“He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. However, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, since He had promised him to give a lamp to him through his sons always” (2 Kings 8:18–19).

In this passage, we discover the theological reason for God’s mercy and unmerited grace toward the people of Judah. Although Judah’s king had completely turned his back on God, something—or should I say someone—stayed God’s hand from destroying Judah. Judah’s hope, which is also the hope of the entire world, was not conditioned upon the deeds (good or bad) of Judah’s leaders. Rather, Judah’s hope was firmly planted in the soil of God’s election of David and in His unconditional promise to set a king upon his throne forever (see 2 Sam 7:12–16).

But because the great majority of Israel rejected their Messiah in the first century, the Gentile believers in Rome came to a rather twisted conclusion: that God had changed His mind about His gifts and calling of Israel (see Rom 11:1–6, 17–24). But God’s “theology” regarding Israel did not change after the cross. For God’s election, gifts, and calling of Israel are not based on their good or bad works, for that would be a completely false gospel. The same hand that refused to destroy Judah because of David, before the coming of David’s greatest Son, is the same hand that will preserve and ultimately redeem Israel because of God’s unconditional election and irrevocable promises to their fathers.

“From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:28–29).