The Mystery of Minority Opinion Leadership

Scripture: For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you be wise in your own estimation, for a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

    “The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
         and He will remove ungodliness from Jacob”;
    “for this is My covenant with them,
         when I shall take away their sins.”

As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but as regarding the election, they are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:25-29

Observation: Paul makes a difficult claim - "all Israel will be saved" despite the fact they are currently hardened against the gospel. This sounds a lot like a way to salvation independent of Jesus. However, we know that cannot be as stated throughout the New Testament. Therefore, what Paul is really saying, I believe, is more along the lines of clarifying whether or not Israel has been entirely abandoned. He recalls Elijah's battle against the Baal's as an example that God never abandoned Israel.

In other words, this is not a conversation about individuals, but people-groups. Israel as a people-group remains the chosen people and God's chosen vessel for promise in the world. However, they still need to make individual choices about accepting Jesus. Meanwhile, their leadership's response to the Messiah fostered and drove the gospel out of Israel to the Gentiles, and thus benefits that people-group by allowing individual choices about accepting Jesus. Paul's discussion, therefore, is not about individual sanctification, but rather about the function of Israel in blessing the world, which has always been the nature of their election.

Application: It is interesting today to see the idea of individual groups of people driving worldwide events, while individuals within those groups make personal decisions contrary to the primary narrative. This is true of all politics in the U.S., with both sides being filled with hatred and anger while most Americans watch on TV. I expect this is true of Muslim extremists, who attack and kill innocent people while most Muslims is seems are saddened by those actions.

The "mystery" then is in understanding how God raises leaders by which a minority becomes the visible action of a group, while the majority avoid such activity and often behave the opposite. And honestly, I do not fully understand this myself. This is especially true for terrorist groups ... actions primarily from a religious group that are consistent with their actions for over 500 years, but now with much more deadly consequence through the progress of technology. How can this be?

With Israel, God's plan was evident - the blessing of the world through the undeniable revelation of the Messiah and spread of the gospel, which required minority leaders to oppose their own evidence. I do not understand how radical Muslim extremists and terrorism fit into God's plan. I do not see how the current state of American politics possibly supports any positive outcome. I see a similar pattern, but it is a mystery.

Prayer: Lord, thy kingdom come. Soon. Please. Amen.