“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ‘Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life’? But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:1-5).
Life on planet Earth changes. Time, weather, circumstances, seasons, technology, and health are transitory. The only constant they share is change.
But, not everything about human existence changes. The nature of God is changeless (Malachi 3:6). Humanity’s inclination to do what seems best in one’s own eyes is a constant temptation. The eternal principles of righteousness do not wax or wane. Truth is constant and will outlive the heavens and the earth (Matthew 24:35).
When the sacred record of human history is studied for the purpose of becoming wiser about the nature of God, the foibles and enduring inclinations of humanity, the eternal principles of righteousness, and the deceitful devices Satan uses to exploit humanity, there is much to be gained from a study of history.
As referenced by the apostle Paul in Romans 11, a lie of Satan—that when God has cast away His people in times of widespread rejection of Him, it is impossible to be right with Him—is exposed for the slanderous falsehood it is. Regardless of whether you live in Elijah’s day, Paul’s day, or our day, God always has and knows the remnant of people who are loyal to Him in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
Such knowledge is one of the many invaluable blessings of a careful and thoughtful study of history.
