God hath not cast away his people which he
foreknew
The apostle goes on with his answer to the objection, by
distinguishing and explaining who he meant by the people God had
not cast away, namely, which were "foreknown" by him; for all
mankind are in a sense his people, being made, maintained, and
supported in their beings by him, yet they are not all foreknown;
for were they, they would be all predestinated, called, conformed
to the image of Christ, justified and glorified; but some of them
will be cast away, being bad and wicked, and will be sent into
everlasting punishment: and though the people of the Jews in
general were the people of God, being in a sense chose, known,
and distinguished by him from the rest of the world, yet they
were not all a "foreknown" people, in the sense the apostle uses
the word; wherefore a great number of them were cast away, of
which afterwards the apostle speaks largely in this chapter: but
then there were a people among them, that were the people of God
in a more special sense; they were chosen by him from everlasting
to be his people; they were taken into the covenant of his grace
as such; they were given to Christ as his people, and were
redeemed and saved by him on that account; and were, or were to
be called, with an holy calling, when they are openly declared to
be the people of God, whom he foreknew: he not merely knew them
before, by his general prescience and foreknowledge, which
extends to all persons and things; or foresaw their faith,
holiness, and good works, and so chose them for himself; for
faith, holiness, and good works, are fruits and effects of
electing grace; but he so knew them before, even from all
eternity, as that he approved of them, liked them, loved them,
and took delight and complacency in them: now these his people he
never did, nor never will cast away. Their numbers may be but
very small in some periods of time, yet none of them are cast
away; God may not immediately arise to their help and assistance
in time of distress, or so soon as they desire and expect; he may
withdraw his presence, hide himself, and stand at a distance from
them; he may afflict them in a fatherly way, when they may think
he has cast them off, or cast them away; whereas he never casts
any of them away, nor out of his heart's love, nor out of his
sight, nor out of the covenant of his grace, nor out of the hands
of his Son, nor out of his family, or so as that any of them
shall perish eternally; so far from it, that he takes the utmost
delight in them, grants them the greatest nearness to himself,
bears the strongest affection for them, and takes the most
diligent care of them; whoever casts them out of their affection
and company, he will not; the reasons are, because his love to
them is unchangeable, his purpose concerning their salvation
stands firm and sure, his word and oath are unalterable, his
gifts and calling are without repentance; and they are his
jewels, portion, and inheritance; they are as the apple of his
eye, and continually held by his right hand. The apostle next
replies to this objection, by putting them in mind of the case
and state of the church of God, in the times of Elijah; and what
judgment that prophet formed of it, and in which he appeared to
be mistaken:
wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias?
do ye not know? ye cannot be ignorant who have, and read the
Scripture, what it says of Elias, or "in Elias"; that is, as the
Arabic version renders it, "in the history of Elias"; in the
account it gives of his life and times:
how he maketh intercession to God against Israel,
saying:
that is, how he spoke to God in prayer concerning Israel; and
instead of praying for them, as the prophets were wont to do, he
was obliged to bring a complaint against them for their idolatry,
contempt of the worship of God, and violent persecution of his
true followers. The apostle chose to mention this instance
because there was some likeness between his case and Elijah's;
and the state of the people of Israel at the then present time,
and as in the times of Elijah; for as the Jews in his time killed
and persecuted the prophets of the Lord, so in the present time
they had killed the Lord Jesus Christ, and persecuted his
apostles; and as Elijah, though one of their own prophets, was
obliged to make intercession against them, so the apostle, though
one of their own countrymen, could not but speak against them,
and of their just rejection by God: and this he observes, to
soften their resentments against him, when so great a prophet had
done so before him: and this the Jews themselves own {p}, for
they say that Elijah (larvy le
ayyrwgyjq rbdm) , "brought an accusation against Israel":
and it is observed by another F17 that
``coals are said of Isaiah and Elijah, because they delivered an accusation against Israel: one called them a people of unclean lips, and the other said, for they have forsaken thy covenant:''which is the apostle's sense.