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SECTION g (continued) –
Doctrine: Conciliation, National (11:01
– 11:36)
Balanced
by SECTION G – Doctrine: Conciliation, Individual (5:01
– 8:30)
Romans Eleven – Verses 1 to 11
01. I am
saying, then,
Does not God thrust away His people? May it not be coming to
that!
For I also am an Israelite, out
of Abraham's seed, Benjamin's tribe.
It would seem from the foregoing that God was
through with His ancient and beloved people and was thrusting them away.
But the apostle hastens to deny this assumption. God is not thrusting away
His people whom He foreknew. Their apostasy is only in part, and the term
of it is temporary. That not all of Israel are thrust away is evident from
his own case. He, of all Israelites, most deserved to be thrust from God's
presence and blessing. Yet he is not included in the national defection.
And he is not alone. Elijah thought that he was the only one in all Israel
who did not bow the knee to Baal. But God, in His sovereign dealings,
restrains seven thousand from worshiping the idol. Neither was Paul alone,
for there was then, as always, a remnant reserved by God. These, however,
are not those who are more faithful than the rest, or more deserving than
the mass of the nation. If it had not been for God's choice in grace, there
never would have been a remnant.
Concordant Commentary
The Jews, entrusted with
‘the oracles of God’ (Rom.3:2), were aware of the fact that ‘the king of
the Jews’ would be born in Bethlehem (Mt.2:5,6). They were even expecting ‘the
Prophet’ spoken of by Moses (Deut.18:15,18,19), mistaking John the baptiser
to be him (Jn.1:21). When Jesus fully satisfied the hunger of the throngs
with five cakes of barley bread and two fishes, they were aware that they were
in the presence of that Prophet (Jn.6:1-14). Peter reminded the
people of this prophecy when addressing the pious Jews ‘from every nation
under heaven’ in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Act.3:22,23).
The people of Israel had
heard the evangel concerning Jesus Christ and had the ‘option’ of believing
it and of becoming saved. Scripture declares that ‘everyone whoever should
be invoking the name of the Lord, shall be saved’.
For some years after that
Pentecost there were Jews who accepted Jesus as their prophesied Messiah.
But, even though ‘many tens of thousands there are among the Jews’ (Act.21:20)
as well as ‘a vast throng of the priests’ (Act.6:7) came to believe, the
nation as a whole rejected the evangel that was being preached.
Jn.1:11 To His own He came, and those who
are His own accepted Him not.
Rom.10:21 Now to Israel He is
saying,
The whole day I spread out My hands to a
stubborn and contradicting people!
'…Does
not God thrust away His people…'
Israel has undoubtedly
rejected the evangel and, thus, proven herself completely unworthy of His
affection. Has God now, in disgust and retaliation, cast out His people
from any further relationship with Him? Are the solemn covenants of no more
effect and have His promises been retracted?
Ps.77:7-9 Shall Yahweh cast off for the
eons,
And shall He not continue to be benevolent any
more?
8 Has His benignity reached its limit permanently?
Has the promise reached an end for
generation after generation?
9 Has El forgotten
to be gracious? Or has He shut off His compassions in
anger?
Ps.74:1 Why, O Elohim? Have You cast us
off permanently?
Shall Your anger smolder long against the flock
of Your pasture?
Ps.79:5 How long, O Yahweh? Shall
You be angry permanently?
Does God react to our wrongdoing and bad
behaviour? Does He retaliate when we offend Him? Does the success of
His operations depend on our correct response to Him? Is He just as
capricious and unreliable as we are? Does He give His word to His
chosen people in a solemn and holy covenant and then go back on it?
‘…May it not be coming to that…’
How can we even think
this of God? We bring Him down to our level of integrity (as if, of
ourselves, we have any)! Do we really acknowledge Him as God or do
we proffer mere lip service?
What does Scripture say?
Psa.33:11 The counsel of Yahweh
shall stand for the eon,
The designs of His heart for
generation after generation.
Mal.3:6 For I, Yahweh your Elohim, do not alter;
and you, sons of Jacob, are not finished.
1Sam.15:29 … the Pre-eminence of Israel does
not lie nor repent,
for He [is] not a man to be penitent.
Num.23:19 El is not a man that
He should lie.
Nor a son of humanity that He should feel
regret.
Does He say it and then not do it? Or
speak and then not carry it out?
Isa.49:14-16 Yet saying is Zion,
"I am forsaken by Yahweh, and my Lord has forgotten
me."
15 "Will a woman forget her
child,
not to have compassion on the son of her
belly?
Even if these a woman will forget, yet I
will not forget you," says Yahweh.
16 Behold! On My palms I tattoo you,
and your walls are in front of Me continually."
Ps.89:28-37 For the eon shall I
keep My benignity upon him,
And My covenant with him is faithful.
29 I will establish his seed for the
future,
And his throne as the days of the heavens.
30 If his sons should forsake My law,
And they should not walk in My ordinances,
31 If they should profane My statutes And should not keep My
instructions,
32 Then I will visit their transgression
with a club,
And their depravity with contagions.
33 Yet I shall not withdraw My benignity
from him,
And I shall not be false in My
faithfulness.
34 I shall not profane My covenant,
And I shall not alter the utterance of My
lips.
35 Once for all have I sworn by My
holiness; I shall assuredly
not lie to David:
36 His seed shall continue for the
eon,
And his throne as the sun in front of Me,
37 Like the moon, it shall be established
for the eon,
Faithful like that witness in the sky.
1Sam.12:22 for Yahweh does not leave His
people,
on account of His great name;
for Yahweh has been pleased to make you
to Him for a people.
Lam.3:31,32 For Yahweh is not
casting off for the eon;
32 Indeed though He afflicts,
yet He has compassion according to the abundance
of His benignities;
Jer.31:36,37 If these statutes
depart from before Me, An affirmation of Yahweh,
Even the seed of Israel does cease from being
a nation before Me all the days.
37 Thus said Yahweh: If the
heavens above be measured,
And the foundations of earth below searched,
Even I kick against all the seed of Israel,
For all that they have done,
An affirmation of Yahweh.
Isa.54:8 In effervescent
wrath I concealed My face a moment from you,
yet with kindness eonian have I compassion on
you,"
says your Redeemer, Yahweh.
Ps.94:14 For Yahweh shall not
abandon His people,
And He shall not forsake His allotment.
Ps.30:5 For there is only a moment
under His anger
But a lifetime under His benevolence….
Ps.103:9,10 He shall not
contend permanently,
And He shall not hold resentment for
the eon.
10 He has neither done to us according
to our sins,
Nor has He requited us according to our
depravities.
Heb.10:23 We may be retaining the
avowal of the expectation without wavering,
for faithful is He Who promises.
Rom.9:6,7 Now it is not such
as that the word of God has lapsed,
for not all those out of Israel, these
are Israel;
7 neither that Abraham's seed are
all children,
but "In Isaac shall your seed be called."
