“What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.” Romans 11:7
October 19, 2023
Every book of the Bible except for the Gospel of Luke and Acts was written by a Jew. Let that sink in. We as Gentile Christians owe much to the Jews. But there is a grief side of the story. How do we explain the fact that Israel has, by and large, rejected her Messiah. Paul, the apostle, a converted zealous Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a persecutor of the church is one proof that God is not through with the Jews. However, there is another reason why Israel has not and is not receiving her Messiah. The insistence of unbelief is because of a striving to be accepted by God by law keeping. But they were not accepted by God on this basis. The result was being turned over to judicial blindness. This is where hardness will overtake the sinner. Be warned. Hardening of the heart is the judgment of God for the refusal to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Israel had centuries of opportunities to be the people God wanted them to be, born again and zealously bearing witness to God’s salvation. Do you know of someone who continues to resist God’s offer of forgiveness in Jesus Christ? Am I in personal danger of resisting God in areas of my own life?
H
“Unbelief is the shield of every sin.” William Jenkins