25 As he says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”
26 and,
“It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’
they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
‘You are not my people,’
they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”
In today's passage, Paul shows that Israel's unbelief at the time of Christ is not inconsistent with God's redemptive plan. And he uses the OT to prove it.
Hosea married Gomer who was or became a harlot, and their relationship demonstrated the relationship between Israel and God. Gomer had 3 children named Jezreel (which means "scattered"), Loruhamah (which means "not pitied") and Loammi (which means "not my people"). And that's exactly what happened to Israel isn't it? They were scattered, God no longer pitied them and they were no longer His people. Not only was that prophecy fulfilled in Hosea's time, but it was also a prediction of what would happen around the time of Christ. In Hosea's time the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered and scattered and temporarily rejected by God because of their unbelief as a nation. And in 70AD that prophecy came true as well and the Jews were once again scattered, not pitied and no longer His people.
Thankfully, that's not the end of the prophecy. V26 proclaims restoration. The Israelites were restored in Hosea's time, and they will be restored once again prior to the Second Coming of Christ. Prophecying a future restoration of Israel obviously implies that Israel had fallen. After all, you don't need to restored if you haven't fallen. And Paul shows that Israel's unbelief is not inconsistent with God's plan at all and in fact, should have been expected because God promised their restoration from unbelief.
Isaiah also saw Israel's unbelief. Though they were many, as many as the sand by the sea, only a remnant would be saved. And once again, this was both a fairly immediate prophecy and a future one as well. There were only a few who were saved out of the Assyrian conquest, and in the time of Christ and since the time of Christ right up to today there are only a few Jews being saved as well. As a nation, they remain mainly in a state of unbelief at this time, but there is a remnant now, just as there was in the time of Isaiah.
In v28 we see that God is going to judge Israel, and it will be a thorough judgment and a fast judgment and very few will escape it. Again we see that Israel's unbelief is not inconsistent with God's plan or with prophecy. It is, in fact, a fulfillment of it.
V29 shows us that the only reason that any believe at all, is because God chose a remnant. If He had not, all Israel would be like Sodom and Gomorrah - completely destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth
Again, I am so thankful for godly men like Pastor John MacArthur. I had found that passage completely confusing, but after I read his sermon, it made complete sense. He summarizes....
So he draws from Hosea and he draws from Isaiah Old Testament proof that God ... planned that not all Israel would be saved. The Jews would enter into a time of great unbelief, be scattered, not pitied, and not the people of God. And out of it there would be a small remnant. And so, when you look at the time of Christ and you say, "Well, if this is the true gospel, why did all the Jews reject?" You can say because that's the way the prophets said it was to be, that was the plan. And the only reason any believe is because the Lord of Sabaoth chose to leave a seed. And again would you please note? Paul makes his point using what? Scripture.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 9:30-33
1 comment:
I am thankful that we have free access to resources such as Pastor MacArthur's sermons, etc. thanks to the internet. We are so blessed to be able to dig deeper and learn more about these passages than we would be able to just reading them ourselves, or only hearing our pastor on Sunday morning.
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