'…I also am an Israelite, out of
Abraham's seed, Benjamin's tribe.…'
The fact is that God is
faithful under any and all circumstances! He declares that He is!
1Cor.1:9 Faithful is God,
through Whom you were called
into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
1Cor.10:13 … Now, faithful is God,
Who will not be leaving you to be tried above
what you are able,…
2Cor.1:18 Now God is faithful,
for our word toward you is not "Yes" and "No,"
1Thes.5:23,24 Now may the God of
peace Himself be hallowing you wholly;
and may your unimpaired spirit and soul and body
be kept blameless in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ!
24 Faithful is He Who is calling you, Who
will be doing it also.
As such, God has
remained faithful to Israel in spite of her waywardness and rejection.
Heb.10:23 We may be retaining the avowal of
the expectation without wavering,
for faithful is He Who promises.
Heb.11:11 By faith Sarah herself also
obtained power for the disruption of seed,
and brought forth beyond the period of her
prime,
since she deems the Promiser faithful;
Paul, himself, was a proof
of this faithfulness of God to His people. He possessed all the best 'qualifications' a Jew could wish to
have, making him a dyed-in-the-wool Jew - which would have, all the more, disqualified him from being
called if God had cast away all of Israel and was now
calling Gentiles only.
2Cor.11:22 Hebrews are they? I also! Israelites
are they? I also!
The seed
of Abraham are they? I also!
Phil.3:4-9 And am I having
confidence in flesh, also?
If any other one is presuming to have confidence
in flesh, I rather:
5 in circumcision the eighth day,
of the race of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews,
in relation to law, a Pharisee,
6 in relation to zeal, persecuting the
ecclesia,
in relation to the righteousness which is in
law, becoming blameless.
7 But things which were gain to me,
these I have deemed a forfeit because of
Christ.
8 But, to be sure, I am also deeming all
to be a forfeit
because of the superiority of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus, my Lord,
because of Whom I forfeited all, and am deeming
it to be refuse,
that I should be gaining Christ,
9 and may be found in Him,
not having my righteousness, which is of law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is from God for
faith:
Rom.9:3-5 … for my brethren, my relatives according to the
flesh,
4 who are Israelites,
whose is the sonship and the glory and the
covenants and the legislation
and the divine service and the promises;
5 whose are the fathers,
and out of whom is the Christ according to the flesh, Who is over
all,
God be blessed for the eons.
Act.26:4,5 My life, indeed, then, from youth,
which came to be from the beginning among my
nation,
besides in Jerusalem, all the Jews are
acquainted with,
5 knowing me before, from the very first, if they
should be willing to testify,
that, according
to the strictest sect of this
ritual of ours, I live a Pharisee.
Gal.1:14 And I progressed in Judaism above
many contemporaries in my race,
being inherently exceedingly more
zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Act.22:3-5 "I am a man, a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia,
yet reared in this city at the feet of Gamaliel,
trained according to the
strictness of the hereditary law,
being
inherently zealous for God according as all of you are today,
4
I,
who persecute this way to death,
binding and giving over both men and women to
jail,
5 as the chief priest also was testifying to me,
and the entire eldership,
from whom, receiving letters also to the
brethren, I went into Damascus,
to be leading also those being there, bound, to
Jerusalem,
that they may be punished.
Act.26:9-11 I, indeed, then, suppose
myself bound to commit much
contrary to the name of Jesus the Nazarene,
which I do also in Jerusalem.
10 And besides, many of the saints I lock
up in jails,
obtaining authority from the chief priests.
Besides, I deposit a ballot to despatch them.
11 And at all the
synagogues, often punishing them,
I compelled them to blaspheme.
Besides, being exceedingly maddened against them,
I persecuted them as far as the outside cities also.
And there were others like
Paul, such as Timothy, who were Israelites in the ecclesia which is the
Body of Christ, these, too, having been chosen out of God’s grace!
And, while the evangel of the Circumcision was in
force (being suspended with the declaration of Act.28:25-28), the majority
under that umbrella were Israelites and Jews.
Jn.1:11-13 To His
own He came, and those who are His own accepted Him not.
12 Yet whoever obtained Him,
to them He gives the right to become children of God,
to those who are believing in His name,
13 who were begotten, not of bloods,
neither of the will of the flesh, neither of the will of a man, but
of God.
Act.6:7 And the word of God increased;
and the number of the disciples multiplied
in Jerusalem greatly;
and a great company of the priests were
obedient to the faith.
Act.21:20 … they said to him, "You are
beholding, brother,
how many tens of thousands there are among
the Jews who have believed,
and all are inherently zealous for the
law?
02. God does
not thrust away His people whom He foreknew.
Or have you not perceived in Elijah what
the scripture is saying,
as he is pleading with God against
Israel?
'…God
does not thrust away His people whom He foreknew…'
The record of Scripture
shows that God has always remembered His chosen people. He remains true to
Himself - His integrity is beyond any shadow of doubt.
1Sam.12:22 Yahweh does not leave
His people, on account of His great
name;
for Yahweh has been pleased to make you to Him for
a people.
Ps.89:31-37 If they should profane My
statutes And should not keep
My instructions,
32 Then I will visit their transgression
with a club,…
their depravity with contagions.
33 Yet I shall not withdraw My
benignity from him,
And I shall
not be false in My faithfulness.
34 I shall
not profane My covenant,
And I
shall not alter the utterance of My lips.
35 Once for
all
have I sworn by My holiness; I shall assuredly not lie to
David:
36 His seed shall continue for the eon, and
his throne as the sun in front of Me,
37 Like the moon, it shall be established
for the eon,
Faithful like that witness in the sky.
Ps.94:14 For Yahweh shall not abandon His people,
And He shall
not forsake His allotment.
Jer.31:36,37 If these statutes depart
from before Me, An affirmation of Yahweh,
Even the seed of Israel does cease from being
a nation before Me all the days.
37 Thus said Yahweh: If the
heavens above be measured,
And the foundations of earth below
searched,
Even I kick against all the seed of Israel,
For all that they have done, …
Jer.33:24-26 And there is a word of Yahweh unto
Jeremiah, saying:
24 `Have you not considered what this
people have spoken, saying:
The two families on which Yahweh fixed, He does
reject them,
And my people they despise--So that they are no
more a people before them!
25 Thus said Yahweh: If My
covenant [is] not daily and nightly,
The statutes of heaven and earth I have not
appointed--
26 Also the seed of Jacob, and David My
servant, I reject,
Against taking from his seed rulers For the seed
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
For I turn back [to] their captivity, and have pitied them.'
God declares that He will remain faithful even
if Israel does not!
Jer.3:12 RSV Go, and proclaim these
words toward the north, and say,
`Return, faithless Israel, says the
LORD. I will not look on you
in anger,
for I am merciful, says the LORD; I will not be angry for ever.
