Paul answers the question that is on the minds of so many today. I see the debates online, in the conversations that I hear in many places, sermons in the pulpit that tell us God is done with Israel, the Israel in the Promised Land is not the real Israel, and on and on we hear. But Paul tells us that the best example that God is not done with Israel is him. He is a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, of the seed of Abraham. If God were done with the Jews, if God were done with Israel, then Paul would not be saved. And by the way, neither would any of the other apostles; they were all Jews.

Paul uses the example of Elijah from 1 Kings 19: 1-10 as a reminder that God is never defeated. He always has lots and lots of people all over the place. If you recall the story, Elijah is emotionally and spiritually defeated; he is running from Jezebel and runs away to a place by himself. And there, God feeds him and lets him get some rest. But after about 40 days, God sends him back to anoint the next king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom), and God reminds Elijah that He has more than 7,000 men in Israel who had not bowed to Baal. Elijah thought that he was the only one left serving God; nothing could be further from the truth.

Paul then tells us in verse 5 that He has a remnant in Israel. There is no need to have a remnant if God is done with Israel. We can read and see in Revelation 7:1-8 that there are 144,000 Jewish missionaries who are sent out to find and bring to Israel the believing Jews. So, if these are Jews, then they are NOT SDA church people. The Seven-Day Adventists have NOT replaced Israel, and the Law-keeping in the world will not change that.

In verses 5-6, Paul reminds us that salvation is by grace only. The Jews who are saved will not be saved and cannot be saved by keeping the Law; they, like everyone else, have to believe in the Messiah and the resurrection.

As far back as Job, the earliest book in the Bible, the idea of resurrection has always been tied to salvation. In Job 19:27, Job says that he knows He will see God with his own eyes even if he dies. For now, God has allowed a ‘blindness’ to overtake the vast majority of the Jews about Jesus. They are not able to see Him; they rejected Him and, for a time, are blind. But God tells us in Romans 11:25 that the blindness of Israel is temporary until the time of the Gentiles is completed. Then God will revert to dealing with the Jews, both punishing them for their unbelief and tormenting the world for coming against His chosen people. The rabid hatred for Israel amongst the Muslims, the liberals, the UN, and the EU should tell us that God is not done with them.

Paul then uses an agricultural impossibility to show us who is the branch and who is the vine. In nature, it is impossible to graft a wild olive branch into a cultivated olive tree. But we, the Gentiles, were grafted into the vine, Israel, by God and God alone.

In Romans 4, we are told that Abraham is the father of all those who believe. Thus, God did what is impossible in the farming industry; He took wild branches (us, the Gentiles) and grafted us into the vine (Israel). We should not be arrogant; it is a supernatural act of God that has done this. Always remember that the vine feeds the branches and not the other way around.

Our Gospel is a Jewish one, with a Jewish Messiah, who walked in Israel, died in Israel, resurrected in Israel, and will return to Israel. If God is done with Israel, we have no hope. If God could give up on Israel, He can give up on us. In Romans 11:26, Paul emphatically states that ‘all Israel will be saved.’ In verse 27, we are told that God will ‘take away their sins.’

Then we are reminded in verse 29 that the ‘calling and gifts of God are irrevocable’; this should make us rejoice. All of the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all of the promises He made to David and Solomon, will be fulfilled. God will be right and everyone else wrong.

Paul reminds us in verse 33 that God’s ways are unsearchable and His ways past finding out; God has a plan; He has never lied to us, and He never will. He has never broken a promise or a covenant, and He is not about to begin with either Israel or you and me. God cannot give up on Israel, and as such, we can be assured that He will not give up on us. God be praised!!!

seangooding@yahoo.ca

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

Last week, we established that God could not ever turn His back on Israel. We ended our journey in Hosea last week, and in that book, we are reminded that even though Israel has prostituted herself with other gods, they are still loved by God, and one day He will redeem them. God put Israel back in the Promised Land in May 1948, and they will not be moved again. In fact, Jesus will come and reign from Jerusalem itself. But as yet, there is a wall between them and God, a roadblock that hampers them, and that roadblock is Jesus. So, this week we will take a look at the issue at hand.

Vs 1-3, there is a zeal for God; this is the problem with a lot of religions. They have a seal for God, but they want to do it their way. SDA churches, Mormons, Catholics, Church of England and others all have a zeal for God. But sadly, the zeal is not according to knowledge. When we meet Paul in Acts 9, he too had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; Paul is the human picture of Israel the nation. But as we know, Paul was saved, and so too will Israel be one day.

Vs 8-13, we will see that there is a huge difference between those with religion and those in relationship with God. There are those with zeal who are trying to work their way to Heaven. Entering into the abyss or heaven refers to those that would do all kinds of grandiose things to be saved. Some, like the Seventh Day Adventists, want to be Jews. They observe Sabbaths and all the rules they think, but obviously ignore others. They are sure that keeping the Law will get them to Heaven. The Jews are the same to this day.

Even in the days when Jesus walked the earth, their big thing was ‘we are children of Abraham.’ Jesus kept telling them, and He is still telling them that salvation is by faith only. We need to stop, and the Jews as well need to stop trying to buy God’s favor. Once we get to the end of our works, then end of our efforts, then we see that we need to simply fall on God’s mercy and grace. Faith in the person and work of Jesus is all, and the only way of salvation. Some folks would rather work to go the Hell than trust Jesus and go to Heaven.

Once Paul became a believer in Jesus, he immediately began to preach Jesus to others, Acts 9: 20-22. One of the greatest signs that you are saved is the desire to share the Good News with others. You desire to share that Jesus is God, and you want to help others know about what you have as well. It is hard to keep it inside. One day soon, the Jews, as recorded in the Revelation, will be our calling other Jews to Jesus. Sadly, for now, the Jews are still blind. We are promised in Zechariah 12:10-13 that one day soon they will see and recognize Jesus. They will cry out to Him and weep over Him.

There are ministries like ‘Jews for Jesus’ that actively pursue Jews with the Gospel. God is calling still, reaching out still, and like He promises in 2 Peter 3:9, He is patient and wants all, not only Jews, to repent.

seangooding@yahoo.ca

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario