HeBrews: A Better Blend
In today’s issue of HeBrews: A Better Blend, we are going to take a detour outside the book of Hebrews to a very important passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans. As we think about the New Covenant and the importance of it to you and me, there is a question that must be asked. God said the New Covenant would be with Israel, yet they rejected Jesus and the New Covenant, so what about the Jewish people? Are they out in the cold, never to have another opportunity to come to know Jesus and have eternal life? Are you and I now God’s chosen people? Here is where we enter highly disputed territory, but I believe it is worth a trip to the book of Romans to find our answer. Head over to Romans 11 with me.
I would love for you to read the entire 11th chapter of Romans, however, I’m going to give you a few specific verses and then hope you will go read the rest of the chapter on your own.
- Romans 11:1 asks a key question and then gives the answer. Take a look: “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means!”
Well, well, Paul seems pretty sure of the answer. Let’s look further.
- We know that as a whole, the nation of Israel rejected Jesus when He came the first time. Romans 11:11 asks another question and then gives the answer. “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.”
It seems that the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish people gave opportunity for Gentiles, like you and me, to experience salvation.
- In Romans 11: 17 Paul seems to go off on a tangent and begin talking about trees. “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root…”
In the Jeremiah 11:16, the nation of Israel is likened to an olive tree. Also in Zechariah 4 the symbolism of the olive tree is applied to Israel. Paul picks up this symbolism here in Romans 11: 17 and following. In these verses he reminds the Gentiles that the olive tree (Israel) had branches broken off because of disobedience and unbelief. This gave opportunity for wild olive shoots (Gentiles) to be grafted into the parent tree (God’s chosen people). Our faith stands on the shoulders of our great Jewish ancestors like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are now part of the great lineage of faith passed down by the ancients.
Some scholars believe that the present day church—those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior—has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people. They claim that we are ‘spiritual Israel’. I have a difficult time reconciling this point of view with Romans 11: 1 and 11 that clearly says God has not rejected Israel.
Jewish people must place saving faith in Jesus Christ in order to be accepted into God’s kingdom. In John 14:6 Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through Me.’ No one means no one…not a Jew or a Gentile can get to heaven without accepting Jesus as Lord and Messiah.
God did not call Israel as his chosen people and then discard them because they were disobedient. When God makes up his mind to do something even our disobedience cannot change his holy mind. Physical Israel, the Jewish people, are still God’s chosen people and that choosing has its foundation in the very character of God. He is not a God who wavers just because we are unfaithful. You and I, as Christians, have been granted entry into that chosen-ness because of our choice to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. One day, God will once again extend His grace to all Israel and they will believe on Jesus as Lord. Then we, together with them, will be the chosen and elect of God. The New Covenant will be complete in that day.
MEDITATION MOMENT: Once again, my friends, I ask you to commit to praying for the Jewish people to come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Show them the love of Jesus every chance you get.