Amos.9:8,9 Behold! the eyes of my Lord
Yahweh are on the sinning kingdom,
and I will exterminate it off the surface of the
ground,
only that I will not utterly exterminate the house of Jacob, (averring is
Yahweh).
9 For behold! I am instructing, and I will
jerk the house of Israel to and fro,
among all nations, just as grain in a sieve is
jerked to and fro,
yet a pouch-full shall not fall to the
earth.
There is a principle to be kept in mind, however. God
does not recognize just every one among the progeny of ‘the fathers’ as
being of true Israel. From the advent of Jesus Christ and His ministry,
only those out of Israel who believed His declarations and teachings were
considered to be such. All the rest are counted as ‘utterly exterminated
from among the people’.
Rom.2:28,29 For not that which is
apparent is the Jew,
nor yet that which is apparent in flesh is
circumcision;
29 but that which is hidden is the Jew,
and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not
in letter,
whose applause is not of men, but of God.
Rom.9:6-8 Now it is not such as that the word
of God has lapsed,
for not all
those out of Israel, these are Israel;
7 neither that Abraham's seed are all children,
but "In Isaac shall your seed be
called."
8 That is, that the children of the flesh, not
these are the children of God,
but the
children of the promise is He reckoning for the seed.
Act.3:22,23 Moses, indeed, said that:
A Prophet will the Lord your God,
be raising up to you from among your brethren,
as me.
Him you shall hear, according to all, whatsoever
He should be speaking to you.
23 Yet it shall be that every soul
whatsoever which should not hear that Prophet
shall be utterly exterminated from among
the people.
03. Lord, Thy
prophets they kill, Thine altars they dig down,
and I was left alone, and they are seeking
my soul.
The prophet Elijah was upset and indignant over the
vicious stubbornness of his people who were persecuting the worshippers of
Yahweh and were even at that point attempting to take his life. These
people had become incorrigible fanatics in their allegiance to their false
gods, and deserved only condemnation. Elijah spoke to God against them and,
in his agitation, repeated his indictment of them.
1Ki.19:10-18 And he said,
`I have been very zealous for Yahweh, Elohim of
Hosts,
for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your
covenant--
Your altars they have thrown down,
and Your prophets they have slain by the sword,
and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my
life--to take it.' …
14 `I have been very zealous for
Yahweh, Elohim of Hosts;
for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your
covenant,
Your altars they have thrown down,
and Your prophets they have slain by the sword,
and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my
life--to take it.'…
04. But what
is that which apprises saying to him?
I left for Myself seven thousand men
who do not bow the knee to the image of
Baal.
But, Elijah was unaware
that God had reserved, not just a scattered handful, but seven thousand
men in true worship of Him. These were kept faithful even though all
the rest of the nation had defected unreservedly into idolatry and had
succeeded in eliminating almost all worshippers of Yahweh.
1King.19:18 and I have left in
Israel seven thousand,
all the knees that have not bowed to
Baal,
and every mouth that has not kissed him.
Scripture records, many a time, that it was only due
to God’s mercy and providence that Israel had not been entirely wiped out.
Isa.1:9 Unless Yahweh of hosts reserves
for us a few survivors,
as Sodom would we become, and to
Gomorrah would we be likened.
Even the blessings that Israel enjoyed during her
history were not in any way due to her worthiness, but simply due to God’s
grace and to confirm His declarations to ‘the fathers’.
Deut.9:4-6 Do not say in your heart
when Yahweh your Elohim thrusts them out from before you, saying:
Because of my own righteousness Yahweh brings me in to
tenant this land.
Rather it is because of the wickedness of these
nations
that Yahweh is evicting them before your
face.
5 It is not
because of your own righteousness
or the uprightness of your own heart that
you are entering to tenant their country,
for it is because of the wickedness of these
nations
that Yahweh your Elohim is evicting them before
your face,
so that He may confirm the word that Yahweh had
sworn to your fathers,
to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.
6 Know then that it is not because of your own righteousness
that Yahweh your Elohim is giving to you this
good land to tenant it,
for you are a stiff-necked people.
05. Thus,
then, in the current era also,
there has come to be a remnant according to the choice of grace.
Thus it was that in Paul’s time, too, there were those
few who, like him, to whom God was granting faith to believe the evangel he
was commissioned for in spite of the national rejection of His Son. The
call was independent of merit or demerit of those receiving it. The fact
that they were of Israel does not disqualify them from salvation under our
evangel. God was keeping faith with His declarations through His choice of
them in grace.
Though it may appear, on the surface, that salvation
depends on the judicious choice of the individual, these very verses (as
well as many others) declare that it depends entirely on God’s
determination.
Jn.6:29 …This is the work of God,
that you may be believing in that
One Whom He commissions.
Jn.6:44 No one can come
to Me
if ever the Father Who sends Me should
not be drawing him….
Jn.6:65 …Therefore have I declared to you
that no one can be coming to Me
if it should not be given him of the
Father.
Rom.9:11-13 For, not as yet being born, nor
putting into practice anything good or bad,
that the purpose of God may be remaining as a choice,
not out of acts, but of Him Who is calling,
12 it was declared to her that "The
greater shall be slaving for the inferior,"
13 According as it is written, "Jacob
I love, yet Esau I hate."
Rom.9:30-33 What, then, shall we be
declaring?
That the nations who are not pursuing
righteousness overtook righteousness,
yet a righteousness which is out of faith.
31 Yet Israel,
pursuing a law of righteousness,
into a law of righteousness does not
outstrip.
32 Wherefore? Seeing that it is not out of faith, but as out of law
works,
they stumble on the stumbling stone,
33 according as it is written:
Lo! I am laying in Zion a Stumbling Stone and a
Snare Rock,
And the one believing on Him shall not be disgraced.
06. Now if it is in grace, it
is no longer out of works,
else the grace is coming to be no longer
grace.
Now, if it is out of works, it is no
longer grace,
else the work is no longer work.
Grace and works will not mix. The moment works
are merged with grace it becomes mere mercy and loses its essential nature.
You cannot earn or deserve grace any more than you can do anyone a favor by
paying him for services rendered. The sinner or saint who seeks to buy or
deserve the favor of God will find that it cannot be purchased. Grace is
only for those who merit the opposite. Paul's is the pattern case. As he
excelled all in persecuting God's saints, he deserved the direst doom. Yet
he received the greatest grace!
Concordant Commentary
This is the
DEFINITION of grace that Paul always
applies in the evangel of the Uncircumcision concerning our salvation. He
contrasts grace against works, each exclusive of the other.
The law was never
given to us of the nations – it was Israel’s exclusive prerogative.
Ex.34:27 Yahweh said to Moses: Write for yourself these
words,
for at the bidding of these words I contract
with you a covenant and with Israel.
