remnant

The Recovery of the Remnant.

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11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise a signal for the nations
    and will assemble the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
    and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,
    and the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy
    the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over the River
    with his scorching breath,
and strike it into seven channels,
    and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be a highway from Assyria
    for the remnant that remains of his people,
as there was for Israel
    when they came up from the land of Egypt. – Isaiah 11:11-16 ESV

Isaiah has been speaking of a day to come and has referred to it as “that day.” He has told of an individual, someone he refers to as “the root of Jesse” who will show up on that future date, during that as-yet-to-happen timeframe. He will be a descendant of Jesse, who was the father of King David. And, according to verse 10, this rightful heir to David’s throne is one “who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” 

Jesus was the fulfillment of that prophecy. He alone met the requirements and possessed the DNA that made Him a legal heir to David’s kingdom. In his gospel account, Matthew describes Jesus as the son of David.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. – Matthew 1:1 ESV

Later on, when the angel appeared to Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, he told him:

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:20-21 ESV

Joseph was a legal heir to David. Which is why the apostle Paul would later describe Jesus as “descended from David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3 ESV). And Luke reports that, when a decree was made by Caesar Augustus, requiring everyone living within the Roman Empire to return to their town of origin to register for a tax. And Joseph, being of the house of David, returned to Bethlehem, the hometown of David.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David… – Luke 2:4 ESV

But we know from the Matthew passage above, that Joseph was not the physical father of Jesus. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, which is why the angel told Mary:

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” – Luke 1:32-33 ESV

Jesus became the adopted son of Joseph and, as such, inherited the same rights held by Joseph. He became a legal heir to the Davidic throne. He was the Son of the Most High and the Son of David. He was the God-Man.

And, in that day, when Jesus begins to reign over the house of Jacob, God will do some incredible things for His people. Isaiah reports that God will recover and restore a remnant of His people, returning them to the land of promise. There they will enjoy the righteous reign of the Son of David, the long-awaited king who will sit on the throne of the once-great king of Israel.

Isaiah tells the rebellious people of Judah that a day is coming when God “will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12 ESV). Not only that, God will end the civil strife that had plagued the nation of Israel since the kingdom had been split after Solomon’s reign. The northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah will be reunited, solidifying the 12 tribes of Israel once again. And together, they will defeat their common enemies.

All of this speaks of a time that has not yet happened. It promises the earthly reign of Jesus, the Son of David, who will occupy the throne in Jerusalem and rule in perfect righteousness over the nation of Israel. All of this will be in fulfillment to the promise God had made to David centuries earlier.

“…your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” – 2 Samuel 7:16 ESV

Years later, Solomon, after his father’s death and his own ascension to the throne, prayed a prayer at the dedication of the temple. He reminded God of His promise to David.

“Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.” – 2 Chronicles 6:16-17 ESV

But Solomon would prove unfaithful, failing to walk in the ways of his father, David. And God would end up splitting his kingdom in half, creating the kingdom of Israel, comprised of the nine northern tribes of Israel, and the kingdom of Judah, made up of the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The tribe of Levi, made up of the Levitical priests, remained independent. And while there was a series of kings who sat on the throne of David in the southern kingdom, none of them fulfilled the prophecy found in Isaiah 11. In fact, the day came when God sent the southern kingdom of Judah into captivity in Babylon, leaving no king on the throne. And to this day, there is no king in Israel or Judah.

But in “that day” things will be different. God will send His Son to rule and reign. The first time He came to earth, He did so as the Savior. But He will return a second time, and on that occasion, He will come as the Sovereign, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And later on in the book of Isaiah, there is yet another promise made by God concerning “that day.”

“The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem
    to buy back those in Israel
who have turned from their sins,”
    says the Lord.

“And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Isaiah 59:20-21 NLT

That day has not yet come, but it will. God has promised to send His Son as the king of Israel. But His reign will not be restricted to a single geographic area. He will be the king of the universe. He will rule and reign over all.  But He will restore the fortunes of the people of Israel. He will redeem a remnant of the descendants of Abraham and shower them with His covenant blessings. Not because they deserve it, but because He has promised to do it. And the apostle John gives us a glimpse into a future time when God will make all things new. He will create a new heaven and a new earth. He will make a new Jerusalem.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:1-4 ESV

In the midst of Judah’s rebellion, God reminds them of His covenant blessings. They will reject Him and He will be forced to punish them. But one day, in “that day,” He will keep His promise to restore them.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

The 144,000.

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1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. – Revelation 7:1-8 ESV

Chapter six ended with a statement and a question: “…the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:17 ESV). Those experiencing the wrath of God as revealed through the first six seals, will attempt to hide from Him, but end up wishing for death.  They will realize that their suffering is from the hand of God, but yet, there will be no sign of repentance on their part. And death appears to be their only option and means of escaping the increasing intensity of God’s anger against them. But chapter seven opens with the answer to the question. There will be those who can and will stand. God’s wrath and judgment will be balanced by His grace and mercy. Chapter seven acts as a brief interlude between the sixth and seventh seal, providing us with a wonderful insight into God’s plan for the people of Israel and for the nations of the earth during the tribulation.

John opens up chapter seven with the Greek words, meta touto, which is typically translated as “after this.” John used this same phrase in chapter four, verse 1, to indicate a change in vision. He is seeing something new. This is not a part of the sixth seal, but a different scene altogether which reveals an aspect of the tribulation to which John was unaware. In the midst of all the death and destruction, God was going to do something significant. In spite of the wickedness of mankind and the ongoing rebellion of His own people, Israel, God was going to extend His undeserved grace and mercy.

It begins with John seeing “four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth” (Revelation 7:1 ESV). The wind is a reference to God’s judgment. There angels had been “given power to harm earth and sea” (Revelation 7:2 ESV), but at the present time they were holding back the full brunt of God’s judgment. There is going to be a time during the tribulation when the earth and sea, and every living creature on the planet will suffer the full impact of God’s righteous wrath. But first, God will redeem a remnant from among the Jews and the nations of the earth. Out of the east, another angel appears, calling to the other four angels to hold off judgment “until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (Revelation 7:3 ESV). A seal is a sign of ownership and authenticity. During the tribulation there are going to be some whom God declares to be His own, sealing their future and securing their eternal state by marking them as His possession. The sealing speaks of their God-ordained selection and protection. This does not mean these people will experience no suffering during the days of the tribulation, but that they will not suffer for their unrighteousness. They will belong to God.

And John is not left to guess who these people will be. He is immediately told that they will be made up of 144,000 Jews from every tribe of the nation of Israel. They will be equally represented by the 12 tribes, with 12,000 people coming from each tribe. It is significant that John is given a very detailed description of who these people are. It is not left up to his imagination. And it is clear that he is not being given a glimpse of the church or “spiritual Israel.” These will be Jews. The church will not be around when the tribulation takes place. Jesus will have already returned for the church, removing it from the planet and preserving it from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10; Romans 5:9).

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ… – 1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV

The apostle Paul makes it quite clear that God has plans for His people Israel. As the apostle to the Gentiles, he knew that God had made the gospel available to them because of the hardening of the hearts of the people of Israel. They had refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. But their hardening will be partial and temporary.

25 …a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! – Romans 11:25-33 ESV

The people in John’s vision are clearly Jews and, more specifically, in Revelation 14 they are described as “the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins” (Revelation 14:3-4 ESV). And John will be given further insight into their role during the dark days of the tribulation.

It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. – Revelation 14:4-5 ESV

These ethnic Jews will form a remnant whom God will use for His divine purposes during the tribulation. They will become witnesses to the rest of the world and, as we will see, their testimony will result in people from every tribe, nation and tongue coming to faith in Christ, even during the darkest days of God’s judgment. 

One of the things we must understand is that Israel, the chosen people of God, have had their hearts hardened by God. While some Jews have accepted Jesus as their Messiah, the vast majority remain incapable of doing so. Paul points out their dilemma.

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.” – Romans 11:7-8 ESV

But why would God do this? Why would He prevent His own chosen people from seeing and hearing so that they might respond to the truth of the gospel and the good news regarding their Messiah? It all goes back to the covenants God made with Israel. In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised them a land, a seed, and a blessing. This covenant was non-conditional. In other words, God placed no requirements on them. It was a unilateral covenant, binding only Himself to keep the commitments He had made. They would be blessed by God regardless of their actions or attitudes. And God did eventually give them the land as He had promised. He also gave Abraham a seed or many descendants. But God also gave him “a seed” – which Paul explains to be Jesus Himself.

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. – Galatians 3:16 NASB

And God went on to promise Abraham that “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18 NASB) – another reference to Jesus. But there is another covenant that played an important role in God’s dealings with the people of Israel. At Mount Sinai, in the wilderness, God had given them the Mosaic Covenant. This was a bi-lateral covenant, that was conditional in nature. God promised to bless the people of Israel, but they were required to live in obedience to His law. If they refused to obey, they would suffer curses, brought on them as judgment from the hand of God. But God had clearly told His people:

1 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.” – Deuteronomy 30:1-3 ESV

God knew they would disobey. And their disobedience would bring His judgment upon them. Which is why He could not allow them to accept Jesus as their Messiah. He was obligated by His own righteous nature to follow through with His promise to punish them for their sin and rebellion. And the coming days of tribulation will be the final stages of God’s punishment upon the people of Israel. And notice what God says in the passage above. He tells them that if they and all their children return to Him and obey Him with all their heart and soul, He will restore them. The prophet Ezekiel gives us a glimpse of what God is going to do on behalf of His people Israel. He will do for them what they could never have done on their own. He will extend grace to those who do not deserve it.

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” – Ezekiel 36:22-28 ESV

God is not done with Israel. He must punish them for their breaking of the Mosaic Covenant. But He will keep the promises He made to them as part of the Abrahamic Covenant. He will restore a remnant. He will give them the capacity to seek and serve Him. They will “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Revelation 14:4 ESV). And they will prove to be His witnesses to the nations, even to those suffering the wrath of His divine and well-deserved judgment during the dark days of tribulation.

 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

 

The Great Day of Their Wrath.

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9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”  – Revelation 6:9-17 ESV

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With the opening of the fifth seal there is a change in the pattern established by the first four seals. There are no more horses and riders to be called forth and revealed. The last horse carried Death, and close behind them came Hades. Since Hades is a place and not a person, it would seem that this vision is indicating that, with the arrival of the fourth and final horse and rider, there would be a great many deaths on earth. In fact, John indicates that a fourth of the earth’s population will be killed “with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:8 ESV). And the reference to Hades lets us know that the souls of a great many of these individuals will end up in Hades, the abode of the dead. There they will stay until the Great White Throne judgment. But with the opening of the fifth seal, John is shown a scene taking place in heaven, where he sees “under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne” (Revelation 6:9 ESV). It would appear that this represents all those individuals who will come to faith in Christ during the tribulation and face martyrdom because of their witness. We will see in the very next chapter that, during the seven year period of the tribulation, 144,000 Jews will become followers of Christ and witnesses to the nations. And as a result of their testimony, many will believe in Christ.

…a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. – Revelation 7:9 ES.

While the 144,000 Jews will be preserved and protected throughout the period of the tribulation, all those who come to faith as a result of their witness  will face martyrdom for their faith. They will be persecuted and put to death by the Antichrist and, at this point in his vision, John sees the souls of these martyrs beneath the altar in the heavenly temple. Notice that John mentions only their souls and not their bodies. This is a clear indication that he is not seeing martyred believers from the church age, because those individuals would have received their resurrected bodies at the time of the rapture of the church. In keeping with the fourth seal, John is being given a glimpse of what happens to those who come to faith during the tribulation and who die as a result of their faith. Their souls go to be with the Lord, but their bodies will not be resurrected until the end of the tribulation as revealed in Revelation 20.

Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. – Revelation 20:4 ESV

John sees the souls of these martyred saints under the altar and they are crying out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10 ESV). This is in keeping with the imagery of sacrifice as practiced in the earthly temple. A portion of the blood of a sacrificed animal was poured out at the base of the altar. And the presence of these saints under the altar represents their lives poured out on behalf of the gospel. And they seek to know when God is going to bring judgment against those who killed them. But God informs them that there are more yet to be martyred. The time for Christ’s return has not yet come and there will be many more who come to faith in Christ and suffer martyrdom until the days of the tribulation come to an end. The number of martyred saints will continue to increase until that time.

With the opening of the sixth seal, John’s attention is refocused on the earth where he sees a series of cataclysmic events taking place. There is a massive earthquake accompanied by unprecedented cosmic disturbances. John mentions stars falling from the sky, the darkening of the sun and the moon turning blood red. There is no reason for failing to take these events as literal physical disturbances. While they may sound far-fetched and difficult to comprehend, they represent God’s intervention into the judgment of mankind. Up until this point, all of the judgments have come at the hands of men. The wars that take the lives of countless individuals are clearly the work of men. And the famine and pestilence that follow are the result of the deaths caused by war. Now, with the opening of the sixth seal, God makes it clear that He is the one behind all that is happening. These events are divinely produced, not man-made. And all that John sees is in keeping with what had already been revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures, thousands of years earlier.

