I struggle with the idea that Israel is some special group chosen by God. I can’t deny that the Bible seems to say that. They are special. I think we tend to misinterpret and misunderstand that specialness. I look at verses like this,
Romans 11:26 (KJV) And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:And all I can do is scratch my head and ask, “What?” My first reaction is a disconnect between centuries of rebellion and rejection of God that I see going on in the Jews and the fact that all will be saved. I think the key is in the second part of that verse and a better and modern translation of that.
Romans 11:26 (NASB95) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”Notice the difference. What does it mean remove ungodliness from Jacob? I think there are clues like one of the places and I came across one in my reading recently.
Isaiah 1:9 (KJV) Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.The context at the beginning of Isaiah has God dealing with disobedient people by bringing in other nations to destroy them. In the middle of the destruction, there is the promise that there will be some left over. Here it uses that word remnant. What is hard for us to understand in our gentle, modern attitudes is the destruction that God is willing to wield when it comes to the disobedient.
It is a hard teaching, yet it is consistent through scripture. Yes, God will bring Israel back as a nation. But before He brings them back, He will purge them. That means that the only ones being brought back will be those who have responded to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and embraced the Messiah and the God of Israel. I make that a double yardstick because Jesus is necessary and most Jews today have no idea who Yahweh is.
It goes against my turn-the-other-cheek mentality, but God will not be mocked and His holiness will not be polluted. Israel will be restored but it will be a much reduced Israel.
homo unius libri
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