Baal - Romans 11:1-4

I honestly have no idea about how Paul flows from one topic to another, and maybe at some other point in my life I will understand, I think for now all I need to focus on is the message, so I’m going to stick with that for now. But some of the topics are pretty interesting, such as when Paul points out that even though many Jews had rejected the Savior, “hath God cast away his people?” God forbid.” Just because the majority of Jews alive at the time of Christ didn’t accept Him as their Savior, doesn’t mean that they are done as a people. And honestly, that goes for all people, this is a basic tenet of the gospel, Jesus will always take us into his fold whenever we are ready to accept Him, regardless of our nationality, race, time we lived, etc.

Paul uses the word “foreknew” to describe the Jews that rejected him. The chapter summary implies that this word means “foreordained,” which it probably does, but I think it makes another very important point, and that is that God knew before the world began that his chosen people would reject his message in the majority. This helps us remember the eternal perspective in that God knew everything that would happen before anything even started, so all of this is accounted for and factored in to his plan.  
As proof that God didn’t reject Israel because of their rejection of His Son, Paul points out that “I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” I think that ultimately it comes down to feeling alone when you’re trying to do the right thing and follow God. I bet the saints, and especially the Jewish Christian converts, felt very alone in Rome. Ostracized as apostates by their fellow Jews, most of whom they had probably been very close to most of their lives, looked down on by common Romans, having their whole dynamic shift by accepting gentiles in to their new religion, and as we’ll see later, some of those gentiles didn’t come in with good attitudes towards the Jewish saints.
I feel very alone a lot of times, especially when things get hectic or the wind blows or something stupid like that. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that you can be alone without being lonely most of the time, but there are going to be those moments where your heart just aches. I think about how those Jews most have felt, being rejected by their fellow Jews for their new beliefs, those were probably life long friendships that vanished, and that leaves a gapping hole.
Then your mind starts messing with you, and you wonder if all of this is even real. I have that happen quite frequently, I’ll have to stop myself and think about all the times I’ve had the truthfulness of the gospel testified to me and then I have to decide again if I really believe it and if I’m really willing to live this life in pursuit of that truth. I always decide that I am willing and I’m able to “convince” myself that what I believe is real, and honestly, it’s kind of an interesting practice because it helps me remember my spiritual experiences and what my testimony is based on.
Paul brings up the account of “Elias” who lamented the wickedness of his fellow Israelites and their rejection of the commandments. Elias felt very alone in his pursuit of righteousness, and prays saying, “I am left alone, and they seek my life.” The IM says that Paul “quoted an Old Testament account describing Elijah’s despair over the wickedness of Israel’s people, many of whom had turned to worshipping false gods such as Baal. Elijah believed that he was the only righteous Israelite remaining; however, God told him, ‘I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal.”
It’s hard to live in a way that everyone else is not, and really, 7,000 people is a lot, but scattered throughout the whole nation of Israel, it was pretty diluted to the point where most of them probably felt alone. But this is a time where we have to see the eternal perspective, and from where we are looking up, it very well might seem like we are the only ones, but for God looking down, he sees all of us in number. This is an opportunity for us to build a strong personal relationship with God, and that’s beautiful but it takes work, and sometimes life is hard.