God is Not Through with Israel

In a study of Romans 11, the apostle Paul writes to the Jews in the church in Rome to encourage them by asking a rhetorical question in verse one, "...has God rejected His people?"  He then uses a double negative translated "By no means!"  Just as he wrote in chapter 6, verse 2, his use of the double negative is a form of speech which might be translated, "No! Not Never!"  Now we know that an English professor would likely frown at saying it like this, but what Paul is trying to do is to get the Jews attention. You Jews, Paul writes, have not been rejected by God, nor will you ever be rejected.

God's choice of Abraham, the progenitor of the people of Israel was never to be a short term election.  Rather, His promises to Israel have never changed as some might believe. God has future plans for the people of Israel in a future kingdom over which "King Jesus" will rule for 1,000 years.  Romans 11 reassures them that God is not through them, nor will He ever be through with them.

"When, in the fulness of time, God sent His Son"... as a Jew, born of a woman to redeem all people by means of His sacrificial death, burial and resurrection.  This selfless act of God's love made it possible through His choice of Israel, and through His Son, to extend His mercy and grace, not only to the Jews but to all people.

In the old times, God's plan was always to extend mercy and grace to those who would believe in Him.  Following Jesus' sacrificial payment for sin, God fulfilled His promise to all who would believe...that promise would be fulfilled in adding many millions to His family.  "Mercy and Grace" have come from God and when Jesus returns for His Bride, the Church at the rapture, that is when He calls us home to be with Him, there will be a cleansing through great tribulation, Satan will be defeated and all who reject Him will eventually be judged.  God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David will be complete. 

Paul's words of encouragement to Israel...to the Jews...is that God never fails to keep His promises.  And, to those of us who are not Israel, we can take great comfort from this fact.  If God fulfills His promises to the Jews, we can be assured that He will fulfill His promises to all of us: "If you will confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)  "There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:39)  "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."  (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

These are wonderful words of encouragement for the Jews, and for us.  By them we can be confident that whatever God says, He will do.  You see, God is not finished with Israel!