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.