In our study of Current Day Israel, we have primarily learned that the majority of the Jewish People have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. We even learned in last week's message that Jehovah God opened Salvation to the Gentiles to provoke His Chosen People to jealously. As a result, one might wonder if the Jewish People will ever see and accept Jesus as their Messiah and Savior?
Romans 11:1-2 boldly answers this question with Paul saying, "I say then, has God cast away His People? Certainly not . . . God has not cast away His People whom He foreknew." An Old Testament verse verifies that God has not forsaken His Chosen People but that He is in the process of correcting them. Jeremiah 46:28 says, "Do not fear, O Jacob My servant" says The Lord, "for I am with you; for I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but I will not make a complete end of you, I will rightly correct you."
Additionally, Romans 11:8 illustrates one of the primary reasons why the Jewish People have difficulty accepting Jesus as their Messiah saying, "God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear to this very day." In effect, Jehovah God has placed His Covenant People in a physical state in which it is very difficult for them to see or hear about Jesus as their Messiah.
Why would God make it extremely difficult for the Jewish People to see who is their Messiah? This is a good and challenging question. After all, God desires for all people, Jew and Gentile, to be saved! We believe Isaiah 29:13 will help us to understand this important question saying, "Therefore The Lord said; 'Inasmuch as these people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me.'"
Jehovah God is saying in Isaiah 29:13 that His Chosen People are saying words that honor Him but He knows that what is in their hearts does not honor Him! This was an important lesson from God during the time of the Book of Romans but is also an important lesson for us today.
Please notice Isaiah 29:14 says, "Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder." Jehovah God is not finished with His Chosen People! Stay Tuned!
Blessings,
Frank
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