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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Chapter 11 ch. 11:1-10 ch. 11:11-24 ch. 11:25-36 The
Remnant Of Israel (ch. 11:1
– 10) From
what Paul has said in chapters nine and ten you might think that God has
altogether rejected Israel. Paul
therefore opens chapter eleven with this question.
“Did God reject His people”?
His answer is predictable. “By
no means”. We
need to understand the word "Israel" here as Israel as
understood in Old Testament terms.
This is not some "spiritual Israel", or the church
as some people think. Remember,
Paul is aiming these words to Jews, biological descendents of Abraham.
There's no way he could be thinking of "a spiritual
Israel" when using the word "Israel".
The Jews would not have understood that at all.
Paul is not going to think in one sense of the word while his
readers think in another sense of the word.
There's no logic in that.
One
reason why Paul says that God has not totally rejected Israel was that
Paul himself was an Israelite. Therefore
if he was saved, accepted and blessed by God, then God obviously has not
rejected all the Jews. In
verse 2 Paul states that God did not reject Israel "who He
foreknew". The
"foreknowledge of God" is a huge issue and I won't elaborate on
it here. The term simply means
that God knows the future before the future happens.
He knew all about Israel, and her failings before the creation of
the world, and that did not distract Him from choosing Israel to be a
special people. As we saw
earlier in Romans, God choice of Israel as being special was His own
personal choice and had nothing to do with how Israel acted.
Paul
quotes from 1 Kings 19:10 – 14 in verse 3.
He cites the passage where Elijah pleads with God by saying,
“Lord, they have killed your prophets and have torn down your altars; I
am the only one left and they are trying to kill me”.
In verse 4 Paul states God's response.
God says to Elijah by saying, “ I have reserved for myself seven
thousand who have not bowed their knee to Baal”.
Notice
in the above passage that it says that “God has reserved for
Himself…” It appears that
God has sovereignty set aside some people within Israel for Himself that
Paul calls “a remnant”. A
remnant is a small piece of some larger thing.
What Paul is saying here is that God has set aside a small group of
Israelites for Himself and in so doing has not totally rejected Israel.
God has to be true to the covenant He spoke to Abraham.
There must be some Jews to inherit the blessings of the covenant. In
verse 5 Paul says that in like fashion, as in the days of Elijah,
God has set aside a remnant of Jews for Himself, and he is one such
Jew. In
verse 6 Paul says that God set aside these people by His grace alone, not
by any good works they have done. He
says that if the setting aside of these people was by works then grace
would not be grace. Salvation,
or in this instance, being God's chosen people,
is totally by grace. There is no mixture of grace and works.
If there were, then grace by definition would not be grace.
This thinking is a repeat of what Paul said in chapter 9, and
throughout his writings. We
cannot underestimate the grace of God by trying to add our own good works
to His salvation. The
grace spoken of here is in contrast to the Law of Moses.
When Paul uses the word "works", he is speaking of the
Law of Moses, as well as the Rabbinical laws, of which there were
hundreds. The Rabbinical laws
were meant to clarify the Law of Moses, to make things simple, but it
really made things more complicated. The
Jews not only had to obey the Law of Moses, but also the law of the Jewish
religious leaders. Jesus had
changed all that. He had
replaced any kind of works of law with grace.
In
verse 7 Paul says that most of Israel did not get what they sought after.
The rest, “the elect” as he puts it, did receive what they
sought after. Their attaining
God’s acceptance was based on God’s grace, and their faith or trust in
His grace. It was not based on anything they might have done.
Paul
speaks of the “elect” here. This
is a word that has been often debated over.
Who is the elect? I
believe the word as it is used in the sentence and in the context of the
verses before shows us who these people are.
I believe the elect are those Jews who have believed, and who have
received from God by faith. The
rest of the Jews have had their hearts hardened according to Paul in verse
7. They cannot, nor will
not receive any aspect of salvation, which would include being numbered
with God's chosen people, that's Israel. Paul
goes on to say that the rest of Israel was given over to their hard
hearts. “God gave them a
spirit of stupor, eyes so they could not see, and ears so they could not
hear.” Remember when God
hardened Pharaoh’s heart. We
concluded that God did not do something against Pharaoh’s will.
Pharaoh’s heart was already hardened. He just hardened it more as
a form of judgment. The same
here. Israel had already
fallen far from God and His ways. God
did not do something against their will.
In judgment He basically said, “if you don’t want to see me or
hear from me, then I will judge you and blind your eyes and deafen your
ears so you can neither see or hear me”.
This is a form of judgment. You
may be able to say that if God has done this to people in the past, He
certainly can judge nations and individuals in the same way today.
God only gives, and has given what people want.
If they don't want Him, He helps them along in this. Another
thing to note here is that the judgment I just spoke about was against
those of God's people. If
God's people turn their backs on their God, and become like the world
around them, then God will judge them as He judges the world.
This would include the church today.
Part of this judgment is that God causes His unrepentant people to
be blind to the truth. This is
one important thing we see of God throughout the Bible.
