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One response to “On Israel: Questions to Ponder”

1. 

   Ed Fernandez

   September 23, 2011

   “How would you explain Israel’s not totally rejected?” ()

   The above question was asked in response to the article. The following is my reply:

   The stance this question takes can actually give one a sense that Israel almost lost it. And that’s really not that far from the truth.

   The Apostle Paul who deals with Israel at length in Romans (chapters 9-11) begins by expressing “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” (11:2; all Scripture quotations are from the NIV) because despite Israel’s privileged status (vs. 4-5) they rejected God’s way of justification, which is by faith. Instead, they pursued “the law as the way of righteousness” (or justification) and so “have not attained their goal” (v. 31). The Gentiles “who did not pursue righteousness” (v. 30), however, were the ones who “have obtained it,” that is, justification by faith.

   I surmise that this sad reality brought about by his people’s rejection of the Gospel forced Paul to take a hard look at what had gone wrong. Despite Israel’s rejection of Christ, he asserts that “God’s word had [not] failed” (v. 6) and explains using Scriptures that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” From there his idea of a new people of God, “the objects of God’s mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles,” (v. 24) begins to take shape.

   In chapter 10 Paul appears to be simply repeating the general pattern of chapter 9. He begins by expressing his desire for Israel’s salvation while apparently acknowledging the helplessness of Israel’s situation because of their failure to “submit to God’s righteousness” (vs. 1,3) and because, despite the opportunity given them, “not all the Israelites accepted the good news” (v. 16).

   So in chapter 11, Paul asks the dreaded question: “Did God reject his people?” His answer: “By no means!” (v. 1). To support his answer, he cites himself, “an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin” as well as others whom God had not rejected and whom he calls “a remnant chosen by grace” (v. 5). In other words, the new people of God include not just Gentiles but also Jews who through faith are also recipients of God’s grace!

   In conclusion, what Romans chapters 9-11 clearly teach us is that despite Israel’s rejection of Christ, God did not reject Israel. The new people of God do include Israelites. But we should remember that they have been incorporated into Israel not because of their special race but on the same basis that Gentiles have been included, namely faith in Christ. Finally, to say that because God has not totally rejected ethnic Israel means that their status as a people that God envisioned out of Abraham remains intact and thus the promise of blessing or threat of curse in Genesis 12:2-3 and in relation to them still stands finds absolutely no support in .

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