Tragedy for Israel, Glory for the Nations - Romans 10:16-21

Introduction

Two weeks ago Paul gave us Scripture’s clearest and most concise explanation of the nature of saving faith, composed of believing, confessing, and calling upon the name of the Lord. Last week, Paul gave us Scripture’s clearest and most concise explanation of the means of saving faith, that a sent preacher must declare the word of Christ in such a way that it may be heard and believed by a sinner, at which point they call upon the name of the Lord and are saved.

Paul has done this in the context of the tragedy of the unbelief of Israel. He has demonstrated that the righteousness that they sought was near to them, contained within the teachings of Moses. He has demonstrated that it was near to them in that all they needed to do was believe God, believe in the promised Messiah, and be saved. All they needed to do was return to Him and be cleansed, and they would be delivered.

Having established the absolute and universal availability and accessibility of the gospel of Christ to Israel, Paul presses in on his lament from 9:1-5 and 10:1 to close this chapter out.

Paul is going to demonstrate 4 explicit points in this text, along with 3 implicit points.

The three explicit points are as follows:

Israel has heard the gospel

Israel has understood the gospel

Israel has not believed the gospel

The three implicit points are as follows:

Hearing and understanding do not necessarily result in saving faith

Israel’s unbelief opens the door to salvation for the Gentiles

Israel’s unbelief does not place ethnic Israel beyond the saving power of God

We have a lot to cover today, so let’s dig in.

Israel has heard the gospel

Paul makes this point in Romans 10:18

Romans 10:18 LSB

But I say, have they never heard? On the contrary, they have; “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.”

Paul is utilizing the words of David here to make his point. This is a familiar Psalm, and one that deserves our attention this morning.

Psalm 19 LSB

For the choir director. Almuth-labben. A Psalm of David. For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, even more than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your slave is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your slave from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer.

Here we see David drawing a direct correlation between the two ways that God reveals Himself. The first being what theologians call general revelation. These are the proofs found in nature of God’s existence. These are those realities, both outside human beings and inside human beings, that declare that God is. The second way that God reveals Himself according to David in Psalm 19 is through His Word, described in verse 7-9 as the law, testimony, precepts, fear, and judgment of Yahweh.

So there is a direct correlation between God’s two revelations, in nature and in Word.

For Paul, this double revelation, given to Israel by virtue of their existence within God’s creation, and by virtue of their posession of the Word of God, doubly condemns Israel. Not only have they seen the glory of God as declared by the heavens, they have also heard the glory of God declared by the Word. Paul thus rightly applies the words of Psalm 19:4 to both the heavens and to the prophets.

In both sun and Scripture, landscape and lexicon, world and word, God has revealed Himself indubitably and irrefutably.

As John Calvin says:

Institutes of the Christian Religion 1. The Clarity of God’s Self-Disclosure Strips Us of Every Excuse

wherever you cast your eyes, there is no spot in the universe wherein you cannot discern at least some sparks of his glory. You cannot in one glance survey this most vast and beautiful system of the universe, in its wide expanse, without being completely overwhelmed by the boundless force of its brightness.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 1. God Bestows the Actual Knowledge of Himself upon Us Only in the Scriptures

That brightness which is borne in upon the eyes of all men both in heaven and on earth is more than enough to withdraw all support from men’s ingratitude—just as God, to involve the human race in the same guilt, sets forth to all without exception his presence portrayed in his creatures. Despite this, it is needful that another and better help be added to direct us aright to the very Creator of the universe. It was not in vain, then, that he added the light of his Word by which to become known unto salvation; and he regarded as worthy of this privilege those whom he pleased to gather more closely and intimately to himself.

This double knowledge confirms, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Israel did indeed receive the truth about God, not only from nature, but also from the Word.

Israel has understood the gospel

Paul’s second point is drawn out of Romans 10:19-20

Romans 10:19–20 LSB

But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says, “I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.” And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.”

The ESV renders ginosko as understand, and I think that better captures Paul’s sense here. We would affirm that there is a difference between just hearing something, and actually understanding it. We would further affirm that there is a difference between understanding something and actually believing it savingly. We can see from James 2 that demons also understand the truth about God, but it is not understanding in accordance with saving faith.

