Paul addresses the Israelites’ opportunities and responsibilities. Paul explains that Christ is Lord of Jew and Gentile (for there is no difference) and blesses all who call on him. He breaks down the process leading up to anyone who calls upon him, starting with believing in him. You cannot call on one they have not believed in. You cannot believe in one of whom you have not heard and you cannot hear without someone who has been sent to preach to them. Faith comes by hearing the gospel message about Christ. Yet, not all the Israelites accepted the good news of Christ. But, it was not because they did not hear it. The gospel went into all the earth.
If Israel heard it but did not believe it, maybe they did not understand it. To answer whether they understood, Paul quotes Moses in Deuteronomy 32:21 first. It reads, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” Then, he quotes Isaiah who writes, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me” (cf. Isa. 65:1). These first two quotes have Paul discussing the Gentiles who did not have the same advantages as the Jews but God revealed Himself to them and they “found” Him. They were not looking for Him and did not have the same background and understanding that Israel had.
Did Israel understand? Yes, they understood. In contrast to the Gentiles, Paul then quotes Isaiah 65:2 concerning Israel, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” Yet, this does not mean that no descendent of Abraham could be saved because God had rejected them all. “There is a remnant chosen by grace (Rom. 11:5) and Paul references himself and the seven thousand in Elijah’s day who had not bowed the knee to Baal as an example of Israelites who were not rejected and who were a part of the remnant, ) chosen by grace, not works (11:5-6).
The elect among the people of Israel obtained what they earnestly sought to obtain because they accepted God’s grace. But, the people of Israel were hardened. They sought to be justified by the works of the law. Verse six explains, “And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”
To explain their hardness of heart, he quotes two Scriptures. First, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day” (Deut. 29:4; Isaiah 29:10). Second, David says, “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever” (Psalm 69:22,23). The Bible’s teaching on the hardness of heart and the elect are often attributed to divine predestination. In other words, God chooses individuals to be saved and others to be lost. In response to this, the Scriptures are clear that God is not willing that any should perish and that the gospel is for whosever will accept it. When God speaks, he may be said to harden hearts or soften them. His word has that effect on two different hearts When God said through Moses, “Let my people go, “Pharoah hardened his heart (Ex. 8:15, 32; 9:34). Later, Exodus 10:1 and Exodus 11:10 tells us that God hardened Pharoah’s and his officials. Yet, God did it by giving the command. When God speaks to people who hardened their hearts, he is said to harden them. Being a God of truth, he never lies. Individuals who do not love the truth and seek their own path create their version of the truth. It is similar to people who have told the same lies for so long they believe it has happened the way they tell it. Regardless of the numerous reasons for this behavior, they are deluded. The Bible teaches that God sends a strong delusion to those who do not love the truth (2 Thess. 2:10-13). He does this not by placing some voodoo on people but through the wicked and reprobate minds of human agents. It is not unusual for God to providentially place unrighteous men and deceivers to influence those who do not love the truth. The faithful remnant are not like this. They seek the truth because they love it. They will use any lawful strategy to understand and apply it to their lives.