Romans 9 - Understanding God’s Love for Israel
 30What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.”Â
33As it is written:
   ”See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble
      and a rock that makes them fall,
   and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
Knowing the definitions of righteousness put forth in the Old Testament, this makes perfect sense. Recalling all the countless times it seems that one prophet or another wrote of Israel’s correction or discipline by God, it would seem that they didn’t believe God much. It took extreme actions against them, for God to later withdraw, in order to get just a few Israelites to believe His words and obey Him out of zealousness for Him. The rest of the time, the peaceful times, when God was sheltering them and protecting them, the Israelites would do as they pleased. When they had the peace to worshipped, they worshipped false gods; when they had victories in battle, they took for themselves concubines and idols. And now we see that when they worshipped in the temple and followed the Law of Moses, they were not doing so out of righteousness stemming from belief, they were doing it to earn the righteousness that can only be obtained by grace.
God did this, made an example of His people whom He loved, and still loves, for the benefit of mankind that they may be saved by grace. I consider myself greatly blessed to have been born a Jew, and lived to have Christ fulfill in my life what God promised my ancestors thousands of years ago. And it is people like me that are the point; I say this out of no false modesty, for I am hardly worth it, and know many people whom I pray for, that the seeds I see in their lives might blossom into fig trees, that is, faith in Christ. No, I say this out of truth, for it is what God has said through His word… as Paul wrote earlier in this chapter:
19One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
 22What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
I of a doctrine called annihilationism, which is the belief that people not saved have their spirits annihilated, instead of going to Hell, which is reserved for Satan and his demons. I find it a comforting thought when reflecting on scriptures such as this, and see that Romans 9:22 would back that up if true.  I will not be so bold as rule this out, but I do not think the scripture bares it out… on the other hand, it has not mattered to my own salvation to know, which is why I have not studied it. But citing this verse does me think of it. Perhaps I should study it. But I digress, for it is not the point. Paul above does not assert that he his correct, but I find his hunch a reasonable one for why God saves some and not others… a world where everyone is good would require no faith. A world where God doesn’t require faith would not result in the kind of love that I and other Christians have for God. On the “saved” side of the equation, the result is awesome… on the condemned side, not so. But by seeing that what I understand is reasonable, I extrapolate God’s overall intention and action to be reasonable. Though I do not understand it all, I believe Him, and obey.