Does God completely reject his chosen people? No. Based on scripture found in First Kings nineteen verses seventeen and eighteen, the author argues that God has reserved for himself a remnant among Israel. He states that he, himself, an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin is part of that remnant. This argument of election by grace is found in verses one through five.
The author qualifies that argument in verse six. If election is by grace, then it is not by works, if otherwise, then grace would no longer be grace. If election is by one's works, then it is not by the grace of God, then one's works would not be works but grace, would negate election by grace, would make a lie of the word of God.
What it boils down to, in the author's opinion, is that Israel has not obtained what it sought through it's works but the individual who has heard and believed (that is to say, the election) has. It is black and white. Either one sees and hears by way of faith in the Word or one is blind and deaf. This argument is based on scripture found in Isaiah six verse ten and in Psalm sixty-nine verses twenty-two through twenty-eight.
In verse eleven, the author asks if Israel has fallen and can't get up. He hopes not. He says, “God forbid.” He believes that the fall of Israel is the salvation of the gentiles, the riches and the reconciling of the world – through which Israel may be provoked to jealousy and some, in turn, may also be saved. The author puts forward the thought that if the casting away of Israel can accomplish such a thing, the receiving again of Israel will be like the raising of the dead.
In verses sixteen through twenty-one, the author brings up the truth that if the roots of a tree are holy then the branches that the tree bears are also holy. If the firstfruits, like the initial lump in which the yeast is added, is holy then the whole lump, that is, the remainder of the dough that is kneaded in later will also partake of the same nature. He goes on to liken the tree to a cultivated olive tree, its nature fat with goodness, upon which some of the natural branches have been broken off. In their place, wild branches were transplanted. To counter the argument that the branches that were broken off deserved to be broken off, the author reminds the reader that such is the nature of God. The root bears the branch and not the reverse. If God spared not the natural branches, the wild branches should not make their boast at the expense of those who were removed for unbelief. Rather they should remain humble and fear God who has the power to remove anyone who does not continue in God's goodness.
In verses twenty-two through twenty-five, the author exposes both the goodness and the severity of God. Those grafted onto the good olive tree came from a tree that was wild by nature. God has the power to do such. Moreover, if he can graft in wild branches and make it work, he can also remove the wild and graft back in the natural branches. One should not be high-minded. That belongs to unbelief. The author presents this argument as a mystery he wants the reader to understand. Ignorance of this mystery is the blindness of Israel and a reason for their fall. It will be that way until God accomplishes all of his plans for the gentiles.
The author concludes in verse twenty-six that all of Israel shall be saved. He writes, “There shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Israel).” From Wikipedia I get this about Sion: Zion is a placename often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the biblical Land of Israel as a whole. We know that the ministry of Jesus both began and ended in Jerusalem. The author uses Isaiah as his source material.
Isaiah fifty-nine verse twenty, “A Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD. Isaiah fifty-nine:twenty-one, “As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says the LORD:” and Isaiah twenty-seven verse nine, “And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin.” The author uses these portions of scripture to support his argument of a future national regeneration of Israel.
In verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine, the author points out that there are two issues at work, namely, both an acceptance of and belief in and through the gospel and the election and calling of God which the author states is irrevocable. In verses thirty and thirty-one, he reminds the believers that there was a time when they did not believe. They simply fell into the vacancy left by the unbelief of the Jews and so obtained mercy. He sees it as a natural cause and effect the extension of which infers that the mercy they now enjoy will be a bridge by which the Jews shall also have mercy. One thing leads to another.
Verse thirty-two is crucial to the author's argument and is presented as the foundation upon which his argument is built. God has 'reset' everyone to the unbeliever level so that he can save all through his mercy. That effectively negates the works of man and sets God's will as the standard by which salvation is obtained. No man may receive God's grace through his own works or by his own will. Redemption through the mercy of God must come by way of belief in his only begotten son, Jesus Christ.
Just past the effusive praise that the author lays out before God, the final verse holds a concept of universal proportion. It is a truth so vast and all-encompassing that it may be seen in the smallest detail. All things, all matters, all beginnings and all endings, all hopes, all works, indeed, every particle of being and existence, itself, may be summed up in the word 'One.' It is all from One, it is all through One, it is all to and for One. My use, here, of the word 'One' refers to First John five verse seven, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, The Father, The Word, and The Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
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