The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining. – Joel 2:10 ESV

All the host of heaven shall rot away,
    and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
    as leaves fall from the vine,
    like leaves falling from the fig tree. – Isaiah 34:4 ESV

Enter into the rock
    and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty. – Isaiah 2:10 ESV

The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.” – Hosea 10:8 ESV

And this is exactly what John sees. As a result of these divinely-induced judgments, the people living on earth will run for their lives, in an attempt to escape the wrath of God. And John clearly indicates that all will feel the anger of God, including “the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free” (Revelation 6:15 ESV). And they will know that it is God who is behind all that is happening. There will be no other explanation. The sheer scale and scope of all that is happening around them and to them will clearly prove that God Almighty is the cause, and it will force them to cry out to the rocks of the mountains, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16 ESV). They will prefer death to continued existence under the wrath of God. But notice that there is no repentance. No one begs for forgiveness. And rather than cry out to God for mercy, they call out to the rocks to destroy them. The great day of God’s wrath has come and no one can stand before it. But sadly, no one seems to repent as a result of it. Their hearts are so hardened by sin that they refuse to acknowledge their guilt and beg for God’s forgiveness. 

This is the beginning of the end. The judgment of God will increase exponentially and the prophet Jeremiah explains that it will be a day like no other in human history.

Alas! That day is so great
    there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
    yet he shall be saved out of it. – Jeremiah 30:7 ESV

Here, Jeremiah reminds the people of Israel that there will be a remnant of them preserved from the judgment that is falling on all the earth. it is important to remember that these judgments are, in part, a fulfillment of God’s covenant that He made with Israel generations earlier. He had made them His own people and set them apart for His own glory. He had promised to bless them if they remained obedient and faithful to Him. But He had also promised to curse them if they failed to do so. And those curses are carefully and painfully outlined in the book of Deuteronomy.

58 “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. 60 And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. 62 Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God. 63 And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. – Deuteronomy 28:58-63 ESV

While many of these curses were partially fulfilled by the fall of Israel to the Assyrians and Judah to the Babylonians, they will be fully fulfilled in the tribulation. As the rest of the book of Revelation unfolds, we will see God dealing with His people, Israel. They will become the focus of Antichrist’s wrath. This powerful world ruler, under the direct control of Satan himself, will make it his primary objective to eliminate the people of God from the face of the earth. He knows that part of God’s plan is to send His Son to redeem a remnant from Israel. So, if he can eliminate them, he believes he can thwart the plan of God and stall the return of Christ to earth. But as Jeremiah clearly indicates, God will redeem a remnant of Israel and His Son will return to the earth. All that John is witnessing is the preordained will of God. And His will will be done.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

 

A New and Better Covenant.

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“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day
    and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of hosts is his name:
“If this fixed order departs
    from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
    from being a nation before me forever.”

Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
    and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
    for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.” – Jeremiah 31:31-40 ESV

There is a day coming – a future day when things between God and His people will be different. While they have been His covenant people ever since the day He called Abram out of Ur, and made a promise to make of him a great nation, the people of Israel had long ago broken that covenant. They had failed to live up to their end of the bargain, consistently breaking their word and refusing to live in obedience to God. They had pursued other gods. Not only that, they had failed to pursue justice, righteousness and mercy. While they had gone through the motions of keeping God’s laws, their hearts had been far from Him. Their allegiance to Him had been nothing but a show, a facade of religious ritualism, but lacking in any kind of true devotion to Him. God had spoken through the prophet, Isaiah, to indict the people of Judah for their hypocrisy.

And so the Lord says,
    “These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
    is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
    with amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
    and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.” – Isaiah 29:13-14 NLT

But God tells Jeremiah that He is going to make a new covenant with His people. It is not that god is going to break the old one, but that He is going to do something even better than before. The people had violated the old covenant. They had failed to keep it. But God had remained faithful to maintain His commitments to them, including His promise to punish them for their sins if they failed to remain obedient. But this new and future covenant was going to be different.

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” – Jeremiah 31:33 NLT

This covenant would not be left up to the whims of the people. It would not be dependent upon their ability to remain faithful and obedient. Instead, this time, God is going to do for them what they were incapable of doing on their own. He is going to change their hearts. He is going to give them the capacity to remain faithful to Him, because this covenant will not be based on external law-keeping, but an internal transformation of their entire beings – their hearts, souls, minds, and emotions.

“The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!…Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.” – Deuteronomy 30:6, 8 NLT

Heart change is only possible through the work of God. Men cannot change their hearts. God had made this perfectly clear to the people of Judah earlier in this book.

Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin?
    Can a leopard take away its spots?
Neither can you start doing good,
    for you have always done evil. – Jeremiah 13:23 NLT

Their hearts were evil. Their sin natures were too powerful and stood in the way of them listening to and obeying the commands of God. So, God was going to do for them what they could have never done for themselves.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” – Ezekiel 36:252-7 NLT

True, lasting heart change is a work of God. Anything else is nothing more than behavior modification. Anyone can correct their external behavior for a time, but unless their hearts are changed, they will eventually find themselves resorting back to their old ways of living. It was Jesus who said, “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you” (Matthew 15:19-20 NLT).

Earlier in the book of Ezekiel, God made a plea to the people, begging them to change their ways.

“Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!” – Ezekiel 18:30-31 NLT

But God knew that what He was asking was impossible for them to do. He knew they could not change their hearts. He knew they couldn’t alter their behavior, at least not on a permanent basis. But God was letting them know that, for them to escape His ultimate wrath and permanent destruction, they were going to have to have new hearts and new spirits. Without them, they were doomed. But that’s what makes God’s good news so good. In spite of all they had done to sin against Him, God was not going to desert them. He was not going to break His covenant commitments to them.

“I am as likely to reject my people Israel
    as I am to abolish the laws of nature!” – Jeremiah 31:36 NLT

That doesn’t mean they were going to escape His judgment. He isn’t saying that they were going to be held accountable for their sins. But He is promising that a day is coming when they will be restored and He says, “I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins” (Jeremiahs 31:34 NLT). Not only that, He promises, “I will not consider casting them away for the evil they have done. God is going to restore the people to favor with Him and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, making it holy once again. And it never be under threat of capture or destruction again.

When would this all take place? How would this new covenant be instituted? Jesus gives us insight into these questions when He said to His disciples at the Passover meal He shared with them: “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you” (Luke 22:20 NLT). The author of Hebrews provides further insight into this new covenant:

But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.” – Hebrews 8:6-8 NLT

He goes on to write:

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. – Hebrews 9:13-15 NLT

Jesus is the source of the new covenant. He will be reason the Jews receive new hearts and the internal capacity to live in obedience to God the Father. It will because they place their faith in Him as their Messiah, that a remnant of God’s chosen people will be renewed and restored. The prophet Zechariah tells us of that day.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” – Zechariah 12:10 ESV

In the very next chapter of Zechariah, God makes it clear that not all of Israel will be saved. Not all will receive new hearts and a new spirit. God, in His mercy and sovereign grace, will save some. He will spare a remnant. None deserve His mercy. All are worthy of destruction. But God will save some.

“They will call upon my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” – Zechariah 13:9 ESV

They will call on Him because He will give them the capacity to do so. He will change their hearts so that they can respond to His offer of mercy, grace and forgiveness. It is God who saves. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot redeem ourselves. The new covenant will be based on the sacrifice of God’s own Son, and will be available to all those who place their faith in Him. A new day is coming for the people of Israel because a new covenant has come.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson≠≠

God has…

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Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan,  and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” – Genesis 45:9-20 ESV

The brothers are shocked to discover that the governor of Egypt is actually their own brother, Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery years earlier. And while this revelation initially left them dumbfounded and fearful, they were surprised yet again when Joseph reacted to them with love and mercy, not anger and revenge. But the most mind-blowing, unexpected and difficult-to-digest news they heard that day was the fact that their sin against Joseph had been used by God to accomplish His will and their salvation. Joseph informed them that the famine, which had already lasted two years, had five more to go. And his arrival in Egypt and rise to prominence in Pharaoh’s court had been the sovereign, providential work of God. What they had intended for evil, God had intended for good. So Joseph tells his brothers to return home, gather their father and families and bring them back to Egypt so that they might enjoy the salvation that God has prepared for them.

Joseph instructs his brothers to give their father the following news: “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt” (Genesis 45:9 ESV). Once again, Joseph reveals his strong conviction that all of this has been the work of God. Rather than dwell on the evil that had been done to him, Joseph has chosen to focus on the good God has done for him and intends to do through him. Joseph has not spent his days having a pity party. He has been watching the hand of God orchestrate the events of his life and influence everything from the weather to the whims of men to accomplish His divine will. God had sent Joseph to Egypt. God had placed him in Potiphar’s house. God had used the immoral advances of Potiphar’s wife to have Joseph thrown in prison, where he would meet the Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker. God was the one who caused those two men to have dreams and gave Joseph the ability to interpret them. It was God who divinely ordained the two-year delay, that left Joseph in prison, until the time at which the Pharaoh himself had a dream for which he needed an interpreter. God caused the cupbearer to remember Joseph and recommend him to Pharaoh. And the rest, as they say, is history. Joseph was rewarded by Pharaoh with a place in his court and given the responsibility of preparing the nation for the upcoming famine that Pharaoh’s dream had foretold. It had all been the will and work of God Almighty. 

