Some Of The Jews Were Spiritually Blind
Romans 11:1-10
11 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
Remember, throughout this whole long, complicated section, filled with Old Testament allusions and quotations, we see that Paul is examining and answering four related questions:
Why did so many of the Jews refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah?
In light of Jewish rejection of Jesus and Gentile acceptance of Jesus, has God replaced the Jews with the Gentiles as His chosen people?
Is there any hope that the Jews who previously rejected Jesus as Messiah might one day turn back and believe?
In light of all of the above, what is God up to?
Paul begins our section today once again stating his certainty that God has not given up on the Jews:
1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew [Romans 11:1–2].
Paul makes the point that it’s not as if none of the Jews have accepted Christ, and he puts himself forward as a prime example to prove his point—Paul, after all, was Jewish.
No, “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.” (v. 2)
Note the word “foreknew” here. In the context it cannot mean “those whom God already predestined for belief” because Paul is obviously talking here about Jews who have NOT believed. When Paul uses that word here and in Romans 8:29, he simply means “the people God has already known” or “known for a long time in the past.”
Paul then references the Old Testament story of Elijah (1 Kings 19:18) to make the point that God always has a remnant of faithful people. (I find this point very encouraging.)
2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace [Romans 10:2–6].
There are some Jews that have believed, and it’s not that they earned their salvation; rather, their salvation is a gift of God.
Then Paul goes on to cite some Old Testament verses to make the point that although the elect—the ones who believe—have responded in faith to Messiah Jesus, the rest have been blind and unable to see what’s right in front of them.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever” [Romans 11:7–10].
Way back in Romans 1, Paul told us that one of the consequences of sin is spiritual blindness. Therefore, an important prayer to pray for unbelievers is that the Lord would open their eyes to the truth.
For whom do you need to be praying today?