The people of the promise
May God continue to bless us,
Let all the ends of the earth revere him. Psalm 67:7
Read Romans 11:25—32
I would have to admit that I have a deep ingrained tendency to see this Gospel I believe in from a very restricted perspective. In the instance of this passage, for example, I try to conceive how the nation of Israel could ever come to joyfully embrace Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah and Saviour. I can long for it. I can pray for it. I can join missions that engage in it. And perhaps the Lord may lead me to do these things, rightly. Rightly. But there remains a mystery to understand: it is God himself who is bringing the Gospel. That is, after all, how it happened to me. I responded to the movement and the conviction of the Spirit of God. So as I pray for Israel I am caught up into a mystery. I am participating in the unseen purpose of God.
Gracious God, I thank you for choosing to be the special Lord of an ordinary people, for loving an unloved people. I thank you for your purpose to bless the world through Israel. I thank you that Israel’s Messiah is my Saviour, and calls me his friend as well as his servant. I thank you that you are fulfilling your purpose to bless the nations, and that your revealed purpose is that the nations will bless your people in turn. Take me fully into your purpose. And may those of the nations who live in your blessing be a blessing in their turn to the first to bear the promise.