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God and the Jewish People

¹I am in Christ and I am telling you the truth. I am not lying. And my conscience, ruled by the Holy Spirita, agrees that what I say now is true. ²I have great sorrow and always feel much sadness ³for my own people. They are my brothers and sisters, my earthly family. I wish I could help them. I would even have a curse on me and cut myself off from Christ if that would help them. ⁴They are the people of Israelb, God's chosen children. They have the gloryc of God and the agreements he made between himself and his people. God gave them the Law of Mosesd, the Templee worship, and his promises. ⁵They are the descendants of our great fathersf, and they are the earthly family of the Messiahg, who is God over all things. Praise him forever!h Ameni.
⁶I don't mean that God failed to keep his promise to the Jewish people. But only some of the people of Israel are really God's peoplej. ⁷And only some of Abraham'sk descendants are true children of Abraham. This is what God said to Abraham: "Your true descendants will be those who come through Isaac."l ⁸This means that not all of Abraham's descendants are God's true children. Abraham's true children are those who become God's children because of the promise he made to Abraham. ⁹Here is what God said in that promise: "About this time next year I will come back, and Sarah will have a son."m
¹⁰And that is not all. Rebecca also had sons, and they had the same father. He is our father Isaac. ^11-¹²But before the two sons were born, God told Rebecca, "The older son will serve the younger."n This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this before they were born so that the boy he wanted would be chosen because of God's own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything the boys did. ¹³As the Scriptureso say, "I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau."p
¹⁴So what does this mean? That God is not fair? We cannot say that. ¹⁵God said to Moses, "I will show mercy to anyone I want to show mercy to. I will show pity to anyone I choose."q ¹⁶So God will choose anyone he decides to show mercy to, and his choice does not depend on what people want or try to do. ¹⁷In the Scriptures God says to Pharaohr: "I made you king so that you could do this for me. I wanted to show my power through you. I wanted my name to be announced throughout the world."s ¹⁸So God shows mercy to those he wants to show mercy to and makes stubborn those he wants to make stubborn.
¹⁹So one of you will ask me, "If God controls what we do, why does he blame us for our sins?" ²⁰Don't ask that. You are only human and have no right to question God. A clay jar does not question the one who made it. It does not say, "Why did you make me like this?" ²¹The one who makes the jar can make anything he wants. He uses the same clay to make different things. He might make one thing for special purposes and another for daily use.
²²It is the same way with what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to let people see his power. But he patiently endured those he was angry with - people who were ready to be destroyed. ²³He waited with patience so that he could make known the riches of his gloryc to the people he has chosen to receive his mercy. God has already prepared them to share his gloryc. ²⁴We are those people, the ones God chose not only from the Jews but also from those who are not Jews. ²⁵As the Scriptures say in the book of Hosea,

"The people who are not mine - I will say they are my people.
And the people I did not love - I will say they are the people I love."t

²⁶And,

"Where God said in the past, 'You are not my people' - there they will be called children of the living God."u

²⁷And Isaiah cries out about Israel:

"There are so many people of Israel, they are like the grains of sand by the sea. But only a few of them will be saved. ²⁸Yes, the Lord will quickly finish judging the people on the earth."v

²⁹It is just as Isaiah said:

"The Lord All-Powerful allowed some of our people to live.
If he had not done that, we would now be like Sodomw, and we would be like Gomorrahx."

³⁰So what does all this mean? It means that people who are not Jews were made right with God because of their faith, even though they were not trying to make themselves right. ³¹And the people of Israel, who tried to make themselves right with God by following the law, did not succeed. ³²They failed because they tried to make themselves right by the things they did. They did not trust in God to make them right. They fell over the stone that makes people fall. ³³The Scriptures talk about that stone:

"Look, I put in Zionz a stone that will make people stumble. It is a rock that will make people fall.
But anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed."aa

^aHoly Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. In union with God and Christ, he does God’s work among people in the world.
^bIsrael Another name for Jacob (see Gen. 32:24-28) and for the nation God chose to accomplish his plan of blessing the world through the Messiah (see “Messiah”). The people of Israel were the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons. In the New Testament this name is sometimes used in a broader sense to mean all of God’s people.
^cglory A word that refers to the special qualities of God. Often it means brightness, referring to the way he appears to people. Sometimes it means majesty or power, referring to a kind of greatness that cannot be compared to anything in human experience. It can also include the ideas of wealth, honor, fame, or respect, especially in expressions of praise.
^dMoses One of the most important leaders of the Israelites during the time of the Old Testament. God used him to give the people his law, which is often called “the Law of Moses.”
^eTemple The permanent building in Jerusalem that replaced the portable “Holy Tent” that was used by the Israelites from the time of their wandering in the desert to the reign of King Solomon, when the first Temple was built. Like the Holy Tent, the Temple was the center of Israelite worship, although provision was made for it to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa. 56:7).
^ffathers Important ancestors of the Jewish people, especially the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
^gMessiah A Hebrew word that has the same meaning as the Greek word Christ (see “Christ”). It was a title for the kings of God’s people in the Old Testament and for the special king God promised to send as a “savior” to defeat evil and establish the reign of God. Many prophets made it clear that this new kingdom would be eternal; that is, not only would the promised Messiah bring about a time of justice and right living among God’s people here on earth, but also his kingdom would extend beyond this world to life forever with God. However, most Jews of the first century expected the Messiah to be a political ruler here on earth who would defeat the other nations and return the nation of Israel to a position of great glory and power. But God intended his Messiah to establish a new “Israel,” an eternal kingdom that would bless all the nations.
^h9:5 Messiah, who is … forever! Or “Messiah. May God, who rules over all things, be praised forever!”
ⁱAmen A Hebrew word meaning “That’s right,” “True,” or “Yes.” It is used to express strong agreement with what has been said.
^j9:6 God’s people Literally, “Israel,” the people God chose to bring his blessings to the world.
^kAbraham The most respected ancestor of the Jewish people. Through him God promised to make a great nation and bless all the people of the earth. Read Gen. 12:1-3.
^l9:7 Quote from Gen. 21:12.
^m9:9 Quote from Gen. 18:10, 14.
ⁿ9:11-12 Quote from Gen. 25:23.
^oScripture Part of the Scriptures or “Holy Writings” - the Old Testament.
^p9:13 Quote from Mal. 1:2-3.
^q9:15 Quote from Ex. 33:19.
^rPharaoh A title for the king of Egypt.
^s9:17 Quote from Ex. 9:16.
^tHosea 2:23
^uHosea 1:10
^vIsaiah 10:22-23
^wSodom A city that God destroyed, together with the city of Gomorrah, because the people living there were so evil. See Gen. 19.
^xGomorrah A city that God destroyed, together with the city of Sodom, because the people living there were so evil. See Gen. 19.
^yIsaiah 1:9
^zZion The southeastern part of the mountain that Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the city of Jerusalem, the people of God living there, or the Temple.
^aaIsaiah 8:14; 28:16