Apostle Paul Didn’t Reject Israel So Why Are So Many Christians Doing so Today?

 For sure, all the world’s eyes are on Israel.  How is it possible that 7 million people on a tiny sliver of land could command so much attention?  For Bible readers of a certain stripe the answer is obvious;  because God is doing something with His people and His land and the Prince of this World (Satan) doesn’t like it and wants them all dead.

But for some other Bible readers and regular church attendees, they’ve arrived at a far different conclusion.  They think that Israel is over, God is done with them and they have nothing left to fulfill.

We were at The Gaithers Concert last night and they sang a song WHY CANT ALL GOD’S PEOPLE GET ALONG?  There was a chorus that said “we’re all different singers singing the same song”…but are we?  Are we singing the same song as all the false teachers and wolves in sheep’s clothing that Jesus said would come?  

Some topics matter for salvation and some don’t.  But God seems serious about getting the topic of Israel correct.  He’s going to judge the nations based on how they treated Israel.

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It’s safe to say that, among the nations of the world, Israel perhaps evokes stronger thoughts and emotions in people than any other. Israel and polarization seem to fit hand in glove, as people either strongly like or love Israel or dislike or even hate the Jewish nation. It seems most people tend to feel very strongly about Israel, one way or another.

In the church today, the nation of Israel is also a point of contention, not geopolitically, per se, but biblically. In short, as it pertains to God’s relationship with Israel in the future, there are only two basic viewpoints: God is either finished with Israel or God has a future for Israel.

God’s Future for Israel—Rom. 11:25–36

We see in Romans 11:25–36 God’s glorious plan for the future salvation of Israel. Verses 25–27 say, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

Notice in verse 25 that Paul doesn’t want the brethren to be ignorant of this mystery. The word “mystery” in the New Testament refers to truth not previously revealed. Specifically, the mystery is that Israel’s hardening is partial, and it will only last for a divinely specified time until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. This is the completion of what we know as the Church Age. God knows the beginning from the end. 

When that time comes, verse 26 states that all Israel will be saved. Paul quotes Isaiah 59 about the Deliverer coming from Zion to remove ungodliness from Jacob, a reference to Israel, and to take away their sins. Maybe you’re wondering what it means that all of Israel will be saved. Some Bible commentators believe Israel in this verse refers to the whole nation. Others believe it refers to all Jewish people everywhere in the world, including the nation of Israel, who are alive when Jesus returns.

Hear the words from Zechariah 12:10, a prophecy about the Second Coming of Christ, when the Jewish people repent and turn to Him. God says through the prophet, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

Paul’s Response to God’s Plan

Paul’s response to this revelation God gives him about Israel’s future is this: Praise! Consider Romans 11:33–36: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

God’s plan is beautiful and will be beautiful in its time. History is His story, and part of His story of redemption is that all Israel will be saved in such a way that God’s mercy will be evident to all. Knowing God’s plan for Israel is like being part of a wedding party. You know the wedding is going to be beautiful, and your anticipation is great. You know the plan. Yet, you still have to work the plan. No matter what your place is in the wedding ceremony, you’ve got to take your rightful place and fulfill your responsibilities.

You and I, who know the Lord, are part of the bride of Christ. We are His church and our response to God’s future restoration of Israel should mirror Paul’s—the praising of God. No doubt it’s miraculous that Israel, a nation conquered and dispersed two thousand years ago would become a nation again in 1948 out of the ashes of the Holocaust. 

Is God finished with Israel? NO! God is working out His plan and we as His bride are called to praise Him, communicate His plan, and proclaim His Gospel to Jewish people and to all people. May our confidence in God and His promises renew and reinvigorate us today.

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