So Paul’s rhetorical question concerns the nature of Israel’s understanding of the gospel. Did they in fact understand it correctly, and then act upon that understanding in humble faith?

Paul is not bold enough to answer the question outright, and that is understandable: it is a high accusation to declare that Israel has heard and understood the gospel and yet has not received it in saving faith.

Therefore, he leans on Moses, then on Isaiah to make his point.

First let’s consider the quotation of Moses.

This quote comes at the mid-way point of the Song of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 32. In the words of Calvin, Murray, and Hodge, this is a song of Israel’s upbraiding, in other words, Moses is chastising the nation for their future rejection of God’s provision and deliverance.

The song follows 3 basic movements: God’s provision, Israel’s rejection, God’s restoration.

This song was taught to all the people of Israel and then subsequently passed on to each generation, according to Moses’ command. Therefore, the content of this song would have been familiar to Israel, near to them in their hearts and minds.

And yet, they grow fat and kick, according to verse 14, and by verse 21, they have provoked and angered God with idols, which prompts Him to punish them in kind: He will provoke and anger them with pagan nations, by including them in the blessings of the covenant.

According to Moses then, the nadir of Israel’s unbelieving disobedience is this inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant blessings of God, and according to Paul, this 1400 year old song is proof that Israel knew what would happen, and the fact that the veritable capital of the Gentile world would be receiving this letter is proof that it was happening before their very eyes.

Paul further confirms the reality by quoting a conflation of a handful of passages from Isaiah, demonstrating further a truth that he has already put forth: The pagan Gentiles, by God’s grace, are included in the blessings of the covenant.

This inclusion proves, according to Paul, that Israel understood and rejected the gospel, because if they had not understood and rejected it, the Gentiles would not have been grafted in. This reality will be the subject of Paul’s attention in chapter 11, so we won’t belabor the point further.

Suffice it to say, Moses and Isaiah effectively demonstrate that the inclusion of the Gentiles serves as irrefutable proof that Israel knew and understood the gospel as declared by Moses and the prophets, and yet rejected it in disobedient unbelief.

Up this point I have argued these points under the assumption that Israel was unbelieving and disobedient. I now want to look more closely at these realities and make them clearer from the text.

Israel has not believed the gospel

Paul has implied up to this point that the gospel necessitates both belief and obedience, summarized in this idea of the obedience of faith.

Let’s break that down, first with Israel’s lack of belief.

Paul is making explicit what he has been implying since 9:1: Israel has not believed the gospel savingly.

Unbelief, along with disobedience, is an effective summary of what Paul has taught us regarding Israel up to this point. In chapter 9 we saw that they pursued a righteousness of law rather than of faith, in chapter 10, they have ignorant zeal for God, they have sought to establish their own righteousness, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

This is Israel’s folly. Their self-absorbed self-pursuit of self-righteousness has left them bereft of gospel salvation.

Paul leans once again into Isaiah to make his point, this time from Isaiah 53.

We need to understand the basic points and structure of Isaiah 53 in order to understand what Paul is doing with this quotation.

Isaiah 53 LSB

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him? So His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But Yahweh was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If You would place His soul as a guilt offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many, And He will divide the spoil with the strong; Because He poured out His soul to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53 is familiar to us all, and is rightly understood as a prophecy regarding the passion of the Christ. However, it’s important to note Isaiah’s tense here. He’s not speaking into the future, saying “He will grow up, He will have no stately form or majesty, He will be despised and rejected by men,” etc. Isaiah is reflecting prophetically on the past.

What we must deduce therefore is that Isaiah 53 is an eschatological song of lament, a song that will be sung in the future by Israel when they finally look upon Him whom they pierced and mourn him as one mourns an only son, according to Zechariah 12:10.

Paul invokes Isaiah to appropriate and extend the prophet’s point: Israel has not yet mourned over their piercing of Christ. Despite the faithfulness of the prophets and the apostles to preach the gospel to Israel, they have not believed the report. The future that Isaiah speaks of is the same future that Paul speaks of. In Isaiah’s day, in Jesus’ day, in Paul’s day, and in our own, Israel has yet to believe the report of Christ.

