How can God blind the rest of Israel?
God can blind the rest of Israel because He is sovereign and can do anything He wants. Scripture states the election obtained it and the rest were blinded, and the explanation given is that God's sovereignty permits Him to act as He pleases.
Les explains that after the statement that the election obtained it and the rest were blinded, the question arises how God can do this. His answer is that God is Sovereign and He can do anything He wants. So the blinding of the rest of Israel is possible because God has the sovereign authority and power to act as He pleases. No further reason is given beyond His sovereign will.
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
More Questions
How can God blind people?
God is sovereign and can do anything He wants, which explains how He could blind the rest of Israel.
Does Israel's blindness mean every individual Jew is blinded?
The spiritual blindness God set applies to Israel as a nation as a whole, not necessarily to every individual, since the election obtained it.
Is the blinding of Israel in Romans 11 the same thing as God giving people up in Romans 1?
The same judicial giving-up that happened in Romans 1 is what is happening with the nation of Israel in Romans chapter 11.