Romans 15:27 – 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
Recently a man reminded me of the resentment that many have toward Jews, men with the belief that all the Jews are prosperous and that they are greedy and hoard money to themselves, to the lack of those who are not Jews. He fully expected me to share his resentment toward Jews. When I did not join in with him, his expression seemed to be saying that he thought me obtuse; my impression of him was that he certainly was not.
Certainly the Lord has blessed the Jews, even as they have been punished for their rebellion and disobedience. As we look through Old Testament times we see that even when the Jews were in exile because of their disobedience, God often blessed them wherever they went. Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Joseph, amongst others, were blessed while their country was being judged for the sins it had committed. Certainly the Lord showed favor to His children then, but what about now? What about throughout history leading up to now? If it is so that the Lord shows favor to the Jews, then what are we to make of it? We can choose to be jealous and hate them for the favor they have received, or, we can wonder what God is teaching us through this. Romans 11:39 teaches us that gifts from God are irrevocable. So is it possible that God, who has chosen, from His love, to bless the Jews, continues to do so (including His 20th century restoration of the nation of Israel, as He promised)? God does not love and then take His love away from us at every sin we do. Instead, He continues to love us, and to pursue us, always urging us back to the path to Him. Even if takes a couple thousand years, our God is relentless in His love! His Word, the bible, makes it clear that God had made a promise to Abraham and after these thousands of years, His promise still stands…amazing!
Romans 15:27 states that we owe a great debt of spiritual blessings to the Jews whom God first chose to be the priests that would reveal Himself to the world. It is they who cherished and guarded the words of God that we might have them now. It is through them that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was revealed, and His future as a man on earth, was predicted. Weren’t all the apostles Jews? In the Old Testament we find a great revealing of God and His promises to us. Haven’t we looked deeply into the writings of the Old Testament books and received insight, blessings and comfort? Certainly what the apostle Paul wrote, that we owe the Jews a great spiritual debt, is true. Paul was stating that the gentiles should gladly give of their blessings of this world to Jews, who gave us, from God, blessings from heaven. What was given back does not compare to what God has given to us through them! In gratitude for what God has given through the Jew to the gentile, the gentiles were asked to give what is temporary and fleeting for the permanent, eternal and secure.
What we learn is that God may bring punishment to a country for the sins it has committed, but He still loves those He has chosen to love (Hmmm, this brings to light why the marriage between a man and a woman illustrates the relationship between God and His church, and is therefore sacred, and not to be severed). He has loved Israel, that was His choice and His will, and not something they deserved. His love is given because He is a loving God and it is who He is to give love; none of us deserve His love. God gave us the bible to reveal Himself and His ways so that we might know Him. In it, what He reveals and commands are strips of the veil between us and the Holy of Holies. As we learn His word, these strips are being removed to see Him more clearly. He has chosen to reveal Himself to all who would want to know Him (and likewise to give those who don’t love God what they want, their own lives free of Him and living in darkness of knowledge of Him 1 Corinthians 2:14). Now as a husband, or wife, should not divorce their spouse because they fail to do their household chores as frequently as they ought to, likewise God does not divorce us because we don’t live perfectly as we ought to. God continues to love.
When we must discipline our children, it is not something we look forward to. Likewise the discipline is not evidence of our lack of love for our children, but rather a very strong effect of that love. We may tell a child that he must stay in his room for the rest of the night, but it doesn’t mean we don’t bring the child a dinner to eat while exiled to his room. We continue to love and bless the child even while we discipline him. If we, who are imperfect do this, isn’t this an example of how our perfect Father in heaven is? Indeed, God had exiled the Jew for their rebellion. He has given salvation to the gentile, who have shared His gospel to the world, when it was initially meant to be a blessing the Jew would do. Yet, in the disciplining of the Jews, God’s love and blessings are still seen. Also consider, that even now, with Israel as a nation once again, the restoration of the Jew is being birthed by God. The dispensation of the gentile is ripe and ready for harvesting, and the favor and knowledge of God is beginning to be restored to Israel.
God has said of Israel in Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God’s promises don’t disappear. To be jealous of, and hate the Jew, is to bring cursing on oneself, or one’s country.
To all, the fact that the Jew continues to be blessed by God is proof of the wonder of God’s love, first to the Jew, and also to us. Also, however, the disciplining of Israel is a warning to us. What is the greatest sin in the world? We can think of a lot of very terrible sins! Yet, what is the worst sin? It is the rejection of the grace of God, offered only through Jesus as recorded in the bible. While we are here on earth, if we reject Jesus and want no part of Him, then God honors that decision throughout eternity. However if you do not now claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He continues to love and call to you. It is not too late. If you do know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then as we strive not to sin, yet surely do, we have the confidence that He will continue to love and forgive us. Just as He has with the Jew. John 1:9 – 2:2 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
So, God continues to use the Jew to teach us. Even now they show us that God has loved us, from eternity past, and He continues to offer us hope. As God has kept His promise to Israel, so will He keep His promise of peace between Him and us, if we accept His offer of peace. His offer of peace is extended only through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Praise God who makes a way where there is no way! Praise our God who continues to love Jews and thereby gives us a living illustration of a God whose love is faithful and ever seeks us out. Praise our just and righteous God who loves beyond measure! Praise God.