Israel’s present status
What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8 as it is written:
“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear,
to this very day.” 9 And David says:
“May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.”
Thinking that they had to earn salvation by keeping God’s holy law was the mistake Israel as a nation was so prone to fall into. Recall Paul’s earlier analysis of the situation involving Jews and Gentiles: “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works” (9:30-32).
To be sure, Israel earnestly sought righteousness, but they tried to acquire it in the wrong way and therefore did not obtain it. When Israel insisted on going it alone, without God’s grace, they put themselves in an impossible situation. Drawing from the wording in Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10 for verse 8 and quoting Psalm 69:22,23 for verse 9, the apostle writes: “What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.’ And David says: ‘May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.’”
When people refuse to accept God’s grace, it eventually reaches the stage where they no longer can receive or accept it. Then spiritual hardening sets in. (See the case of Pharaoh, discussed in connection with 9:16-18. See also Isaiah 6:9,10).