.
Is this by force? Why couldn't their dead relatives participate? So God is going to force them to follow Him just because they are Jews? Some will be saved, as with every other nation in the world.
He doesn't force them Cassandra. He creates them and he repairs them. Consider again what God tells Israel through Ezekiel.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
1. Give you a
new heart
2. Put a
new spirit within you
3. Remove your heart of stone
4. Give you a heart of flesh.
We use this kind of language all the time. How many times have I heard the testimony, "He came to Jesus and became a new man." He was a drunk; he was a fool; he was mean; he beat his wife; he yelled at the kids; he spent his money on the ponies and didn't leave enough for the rent. One day he stops to hear a couple of young college women preach the gospel, and looking right at him they say, "Jesus loves you sir, and he forgives you." He goes home and cries hot tears for hours. He spends days alone, stunned and unable to function. Then, one morning, he wakes up a new man. He preaches the gospel to his wife, his kids, his neighbors, his friends. He gets a steady job, pays all his creditors and works to help others.
Some time during his tears and struggle to make sense of everything, God put a new heart and a new spirit in the man. And the next day, when he woke up, he was a new man.
God doesn't force people to follow him. Instead, he gives them a new heart and a new spirit. After that, they follow him.
And this is a response to what I've bolded
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance."
He doesn't pick and choose. He wants all to come to Him. The ones that died last centuries as well as the ones who live this century.
Yes, Peter
does say that God is not willing for any to perish. In this context Peter is dealing with people who have lost hope and have given up on the promises God made to Israel. Those who openly voice despair cause other people to doubt and begin to lose faith. For this reason, Peter defends the faith by giving his readers another explanation for why God would delay his promise.
First of all, God works his plans over many thousands of years, operating on a geological time scale. God's work day is like a thousand years to us. But in the end, he is going to destroy it all with fire. So why did he create the world then? Seems like a futile exercise right? He creates a world; the process takes thousands of years; and when he is all finished he torches it? What purpose did it serve? What does it mean?
Peter is telling his readers that although God will destroy this world, it serves a great purpose. This world is the venue wherein the human race learns wisdom, learns about God, learns to appreciate and value what God values. But lest we forget, each one of us is part of this creation. Each person in creation is placed here to help God give expression to his character. Some of us were created to be judged; others were created to be forgiven. In this way, God is able to demonstrate his justice, his mercy, his patience, his righteousness, his goodness, and his love. He creates each person to play a role in history, which demonstrates some aspect of God's character. On the one hand, God
desires that none should perish but regrettably, in order for God to reveal his justice, he decided to create some who would perish. Peter tells his readers the meaning and the purpose of destroying the world by fire. He writes, "But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men."
So we might ask ourselves, "did God plan to destroy the earth in this way, or was this an after thought?" This speaks to the larger question, "Is God reactive or proactive?" In my studies I have found that God is proactive, not reactive. He created the world knowing in advance that he would destroy it, which means he knew in advance the purpose it would serve, i.e. the judgment and destruction of ungodly men. Paul the Apostle, writes about this in his letter to the Romans saying, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Romans 8:20-21
During these many thousands of years, many people will be born and many will perish, but the question remains, who among us will come to understand that this world is not permanent and that we are all seeking something more permanent, more fulfilling, more just, more righteous and more loving?
Peter is expressing God's heart when he says that God is not willing that any should perish and that all should come to repentance. But he also brings his explanation back to the creation story, helping his readers understand the nature of God as creator. The flooding of the world was not an accident. God destroyed it on purpose. The destruction of Sodom was not an accident. God destroyed it on purpose. The destruction of human beings is not an accident; God destroys them on purpose also. But he also created them for that purpose. This is why Paul says that God creates some to be vessels of judgment while he creates others to be vessels of mercy. Human beings don't decide which vessel to be. God does.
Gal 3:28, 29
"28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Romans 2:28,29 "A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God."
They broke their covenant with God.
The Jews have the same opportunity as everyone else to be saved or lost.
Not just because they are Jewish. Read the Parable of the Tenants Matt 21:33-43.
Also when Jesus comes back the dead will be raised and all of His people will meet him in the air.
1 Thess4:16
'For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever"
Yes, the Bible tells us that we an opportunity to be saved. That is, there is an opportune time when the call goes out. For instance, David writes, "Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness . . ." But Paul reminds his Hebrew readers that, "they were not able to enter because of unbelief." Hebrews 3:19 But God tells Israel, on that day he will soften their hearts and give them a new heart and a new spirit.
If God is not willing that any should perish, why does he not soften everyone's heart?
