When we think about things, we have a tendency to think about them from our own perspective. A prime example of this is when you have group pictures and you are trying to decide which ones are good and which ones aren’t, you tend to look at yourself and whether you look good in the picture or not. Even if as a whole the picture is good, if you yourself do not look good, then it is not a good picture for yourself. However, if we look at faith through theses eyes, we will get stuck. If we go this way, we crash. If we go that way, we crash. In the end, no matter how long we wait, nothing changes. The important thing is so look at things from God’s eyes.
When Paul thought about the salvation of his people the Israelites, he had heart ache, and sorrow. Even though they were a people chosen by God, they refused to try to believe in Jesus as their Savior. However, that does not mean that God’s Word has failed or the Israel is left out of God’s salvation. Salvation is not by man’s desire or effort, but by the mercy of God. It is by the only way grace of God that a person is destined to be saved. God has a plan and that is why now they don’t believe. God’s Word has definitely not failed. As Paul prayed for the salvation of the Israelites, his eyes were opened to see God’s will. That is that the Gentiles are saved and added to the people of God and along with remnant of the Israelites will be made into a new Israel. The will of God is far above the thinking of man and is seen within the expanse of history. Today I would like to talk about three aspects of how the will of God will take place.
I. Those who weren’t the people of God will become the people of God (vs. 25,26)
First let’s look at God’s will for the salvation of the Gentiles. Please look at verses 25 and 26.
Israel’s history is the history of God’s election. God “bore with great patience” (22) and mercy the Jews whom it would not have been strange to have destroyed. However, that is not just the Jews. The Gentiles are the same. All men are born with sin. Even though because of that sin it would not be strange for them to be destroyed, God in his great mercy by mercy saved some from among the Jews; some from among the Gentiles, in other words, some from among the world. This is written in the book of Hosea.
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one.” (Hosea 1:10, 25)
Hosea was commanded by God to marry a woman who would betray him. He got married the way he was commanded, and a child was born, then the woman went to another man and both the man and she left their homes. However, their present life wasn’t so easy. The woman who betrayed Hosea and left his home in due time came to the end of her rope, and fell into the condition of being a slave. It was at that time that word of God came to Hosea again. He was told by God to “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another.” (Hosea 3:1) Therefore he “bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lathek of barley.” (2) He saved her from condition as a slave. Once again he brought her back to his place and set her free. This truly shows the relationship between Israel and God. Israel who was loved by God as His people turned their back on God. They sinned by worshipping the gods of Assyria, Babylon and Egypt. They committed spiritual adultery. They were no longer called God’s people. They were a people forsaken by God. However, by the abundant mercy of God by his one way mercy he redeemed them. Those who were not the people of God once again were called the people of God. Paul applied this to mean that not Israel, but that the Gentiles would be saved. In other words, the Gentiles who were not called the people of God would be called the people of God.
Paul quotes from the prophet Hosea to show that God’s will has come true in this way. For him it was a great pain and sadness that Israel did not accept Christ. He couldn’t understand why the Jews who were chosen by God couldn’t believe. In the midst of this he understood the meaning. That is that God’s will is not just that the Israelites be saved, but that that grace reach to the Gentiles too, and that the entire world be saved. This would come about in a way that was way above his understanding.
In our daily lives there are times when we struggle and are troubled and can’t understand why things happen. However, God’s will is much higher than our thinking and it appears in the vast expanse of history.
I heard his story from a wonderful pastor. When they were in the process of building a church building, they ran into a situation that they never dreamed would happen. They had drawn up the plans for the building and had been making preparations to build, but when it came down to the final decision, it was a close vote, but it was rejected. As a pastor I can imagine that shock. However, the conclusion was that on the contrary that was the best. Once again they readjusted the plans, and as they looked over the proposals again, parking and other problems that a solution had not been found for yet were amazingly solved.
Our lives are like a trip on a train to a new place. The scenes that appear before our eyes cause continuous excitement within our hearts. However, from God’s view point there are mountains and valleys, railroad crossings and tunnels, and fields for example where you can over the whole picture. We can’t see up ahead so there are times that we go through the dark tunnels with anxiety. Sometimes things go well and we may sing along the way going through beautiful hills and fields. The important thing is the fact that everything is in the Lord’s large hand, and under the Lord’s watch care. The road of life sometimes is unthinkable, but let’s believe that behind these unthinkable events the Lord is there and look at things from the Lord’s view point.
II. The Remnant(vs.27-29)
Next let’s look at verses 27-29. Next Paul talks about the salvation of the Israelites.