So Joseph sent his brothers home with good news. He was alive and they had a new home in Egypt, where they would be saved from the famine and provided with all the land they needed to care for their flocks and all the food they would need to feed their families. But once again, God stepped in and revealed His sovereign control over the affairs of the day. God gave Pharaoh a soft heart toward the brothers of Joseph, causing him to offer them the use of wagons to carry their families and goods, and the best land in Egypt as their home when they returned. This was all God’s doing. Joseph knew it and his brothers were discovering it. And the most amazing thing was that God was providing for them in spite of them. He was blessing them, even though they did not deserve it. He was pouring out His undeserved favor on them and revealing His unwavering faithfulness and unconditional love.

Earlier in his conversation with his brothers, Joseph had told them, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors” (Genesis 45:7 ESV). That term, “remnant” is significant. It will be a word used throughout the Old Testament to refer to those of the house of Israel whom God preserves and protects in order to fulfill His covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.– Isaiah 10:21-22 ESV

For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! – 2 Kings 19:31 NLT

But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. – Zechariah 8:11-12 ESV

Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people. – Isaiah 28:5 NLT

Years later, the apostle Paul would use this same word to speak of those who make up the church, those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. – Romans 11:1-6 ESV

God was preserving and protecting the family of Jacob so that he might fulfill His promise to Abraham and create a mighty nation. It would be through that nation, the Jewish people, that God would bring His Son, the Messiah, to bring salvation to the world, preserving a remnant of those who believe in His name and receive the gift of eternal life. Joseph’s brothers and their families would receive life, physical capacity to live and survive while others died as a result of the famine. They would thrive and increase in number, all as a result of the grace and goodness of God. But all of this was a foreshadowing of a greater grace to come. The good news regarding Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation and eternal, never-ending life.

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” – John 6:35, 39-40 ESV

Our Gracious God.

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Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep. By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded. Ephraim has given bitter provocation; so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds. – Hosea 12:12-14 ESV

Jacob, whom God later renamed Israel, had twelve sons. These sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. And tend of those 12 tribes made up the northern kingdom of Israel after the nation had been split apart by God after the reign of Solomon. Only Judah and Benjamin made up the southern kingdom of Judah. But long before the nation of Israel divided and even before they were a kingdom at all, Jacob had fled to the land of Aram in order to escape the wrath of his twin brother, Esau, whom he had cheated out of his inheritance. It was there that Jacob (Israel) had to serve Laban as a shepherd in order gain his daughter, Rachel’s hand in marriage. After seven years of service, Laban tricked Jacob by giving him his older daughter, Leah, instead. It would take another seven years of service as a shepherd for Jacob to earn the right to marry Rachel. This story was to serve as a reminder of the nation of Israel’s humble beginnings. They had started out in the land of Aram, as nothing but sheepherders. Then God providentially arranged for Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, to be betrayed by his own brothers and sold into slavery. He ended up in Egypt, but eventually, through the sovereign hand of God, would become the second-highest official in the land. And when a famine struck the land of Canaan, Jacob sent his 11 remaining sons to Egypt to seek aid. There they discovered their long-lost brother and were shown grace, forgiveness and love. Rather than punish them for their acts against him, Joseph provided them with a place to live. It was in Egypt that Jacob and his sons would live and work as shepherds, tending the flocks of the Pharaoh.

Over time, the lot of the descendants of Jacob changed dramatically. Their numbers increased remarkably and the Pharaoh, fearing they might one day rise up against him, ordered that they be enslaved. And they would remain slaves for 400 years. That is, until God sent His prophet, Moses, to lead them to freedom. With the help of God, Moses would guide and protect them, helping them not only escape the slavery of Egypt, but discover the freedom and blessing of their own land, promised by God to their ancestor, Abraham, many centuries earlier. As with Jacob in Aram and the Israelites in Egypt, the ten tribes that made up the northern kingdom of Israel in Hosea’s day would know what it meant to live in a foreign land as little more than slaves. They would discover the humility of living under the control of another. They had chosen to reject God as their leader. And so Hosea announced, “But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the Lord, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins” (Hosea 12:14 NLT).

Theirs would be a spiritual death, a forced removal from the land of promise and the subsequent separation from their God. They would find themselves living in exile in a foreign land, far from home and experiencing the feelings of loneliness and abandonment that so often accompany disobedience to God. Like King David, they would know what it means to cry out in desperation: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest” (Psalm 22:1-2 ESV). Their lips, once accustomed to fine wine and the art of lying, would cry out:

Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! – Psalm 44:23-26 ESV

From their perspective it would seem as if God was distant. But it was they who had abandoned God. They had walked away from Him. As Isaiah, the prophet so aptly described, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6a ESV). That statement, part of a Messianic prophecy, not only describes the sad state of the nation of Israel, but the condition of every human being who has ever lived. Isaiah went on to say, “and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 43:6b ESV). Jesus, the Messiah, would serve as the sacrificial substitute, bearing the punishment of God against mankind, paying the penalty for their transgressions.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:5 ESV

Jacob’s years in Aram, the 400 years of slavery by his descendants in Egypt, and the captivity of the kingdom of Israel in Babylon are all examples of God’s punishment against the sins of man. But they also illustrate God’s grace and mercy. Jacob was ultimately restored to his family in Canaan. His descendants were set free from their bondage in Egypt. One day, God will return the people of Israel from their exile in foreign lands and restore them to a right relationship with Him. And through His Son, Jesus Christ, God has made it possible for all men to be made right with Him.

because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors. – Isaiah 53:12b

Undeserved mercy and grace. Unmerited favor. Unearned forgiveness. Unfailing love. The story of Israel is the story of mankind. They had returned God’s blessings and bounty with ingratitude and unfaithfulness. But God continually conserved a remnant. He refused to destroy them completely. As Joseph told his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:5b-8a ESV). As isaiah told the people of Israel, “I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel and of Judah to possess my land. Those I choose will inherit it, and my servants will live there” (Isaiah 65:9 NLT). And as the apostle Paul wrote, “It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them” (Romans 11:5 NLT).  Our God is merciful and patient. He provides a way where there was no way. He offers forgiveness where none is deserved. He gives grace when none is due. He provides salvation in place of condemnation. He is our gracious God.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. – Psalm 103:8-12 NLT

A Spirit of Stupor.

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What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;  let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.” – Romans 11:7-10 ESV

Blind eyes and deaf ears. According to Paul, that was the current status of the majority of Jews – “down to this very day.” They were unable to see Jesus for who He really way – their long-awaited Messiah. They were incapable of hearing and comprehending the message of the gospel. As Paul had already stated, “They have stumbled over the stumbling stone” (Romans 9:32 ESV). Rather than having seen Jesus, the Son of God, as their Messiah and Savior, they rejected Him. He had not met their preconceptions regarding the coming Messiah. He hadn’t look like what they were expecting. He hadn’t done the things they were hoping the Messiah would do. They had been expecting a conquering king, not a suffering servant. They had been intrigued by the miracles of Jesus, but His message of repentance left them disappointed and disillusioned.

We must remember that Paul has been pointing out the futility of pursuing a right relationship with God through an attempt to keep the law. Paul has said that the Jewish people had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. In other words, they wanted to do the right thing, but they were going about it in the wrong way, in ignorance. “For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness” (Romans 10:3 ESV). They had refused to place their faith in Jesus, God’s chosen means for providing righteousness for all men, including the Jews. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4 ESV). With the coming of Christ, the misconception that men could be made right with God through human effort was put to an end. And there had been some Jews who had heard this message of salvation through Christ and had accepted it. Which is why Paul states, “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7 ESV). There was a believing remnant among the Jews who had embraced the gospel message and Paul was among them. But there were many who were hardened. Paul used the Greek word pōroō to refer to the condition of the majority of the Jews in his day. That word means “to grow hard, callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding” (Outline of Biblical Usage). While many had heard the message of the gospel, only a relative handful had believed. The rest had made a conscious decision to reject it and were left in a state of spiritual stupor “which renders their souls torpid so insensible that they are not affected at all by the offer made them of salvation through the Messiah” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

Paul was very familiar with this condition, because he ran into it virtually every place he went on his missionary journeys. One of his first objectives upon arriving in a new town was to make his way to the local synagogue, where he would share the gospel with his fellow Jews. “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.  And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ’” (Acts 17:1-3 ESV). But the reception Paul usually received was less-than-welcoming. “But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.  And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,  and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus’” (Acts 17:5-7 ESV). While Paul was ministering in Lystra, a group of Jews arrived and “They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town” (Acts 14:19-20 NLT). Paul was well-acquainted with the hardened condition of the Jewish hearts to whom he attempted to share the gospel. He had experienced first-hand just how hardened and opposed to the message of salvation they could be.

