Oh, the Depth of the Riches of God’s Wisdom and Knowledge!

Israel has been left hardened for a time, until all the Gentiles have been saved. In the end they too will turn back and be saved. This order of things is God’s plan, and it is beyond human understanding.

A shepherd puts up a fence to guard the flock, and if a sheep tries to get over it, he will hold it back, even if he has to tie it with a rope. That is love, not bondage. In the same way, when God shuts us up in our disobedience, it is because he means to keep us safe. The Jews thought of themselves as the chosen people and refused that fence, and so they ended up further from his protection.

Neither the Gentiles nor the Jews are saved as a whole. Those who respond in faith are the ones who are saved. God does not go back on his calling, and his grace never runs dry. No one can fully fathom his wisdom, and nothing is left but to praise him.