This failure of belief and obedience, as we saw, is what opens the door of salvation to the Gentiles, and this will be Paul’s focus in chapter 11. Nevertheless, as Isaiah did, Paul looks forward to the day when, as Isaiah 54 intimates, the barren woman will bring forth children, and the one whom God turned away from for a time will be restored in fullness of fellowship to her covenant Lord.

We’ve examined Paul’s three explicit points. Now I want to dig deeper into some of the implications contained here.

Hearing and understanding do not necessarily result in saving faith

This is an important implication for Paul and it’s important for us, even as we consider the practical realities and implications of gospel proclamation.

Verse 16 implies that, even though the prophets and apostles have been faithful to declare the message, there will still be unbelief. Paul’s own experience certainly reflected this reality. We need look no further than Acts 13 to see this demonstrated with clarity. Paul arrives at the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch and preaches a rousing sermon to the Jewish congregation there.

What happens as a result?

Acts 13:44–52 LSB

And the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. “For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, they went to Iconium. And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Barnabas preached faithfully. Nevertheless, their message was rejected, at least by the Jews. Interestingly enough, this scenario in Acts 13 is the prototype for what Paul will teach us in Romans 11: that the Israelite’s rejection of the gospel results in all the more proclamation to the Gentiles.

Apart from Isaiah 53 which demonstrates with clarity the rejection of the Messiah, we see examples in the gospels of Christ and His message being routinely rejected. No passage sums this up more clearly and succinctly than John 1:9-11

John 1:9–11 LSB

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

It is therefore to be expected that the preaching of the gospel may, and indeed most likely will, meet with rejection.

This has practical implications for us. We saw last week that the call to preach in such a way that the gospel message might be heard is not just a mandate for prophets or apostles or pastors or church leaders, but it’s a mandate for the church, whether you’ve been a Christian for 60 years or 60 days.

If we are called to proclaim the gospel then we must always associate that calling with the promise of rejection. It seems counterintuitive. Why would we do something that will likely result in failure?

I want to point out a couple of things here as we consider the reality of gospel rejection that I trust will encourage you as you go day by day and week by week into your world to proclaim the gospel.

We need a Biblical definition of evangelistic success. What do I mean by this? America has been plagued by an unbiblical and impractical and discouraging theology of evangelism for the last 150 years or so. This bad theology was propagated during the second great awakening, which was really not much of an awakening at all, due to the number of heretical movements and unbiblical teaching that was fabricated during this period. Of note to us this morning is the movement’s approach to evangelism. 2GA evangelism theology centered around emotional manipulation with the goal of getting people to make a profession of faith and get baptized at any cost. This happened most often at revival services, tent revivals, or camp meetings, where a highly emotive preacher would use time-tested public speaking techniques to arouse the emotions of his hearers and manipulate them into praying the sinner’s prayer. These meetings would often feature something called an anxious bench, where “seekers” were encouraged to sit and “anxiously” await the emotional experience that marked “true conversion.” These meetings also featured altar calls, where the speaker would invite those who wanted to “accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior” to come up to the front of the tent or building and pray the sinner’s prayer. All of this was for one purpose and one purpose only: to increase the number of professing converts. The measure of evangelistic success became the number of conversions, not the faithfulness of the message preached or the spiritual growth of the converts or membership in a local church. The long-term effects of these practices on the American church have been devastating to this very day. There are still churches who measure success by number of attendees and professions of faith and baptisms in a year. One of the most prominent and formerly conservative denominations in the US had leadership saying just earlier this year that the focus of the denomination should not be on raising up Biblically qualified leadership, nor should it be on preserving doctrinal fidelity, nor should it be on cultivating a robustly Biblical worldview amongst it’s member churches. No, these leaders said, the focus should be on the number of professions and the number of baptisms and everything else is a Satanic distraction. Friends, let me be clear with you this morning: if our focus is on getting massive numbers of converts and baptisms, we will be burned out, we will be disappointed, and we will find that our ministry is a ministry of straw, not a ministry of precious stones. The measure of evangelistic success is not the number of converts. It’s not the number of baptisms. The measure of evangelistic success is this: was I faithful to preach Christ and Him crucified? Did I preach the whole law and the whole gospel? Did I preach the covenant of works and the covenant of grace? This is why Paul emphasizes God’s sovereignty in election so strongly and repeatedly. If we as gospel proclaimers were the ones responsible for ensuring that people got saved, we’d burn out in the blink of an eye. I can’t imagine the pressure of feeling like my evangelistic message and my persuasive tactics and my eloquence were the primary cause of someone’s salvation. But the faithful evangelist can rest easy at night knowing that our proclamation, while a necessary cause of salvation, is not the sufficient cause of salvation. Only the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, enacted according to the electing foreknowledge of the Father, is a sufficient cause of salvation. Time keeps me from telling all the stories of church history, in which the most effective evangelists were the ones who took God’s sovereignty in salvation most seriously. In light of that, therefore, when we share the gospel with others, if we walk in knowing full well that many and even most of our hearers will reject the message, we can nevertheless proclaim the gospel with confidence and joy because we trust that God is powerful to save sinners through the folly of our preaching, because the measure of our success is not the quantity of converts but the quality of the message.

