If you’ve ever read Exodus, you may wonder whether or not it was fair for God to harden Pharaoh’s heart, especially when Pharaoh got to the point where he wanted to let the Israelites go. Is God fair? Did God condemn Pharaoh by hardening his heart?
Paul addressed this very issue in his letter to church in Rome:
Paul addressed this very issue in his letter to church in Rome:
Romans 9:18
God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
A bit later, Paul elaborates on this concept, claiming that God hardened even the Israelites against Him:
Romans 11:7-8
What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears that they could not hear, to this very day.”
Back in chapter 9, Paul explained that God chooses who he will call in this way so that He “might display [His] power in [those He calls] and that [His] name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Notice that in Romans 11:7, we see that Israel even tried earnestly to obtain favor with God, but God chose to call His elect, and “the others were hardened.” There is an important lesson for people who claim to be Christian today: even if people seek God, they are powerless to actually find Him! How does this square up with the view of most Christian denominations? They would say that the people that God hardens go to hell. If God is the one who hardened them, then how is it fair that they should be punished, especially if they seek to know God’s will? Isn’t this the Pharaoh dilemma all over again?
In Romans 11:11, it goes on to say that the Israelites did not “stumble so as to fall beyond recovery.” For those Israelites who had already lived and died with hardened hearts, how can this be? How will they be recovered?
Romans 11:15
But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!
This is saying that the Gentiles benefited from the fact that Israel was hardened, but that the Israelites will be brought to “fullness” in the same way that the elect are truly led to God. If the Israelites (who lived and died being hardened by God) have already had their chance, then how can they come to “fullness,” being called by God?
Romans 11:23
If they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
How can they “not persist in unbelief” if they are already dead? How will God “graft them in again?” Does this mean that they would be in hell until God came and scooped them up and grafted them in, even though they didn’t have to go through the same process of receiving the Holy Spirit and being tested and refined in the way that all believers must do?
Romans 11:26-32
Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written… As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
God’s call to Israel is irrevocable, but they will be hardened until the “full number of the Gentiles has come in.” That’s something that is definitely still happening today! How is it, then, that God has not revoked His promises to those physical descendants of the patriarchs who have lived and died with hardened hearts? How will “all Israel” be saved? In order for these people to be saved, they must be resurrected from the dead to physical life, in order that they may be given the Holy Spirit as we are, that they may receive God’s call as we have, and that they may be tried and tested, both as we are and as Christ was.
Romans 11:32
For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Paul clearly states here that God will show mercy to ALL men: he’s not even just talking about Israel anymore! As Paul explained, God’s mercy is His calling, and there is coming a time when He will show mercy to ALL men, resurrecting them from the dead so that they may receive their calling:
Revelation 20:4-5
[The elect] came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
First, God will bring the elect to “fullness” – that is, they will be part of the “first resurrection” to glory, and from then on they will reign with Christ. Next, the “rest of the dead”– those whom God did not call – will be resurrected in a second resurrection. They will not be resurrected to spirit, as the saints in the first resurrection; rather, they will be restored to physical life - flesh and blood. Then as many as who will respond to God's call will be brought to "fullness:" for God will “have mercy on them all.”
ahhh man. I just wrote a lot and had trouble signing in. all deleted. long story short, very nice job! I think it sums up a lot. You approach these questions thoughtfully and this article gives a nice analogy between undirected gentiles and "hardened" Israel, in the sense that their calling is permanent and the manifestation of God's mercy. But I'm still confused by mercy and what it means to all men, when the elect will receive the most. Mercy becomes relative, but an infinite spectrum of mercy is beyond argument -- I get that, at least.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot to change the comment settings for this site so that anyone can post without logging in, but it should be fixed now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement! While the elect are given mercy sooner and are exalted in the Kingdom, they also have more obstacles to overcome: “To whom much is given, much is required.” For those in the 2nd resurrection, there will be no doubt – people will be able to see and know that God is real and they will know exactly what they must do to serve Him. Also, prophecies related to the time of the 2nd resurrection indicate that people will live peaceful lives without physical ailments (Isaiah 65:20-25). I guess what I’m getting at is that the elect are given the greater opportunity at this time but at greater risk since there is presumably more temptation to turn aside now than there will be at the time when the rest of humanity is called.
I don’t think that point is sufficient to clear things up for you though. It sort of justifies why the elect are given “more” (namely positions of authority in the kingdom), but the more pertinent purpose of the calling is so that we can be saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), and this is something that will be extended to everyone eventually. I think perhaps you would find some clarification by nailing down exactly what the grace of God is and by being precise about what we are being saved from. Incidentally, I just did a bible study on this. I’ll write it up for the blog sometime this week.
Another thing to consider is that the 144,000 Israelites and the “great multitude” in Revelation 7 appear to be part of the 1st resurrection that come into the church just before the return of Christ. I would liken this to the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16, since they receive the same reward even though they come in right at the end.