Lev.26:46 These are the statutes, the
judgments and the laws
which Yahweh put between Him and the sons of
Israel
on Mount Sinai by means of Moses.
Deut.5:1-3 Moses called to all Israel
and said to them: Hear, Israel,
the statutes and the judgments that I am
speaking in your ears today,
that you learn them and observe to obey them.
2 Yahweh our Elohim, He contracted a
covenant with us at Horeb.
3 Not with our fathers did Yahweh contract
this covenant,
but with us, us, these here today, all of us who
are alive.
Ps.147:19,20 He is telling His words to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not done so for any
other nation,
And His ordinances, they do not know them at
all. Praise Yah.
Rom.3:19 Now we are aware that,
whatever the law is saying, it is
speaking to those under the law,…
So, as the law speaks only
to those under its jurisdiction, ‘works of law’ do not come into
consideration for salvation under our evangel. The ‘works’ in this
passage, therefore, refers of anything ‘good’ that we do up to the
point of our actual call. Now, if these works done before our call
do not count for our salvation, then any and all such good works that we do
after our call comes cannot be a determining factor, or a
qualification, for being given that call for salvation.
2Tim.1:9 Who saves us and calls us
with a holy calling,
not in accord with our acts, but
in accord with His own purpose
and the grace which is given to us in
Christ Jesus…
Tit.3:5-7 not for works which are
wrought in righteousness which we do,
but according
to His mercy, He saves us,
through the bath of renascence and renewal of
holy spirit,
6 which He pours out on us richly through Jesus
Christ, our Saviour,
7 that, being justified in that One's grace, we may be becoming enjoyers,
in expectation, of the allotment of life eonian.
Grace, the Greek charis,
literally JOY,
is ‘an act producing happiness, a benefit bestowed on one who deserves
the opposite, sometimes better rendered ‘favour’ (CLNT Keyword
Concordance). It speaks of an unmerited
bestowal – a favour granted, rather than a debt being settled.
Rom.4:4,5 Now to the worker,
the wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as a debt.
Before our call we, of the body of Christ (whether of
the Jews or of the nations), were just like the rest of mankind, all
consigned to being sons of stubbornness, all under the influence of the
Adversary and in our ‘comfort zone’, quite unaware that we were carrying
out his behests - until God intervened.
Eph.2:1-3 And
you, being dead to your offenses and sins,
2 in which once you walked, in accord with the eon of this world,
in accord with the chief of the jurisdiction of the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of stubbornness
3 (among whom we also all behaved ourselves once in the lusts
of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the comprehension,
and were, in our nature, children of indignation, even as the rest),
Rom.11:32 For God locks up all together in stubbornness,…
The second part this cited
verse reveals to believers God’s purpose in locking all under stubbornness.
Made stubborn and not acknowledging God as God, they cannot do that which
pleases Him. All are impotent in this and only deserve the condemnation
they are in. If anything is to change this situation, it must come from
God.
Rom.11:32 …
that He should be merciful to all.
Eph.2:4-7 yet God,
being rich in mercy, because of His vast love with which He loves
us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and the lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you saved!)
6 and rouses us together and seats us together among the celestials,
in Christ Jesus,
7 that, in the oncoming eons,
He should be displaying the transcendent riches of His grace
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus
Since our salvation is in
grace, we cannot in any way EARN,
or qualify ourselves for, salvation! No claims to any ‘making a correct
decision for Christ’ for salvation holds any water.
So that there is no
ambiguity concerning the source of this faith through which we are saved,
Scripture declares that it is God Who gives us, gratuitously,
the faith to believe Him. Without this gift no one can believe. It is His
‘approach present’ through which He initiates a relationship with us.
Eph.2:8,9 For in grace,
through faith, are you saved,
and this is not out of you;
it is God's approach present,
9 not of works, lest anyone should be
boasting.
Scripture declares that all are under sin and that no
one seeks after God. Have we the audacity to suggest that this is not
actually true?
Rom.3:9-11 …we previously charge both
Jews and Greeks to be all under sin,
10 according as it is written, that "Not
one is just"--not even one.
11 Not one is understanding. Not
one is seeking out God.
Every call to be members of the body of Christ
is out of God's choice of us, out of His preferring us
to others for this salvation. The fact is that God has chosen us even before
He created the eons through Christ, so that this determination was
not, and is not, dependent on any response to any action,
good or bad, on our part.
1Cor.2:7 but we are speaking
God's wisdom in a secret,
wisdom which has been concealed,
which God designates before--before
the eons, for our glory,
2Tim.1:9 Who saves us and calls
us with a holy calling,
not in
accord with our acts, but in accord with His own purpose
and the grace which is given to us in Christ Jesus before times eonian,
Eph.1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who blesses us with every spiritual blessing
among the celestials, in Christ,
4 according as He chooses us in Him before
the disruption of the world,
we to be holy and flawless in His sight,
5 in love designating us beforehand
for the place of a son for Him through Christ
Jesus
Rom.8:29 … whom He foreknew, He designates
beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
for Him to be Firstborn among many
brethren.
2Thes.2:13 Now we ought to be thanking
God always concerning you,
brethren, beloved by the Lord,
seeing that God prefers you from the beginning for salvation,
in holiness of the spirit and faith in
the truth,
1Tim.4:10,11 … we rely on the living God,
Who is the Saviour of all mankind,
11 especially of believers….
Even though most of the nation
of Israel have not believed after hearing the evangel of peace, and have
proved to be stubborn and obstinate, God does not cast them off completely
and, in their place, reserve salvation for the Gentiles only.
The fact is that, though
Israel as a nation, is not being
saved at the present time, there is a remnant chosen out of grace
(just as, in the days of Elijah, God had reserved for Himself seven
thousand faithful).
[As a point of interest,
there are quite a number of Jews now who, calling themselves ‘Messianic
Jews’, believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and who observe the Mosaic
law as far as it is possible presently. This fits in with Act.3:22
concerning those of the true Israel of God, and the Circumcision evangel.]
According to Scripture, GOD chose to be the
God of ISRAEL, the HOLY ONE of Israel, a God dedicated to the people whom
HE chose!
Deut.4:7,8 For what great
nation is there
which has elohim so near to it
as Yahweh our Elohim is in all that we call to
Him?
8 And what great nation is there
which has statutes and judgments so righteous
as all this law that I am putting before you today?
Isa.41:8-10 Now you, Israel,
My servant; Jacob, whom I have chosen;
the seed of Abraham, My love, whom I
encourage;
9 from the ends of the land, and from beside it I
called you.
And I am saying to you,
`My servant are you. I choose you, and I do
not reject you.
10 You must not fear, for I am with you,
and you must not take heed for yourself, for I am your Elohim.
I make you resolute; indeed, I help you.
Indeed,
I uphold you with the right hand of My
righteousness.'
