The Remnant and the Rest
Opening Prayer
Lord God, I desire to enter into Your presence for a few moments: to be centered on and fully engaged with You.
Read Romans 11:1-10
[1] I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah-how he appealed to God against Israel: [3] “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? [4] And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” [5] So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. [6] And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. [7] What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, [8] as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.” [9] And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. [10] May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What were Paul's credentials to speak and preach?The Jewish question might not be one of our main preoccupations in the twenty-first century, but Paul’s letter to the Romans was written at a turning point in history. Up until the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s purposes centered on a small ethnic group, of whom Paul himself was a member (1), chosen and blessed above all other peoples on the earth. To be a Jew was to belong to Yahweh. But then things changed, and it became a matter of whether or not you believed in Jesus as Messiah (10:4). As we know with the perspective of many centuries of history behind us, many Jews–the majority–did not believe. The people of Israel did not see, and did not hear, that a king had come from the line of David to deliver them from their sins, as their prophets foretold (8,10). God did not reject his people because they failed (1,2); they failed, but grace was there for them (5) and is still there for them, if they will only reach out and take it.
Apply
It is a tragedy that God’s chosen people by and large did not recognize his Son. Pray for others, like Israel, who need God’s favor.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I pray that all people of all nations will bow before You and worship You as Lord.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.