The reality of rejection ought to encourage and strengthen us. This sounds counterintuitive, so let me explain. If the prophets and the apostles and the great missionaries of church history and Jesus Himself were all rejected as they preached the gospel, we ought not fret and think ourselves higher or mightier than them when our gospel proclamation is also rejected. If we affirm, as Paul does, the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation, we must also affirm that our efforts to proclaim the message with clarity so that it may be heard, are not the primary or sufficient cause of salvation. Our efforts are certainly necessary, but nevertheless secondary in God’s economy and administration of salvation and redemption. Therefore, we can preach the gospel with great confidence, and rest easy at night, knowing that ultimately God is the one who saves. The Father is the one who has set his electing love on His people from before the foundation of the world, the Son is the one who accomplished our righteousness and atonement in the fullness of time, and the Spirit is the one who makes dead hearts alive to the wonder and beauty of the gospel so that they might be saved. Our calling is to be faithful to proclaim the message and leave the results up to God.

Rejection is to be expected. Paul and Isaiah lament: “Lord who has believed our report?” I can assure you today that this lament will become yours if you take the call to evangelism seriously. Nevertheless, we can take heart, knowing that God will save according to His good timing and His good pleasure.

Israel’s unbelief opens the door to salvation for the Gentiles

We considered this idea briefly in point 2 and I want to return to it now.

This is an interesting point and one that has been mishandled, misconstrued, and misappropriated over the course of church history.

Paul provides 2 Old Testament examples demonstrating this reality. First from Moses, who declared that this door-opening unbelief would in fact be part of Israel’s future, and secondly from Isaiah who confirmed this eschatological reality.

This truth was not only theoretical for Paul, but experiential. He was initially called by God as an apostle to the Gentiles specifically, having been uniquely suited for this ministry as a bilingual dual citizen with an extensive cross-cultural educational background. However, we see in the early days of Paul’s ministry that he ministered to many Jews. We already looked at Acts 13, which serves as the pinnacle of this reality in Paul’s ministry as he is roundly rejected by the Jews and declares decidedly that his ministry moving forward will be to the Gentiles, and from Acts 13 onward, we see Paul interfacing with Jews as he comes across them in the Gentile context, but by and large his ministry is to Gentiles.

This is a great irony, perhaps the greatest in all of Scripture, that in God’s sovereign decree, Israel’s rejection of the gospel message would be the means by which the fullness of the Gentiles would be grafted in. This subject will be Paul’s focus in chapter 11, and I don’t want to take away from that study in the coming weeks, but I do want to leave us with a thought this morning by way of practical application: Israel’s unbelief is at the same time a source of great consternation and great comfort for the Gentile believer.

It is a source of consternation because bemoan the unbelief of all people, but certainly we bemoan the unbelief of that ancient theocratic people to whom were given the riches of the covenant. We weep over Israel, as Paul did, as Jeremiah did, as Christ Himself did.

But as He always does, what men mean for evil, God means for good. In His providential decree, Israel’s unbelief is the means by which the gospel goes forth in power to the rest of the world. The evil of Israel’s unbelief is orchestrated by God as the vehicle through which all nations, tribes, and tongues would hear the gospel. Therefore, Israel’s unbelief is also a source of comfort, for in it, we see that God is good and does good, at all times and in all places, even when the situation seems dark and grim.

