never broken his promise to Israel because he has always maintained a few who were faithful in every generation (vv 2b-6), that is Jews like Paul, who believed in Jesus and therefore received God’s promises. The continual existence of Jewish believers proves that God always keeps his promises. Therefore, we can trust him completely, even in the midst of our own difficult circumstances.
Respond
Heavenly Father, Thank you that you always keep your promises. And indeed, Lord, no matter how many promises you have made, they are all “Yes” in Christ. I choose to rest in that eternal, unchanging truth; to the glory of God the Father, Amen.
Wayne Baxter
Wayne Baxter is Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek at Heritage College & Seminary in Cambridge. He earned his Ph.D. in Religious Studies (specializing in Early Christianity) at McMaster University and his Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of three books as well as numerous scholarly articles. Wayne is ordained with the Christian & Missionary Alliance and has pastored churches in Windsor, Ottawa, and Toronto. Books: Road to Renewal: Seven Prayers That Will Change You (Eugene: Resource Publications, 2017 forthcoming) Growing Up to Get Along: Conflict and Unity in Philippians (Castle Rock: CrossLinks, 2016) We’ve Lost. What Now? Practical Counsel from the Book of Daniel (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2015) Israel’s Only Shepherd: Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and His Social Setting, Library of New Testament Studies 457 (London: T & T Clark, 2012)