Title: Israel’s Rejection: Full and Final?
v1 “Cast away…”
The Greek here is Apothenomai (Ay-Poth-Then-O-My)
Literally; to thrust away from one’s self, to drive away from one’s self
The key here is that this is an active verb. The picture is not simply of God’s people turning their backs to God and walking in another direction, but of God rather, pushing his people from his presence.
I remember when I was a youngster growing up as an only child I was fascinated at the relationship that my friends had with their siblings. One of my friends, in particular, had a little brother named Trevor who was continually trying to hang out with us in Tom’s room and Tom would physically push him out of the door and then lock it behind him.
When I hear Paul use this expressive language I am troubled at the image of God actively rejecting someone. It is one thing to deny someone, to say, “depart from me, I never knew you.” But it is another thing entirely to say, “Get out, I do not want to know you.”
Fortunately, the answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is his popular “Me Ginomai” which, as we have studied before, best translates as “God Forbid” or “May it never be so!”
Paul then offers two pieces of evidence as to why this is not the case:
1. Personal.
Paul (and the vast majority of the early Church) were Jews. In fact, Paul as a personal example is even more of an example of God’s mercy than the common Jew. Remember who Paul was before the conversion on the road to Damascus. He was a Pharisee, zealous for the Law, and, therefore, not only teaching that Jesus was a liar, but even more so, pursuing and persecuting the followers of The Way.
So the fact that Paul was saved certainly puts a hole in the theory that the entirety of the Israelites had fallen out of favor with God.
2. Theological. (Based on O.T. citation.)
Paul says something very interesting in the beginning of verse 2. On the heals of explaining that he himself was saved, being a Jew, Paul then writes, “God has not cast away His people whom he foreknew…”
This is important because Paul then goes on to give precedent.
In our legal system, a lawyer can’t simply stand in front of a judge and say, “you can’t do that, this is wrong.” A good lawyer will cite precedent. A good lawyer will look back into the history of court rulings and say, “Based on the way this court ruled in this case, and the way this court ruled in this case, I’m arguing that this is wrong.”
Paul does exactly the same thing on heels of bringing theology into the mix. But Paul is not simply appealing to a human (and therefore flawed) court system. Rather he is speaking to the Jews and appealing to the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament, a very powerful, persuasive, and effective tool to emphasize and solidify one’s point.
Read vv.4-5
So Paul reminds the Jews of the story of Elijah and the remnant of the seven thousand who had not bowed a knee to Baal. And then brings the story back up to its immediate application when he says in verse five “at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
My Point: Paul is not teaching a new Theology! God is consistent.
In Elijah’s time, it was by God’s grace that he chose for himself a remnant to save. In Paul’s time, it was again by God’s grace that he would send Jesus as a sacrifice for the sins of many, starting with the remnant of the Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. In our time it is by God’s grace that He would save for himself a remnant to populate his coming Kingdom.
And Paul is clear to stress that this election is exclusively by grace, and not by the works of the Law. This was obviously a point that Paul thought the Jews he was writing to would struggle with so he kept emphasizing it throughout his letter to the Romans.
More then that even, he not only did not hide from the role the Law played, he appeals to it in this case to show the example of Elijah and God’s choosing of a remnant.
So Let us close this morning by returning to our original question:
Was God’s rejection of Israel full and final?
Full: No. God was (and is) choosing from both Israelites and Gentiles his remnant for salvation.
Final: No. Paul himself originally rejected Jesus as the Christ, and was still eventually drawn into the master’s net.
Also, as a side note that we’ll explore in more detail in weeks to come, is that what most scholars agree on is that Paul was hoping for an awakening of his people, spurred on by jeolousy of the Gentile’s salvation, that they would repent and accept Christ. We will be getting into that a bit more deeply as we venture further into chapter 11.
What should we take from today’s teaching?
1. God is indeed gracious.
2. God’s plan will not be thwarted by man’s intentions. (Do you think Paul had any intention of becoming a believer when he left for Damascus?)
3. For the non-believer this morning: Hope is the greatest thing you can take away from this passage.
But do not test God’s patience. For those that God did not spare, are not with him today.