Israel’s unbelief does not place ethnic Israel beyond the saving power of God

Paul closes this chapter with an ominous quotation that is nevertheless tinged with the light of God’s saving glory. Verse 21 contains allusions to all kinds of Old Testament passages, and carries the weight of many of Jesus’ most ominous parables, including the parable of the vineyard and the parable of the day workers.

The quotation here comes directly from Isaiah 65, which is a rich chapter full of gospel comfort. In fact, I would argue that everything you need to know about the saving promises and power of God is contained in Isaiah 65.

What’s interesting is that actually both 20 and 21 are quotations from Isaiah 65. Verse 20 quotes 65:1 and verse 20 quotes 65:2. It would seem that Paul appropriation of Isaiah in this way indicates that Isaiah 65:1 was to be understood to be regarding the Gentiles and 65:2 was to be understood to be regarding Israel.

I would affirm this reading, but not in the way you might think. I believe Isaiah and Paul’s intent is to establish that God’s mercy in allowing himself to be sought by those who did not ask or seek for him, to declare himself to those who did not call on His name, to spread out his hands all day long to a rebellious and obstinate people, is for all people.

God’s empathetic mercy demonstrated in these compelling word pictures is for both Jews and Gentiles, for neither have sought after God. Neither have called upon His name. Both groups of people have equally provoked Him with idols. Yet He still holds out his saving hands of mercy, His everlasting arms of grace, to people who have hated and rejected him.

Paul therefore is careful to remind his readers in context that the open hand of God is still offered specifically to Israel as an ethnic people. God is not removing the availability of mercy from Israel, for to do so would be a denial of His own means by which He intends to save: confession, belief, and calling. If He withholds that from anyone, He is no longer a truly gracious and truly merciful God.

What Paul and Isaiah in unison prove is that the wickedness and unbelief of Israel does not place them beyond the saving grace of God. There is yet hope for Israel because there is yet hope for all who still have life and breath in their lungs. There is hope for Israel because all they must do is call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.

Paul thus roundly condemns the wickedness of theological anti-Semitism. If Israel is not beyond God’s capacity for love and mercy and salvation, then they are not beyond our capacity for love and mercy and gospel proclamation.

Now I am not here to say that we should excuse every action that the Jewish people take and kiss the ground upon which they walk. That is very much a reality in our world today in certain circles and it is dangerous. We need to be just in our apprehension of real evils that are committed in the world, including real evils committed by ethnic Israel. We cannot and must not excuse anyone, including Jewish people, for their sins and wickedness, whether in the personal, corporate, or political realms.

However, it is easy to overcorrect and become filled with hatred and loathing against the sinful and wicked people that surround us in our world. Whether it’s the Jewish people, or Democrats, or Antifa, or Gavin Newsom, or Anthony Fauci, or Nancy Pelosi, it’s easy to be filled with hatred against these people.

But Paul is clear: such also were you. Before God in Christ poured out mercy on your soul and breathed new life into your spiritual lungs, you walked in equal darkness to these people.

And Paul and Isaiah are both clear as well: These are the same people to whom God is stretching out His hands of mercy. The same ones whom He is permitting Himself to be found by.

We affirm that the Jewish people and the leadership of our country in both parties and the rioters who mob the streets and the wicked leaders who oppress their people and suppress the truth, we affirm that they are obstinate and rebellious and provoke God. But we also affirm in the same breath that God yet stretches out His hands to them, that He yet offers mercy to all who would call upon His name.

Therefore we have a responsibility as Christians, as God’s ambassadors on this earth, as the hands and feet of Christ, to likewise stretch out our hands to these people, proclaiming Christ’s saving gospel to them. They are not the enemy. They are the mission field.

For Paul specifically here, his heart is for Israel. His heart is for the Jewish people. God is stretching out His hands to them. As His ambassadors, we also have a responsibility to stretch out our hands, in prayer and in gospel proclamation, to the ancient covenant people of God.

Why? Paul will answer the question in the coming weeks: Because, out of Israel, He has saved a remnant for Himself, and the salvation of that remnant means a greater glory for the combined people of God. Therefore, glory for Israel is even greater glory for the Gentiles. And that includes you and me.

May we be a church who looks with eagerness for the day when God will save for himself a remnant of Israel, and by so doing, demonstrate his saving power and glory to the world.