“19 But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding. 20 And Isaiah says boldly, I was found by those who were not looking for me; I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me. 21 But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.”
Why has Israel rejected Jesus as their Savior? Paul established in the previous section that it is not for a lack of hearing the gospel. They have heard and have had plenty of opportunities to respond. Perhaps then, it is because Israel didn’t understand what they were hearing. Paul again turns to the Old Testament to answer these questions. First, he quotes Moses:
“They have provoked my jealousy with what is not a god; they have enraged me with their worthless idols. So I will provoke their jealousy with what is not a people; I will enrage them with a foolish nation.” — Deuteronomy 32:21
He also quotes Isaiah:
““I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that did not call on my name. I spread out my hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk in the path that is not good, following their own thoughts. These people continually anger me to my face…”” — Isaiah 65:1-3a
So it’s not that Israel didn’t understand. God says that the people who are not a nation, a people who did not seek to find God, found Him and now understand. Paul is speaking of the Gentiles. God in His gracious mercy has chosen to save those who were not “of the seed of Abraham”; at least, not by physical descent. Paul has revealed to us that this was God’s plan all along! God would save a people to Himself, not from the Jews only, but from the most unlikely of people, those who are His elect from all the nations of the world, those who are Gentiles!
There is a principle that is worth discussing here:
“Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.” — Luke 16:10
When God offers a small, yet sufficient glimpse of His righteousness, whether through His creation or through a chosen servant who delivers a gospel message, no one can accuse God of not providing enough information by which to make a choice to follow or reject Him. Every human being has had enough information about God and His will presented to them for them to make the choice whether to obey and submit to God or to rebel and curse His existence. Another thing, when we reject God’s revealing Himself through Scripture, or through the preaching of the gospel, etc., God is not obligated to provide us with more. God is not obligated to provide us with enough understanding so that we will be convinced of His existence and respond in repentance and faith. God has provided us with enough understanding so that we have opportunity to be convinced of His existence and respond in repentance and faith. We have received enough information from God to respond rightly or to be condemned justly. God is not obligated to do even this, and yet He does so because He is a gracious and merciful God.
And so, it is that God has been extraordinarily patient with Israel’s unbelief. When they claim to Him that they had not heard or that they did not have enough to understand, Paul tells us, they will not have an argument left to stand on.