ESOCS Devotional 29 March 2025 – God DId Not reject His People
MEMORY VERSE: “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel?” Romans 11:2 NIV
TEXT: ROMANS 11: 1 – 14
I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written:
“God has given them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day.”
9 And David says:
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,
And bow down their back always.”
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
Can God give up on His people? Through the previous chapters, Paul has been expressing his grief that the Israelites – the chosen, privileged people of God – have rejected the Messiah and the way of grace. Like the prophets of old, Paul has told them the bad news. Now, we hear the voice of the pastoral theologian seeking to help them understand. Paul is an Israelite too and shares the Jewish story (v 1). He questions these Jewish Christians of Rome. No, God has not rejected you – but there is a new way (v 5).
Paul reminds his listeners of Elijah who felt so alone yet discovered that there were some who had stayed faithful to God (vv. 2–4). Always, through the checked history of God’s people, there are those who continue to seek Him. God does not give up; He remains faithful. Now, this ‘remnant’ comprises the Christian Jewish believers (v 5), but their acceptance by God depends, as it does for all believers (Jew or Gentile), on grace, not works (v 6). For Jewish Christians, this new culture is not one to which it is easy to adjust – as Paul’s later writing about the strong and weak in faith will show.
What can we learn from God who works through a remnant chosen by His grace? Paul realized that God saved him not because he was a descendant of Abraham or because he was circumcised, but because of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. God works through a remnant chosen by his grace. A remnant is always a minority. God is not like a politician who is interested in a majority for a political reason. He is not swayed by the popular opinions of a majority. Instead, he works through people who accept and believe in his words even if the number is small. Likewise, we should not feel lonely or discouraged just because our number is small. Instead, we should be a remnant in God by holding on to his covenant promises.
Many Israelites have rejected God’s Messiah (v 7). As prophets of old had said, they would not understand; they would not ‘see’ (vv. 8, 9). As a result, they have condemned themselves to carrying the heavy load of laws which leave them ‘bent for ever’ (v 10). But the good news is that all believers have been set free by the grace of God who remains faithful to His people. In the midst of our struggles to understand all this, the truth is that God knows us as His own (v 2).
We learned from this passage that God has not rejected the nation Israel. He is not done with them. His rejection is only partial, not total. There is a remnant chosen by grace at the present time. His work of salvation continues through the remnant. May God help each of us to be a remnant in God’s redemptive history.
CHALLENGES
- Have you been sincere in loving your brother and sister as Christ has loved you?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, thank you for how you have loved me, and I ask that you teach me to love my brothers and sisters in Christ in the same way. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Judges 12:1–end; 11:28–40; Romans 11:15-36
ESOCS Devotional 29 March 2025
