Did God reject Israel?
“So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendent of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” Romans 11:1, NET. The Jewish leaders and those afraid of them rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. Who, then, among the Israelites, received the promised righteousness? The Remnant did. God always had a Remnant among the Israelites who were loyal to him. Also, today, God has the Remnant among the Jewish people. In like manner, God has a Remnant among Christians loyal to him. They may not belong to the same fellowship but are the Remnant. God’s Remnant are those who reject the teaching made by men and maintain faith in God and Jesus Christ despite the uncertainty.
There was God’s Remnant in Jesus’ time, like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, who followed Jesus and the apostles and provided the means for their care out of their means. Luke 8:2 – 3. There was always a room prepared for Jesus to have the last meal with his apostles. Jesus did not search for it. The burial of Jesus was done by those who were not physically among those who followed him.
The Remnant in Judah, in Jesus’ time, understood that righteousness does not come through observance of the letter of the law and statutes, even those that God required. The righteousness of God is in Jesus Christ only. We experience righteousness by a willful abandonment of ourselves and unconditional surrender to the redeeming act of God through his mercy, the promised Son Jesus Christ. Only those who, like Abraham, believe against all hope, are, like Isaac, born from above, and, like Jacob, persevere with God are true Israel. God always had, and he has today, such a Remnant. Only God knows who they are.
The Remnant received righteousness. See the next blog.
