“I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin… for a few of the people of Israel^[c] have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them. ⁶ And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.⁷ So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened.” Romans 11:1-7 

Footsteps #365. Romans 10:21 had refered to the God who held out His hands to a rebellious and obstinate people. (Paul was quoting Isa 65:2).   It should be remembered that the early converts to Christianity were all Jews – for example, the group that was converted on the Day of Pentecost. It took a special vision and miracle to convince Peter that the Gentiles had equal access to the grace of Christ (Acts 10); and that the gospel was to be carried to them, as well. 

It wasn’t because they hadn’t heard, because they certainly had (10:18). Nor was it because they didn’t understand (10:19, 20). Their real problem was that they were “disobedient and obstinate” (v21). 

Romans 10:21 tells us that God repeatedly opened His hands to the Israelites. That is, He took the initiative toward them. He didn’t just wait for them to find Him, but held out His hands to them like a parent inviting a child to come home, offering a hug and a kiss, and promising a welcome. God not only extended His hands to Israel, but He did so “all day long”, symbolising the persistent nature of His care for them. But, Isaiah points out, the Israelites had been just as determined to reject God’s repeated overtures as He had been in caring for them. He defines them as an “obstinate people”, “Who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations a people who continually provoke Me to My very face, offering sacrifices in gardens…Such people are smoke in My nostrils” (Isa. 62:2-5 NLT). 

We need to take the passages that we have been studying in the second half of Romans 10 in their context. In Romans’ first eight chapters the apostle set forth the gospel as being for both Jews and Gentiles. But not many Jews accepted it. That led Paul into a major discussion of why the Jews had failed and, on the other hand, how the Gentiles had found entrance to the covenant promises. Chapter 9 set forth the answer to those issues in terms of God’s mercy. He chose to offer mercy to all those to all who would accept it. Chapter 10 then examined the issue in terms of Israel’s response to the gospel. By and large, it had not been positive. 

But there was still hope, because Paul firmly believed that “everyone [Jew and Gentile] who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13). The good news is that the promise is not bounded by race, ethnicity, or time. It is as good today as it was 2000 years ago.