 Throughout the Bible Israel is often referred to as God's chosen people so the question is why are they rejecting Christ? Well I want to give you the main reason the true reasons for why the Jews reject Christ as their Messiah. When we consider the promises that God has made to Abraham remember God makes a covenant with Abraham and notice what he says and then he says I will make you a great nation chapter 12 verse 2 of Genesis and I will bless you and make your name great and so you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and the ones who curse you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed and so here we see God making a covenant with Abraham or in this case Abraham and that his descendants will be blessed they will be a great nation which naturally means there'll be people a land and the interesting thing is that the promises that God has made to Abraham as well as his descendants have not been fully realized so is it that God's promise is going to be nullified has he changed his mind well none of that is the case he is going to fulfill his word and even in that built into that though we don't see it at the time is even Israel's rejection then ultimately their acceptance of their Messiah. Israel is and always has been a proud nation and because of the promises that God has made with them and for them the natural expectation is God where are you going to restore the king will bring the kingdom to Israel as a matter of fact even the apostles as Jesus is meeting them before he departs for his ascension they ask him the very same question in Acts chapter 1 verse 6 they said Lord is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel so even they were anticipating and wondering Lord when are you going to bring the kingdom to Israel the problem is by and large Israel is rejecting Jesus as their Messiah as a matter of fact it's one of the concerns that Paul brings up and we'll deal with that in just a little bit but the problem is Israel is not accepting Christ as their Messiah the question is why a lot of this stems from when Israel made God jealous because they went after other gods and so God makes a statement in Deuteronomy 32 starting verse 21 it says they have made me jealous with what is not a God and his response is they have provoked me to anger with their idols so I will make them jealous with those who are not a people I'll provoke them to anger with a foolish nation well this foolish nation and those people who are not a people are the Gentiles and that is how God is going to one bring in the Gentiles but also bring the Jews back to him so notice what God is saying he's saying what he will do and then what they will do he will put there or his laws in their heart other passage tells that he will put his spirit in their heart and they will not reject them they will walk with him they will not turn away from the statues or his teachings they will be his people and he will be their God the reason why that's important is because at some point in time though Israel has rejected him now they will not at some point in the future also remember that he has not neglected or will never cease to have Israel as a nation before him that's important notice what he says in chapter 31 staying there in verse 35 says the Lord who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night who stirs at the sea so that is waves roar the Lord of the host is his name if this fixed order does not depart which we have not seen depart yet from before me declares the Lord then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever so the point is that since we still have the stars we still have the moon we still have the suns we still have the waves as long as they haven't departed then neither will Israel ever cease to be a nation before the Lord they will be a nation before the Lord the problem is they have not been a devoted nation to him right now why had they turned their back on the Lord well here's the primary reason why it goes back to their pride as a nation and that's the problem their pride is in their heritage in their nationality in their culture rather than in god that's the point jesus is unlike them jesus is humble jesus cares for the other people jesus deals with people who are not jews the jews don't like that and so because of that the jews have always plotted especially their leaders have plotted to kill jesus now this has been prophesied as well and jesus even makes his statement statements also made in matthew 27 first 18 for he knew that because of envy jealousy that they had handed him over so jesus was aware obviously that the jews especially the Pharisees did not like what he was doing he was basically upsetting the apple car and for that reason that was one of the main reasons why they did not like him jesus spoke harshly of their hypocritical ways and how they would defile the word of god and not use it fairly and notice what he says he says do not think that i came to abolish the law or the prophets i did not come to abolish but to fulfill well one him making that statement was a problem for them because who does this person think he is that's going to be another sticking point for the jews but he says first 18 for truly i say to you until heaven and earth passes away not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished that includes him dealing with israel now something else that he says immediately after that is in verse 20 and this is the problem for the jews because their their heritage their pride their nationality was a source of their at least in their eyes perceived righteousness and what does jesus say says where i say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribe and the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven they thought highly of themselves when there was no need to there was no reason to what they should have put their faith and their trust in was in god almighty they didn't do that and one of the greatest reasons why they did not like him personally was because he jesus claimed to be god he would make statements he says that i'm the i am and unless you believe that i am he then you will die in your sins before abraham was i am the jews didn't like that the jews wanted to kill him as a result of that jesus asked him why which of these good things that i do or what does i say that makes you want to kill me they said not for any good works that you've done but because you a man call yourself or make yourself out to be god and so they obviously they had an issue with it they thought that jesus was a blasphemous heretic someone who has come to destroy the law jesus said again i didn't come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law and paul tells in romance 10 that jesus is the end of the law well what does the law require the law requires that that there be this sacrifice to atone for sins and so jesus would put himself squarely as the person who would atone for sins they did not like that they didn't like the fact that he would even say that he could forgive sins thankfully for israel even though they have not been faithful god is faithful god is faithful to his word and what he said he is going to do going back from the old to the new and one of the greatest reasons for israel turning their back on god is so that us as gentiles will also be brought in keeping in mind that god has stated he is going to make a people who are not a people at a nation a foolish nation use them to make israel jealous notice what he says in romans 1180 says just as it is written god gave them who israel the jews a spirit of stupor eyes to see and not ears to hear and so god has brought about this spirit that has caused them to not understand why is that we're going to get to that but notice what he also says in romans chapter 11 verse 25 he says why do not want you brother to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be unwise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to israel and look at the reason why or at least when until the fullness of the gentiles has come in and so all israel will be saved just as it is written now what does this mean that all israel will be saved does it mean that everyone who's a jew will be saved no all of those who are israel who are nationally ethnically of israel they who