We recently saw how the unchanging God is the God of contrasts. Now we see in Isaiah 65.1-2 that God, who has chosen Israel as his particular people, calls other people as well. Believers often take great comfort in the idea that the Lord has chosen them, and they do so rightly. At the same time, some Christians will pursue various special interests in the name of full-bodied Christianity. For instance, many Christians will celebrate the Jewish feasts, or at least some of them, observing that they are a tremendous symbolic representation of God's redemptive work in Christ. Some Christians will become militant Zionists, considering that national Israel can really do no wrong, as they are God's historic chosen people (I write this shortly after reading that Israeli ground troops have invaded Gaza after a week of air strikes. Are they putting down a terrorist threat? Are they taking opportunity to run roughshod over Muslims and Christians who are living in that area? Is there some of both?). On the other hand, some Christians emphasize what we call "discontinuity" to a fault. If it pertained to God's people Israel, since I am a Gentile convert, it must not pertain to me. I will celebrate my heritage as a person from another culture and will discount Judaism entirely. This is not right, as God revealed himself first to the children of Shem.
What is a positive we can take from this passage? In these last days, God has sought out people from all nations. Jesus Christ has come to take away the sin of all the world. He has given his life on behalf of sinful man, not on behalf of people of a particular tribe, language, or nationality. He has also not limited his forgiveness based on the heinousness of our sin. Jesus has come to atone for sin, period. And he has done so on behalf of people who were not seeking him, including Jews who should have been seeking him and Gentiles who had no expectation of his presence at all. Our Lord has presented himself to people who were not called by his name. He has given them his name and called them his own.
Lord, make us walk according to your ways. Give us your desires. Let us follow your devices, not our own.
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