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God's Anger and Mercy
19Someone may ask, “How can God blame us, if he makes us behave in the way he wants us to?” 20 But, my friend, I ask, “Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did? 21 Doesn't a potter have the right to make a fancy bowl and a plain bowl out of the same lump of clay?”
22 God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them. 23He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory. 24Whether Jews or Gentiles, we are those chosen ones, 25 just as the Lord says in the book of Hosea,
“Although they are not
my people,
I will make them my people.
I will treat with love
those nations
that have never been loved.
26 “Once they were told,
‘You are not my people.’
But in that very place
they will be called
children of the living God.”
27 And this is what the prophet Isaiah said about the people of Israel,
“The people of Israel
are as many
as the grains of sand
along the beach.
But only a few who are left
will be saved.
28The Lord will be quick
and sure to do on earth
what he has warned
he will do.”
29 Isaiah also said,
“If the Lord All-Powerful
had not spared some
of our descendants,
we would have been destroyed
like the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah.”
Reflect
When my father died several years ago, it was quite unexpected: he was vacationing with my mother in Jamaica. As it turned out, he died of what was a very treatable condition; but because he received the poorest of treatment in a very low-level hospital he had no chance. Even in that tragedy I believed, as Paul declares, that in all things God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). I gave the homily at Dad’s funeral, preaching the gospel to a large audience comprised mostly of unbelievers. His death enabled many to hear the good news of Jesus (some doubtless for the first time).
As a result of God’s sovereign hardening, the nation of Israel has rejected and continues to reject Jesus the Messiah. Paul raises the objection that some might have against God’s plan: “Then why does God still blame us?” (v 19) God has the right to do whatever he wants with whatever he has created.
Not only is God most glorified whenever he reveals more of himself, but it is precisely because of Israel’s rejection that Gentiles now come to faith, enabling them to call Jesus their Messiah (vv 25-26). Because the Jews rejected Jesus, God sent Paul to preach to the Gentiles (see Acts 13:46-49). Consequently, God now calls Gentiles – people not part of his original covenant with Israel – his very own.
It is precisely because Israel has rejected Jesus that Gentiles can now receive him. From utterly horrible circumstances (of Christ being rejected by his own people) great good has come about. Indeed, as Joseph told his brothers after they jumped him, stripped him, and sold him into slavery: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).
Respond
Heavenly Father, Thank you that you are so great and powerful that nothing and no one can ever stop your plans from ever being fulfilled. I thank you that that truth applies to my own life, as well as to those around me. Lord, give me eyes to see how you’re working so that I might join with you through prayer and simple obedience in order to advance your purposes, for the glory of God. 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)