7-10 And 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.

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What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.(A) The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,(B) as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that could not see
    and ears that could not hear,(C)
to this very day.”[a](D)

And David says:

“May their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 11:8 Deut. 29:4; Isaiah 29:10