Journey through the Book of Romans

Paul declares that all Israel is not Rejected by God Part 1

Romans 11:1-5 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” But what is the Divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. NKJV

Paul wants to make the point very clear that God the Father has not and will not ever reject all of His Chosen people Israel (1 Samuel 12:22). Paul asks this question as he summarizes his words quoted from the Prophet Isaiah in the last three verses and his answer is his usual response to be emphatic “God Forbid”. The covenant He made with Abraham will never be broken by Him and Paul is assuring every listener of Jewish descent that YAHWEH can be and must always be trusted to be true to His Holy Sovereign and Eternal Word, for He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). Paul uses himself as the proof of his words here because Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a high ranking member of the Sanhedrin and descending from the family line of Benjamin the youngest of Jacob or Israel’s son’s and most beloved by Israel next to Joseph and despite Paul’s staunch resistance to the truth of Christ as Messiah, the Lord Jesus showed mercy to Paul saving him and commissioning him an Apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:10-16).

Paul now uses the discourse the Lord God had with Elijah (who thought all Israel had forsaken YAHWEH) as testimonial assurance of the Lord’s faithfulness to those Jews who hear the truth, believe the truth, love the truth, and obey the truth. If all of Israel were to be rejected by God the Father, then His Words to Abraham would have been worthless and we know the Scripture says this concerning the Word of God, Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. KJV and this is exactly what Abraham did was believe God and it was credited to him for righteousness (Romans 4:3). Also the Psalmist writes this concerning the Word of God, Psalms 119:140 Thy Word is very pure: therefore Thy servant loveth it. KJV Paul wants every concerned Jew to be certain that God will never forsake or leave those Jews whom He Elected before He ever founded the world. Those whom God has already determined to become His children can never be forfeited or put away or rejected because the Nation Israel as a whole or majority rejects Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior of the Jews and the whole world. God the Father does not see as man sees but God sees and knows the heart of every man, woman, boy, and girl and He knows those who truly belong to Him wherever they might be here upon this earth of His (1 Samuel 16:7 & 2 Timothy 2:20).

Elijah after witnessing what he had cannot be blamed for his assessment of the Nation, but he was doing just what the Lord God told the Prophet Samuel not to do by looking on the outward appearance or circumstances, not fully discerning or understanding that our God will not allow His very own to be deceived by the enemy no matter how he presents his lies. Elijah should have known that not all had turned from the Lord God to go after Baal even though the numbers were small compared to the great number of people that made up the Nation Israel at that time. God will always assure that His true people will remain faithful, for out of these people would come King David and then our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore, it was impossible for the Lord God to not keep His true people faithful, this still applies today in the age of the Body of Christ as declared by the Apostle Peter in this manner, 1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. NKJV The English word Peter uses here is translated from the Greek word phroureo which is a glorious word with a glorious meaning and it means to be a watcher in advance; to mount guard as a sentinel (a lookout or lookout man); figuratively to hem in, protect, or keep (with a garrison); a garrison being a fortified military post where troops are stationed.

Not only does Peter say we are kept or phroureo, but it is by the power or dunamis of God, His miraculous power or dynamite power or explosive power or un-penetrable power and strength of God the Father. This is the same power that kept or phroureo those 7,000 from bowing their knees to Baal during Elijah’s day and it is the same that keeps and guards you and me who know and love our Lord Jesus Christ today from every wile or methodeia (scheme, plot, plan, or trick) of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). Paul has just gone back to the Old Testament over in Romans chapter 9 quoting Isaiah 10:22 For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. NKJV Isaiah had already decreed and declared what Paul is now affirming that most of Israel will be in darkness and unable to see (with their hearts) that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and King of Israel, for the Jewish religious rulers disdained this reference of Him, remember this discourse, John 19:19-21 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” NKJV

However, despite the Jewish leaders blindness and the majority of the common Jews also being spiritually blind, God the Father as He did throughout every generation of these people no matter their un-faithfulness as a Nation and backsliding and going after pagan false gods, kept a tiny remnant or remainder by His Divine Selection because of the grace given to Abraham and promised to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 15:5-6). Remnant can also be defined as a small part or portion that remains after the main part no longer exists as the Lord God said in these words through Isaiah 10:23 For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land. NKJV Now the fact that the Lord God preserved for Himself 7,000 people who were true Israelites indeed testifies to the small and tiny portion that makes a remnant what it is when during those days the total population of the Jewish people in the entire region was around 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 million.

Psalms 77:7-9 Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His loving-kindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah. NKJV

Psalms 89:28-29 “My loving-kindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. So I will establish his descendants forever and his throne as the days of heaven.” NKJV

Psalms 94:14 For the LORD will not abandon His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance. NKJV

“If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be; and then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me forever.” Charles Spurgeon

“God’s methods of dispensation towards His Church are as they used to be. As it has been, so it is. In Elijah’s time there was a remnant, and so there is now. If then there was a remnant left under the Old Testament, when the displays of grace were less clear and the pourings out of the Spirit less plentiful, much more now under the gospel, when the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, appears more illustrious.” Matthew Henry

“If a man or woman born in the flesh a Jew is not automatically accepted of God by that fact only (Romans 9:6), but still must be born again as our Lord Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 3:3), then why are so many Gentiles counting on their confirmation, baptism, church membership, or denominational affiliation, for none of them can make a new creation.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…