1 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.” ~ Romans 11:1-4
Today, we transition into Romans 11 where the Apostle Paul is expounding on the wonderfully reassuring subject of the sovereignty of God. In Romans 9 we learned of God's past workings with the nation of Israel, while in Romans 10 we considered God's present workings with Israel. Today, we transition into Romans 11 where we will consider God's future dealings with His chosen people.
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "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."
The Apostle Paul begins this chapter with the question, "Has God cast away His people?" The answer to this question accentuates the Apostle Paul's origin: the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the smallest tribe among the twelve tribes of Israel. God doesn’t see as men see, for He sees what we can not see. In addition, God looks at our hearts. In the case of the Old Testament character, Benjamin, God saw a warrior inside of him. Outwardly, others saw him as the youngest son and his tribe as the smallest tribe. But God saw more, a man who would be strong.
In the Bible there are two Sauls who came from the tribe of Benjamin. King Saul, the epitome of the sin nature and its war against God. Then there is the Apostle Paul who was Saul before God renamed him after his conversion. The Apostle Paul was changed by God from a murderous Pharisee to the Apostle of grace. Paul is the example of what God does for those who come to Christ in faith. Over and over throughout God's word, He reminds us of the importance of being small in our eyes, and the Apostle Paul clearly understood this principle.
We all know the danger of thinking too much of ourselves. Of course, it was pride that inaugurated sin and it is pride that is our greatest enemy. In Zechariah 4:10 we are reminded to not despise the day of small beginnings. Israel, largely missed God because they were not looking for Him. They were too enamored with themselves. They forgot somewhere along the way their smallness which enables us all to understand that we desperately need God. They forgot that when I am weak He is strong. The way to know the strength we all desire is by being embraced by Him through our weaknesses.
In v.2-3 of today's passage we read, "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?'"
For God to "foreknow" basically means He predetermined to love His people. To foreknow, we think of it as knowing something before it happens. That's not the idea of the word used here by the Apostle. It doesn't mean to know something before it happens, it means to determine it. It's a guaranteeing word. It means that He has not cast away His people, even though they have cast Him away.
The existence of the nation Israel is tied to the promises of God without question. These people were elected by God as His chosen nation and by His own sovereignty, unconditionally, He promised to bless them. The blessing that came to them in the Abrahamic Covenant was not even conditioned upon them. In fact, God determined to be faithful to them whether they are faithful to Him or not. God has caused Israel to perpetuate because He has yet to fulfill all of the promises that He made to them. Since God's character and integrity depends upon it, the remaining promises that God gave Israel that have yet to be fulfilled will be realized by them before the end comes to this earth. This is why Romans 11 is all about God's dealings with Israel in the future.
The Apostle Paul refers to himself as one of those foreknown by God, one whom God had set aside for His purposes. In every one of his letters the Apostle marvels at the grace of God that took him, a blasphemer and persecutor of the church, and drew him to Himself, changed his heart, and made him into a new creature in Christ. He is but one example of the many millions of Jews through the centuries who have believed in Christ.
There has never been a whole nation who has followed God wholeheartedly, including Israel. But, down through history, there has always been a remnant of people who have given safe haven in their souls for the truth. There has always been a remnant even though Israel as a whole killed the spokesmen whom God had sent to them in the past; people like Zechariah who was stoned to death and Isaiah who was sawed in half.
In v.4 of today's passage we read, "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.'"
The Old Testament prophet Elijah felt he was the only faithful prophet left, but there was a remnant of seven thousand who were faithful to God. These few souls were those who had "not bowed the knee to Baal." Baal is a word which simply means "master" in Hebrew, but it was used as the name of one of the idol-gods of the godless Canaanites. Baal was actually referring to the sun, and, at times the moon.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are part of God's remnant that He has reserved for Himself. A remnant is a leftover. We are a part of God's remnant because He orchestrated the events of our lives in such a way that we eventually came to faith in the Lord Jesus. God knows of our faith in His Son, and, as He has promised, He has welcomed us into His family. As God's remnant, we perpetuate in our faith in the God of the Bible because He has placed His Spirit within us to forever abide within us. He, the Holy Spirit, is the secret behind our success as believers in the Lord Jesus. He is the reason we have not and will not thrown in the towel and give up on our faith in Him.
