Romans 11:1-10
Dear RTB’ers,
What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened… (v. 7) I am thinking of Paul’s “elect”, as to who they were. Paul is writing Romans around 55 A.D., some twenty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul had met a number of the apostles – Peter and James, in particular as we saw mentioned in Galatians, plus (probably) a number of the other of Jesus’ followers who knew Him personally. These were obviously among Paul’s “elect”; they were Jews who were now believers following Jesus’ message. But I think that Paul is really thinking of the Jewish religious leaders who knew the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms, who were among those he included as hardened in the Scripture he quotes in verse 8: God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day. (Paul referencing Moses’ closing speech from Deuteronomy 29:4.) In much of his ministry Paul is doing battle with these Jewish leaders, trying to prove to them that Jesus was/is their promised Messiah. He sees them as hardened, unwilling to accept the many “proofs” that he offers them as to Jesus being their Messiah.
But Paul’s words still speak to us today: The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened… There is nothing special about us that we should be among “the elect”. Somewhere, somehow, maybe somebody, certainly the Holy Spirit spoke to us and we answered God’s call on our lives. And we all have family and friends out there today with hardened hearts, blind eyes, and deaf ears. But the Holy Spirit can soften those hard hearts, open those blind eyes and ears, and bring them to faith. Does He need us? No, He can do what He wills. But I’m guessing that He’d like us to join Him on His many saving missions.
Blessings!