Romans 11:1-10

God chose Israel as His treasured possession (9:6-18).  Israel’s unbelief (9:30-33) kept them from being the nation they had agreed to be from the beginning (e.g. Ex. 19:3-8; Josh. 24:14-25).  In times of rebellion God always reserved a righteous remnant (9:19-29).  Israel heard (10:16ff) but did not believe (10:19ff).  

Paul had raised the question back in Rom. 3:3f: “For what if some did not believe?  Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?”  He gave a quick “certainly not” answer at that point.  Now in Romans 11 he concludes his detailed answer by asking two additional questions:

·        11:1: Has God cast away His people?  The answer to this question explains Israel’s current status in the days of the Church.

·        11:11: Have they stumbled that they should fall?  This moves from Israel’s current status to a revelation of their status in the age to come.

So there was always a remnant, even in the darkest days, up to the time of the cross of Christ.  What about afterwards?  Did the act of rejecting God’s Anointed finally cause God to cast away His people?  Paul’s answer is certainly not, and he is living proof.  Today there is a remnant as in the days of Elijah (v2-4), descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who are God’s righteous people.

The reason for this is that God is faithful in His choice of Israel (v5-6).  By “the election of grace” God has not allowed the nation to vanish, as it were.  Some would say that through His foreknowledge (v2) God blinded those He knew would not believe and chose as His remnant those He knew would believe.  Others would say that none would have believed had not God chosen them by grace.  However you understand it the conclusion is v7: Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

The blindness is severe so that Israel could not believe.  Paul quotes both from Isaiah 29:10 (v8) and from a Psalm of David (69:22-23 in vs. 9-10).  When God called Isaiah He told him his crowd would be unable to see or hear (Isa. 6:10).  At a point in Jesus’ ministry, when the rejection of Israel was apparent, He began to use parables so that the spiritually blind would continue to be spiritually blind (Matt. 13:14-15).  He again spoke of this blindness at the end of His ministry (John 12:40) as did Paul in Rome (Acts 28:25-27).  Paul also noted this blindness in 2 Cor. 4:3-6, referring to it as a veil drawn over their eyes by Satan, the god of this age.  But he also notes that there were some who saw the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ because God has shined the light in their hearts.

So Rom. 11:7 gives us the succinct answer to the question: Has God cast away His people?  No!  Absolutely not!  There is a remnant according to the election of grace.  The rest of Israel is in spiritual blindness.  We continue to see the marvelous attributes of God exhibited in these chapters of Romans.  Let us worship Him as the God of all grace.