“1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he pleads with 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 take my life! 4 But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal. 5 In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.”
The beginning verses of chapter 11 are the climax of Paul’s thoughts as he has been wrestling with the unbelief of Israel in chapters 9 and 10. Having disarmed the arguments of the Jewish unbelievers, they have but one final objection. God has rejected His people! If the nation of Israel is really God’s chosen people, yet hasn’t believed in Jesus as Messiah, then God must have rejected His people, right? Paul says, “Absolutely not!” (v. 1b) What is his supporting evidence? One example is that Paul himself is a Jew, and he has believed! (See 2 Corinthians 11:22 and Philippians 3:5) This is one reason why it was so important that Paul write out his immense love and broken-heartedness for Israel back in chapter 10:1-2. How arrogant this statement may seem if not read in the context of chapters 9-10. Besides this, it is simply not in God’s character to abandon His people. He made a promise to the Israelite patriarchs, that their descendants would be too numerous to count and would be God’s people. God is not in the business of breaking His promises. He never has and He never will. Even when His people fail to be faithful to Him, God will remain faithful to His promises. Praise the Lord! Samuel captures this truth well when he says:
“Samuel replied, “Don’t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don’t turn away from following the Lord. Instead, worship the Lord with all your heart. Don’t turn away to follow worthless things that can’t profit or rescue you; they are worthless. The Lord will not abandon his people, because of his great name and because he has determined to make you his own people.”” — 1 Samuel 12:20-22
The prophet Jeremiah proclaims to us God’s reaction when the Israelite people accuse God of not remaining faithful to His covenant.
“The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say, ‘The Lord has rejected the two families he had chosen.’ My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them. This is what the Lord says: If I do not keep my covenant with the day and with the night, and if I fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I might also
reject the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David. That is, I would not take rulers from his descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But in fact, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.” — Jeremiah 33:23-26
God says through Jeremiah that He would sooner allow Earth to stop spinning on its axis than to break His covenant with the Jewish nation. God would allow heaven and earth to fall into utter disorder and chaos before even a word of His covenant would be allowed to lapse.
The Psalmist records God’s reaction towards His rebellious people: Discipline and correction with the rod, yet mercy and faithful love.
“If his sons abandon my instruction and do not live by my ordinances, if they dishonor my statutes and do not keep my commands, then I will call their rebellion to account with the rod, their iniquity with blows. But I will not withdraw my faithful love from him or betray my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or change what my lips have said. Once and for all I have sworn an oath by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring will continue forever, his throne like the sun before me, like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky. Selah.” — Psalms 89:30-37
The whole of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome has made it clear that God’s people have not been faithful. God does not remain faithful to His people because His people are faithful to Him. God remains faithful to His people because He is gracious and merciful, and it is an attribute of His character to be true to His word. Praise God that He is faithful, even when we are not.
It is important to note that God’s discipline with the rod and correction with blows upon His rebellious people does not indicate the absence of love. Quite the contrary! God’s discipline is intended to see us repent and bring the rebellious back to righteous living. It is an act of love when God disciplines those He loves. The alternative is letting the rebellious sinner continue on in their sin and to let them have all the worldly desires of their heart, yet remain condemned to eternal punishment on account of their transgression of God’s law.
What is Paul’s conclusion from this? Some, but not all, Jews will be saved. God has saved those who are His elect. Paul leans on the Old Testament to back up his claims: “Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life! But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.” (v. 2b-4) This quote comes from 1 Kings 19:10, 14, 18. Read the whole section, 1 Kings 19:1-18 for better context. So it was always God’s will that not all Israel would be saved, but only a remnant. How gracious God has been that He would do even this. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and yet, in His grace and mercy God has saved a remnant. We will learn more about this remnant in the devotionals to come.