Can’t you just see Jeremiah’s reaction to the Lord’s command
to stand in the court of the temple and preach repentance to a people who have
refused correction? He surely knew that
this wasn’t going to go well or bear fruit.
He was a lone voice among the prophets, the only voice it seems who was
telling the truth of God to the nation.
His prophecy was that if they refused to heed this warning this temple
would be like Shiloh, ruined and abandoned, and that, as we know from the
Gospels, won’t sit well with religious people.
They never believe in judgment beginning at the house of God in spite of
the fact it is all through the Word. The
first reaction of the officials, after the people have gathered round Jeremiah,
is to say that he deserves death for speaking against the temple. Sound familiar? Ultimately, however, Jeremiah claims to speak
for the Lord and now they aren’t as certain about the death penalty. He might be and that isn’t a risk they are
prepared to take.
The “Jews” ask Jesus to tell them plainly whether or not He
was Messiah and Jesus refuses to say “yes” or “no.” He does, however, say things like, “I give
them (my sheep) eternal life”, “I and the Father are one”, and that He is the
one “whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world.” He points to the works He has done and is
doing as witnesses to who He is but certainly these statements are simple to
parse as claims to being Messiah. They don’t
know what to make of Him and the one statement they find to be blasphemy is taken
away by His quoting other Scripture in defense.
Just as with Jeremiah, they can’t say for certain He isn’t speaking for
the Lord, better safe than sorry at the moment.
Paul is clear that some within Israel, a remnant, are the
elect while others are not. His point is
that the nation as a whole has not been rejected, that is an impossibility
because election is a permanent thing because the covenant is everlasting. The promises of God to Israel are irrevocable. To participate in that covenant and to
receive its blessings, however, one must believe, have faith in Him, not
believe based on works that make you deserving.
When Jesus claimed to be one with the Father it required then that you
believe not only in the Father but in the Son, not a new requirement, He made
the Father known and therefore to believe in the Son as the exact
representation of the Father is to believe in the Father Himself. You can’t disbelieve in the one who makes the
Father known and believe in the one made known.
Rejection of Jesus is rejection of truth and the Father is truth. There are some in Israel who are being saved,
will always be and have always been. All
have never participated fully in the covenant, only those who participate by
faith.
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