Isa.41:13,14 For I, Yahweh, your Elohim,
am holding fast your right hand,
saying to you, `You must not fear; I, I help
you.
14 You must not fear, worm Jacob, and
death-doomed of Israel,
I, I help you,'" averring is
Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
The rest of the nations
are, therefore, WITHOUT the true God, guests
only of Israel's covenant with THEIR God. Not being able to recognise and
acknowledge the true God, it was impossible
for them to please Him. In fact, they did those things which were abominations,
most displeasing and abhorrent to Him in His righteousness.
Under the dominating influence of the Adversary and motivated by the wisdom
of the world, which is at enmity with God, what possibility can there be
for one to escape his predicament, which he does not even know he is in, in
fact?
Eph.2:12 that you were, in that era,
apart from Christ,
being alienated from the citizenship of
Israel,
and guests of the promise covenants,
having no expectation,
and without God in the world.
Gal.4:8 But then, indeed, having no
perception of God,
you were slaves of those who, by nature,
are not gods.
1Cor.12:2 You are aware that when you were of
the nations,
you were led away to the voiceless idols,
as ever you were led.
Eph.2:1-3 And you, being dead to your
offenses and sins,
2 in which once you walked,
in accord with the eon of this world,
in accord with the chief of the
jurisdiction of the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness
3 (among whom we also all behaved
ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and
of the comprehension,
and were, in our nature, children of
indignation, even as the rest),
2Cor.4:4 …the god of this eon blinds
the apprehensions of the unbelieving
so that the illumination of the evangel of the
glory of Christ,
Who is the Image of the invisible God, does not
irradiate them.
But it is in this environment of total
helplessness that WE are being called - God displaying and dispensing
favour to unworthy and undeserving sinners and enemies!
THIS is truly Grace - the grace that is spoken of in our evangel!
Eph.2:4-10 yet God,
being rich in mercy, because of His vast love
with which He loves us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and
the lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace
are you saved!)
6 and rouses us together
and seats us together among the
celestials, in Christ Jesus,
7 that, in the oncoming eons,
He should be displaying the transcendent riches
of His grace
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For in grace, through faith,
are you saved,
and this is not out of you; it is God's
approach present,
9 not of works, lest anyone should be
boasting.
10 For His achievement are
we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready
beforehand, that we should be walking in them.
Rom.5:6-11 For Christ, while we are still
infirm, still in accord with the era,
for the sake of the irreverent, died….
8 yet God is commending this love of His to us,
seeing that, while we are still sinners,
Christ died for our sakes.
9 Much rather, then, being now justified in His
blood,
we shall be saved from indignation, through
Him.
10 For if, being enemies,
we were conciliated to God through the
death of His Son,
much rather, being conciliated, we shall be saved in His life.
11 Yet not only so,
but we are glorying also in God, through our
Lord, Jesus Christ,
through Whom we now obtained the
conciliation.
Rom.10:9 … if ever you
should be avowing with your mouth the
declaration that Jesus is Lord, and
should be believing in your heart that God
rouses Him from among the dead,
you shall be saved.
1Cor.12:3 …And no one is able to say
"Lord is Jesus" except by holy spirit.
Without God’s enabling gift
of holy spirit one cannot believe. Only those who are being called
receive this gift that is an integral part of God’s ‘approach present’.
07. What then?
What Israel is seeking for, this she did not encounter,
yet the chosen encountered it. Now the rest
were calloused,
Israel sought blessing through law keeping, but
did not get it. Those chosen in grace alone found it.
Concordant Commentary
'... What Israel is seeking for, this she did not encounter...'
The people of Israel cannot
be faulted for wanting to be righteous. As Paul attested, they have a
zeal for God but they did not understand what the law was really for.
So each one attempted to establish his own righteousness by a meticulous
fulfilling of the demands of that law.
Rom.10:2,3 For I am testifying to them that
they have a zeal of God,
but not in accord with recognition.
3 For they, being ignorant of the righteousness
of God,
and seeking to establish their own
righteousness,
were not subjected to the righteousness of God.
Rom.9:31-33 Yet Israel, pursuing a law
of righteousness,
into a law of righteousness does not
outstrip.
32 Wherefore? Seeing that it is not out of
faith,
but as out of law works,
they stumble on the stumbling stone,
33 according as it is written:
Lo! I am laying in Zion a Stumbling Stone and a
Snare Rock,
And the one believing on Him shall not be
disgraced.
But the law, itself, was never meant to justify
anyone, or to confer righteousness on anyone who observes it through the
works it enjoins.
Rom.3:20 … by works of law, no
flesh at all shall be justified in His sight,…
Gal.2:16 having perceived that a
man is not being justified by works of law,
except alone through the faith of Christ
Jesus,
we also believe in Christ Jesus that we may be
justified
by the faith of Christ and not
by works of law,
seeing that by works of law shall no flesh at
all be justified.
Heb.7:19 for the law perfects
nothing,…
Gal.3:21 For if a law were
given that is able to vivify,
really, righteousness were out of law.
Gal.2:21 I am not repudiating the
grace of God,
for if righteousness is through
law, consequently Christ died gratuitously.
Act.13:39 …from all from which you could not
be justified in the law of Moses,
in this One everyone who is believing is
being justified.
Gal.5:4 Exempted from Christ were you
who are being justified in law.
You fall out of grace.
Why, then, was the law given if it cannot perfect
anything, cannot justify anyone? Its function has been to declare what sin
is in the eyes of God. Thus, for those under the law, ignorance of God’s
standard cannot be an excuse anymore. The law escalates sin (a ‘missing the
mark’, any wrongdoing in ignorance of the law) into transgression (a
deliberate violation of that law) and makes matters even more serious.
Rom.3:20 … for through law is the
recognition of sin.
Gal.3:19 What, then, is the law? On
behalf of transgressions was it added,…
Rom.4:15 the law is producing
indignation.
Now where no law is, neither is there
transgression.
Rom.7:11 For Sin, getting an incentive through
the precept,
deludes me, and through it, kills me.
Rom.7:13 …Sin, that it may be appearing
Sin,
is producing death to me through good,
that Sin may become an inordinate sinner through
the precept.
So, as the law is not designed or intended to justify
anyone, any attempt to establish one’s righteousness through the works of
the law, no matter how sincere or how meticulous and intense one’s
dedication, would be an exercise in futility.
'… yet the chosen encountered it …'
Israel, as a
nation, rejected the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. But, there were
those of the people who accepted their declarations and even then, it was
God who determined who would. And even the call to be apostles or a
position of leadership among them was solely a matter of God’s appointment.
Jn.6:44 No
one can come to Me
if ever the Father Who sends Me should not be drawing him….
Jn.6:65 … "Therefore have I declared
to you that no one can be coming
to Me
if it should not be given him of the Father."
