Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. (Romans 9:6-9)
Simply by reading the news you wouldn't know it, but an enormous issue in the debate about Israel and Palestine is that a huge number of Americans believe that the Jews, or the Israelis, are the people of God and are subjects of the promises made to ancient Israel and Judah. The theory is that the United States must retain God's favour by supporting Israel in every way, under any conditions. I am not against Israel any more than I am against Lithuania or Congo, but is the nation of Israel really heir to the promises of God?
This passage shows clearly, that nationality and ethnicity are not important to God. Said another way: God is not a jingoist, God is not a racist. God makes promises, and he acts according to those promises. In this instance the promise involved Sarah, and so must the fulfilment, so Isaac was the ancestor of the Jews not Ishmael. More about that another time.
Paul is giving a lengthy explanation on who the people of God really are because most Jews were lost; and still are. He is explaining that God has not broken his promise by not saving the Jews, he never promised them unconditional salvation, it is because they have not kept their side of the bargain.
For those of us living in the West, it is very easy to demonise the Arab world, Russia and China, but God is not into that stuff. God wants everyone to be saved, and we ought to be doing our best to spread this gospel through the whole world without spreading western culture and politics in the process.
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