Living By His Plan

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

LIVING BY HIS PLAN

Rom 11:25-36

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."   28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"   35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

NIV

This makes it clear that all of Israel will be brought into the right relationship with God. However, before we ponder more on the fate of Israel, we should understand that we have no pure knowledge of exactly what God has planned. In fact, we do not have any say whatsoever, as to what God does. What we do know is that his mercy is given freely to whosoever believes in the one he sent, Jesus Christ. We do wonder if this was God’s plan all along in regard to Israel experiencing a hardening in part so that Paul would go out into the world and preach the “Good News” to the Gentiles. From what we are told here, Israel will come back to their rightful place in the kingdom of God. It does appear Paul is talking about Israel as a nation, rather than Israel as those who have been circumcised, not of the flesh, but of the heart. Paul has also said that those who experienced the circumcision of the heart are the Jews or Israel. So it does get a little confusing here in the sense that all of Israel, as a nation, will be saved. We know that the people, of Israel, are the chosen people of God. But why were they and still are the chosen people? Is it the promise God made to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations? The people of Israel are the physical descendants of Abraham who was the father of Isaac, who was the father of Jacob, who God changed his name to Israel and he fathered the twelve sons or tribes of Israel. But, are we not also considered descendants of Abraham through the promise? We are part of the many nations, who through faith follow in the footsteps of our ancestry, Abraham, who believed God. The most puzzling thought within this passage is that God bound all men to disobedience so that he might have mercy on all. This makes it sound as though we did not even have a choice to be disobedient, that God bound us to be that way just so he could display his mercy. The problem in this puzzle is that within the Greek words of that verse, there is no word that means “bound”.  Instead, it might read more directed as that God concluded that all men are in unbelief that upon all, he might have mercy. Still, we have to also understand that God’s wisdom and knowledge are so deep, we will never be able to search his judgments and his path, his plan, or his mind. Nor can we make any suggestions. God is God and we are his people. We can come to him, with all our needs, and look to him for all we are, all we have, and all we do, for He is the Lord Almighty who displays his mercy upon us every moment of every day. We came from him, and we came through him, and we are for him. Why then do people boast about their comings and goings? We cannot boast in anything we have done or are doing, for everything we are and all that we do are completely in the hands of our Lord. He directs our path, he is the light that shines the way for us to walk, so we will not stumble. He is the truth, the way, and life. No man can even come to the Father, except through Jesus. The one other truth we must face is that His gifts and His call are irrevocable. God will never turn his back on us nor will he ever take back his mercy, it is eternal. Let us live within this mercy, compassion, or divine grace. But let us not take advantage of His mercy either. Let us live as his children, living out our vocation as his image bearers, reflecting not only his glory but his mercy to a disobedient world. Let us live according to His plan.