Jn.14:6 Jesus is saying to him, "I am
the Way and the Truth and the Life.
No one is coming to the Father except
through Me.
Jn.10:27-30 "My sheep are hearing My
voice, and I know them,
and they are following Me.
28 And I am giving them life
eonian,
and they should by no means be perishing for the
eon,
and no one shall be snatching them out of My
hand.
29 My Father, Who has given them to Me, is
greater than all,
and no one is able to be snatching them out of My Father's hand.
30 I and the Father, We are one."
Jn.15:16 Not you choose Me, but I choose you, and I appoint you,
that you may be going away and be bringing forth
much fruit,
and your fruit may be remaining,…
Mt.20:23 …Yet to be seated at My right and
at My left is not Mine to give,
but is for whom it has been made ready by My
Father
The evangel of the Uncircumcision does not recognize
fleshly distinctions such as circumcision and race and status. That being
the case, any one of humanity could be called – so that those whom God has
designated beforehand to be called, whether out of Israel or out of the
nations, will receive this benefit.
Gal.6:15 …in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything,
but a new creation.
2Cor.5:17 So that, if anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation:
the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!
Gal.5:6 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision is availing
anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith, operating through love.
1Cor.5:19 Circumcision is
nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing,
but the keeping of the precepts of God.
Col.3:11 …there is no Greek
and Jew, Circumcision and Uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave,
freeman, but all and in all is Christ.
Rom.10:20 Yet Isaiah is very daring and is
saying,
I was found by those who are not seeking
Me;
I became disclosed to those who are not
inquiring for Me.
2Tim.2:19 Howbeit, the solid foundation of
God stands, having this seal:
The Lord knew those who are His,…
Eph.1:4,5 according as He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the world,
we to be holy and flawless in His sight,
5 in love designating us
beforehand
for the place of a son for Him through Christ
Jesus;
in accord with the delight of His will,
‘…Now the rest were calloused,…’
The rest of the people of
Israel not only were not given this grace to become believers of the
evangels – whether that of the Circumcision or that of the Uncircumcision -
but were actually prevented from receiving this privilege – just as
the next verse indicates.
08. even as it
is written, God gives them a spirit of stupor,
eyes not to be observing, and ears not to be hearing,
till this very day.
It is not yet time for the rest of the people of
Israel. So, God gives them over to a stupefied condition that makes it
impossible for them to apprehend the evangel when they hear it. They are consigned
to unbelief and no amount of preaching and argument and persuasion
can lift this cloud of darkness.
Isa.29:10-13 For Yahweh has libated on you a spirit of stupor.
And He
is restraining your eyes, that is, the prophets,
and your heads, the vision seers, He covers.
11 And to you are all visions becoming as the words of a sealed scroll,
which they are giving him acquainted with the
scroll, saying,
"Read this, pray." And he says,
"I cannot, for it is sealed."
12 And the scroll is given
to one who is not acquainted with the scroll, saying,
"Read this, pray." And he says,
"I am not acquainted with a scroll."
13 And saying is Yahweh,
"Forasmuch as close to Me is this people with their mouth,
and with
their lips they glorify Me, yet their heart is far from Me,
and their fear of Me is becoming as the
instruction of mortals' teaching.
Jn.12:39,40 Therefore they could not believe, seeing that Isaiah said again
40 that He has
blinded their eyes and callouses their heart,
lest they may be perceiving with their eyes,
and should be apprehending with their heart,
and may be turning about, and I shall be healing
them.
Isa.44:18 They do not know, nor are they
understanding,
for He plasters their eyes, from seeing, and their hearts, from intelligence.
Isa.6:9,10 And He is saying to me, "Go,
and say to this people:
`Hear you to hear, yet you must not be understanding.
10 And see you to see, yet you must not be knowing.
Stouten the
heart of this people,
and their ears make heavy,
and their eyes make squint.
Lest
they are seeing with their eyes,
and with their ears are hearing,
and with
their heart are understanding, and, turning back, then healing is
theirs."
Mt.13:13-15 Therefore in parables am I speaking
to them,
seeing that, observing, they are not
observing,
and hearing, they are not hearing, neither
are they understanding.
14 And filled up in them is the prophecy of
Isaiah, that is saying,
`"In hearing, you will be hearing, and may by no means be understanding,
And observing, you will be observing, and may by no means be perceiving."
15 For stoutened is the heart of
this people,
And with their ears heavily
they hear,
And with
their eyes they squint,
Lest at
some time they may be perceiving with their eyes,
And with their ears should be
hearing,
And with their heart may be
understanding,
And should be turning about, and I shall be healing them.'
Act.28:25-27 "Ideally the holy spirit
speaks through Isaiah the prophet,
to your fathers, 26 saying, `Go to this
people and say,
"In hearing, you will be hearing, and may
by no means be understanding,
And observing, you will be observing, and may by
no means be perceiving,"
27 For stoutened is the heart of this people,
And with their ears heavily they hear,
And with
their eyes they squint,
Lest at
some time they may be perceiving with their
eyes,
And with their ears should be hearing,
And with their
heart may be understanding,
And should be turning about, and I shall be
healing them.'
This has been going on for Israel – even from the time
of the exodus from Egypt – for only the few were chosen of God to believe –
the rest just went through the motions.
Heb.8:9 Not in accord with the covenant
which I make with their fathers In the day of My
taking hold of their hand
to be leading them out of the land of Egypt,
Seeing that they do not remain in My
covenant,
And I neglect them," the Lord is saying,
1Cor.10:5 But not in the majority of
them does God delight,
for they were strewn along in the wilderness.
Rom.9:15-18 For to Moses He is
saying,
"I shall be merciful to whomever I
may be merciful,
and I shall be pitying whomever I may be
pitying."
16 Consequently, then, it is not of
him who is willing, nor of him who is racing,
but of God, the Merciful.
17 For the scripture is saying to Pharaoh
that
"For this selfsame thing I rouse you up,
so that I should be displaying in you My power,
and so that My name should be published in the
entire earth."
18 Consequently, then, to whom He will, He
is merciful,
yet whom He will, He is hardening.
Deut,29:2-4 Moses called to all Israel and said
to them:
You saw all that Yahweh did before your eyes in
the country of Egypt
to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all
his country,
3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs
and those great miracles.
4 Yet until
this day Yahweh has not given to you a heart to realize
and eyes
to see and ears to hear.
Jer.5:21 Hear you, I pray you, this, O
people, foolish and without heart,
Eyes they have, and they see
not, Ears they have, and they
hear not.
Ezek.12:2 `Son of man, in the midst of the
rebellious house you are dwelling,
that have eyes
to see, and they have not seen;
ears they have to hear, and
they have not heard;
for a rebellious house [are] they.
Mk.4:11,12 And He said to them,
"To you the secret of the kingdom of God
has been given,
yet to those outside, all is occurring in
parables,
12 that, observing, they may be observing and may not be perceiving,
and hearing,
they may be hearing and not be
understanding,
lest at some time they should be turning
about,
and they may be pardoned the penalties of their
sins."
Lk.8:10 "To you has it been given to
know the secrets of the kingdom of God,
yet to the rest in parables, that, observing,
they may not be observing,
and hearing, they may not be understanding.
2Cor.3:14-16 But their apprehensions
were calloused, for until this very
day
the same covering is remaining at the reading of
the old covenant,
not being uncovered 15 for only in Christ is
it being nullified. But till today,
if ever the reading of Moses should be reached,
a covering is lying on their heart.
16 Yet if ever it should reach a turning
back to the Lord,
the covering is taken from about it.
Even among the nations, it is God who decides who will
be graced with faith and who will not. Here, too, it is God who prevents
the rest from believing – even using the Adversary to carry out His
counsel.
2Thes.2:11,12 And therefore
God will be sending them an operation of deception,
for them to
believe the falsehood,
12 that all may be judged
who do not believe the truth, but delight in injustice.
2Cor.4:3,4 Now, if our evangel is covered,
also,
it is covered in those who are perishing,
4 in whom the god of this eon blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving
so that the illumination of the evangel of the
glory of Christ,
Who is the Image of the invisible God, does not
irradiate them.
09. And David
is saying, Let their table become a trap and a mesh,
And a snare and a repayment to them:
The blessing they coveted on the ground of law
keeping blinded their eyes to grace, and loaded their backs with legal
burdens. Concordant
Commentary
God lets them do as they
feel like doing, for they must experience becoming entangled and trapped in
their own counsels and machinations and get into even more confusion and
disappointment.
Ps.69:22 Let their table become a trap
before them,
And a repayment and a snare.
Heb.12:16,17 … Esau, who, for one feeding, gave
up his own birthright.
17 For you are aware that afterwards also,
wanting to enjoy the allotment blessing, he is
rejected,
for he did not find a place of repentance, even seeking
it out with tears.
Prov.1:28-32 Then they shall call me, yet I
shall not answer;
They shall seek me early, yet shall not
find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge And would not choose the fear of
Yahweh,
30 They would not heed my counsel, They spurned all my
correction,
31 Thus they shall eat of the
fruit of their way,
And they shall be surfeited with the results
of their counsels.
32 For the instability of the simple, it
shall kill them,
And the carelessness of the stupid, it shall
destroy them.
10. Darkened
be their eyes, not to be observing,
And their backs bow together continually.
God makes it so that they cannot ‘see’ the truth and
continue to be burdened by their efforts to establish their own
righteousness through works of law. Law-keeping, of itself, is a heavy
burden for anyone to bear, even for those who have spent a lifetime at it.
Ps.69:23 Let their eyes be
darkened, kept from seeing,
And let their waist be bowed low
continually.
Act.15:10 Why, then, are you now trying God,
by placing a yoke on the neck of the
disciples
which neither our fathers nor we are
strong enough to bear?
We know, from our evangel, that all who are not being
called to be believers are ‘sons of stubbornness’ and ‘children of
indignation’, quite unaware that they operate under the influence of the
Adversary who ‘blinds their apprehensions’ so that they cannot grasp the
truth.
Eph.2:2,3 …once you walked, in accord with
the eon of this world,
in accord with the chief of the
jurisdiction of the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness
3 (among whom we also all behaved
ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh,
doing the will of the flesh and of the
comprehension,
and were, in our nature, children of indignation, even as the rest)
2Cor.4:3,4 Now, if our evangel is covered,
also,
it is covered in those who are
perishing,
4 in whom the god of this eon blinds
the apprehensions of the unbelieving
so that the illumination of the evangel of the
glory of Christ,
Who is the Image of the invisible God, does
not irradiate them.
11. I am
saying, then, Do they not trip that they
should be falling?
May it not be coming to that! But in their offense is salvation to the nations,
to provoke them to jealousy.
The temporary nature of Israel's defection is
strikingly illustrated by the figure of a man who trips yet recovers
himself before he falls prostrate. Israel has not fallen. The book of Acts
is full of the jealousy of Jews whenever they see the nations receiving
God's gifts. Concordant
Commentary
‘…Do they not trip that they should be falling? May it
not be coming to that!…’
God remains true to Himself
always. His integrity is beyond question. He chose Israel to be His people,
knowing full well their stubbornness and pride. If at all, these very
characteristics should have kept them out of His choice. Is it any surprise
to Him that they continue to behave as they always have? Do their known and
anticipated failings now cause Him to go back on His word and to rescind
His solemn covenant with them?
Rom.11:29-32 For unregretted are the graces and the calling of God.
30 For even as you once
were stubborn toward God,
yet now were shown mercy at their
stubbornness,
31 thus these also are now stubborn to this
mercy of yours,
that now they also may be shown mercy.
32 For God
locks up all together in stubbornness,
that He should be merciful to all.
Num.23:19 El is not a
man that He should lie.
Nor a son of humanity that He should feel
regret.
Does He say it and then not do it? Or speak and then not carry it
out?
‘…But in their offense is salvation to the nations, to
provoke them to jealousy…’
Israel trips; she falters. She is punch-drunk and stumbling
around in a daze. But she is not flat on her face and out for the
count.
It is in accord with God’s
counsel that Israel, as a nation, has not been enabled to believe in
this era. Her being set aside, ostensibly for her hardness of heart, is for
present expedience and will only be temporary. God does not want
her complacent, as she had become, taking things as a matter of course and
without proper appreciation for her privileges. God intends to shake her
out of her reverie to see what His grace, and grace alone, is achieving
among those of the body of Christ.
Isa.66:9,10 Am I causing to hope, and not
begetting?" saying is Yahweh.
"Should I be begetting, then
restrain?" says your Elohim.
Rom.10:19 But, I am saying, Did
not Israel know at all? First Moses is saying,
I shall be provoking you to
jealousy
over those not a nation;
Over an unintelligent nation shall I be vexing
you.
So, for the present, God is
operating among those of the nations.
Act.13:46-48 Being bold, both Paul and Barnabas, say,
"To you first was it necessary that the
word of God be spoken. Yet, since, in fact,
you are thrusting it away, and are judging
yourselves not worthy of eonian life,
lo! we are
turning to the nations.
47 For thus the Lord has directed us: I
have appointed Thee for `a light of the nations;
for Thee to be for salvation as far as the
limits of the earth.'"
48 Now on hearing this, the nations
rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord,
and they believe, whoever were set for life eonian.
Act.18:6 Now at their resisting and
blaspheming, shaking out his garments,
he said to them, "Your blood be on your head! Clear am I!
From now
on I shall go to the nations."
Act.28:28 Let it be known to you, then,
that to
the nations was dispatched this salvation of God, and they will hear.
