The Cooperation of God in the Choice to Reject Him

Has God rejected Israel? No. Not all Israel.  As Everett F. Harrison writes, "But the matter of numbers is not crucial. What is more important is the reminder that irrespective of its size, it is "chosen by grace." This means that the character of the remnant is also not important, as though the choosing depended on the quality of its constituency. 'The remnant has its origin, not in the quality of those saved, but in the saving action of God' (Herntrich in TDNT 4:203). Notice how this is brought out in the quotation 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand' (v. 4)."[1]

Paul continues his explanation that God has kept a remnant, a remnant chosen by grace, for Himself.  In Romans 11:7–10 (ESV) he writes,

"⁷ What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, ⁸ as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” ⁹ And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; ¹⁰ let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”"

It is true: national, ethnic Israel – Israel according to the flesh, failed.  But the elect – the people of God, chosen from Jew and Gentile did not fail.  By grace they obtained the righteousness of God.  The rest of Israel, those who disobeyed the Gospel – those who did not have faith in God's Provision – they were "hardened".  Now we studied this concept before in Romans 9.  Using Pharaoh as an example, Paul wrote, “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” (Romans 9:18, ESV).  When we studied that, I wrote:

"I think it is right to say that God hardens the heart of a man, not by what He does, but by what He doesn't do.  In the case of Israel God turned His face of grace away from them and left them in the consequence of their sin." 

That is true, I believe, but even my definition is not complete.  In Romans 11, in relation to hardening, Paul makes it clear that God did do something.  “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”^[2]  "The rest of national Israel has been blinded. The Greek verb pōroō which is used for blinded, means to render insensitive."^[3]  Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10 that refers to the blindness and deafness of those who failed to trust God.  I would suggest that God's judicial action in this case is to render their decision as final. There is a sense that God gives to people exactly what they choose.

We must be careful not to unwittingly remove God from this active decision.  The Old Testament passage clearly states that God gave the this "spirit of stupor".  As Dr. Moo states so plainly: "When he hardens, he confirms the sentence that people deserve and have already chosen for themselves."^[4]

Then quoting from Psalm 69 (“Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.” (Psalm 69:22–23, ESV), Paul as the inspired writer applies this sentence: "Let them experience misery and disappointment in their daily occupations and concerns, and let them find those things, of whatever description—whether sacred or common—which were calculated to be for their welfare and advantage, a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling–block, and a punishment to them."^[5]

This attribution of punishment comes from the same Paul who prayed, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1, ESV).  These ideas are not incompatible.  Far from treating someone as a robot, God affirms the choice of those who reject Him.

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Previous Blogs on this topic:

1	God Will Never Reject Those He Has Chosen	Romans 11:1-6
2

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[1] Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Romans/Exposition of Romans/VI. The Problem of Israel: God's Righteousness Vindicated (9:1-11:36)/E. Israel Not Entirely Rejected; There Is a Remnant of Believers (11:1-10), Book Version: 4.0.2

^[2] The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 11:8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

^[3] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2254). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

^[4] Moo, D. J. (2002). Encountering the book of Romans : a theological survey (p. 166). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

^[5] Haldane, R. (1996). An exposition of Romans (electronic ed., p. 537). Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation.