It’s the same today. There’s a fiercely loyal minority still—not many, perhaps, but probably more than you think. They’re holding on, not because of what they think they’re going to get out of it, but because they’re convinced of God’s grace and purpose in choosing them. If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago.

^7–10And then what happened? Well, when Israel tried to be right with God on her own, pursuing her own self-interest, she didn’t succeed. The chosen ones of God were those who let God pursue his interest in them, and as a result received his stamp of legitimacy. The “self-interest Israel” became thick-skinned toward God. Moses and Isaiah both commented on this:

Fed up with their quarrelsome, self-centered ways,

God blurred their eyes and dulled their ears,

Shut them in on themselves in a hall of mirrors,

and they’re there to this day.

David was upset about the same thing:

I hope they get sick eating self-serving meals,

break a leg walking their self-serving ways.

I hope they go blind staring in their mirrors,

get ulcers from playing at god.

Read in Logos