It is during this time of
Israel’s being set aside that a plan, which God had kept secret from the
eons, is put into operation – the plan for salvation apart from the
law that Israel was so insistent on attempting to observe. She needs a
demonstration of the fact that her privileged position with God is because
of His grace, and not because she deserves that gift.
Israel seeks for
righteousness - but a righteousness of her own making. So she does not
attain to true righteousness. But the chosen individuals of that
nation come face to face with the righteousness which is of God. The
rest God puts into a stupor and are, therefore, unable to actually perceive and make sense of what He declares.
Here we have to remind
ourselves that it is GOD Who hardens them, that they CANNOT accept and obey
of themselves! We should,
therefore, never look with disdain at their floundering. But for God
choosing us in grace, WE would be in a worse situation.
Isa.29:10-12 For Yahweh has libated
on you a spirit of stupor.
And He is restraining your eyes, that is,
the prophets,
and your heads, the vision seers, He
covers.
11 And to you are all visions becoming as
the words of a sealed scroll,
which they are giving him acquainted with the
scroll,
saying, "Read this, pray." And he
says, "I cannot, for it is sealed."
12 And the scroll is given to one who is
not acquainted with the scroll,
saying, "Read this, pray." And he
says, "I am not acquainted with a scroll."
Israel has stumbled on the Stone of Stumbling,
rejecting That which is to be the chief cornerstone of God's building.
Rom.9:32,33 Wherefore?
Seeing that it is not out of faith, but
as out of law works,
they stumble on the stumbling stone,
33 according as it is written:
Lo! I am laying in Zion a Stumbling Stone and a
Snare Rock,
And the one believing on Him shall not be
disgraced.
Act.4:11 This is the Stone that is being
scorned by you builders,
which is becoming the head of the corner.
It is not in God's plan for them to fall completely and become
rejected permanently. Such a thing cannot
happen. For God has chosen ISRAEL to be His witness to the
truth that HE is GOD! Though she
is set aside and being chastised now, Israel will be drawn close once again! God will NEVER forget her!
Isa.43:10-12 "You are My
witnesses," averring is Yahweh Elohim,
"And My servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and will believe Me,
and understand that I am He:
Before Me was formed no El. And after Me none shall come.
11 I, I, Yahweh am El! And there is
no Saviour apart from Me.
12 I tell and save and announce. And an
alien is not among you.
And you are My witnesses,"
averring is Yahweh, "And I am El.
Jer.30:11-17 For with you [am] I, An
affirmation of Yahweh--to save you,
For I make an end of all the nations whither I
have scattered you,
Only, of you I do not make an end,
And I have chastised you in judgment, And
do not entirely acquit you.
12 For thus said Yahweh: Incurable
is your breach, grievous your stroke,
13 There is none judging your cause to bind
up,
Healing medicines there are none for you.
14 all loving you have forgotten you, You
they do not seek,
For with the stroke of an enemy I smote you,
The chastisement of a fierce one,
Because of the abundance of your iniquity,
Mighty have been your sins!
15 What!--you cry concerning your breach!
Incurable [is] your pain,
Because of the abundance of your iniquity,
Mighty have been your sins!
I have done these to you.
16 Therefore all consuming you are
consumed,
And all your adversaries--all of them--Into
captivity do go,
And your spoilers have been for a spoil,
And all your plunderers I give up to plunder.
17 For I increase health to
you, And from your strokes I do heal you,
An affirmation of Yahweh,
For `Outcast' they have called to you, `Zion it
[is], there is none seeking for her.'
Ezek.34:16 The lost I seek, and the
driven away bring back,
And the broken I bind up, and the
sick I strengthen,
And the fat and the strong I destroy, I
feed it with judgment.
Ezek.37:26-28 And I have made to them
a covenant of peace,
A covenant eonian it is with them,
And I have placed them, and multiplied them,
And placed My sanctuary in their midst--to
the eon.
27 And My tabernacle has been over them,
And I have been to them for Elohim, And
they have been to Me for a people.
28 And known have the nations that I Yahweh
am sanctifying Israel,
In My sanctuary being in their midst--to the
eon!'
The day will come when Israel will be God’s
people in practice. That will be the glorious day when the whole nation
will be born again in a day of resurrection as mentioned in Ezekiel and
referred to by Jesus to Nicodemus.
Ezek.37:11-14 And He said unto me,
`Son of man, these bones are the whole house
of Israel;
lo, they are saying: Dried up have our bones,
And perished has our hope,
We have been cut off by ourselves.
12 Therefore, prophesy, and you have said
unto them,
thus said the Lord Yahweh: Lo, I am opening your
graves,
And have brought you up out of your
graves, O My people,
And brought you in unto the land of
Israel.
13 And you have known that I [am] Yahweh, In
My opening your graves,
And in My bringing you up out of your graves, O My people.
14 And I have given My Spirit in you, and
you have lived,
And I have caused you to rest on your
land,
And you have known that I Yahweh, I have spoken,
and I have done [it],
An affirmation of Yahweh.'
Isa.66:8 Who has heard a thing
as this? And who has seen things as these?
Will the land travail in one day? Should a
nation be born at one time?
For she travails. Moreover, Zion is bearing her
sons.
Jn.3:7 KJV ‘Ye must be born again.’
NIV `You {…The
Greek is plural.} must be born again.'
Note: The Greek indicates the ‘you’ here is the
plural. This refers to the people of Israel whom Nicodemus, being a
chief as a member of the Sanhedrin, represented.
Can God make a mistake in any choice He makes? If
Israel ceases to be God’s chosen, His integrity can be questioned.
Isa.43:21 This people I have formed for Myself, and they shall relate My
praise.
Isa.44:21,22 "Remember these things, Jacob
and Israel, for My servant are you.
I formed
you. A
servant of Mine are you, Israel.
You shall not be oblivious of Me.
For behold! I wipe out as a dense haze, your
transgressions,
and as a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I redeemed you.
Isa.46:3,4 Hearken to Me,
house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house
of Israel,
My lading from the belly, and carried from My
womb.
And till
old age I am He, and till gray
hairs shall I be burdened,
I made, and I am bearing. And I will be
burdened, and make you escape.
Isa.49:3 And He is saying to me,
"My servant are you, Israel, in whom I am beautifying Myself."
Isa.49:15,16 "Will a woman forget her
child,
not to have compassion on the son of her
belly?
Even if these a woman will forget, yet I will not forget you,"
says Yahweh.
16 Behold! On My palms I tattoo
you,
And your walls are in front of Me continually."
It is during this time of
Israel's obstinacy and of her being set aside that salvation is being given
to the nations. This is to bring unbelieving Israel to re-examine her
position and to realise that it is God Who is the source of her privileges
and not because they are hers by right, as her due!
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Index of Articles - Romans
Nov 2008
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