And this condition was not new for the Jews. There had been many times in their history where their hearts had been hardened. God had offered them messages of repentance before and watched as they rejected His messengers and their message. The prophets of God had repeatedly called the people of God to repentance, offering them salvation if only they would return to Him. But they had refused. They had turned down God’s offer of restoration and redemption. And they had continued to do so all the way up to the days of Jesus. It was He who said to the religious leaders, “you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city” (Matthew 23:31-34 NLT). Jesus went on to say, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matthew 23:37-39 NLT).

Paul, like Jesus, had a heart for the people of Israel. He wanted to see them saved. He longed to see them repent and return to the Lord. But he knew that there was going to be a period of time when their hearts were hardened and many, if not most, would reject God’s offer of salvation. But he didn’t stop sharing. He didn’t refrain from telling every Jew he met the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul had no idea just how big or small God’s believing remnant was. He refused to worry about that. Instead, he continued to faithfully proclaim the gospel, boldly, unapologetically, and fearlessly. He knew that the Jews could only be awakened from their spiritual stupor by the Spirit of God. He simply shared and left the rest up to God.

God’s Amazing Grace.

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. – Romans 11:1-6 ESV

Is God done with Israel? Has their rejection of His Son as their Messiah put them on His permanent “naughty” list and denied them of any opportunity to be restored to a right relationship with Him? Paul would say confidently and emphatically, “No!” And he used himself as living proof. If God was done with Israel, Paul would never have come to know Christ as His Savior. And Paul goes on to argue that he and the other believing Jews in his audience were not the last of their kind. He used the story of the prophet, Elijah to drive home his point. Elijah had defeated the prophets of Baal and, as a result, come under the wrath of the wicked queen, Jezebel. She put a bounty on his head and Elijah was forced to run for his life. When God confronted Elijah and asked him what he was doing, Elijah responded: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10 ESV). Two times in the narrative, Elijah and God had this conversation. Then God informed him, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18 ESV). In other words, God knew something Elijah didn’t know. He was not the last man standing. He was not alone. There were others who, like Elijah, had refused to abandon God.  

And Paul’s conclusion was, “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5 ESV). While the majority of Israel had rejected Jesus as their Messiah, there were some who had chosen to not only recognize Him, but accept Him as their Savior. And Paul couldn’t help but reemphasize that their salvation was the result of grace, not works. The very existence of this faithful remnant in Paul’s day was proof that God had not abandoned His people. He was not done with them yet. And Paul will go on in this chapter to explain what God has planned for His people in the future. Chapters 9-11 go hand in hand. In chapter nine, Paul revealed God’s past grace in dealing with Israel by His sovereign selection of them as His people. In chapter ten, Paul dealt with the present reality of Israel’s refusal to respond to God’s provision of grace as revealed through His Son’s death. And finally, in chapter eleven, Paul outlined God’s future plans for Israel.

The picture Paul paints is one of God’s grace. While the people of Israel never deserved God’s favor, He showered them with it nonetheless. Over the centuries, they proved to be unfaithful and disobedient time and time again, but God never fully abandoned them. Even after sending them into exile for their rebellion, He graciously and mercifully restored them to the land. He kept a remnant alive and placed them back in Jerusalem so that He might one day fulfill His promise to bring forth a descendant of David and place Him on the throne of Israel. There are future plans concerning Israel that have yet to be fulfilled. At the present time, they are experiencing a temporary state of rejection or by God. But as Paul will explain later in this same chapter, that will one day change. Their rejection of Christ as their Messiah opened up the door for the gospel to be shared with non-Jews, “those who are not a nation” (Romans 10:19 ESV). God made the good news regarding salvation in Jesus available to “those who did not seek me” (Romans 10:20 ESV).

And those of us who have discovered the grace of God made possible through the death of Christ have much to be grateful for. We were totally undeserving of God’s favor, and yet He provided a way for us to be made right with Him. Paul emphasized this incredible reality to the believers in Ephesus when he wrote, “Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called ‘uncircumcised heathens’ by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11-13 NLT).

Paul told the believers in the city of Colossae, “you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” (Colossians 1:21-22 NLT). As Gentiles or non-Jews, we have much to be grateful for. And we must never forget that if God had not chosen Abraham and given him Isaac as his son, if He had not chosen Jacob over Esau, if He had not chosen David over Saul, and if He had not chosen to send His Son through the nation of Israel – we would not be here. God is good and God is gracious. He is sovereign over all. He knows what He is doing and He is not yet done with Israel. Their rejection of Him has not caused Him to reject them, because He is faithful, loving and true. He will accomplish all that He has promised for them. In His time and according to His plan.