will they will be saved at least those who have placed their faith in christ that is according to god who the true jews are going back to romans 1111 he says i say then they did not stumble so as to fall did they may have never been that is israel they didn't stumble so as to fall but by their transgression salvation has come to the gentiles to make them jealous remember god has stated he's going to make them jealous with the gentiles now paul stated earlier that this is a mystery and notice what he says in colostians 125 he says that of this church that is those who have placed their faith in christ we are now part of the church i was made a minister according to the stewardship of god bestowed on me for your benefit so that i might fully carry out the preaching of the word of god notice what he says that is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations but has now been manifested the saints to whom god will to make known what is the riches of his glory of this mystery among the gentiles which is christ in you the hope and glory and the truth is they should have picked up on it because the name abraham is a father of nations plural which meant that there was naturally going to be more than just the jews but this mystery this miss this thing that that the jews did not quite get is now being fulfilled that god has also brought about salvation to the gentiles remember when the holy spirit was given to the gentiles in ax 10 the jews marveled that even the holy spirit is now upon them why because the jews were proud people and sometimes let's be honest sometimes a bit prejudicial at that time they only thought that the riches of god the revelations of god and took work was only for them but god is made known as paul says that this mystery it's always been that god has always had a plan not just for israel but for the gentiles as well it's just that with the jews god was giving us an example of either how to follow or in many cases how not to follow but god is using the gentiles to bring about his plan to bring the jews in and that brings us to why the jews have rejected christ because as he said they've been given this partial hardening why so that the jews would see the gentiles coming in this partial hardening would be taken away when the fullness of the gentiles in and then god will start dealing according to jeremiah 31 he'll start dealing with the jews and how will he do so in the same way that he's dealt with the gentiles by regenerating their hearts giving them the mechanism internally the spirit to cause them to keep believing and to keep following his word now if you notice in romans 9 to 11 paul has a concern for israel and we mean the nation of israel because they are not accepting christ which is the point of this video why the jews have rejected him and he wants to be known that it's not going to be so forever notice what he says in romans 10 14 because if they have rejected them well then how will they come back and this is what paul's addressing says how will they call on him in whom they have not believed even though this passage has been and can be used for anyone who doesn't know the lord it can be used evangelistically in particularly though it's referring to israel the they is they how will how then will they the jews or israel call on him in whom they have not believed how will they believe in him whom they have not heard and how will they hear without a preacher how will they preach unless they are sent just as he's written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things this is where the gentiles come in the gentiles will be the ones who will preach the gospel and we see this now preaching the gospel to the jews however they did not all heed the good news for isaac says lord who has believed our report so faith comes by hearing and by hearing the word of christ and notice when we say the word hearing it's not the verb hearing but it is the now a koa which is a report most of what you're going to see paul referring to or harking back to is going to be prophecies from isaac we're going to go there in a second as to what god is going to do with israel and have these prophecies and isaac verify this out but he says so faith comes by hearing by the report which we get from isaac whose report shall they believe they've not believed our report notice what he says in verse 16 but i say surely surely they have never heard have they indeed they have who's the vague that is israel israel has heard the gospel but he says their voice has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world but i say surely israel did not know did they first mosa says i will make you jealous by that which is not a nation by a nation without understanding i will anger you and so here we are coming full circle to why they have been rejecting god because now because god has given this partial hardening the spirit of stupor at some point in time while they're being made jealous the gentiles are going to be the very tool those that have made them jealous be the very ones to bring them to give them the gospel he says in verse 20 isaac was very bold and says i was found by those who did not seek me i became manifested those who don't ask for me that is us gentiles but as for israel he says all day long i have stretched my hands to an out to disobedient people and obstinate people but the question is is their rejection complete is god through with israel notice what he says in chapter 11 verse 1 he says god has not rejected his people has he which we spoke of and clearly there are some jews that have placed their faith in christ fall for one other jews the first christians in the bible were jews and even to this day we've got some jews that are placing their faith in christ but the overwhelming reason why this not happen because god has placed a spirit of stupor a partial hardening on israel it's not a complete hardening again some jews are coming in what is going to happen when the time comes god is going to work with israel god is going to fulfill his promise and one of the promises is that israel is going to by large as a nation they are going to say some words what are the words well the words that isaac gives in 53 these are prophetic words of what israel is going to say now although we as gentiles may also say these words these are prophetic about israel which is why they are spoken the verbs are in past tense but god is going to affect the hearts of israel and they will say these words they will say what paul says they will in verse 1 chapter 53 who has believed our message or our report what paul said in chapter 10 of romans and to whom has the armor of the lord been revealed for he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of the parts ground he has no daily form or majesty that we should look upon him nor appearance that we should be attracted look what it says he was despised and forsaken of men a man of sorrow was acquainted with grief and like one who men hid their face he was despised and we did not esteem notice he's using past tense verb why because israel is going to say this in the future about what happened to jesus knows what it says surely our griefs he himself bore past tense and our sorrows he carried we ourselves did not esteem him stricken smitten of god and afflicted he was pierced through for our transgression he was crushed for our niceties past tense words the chast the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging guess what guys we are healed all of us like sheep have gone astray each has turned to his own weight but the lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him the iniquity of israel to fall upon him and at some point in time in the future israel because of god's work in their heart is going to turn their hearts to him in the meantime why have they turned their backs on god when it was prophesied that they would do so israel as a nation will have turned their back on their messiah even to this day but at some point in time in the future they'll repeat the words of isiah and then we'll have one flock made up of jews and Gentiles led by one shepherd and so ultimately why has Israel turned their back on god well it's all part of a plan that god has designed to bring in jews and Gentiles to make one nation out of many people amen