Here Paul quotes from 2 passages in Isaiah to show that many Israelites will be deserted. First is verse 27. This is a quote from Isaiah 10:22 and 23. He uses this verse to show that even though Israel maybe as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a few will be saved. Lot’s of Israelite will be destroyed for their sins. The second is verse 29. Here Paul is quoting Isaiah 1:9. This is a prophecy about God’s work in saving a remnant from the coming Assyrian destruction. The suffering of God’s people at the hands of the Assyrians and others would make them feel as if they would certainly be destroyed. God assures them that this is not the case. He will always preserve His remnant. The theme of both of these passages is the remnant. By this remnant they will be saved. This is God’s plan. God’s election and commission does not change. This is called “the theology of the remnant” by theologians.
This is written more clearly in chapter 11, but simply put, God’s promises are not carried out by the whole nation, but God works through the remnant. It is through the remnant that the history of salvation continues. If we look at the Bible this theology of the remnant can be seen when God works. For example, Israel sent 12 spies to search out Canaan. 10 of the spies reported negatively about the land, but Joshua and Caleb only said that they should go in and take the land. God worked through the remnant, Joshua and Caleb. Through the remnant God’s promise was fulfilled and his blessings poured out. Israel’s salvation is the same. God is planning to save Israel through the small remnant.
We can see one truth from this passage. That is that there is always a remnant. Until the end of the world, until Jesus’ second coming there are always a promised people that strictly follow the faith, that follow God. No matter how huge a persecution or how hard a situation there is by God’s grace a remnant who is always preserved. In Noah’s age it was the same. The present day people “had corrupted their ways”. (Genesis 6:12) However, God left Noah who walked with God as a righteous man as a remnant.
Therefore, we must not seek comfort in numbers, but we must continue to confirm whether God can see faith within us or not, if God can see vision within us or not. It has nothing to do with numbers. No matter how small of numbers, if we hold on to our vision, God will through us work in history.
There is no reason to be discouraged if the number of people who attend weekly worship is small. We must not give up because 3 or 4 people come to prayer meetings. That is because God always leaves a remnant and through that remnant God works. When Elijah fought with 450 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets of Asherah, Elijah lamented, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left.” (I Kings 18: 22) When we see a small Christian meeting, we tend to lament that we are the only one. In reality that is not so. God says, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel-all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” (I Kings 19:18) God always prepares a remnant. Even a church that can’t withstand fighting with troubles, there are companions who pray and keep the faith until the end. Even if a lot of people waiver from the God, there are God’s people who remain to the end following God’s Word and not giving up the faith. We are not by ourselves. God keeps a remnant. It is how the will of God takes place. We must not take our eyes off of that.
III. Trust in the Lord (vs. 30-33)
Therefore, let’s trust in the Lord. Please look at verses 30 to 33.
Here Paul is giving us the reason why the Gentiles were led to salvation and why even though the Jews are as numerous as the sand on the beaches only the remnant will be saved. That is determined by whether a person believes the promises of the Word of God and accepts them the way they are or if he tries to be saved by his own strength. The Gentiles have become righteous by faith. They believe in Jesus Christ whom God has prepared. On the other hand, the Jews were different. To the end they depended on their own strength and by works tried to be righteous. For them Jesus Christ was a “stumbling stone” (32), “a rock that makes them fall”. (33) That was because they had a preconceived idea that a person that was hung on a tree was cursed. Therefore they couldn’t believe in Christ who had hung on the cross. However, salvation depends on whether you can accept what God has prepared for you or not. That is because man is by sin spiritually powerless, and morally bankrupt. By your own strength, we can’t meet the standard that God requires for righteousness. Therefore, in order to be saved we must accept the method that God has prepared for salvation. There is no other way. It is only by accepting through faith this salvation that we can be saved.
The Israelites couldn’t understand this. Therefore, they stumbled on Jesus Christ. It was a “stumbling stone” (32) that God put in front of them. This stone today is in front of us especially since effort is strongly rooted in Japanese society and there is a principle of exerting yourself. However, when we try to be strong, reversely, we see our weaknesses. We see that we are really weak, and feel like we have been knocked down. The point is what we do at such times. When we see with our eyes, and accept our condition, then we can see the salvation of the cross. That is because Jesus taught that those who are weak will become strong. Weakness is neither a fault nor shameful. It is a new turning point, and starting point. Therefore, we need to admit that before sin we are powerless, seek to be strong by the power of God, and accept the salvation that God has prepared. This is the way of faith, and of a blessed life.
The important thing is to depend on God who has a perfect plan and leads us and leave everything in His hands. If so we won’t be disappointed, and all things will work for our good.