Has God Cast Away His People? – Romans 11
‘I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.’ — Romans 11:1
The nation of Israel committed a terrible crime when they rejected Jesus Christ, their Messiah. Such a mistake has been viewed by some as irreconcilable. Surely, God must now be finished with Israel as a people?
That is one of the points Paul addresses in Romans 11. In the strongest way, Paul says, ‘Absolutely not!’ God has not cast them away and God will not cast them off.
For starters, Paul was a Jew and he was saved as were others Jews. So, God has saved Jews and continues to save a remnant of Jews (v.5).
But, we also learn, that God has a plan to bring the nation of Israel back into a place of blessing (v.14-24). Partial judicial blindness happened to the nation as they rejected Christ but one day ‘all Israel shall be saved’ (v.25-25), meaning that on a larger, national scale many Jews will be saved and they will nationally accept their Messiah when He returns.
This is not because they deserve it any more than anyone deserves salvation, but because the ‘gifts and calling of God are without repentance’ (v.29). In other words, God will keep the promises He gave to Israel as a people. He will not go back on them, no matter how far they stray or rebel against Him.
What a blessing to know that God is going to keep His Word to Israel! This gives all of us comfort to know we can trust and believe the promises of God, no matter what happens.
And everything God does for the church, for Israel, for Gentiles, is all for His honour and His glory (v.36)!