We need to know that God will do such a thing, even though many
people don't believe that any more. In
verse 9 Paul quotes from David in Psa. 69:22 and 23 to continue to back up
his point. David speaks of the
tables becoming a snare and retribution to the Jews.
I believe this is speaking of the religious system of the Jews.
Their very religion that was meant for them to find God will get in
the way from finding their God and will end in their judgment.
Ingrafted
Branches (ch. 11:11 – 24)
Let
me remind you that all the way through Paul’s letter to the Romans he
presents a number of questions that he answers.
Once again Paul is building a case, as in a court room.
He makes a point.
He asks a logical question that one might ask in response to his
point. He
then answers the question and goes on to the next point, all in an attempt
to lay out in clear fashion what he wants to say. So
here again in verse 11 we have another logical question.
“Did they (the Jews) stumble so far as to fall beyond
recovery”? His
answer, “not at all”.
Can you see the pattern Paul has been using.
He asks the question.
He gives a short three word answer, and then he proceeds to explain
his answer. The
answer to this question is important in the discussion of Paul
is saying that there is going to be a remnant of Jews who come to the Lord
and when the “full” number comes, their will be even greater riches to
the world than that which has happened when the Gentiles were brought into
the family of God.
This is important to understand, so I will say it again.
God rejected many Jews because of their disobedience, but in
the end opened salvation to the Gentiles.
The result is that many Gentiles got saved.
There were so many Gentile believers that after a while they out
numbered the Jews.
Now, if that is the case with I
think it is important to note that concerning this end time revival, there
is still a distinction between Jew and Gentile in the mind of God at the
end of this age. Yes, in one sense of the word, we are all children of
God, yet there is still a distinction made here.
The Abrahamic Covenant that was spoken directly to the descendents
of In
verse 13 Paul reminds his readers that he is speaking to Gentile
believers, not Jewish believers.
Paul specifically states that he is an apostle to the Gentiles,
something some Jews, even Jewish Christians struggled with.
God had called Paul to preach salvation to all people.
Paul's
preaching to the Gentiles is spoken of in verse 14.
He hopes that the Jews will be jealous of Gentiles finding their
God. He
hopes this jealousy will bring many Jews back to their God.
Paul has stated this a number of time before.
One thing to note here is that the Gentiles were being won over to
the Jewish God, not a Gentile god.
That being said, this Israeli God is thee God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and this God was being rejected by the Jews.
In
verse 16 Paul repeats himself again, yet in another way.
He says, “For if their (Israel‘s) rejection is the
reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from
the dead?” I
see "life from the dead" as "resurrection day" when
all saints of Christ will be raised to their new heavenly bodies. I
say this because of all of the Old Testament prophecies stating that Verse
16 is somewhat hard to understand. Paul
says that if part of the dough is holy,
then the whole batch of dough is holy.
He says the same about a root of a tree.
If the root is holy, the branches will be holy.
This means that the dough and the root will affect the whole loaf
and all the branches.
In the end, God will have a holy loaf of bread, a holy tree.
That is why Paul speaks what he does in the verses to come.
In order to get a holy tree, some unholy branches will be cut off.
Paul
relates all of this to an olive tree in verses 17 and 18.
The original tree is the family of God, consisting of the Israelis,
children of Abraham.
Because of their unbelief some of the Jewish branches were cut off
the tree. This
meant that those who had faith in Jesus, that is Gentiles, were grafted
into the tree where the Jewish once were.
Paul tells the Gentile Christians not to be too arrogant about this
blessing, because if they loose their faith, they could be cut off as
well. Even
though some of the Jews were cut out of the tree, they can still be
grafted back into the tree.
This is what Paul says will happen.
This fact alone tells us that God is not finished with the Jews
yet. Verse
18 states that the Gentile branches don't support the olive tree.
It's the other way around.
The root of the olive tree supports all the branches, which
includes the Gentile braches.
Paul says this to make sure the Gentiles don't go overboard and get
arrogant, which throughout church history has happened.
There
are some today in Christian circles that teach that all Christians,
Israeli and Gentile Christians are saved by faith in Jesus, but once
saved, must obey the Law of Moses to stay saved.
They use this passage about the olive tree to back their thinking.
They say that Gentiles have joined the Jewish tree.
Jews haven't joined a Gentile tree.
Therefore Gentiles should take nourishment from the Jewish roots
and follow Jewish tradition and the Law of Moses.
I don't believe this thinking to be Biblical.
You will notice in verse 18 the reason why the Jews were cut off
and the reason why the Gentiles were grafted in.
It is all a matter of faith, or, trusting Jesus with one's life.
The Jews were cut off because of unbelief Paul says, and the
Gentiles were grafted in because of faith. Obedience
to the Law of Moses or circumcision has nothing to do whether one is a
branch or not.
Again, it is all a matter of faith in Jesus.
In
verses 19 to 24 Paul reiterates that fact that the Jews were cut off from
the tree because of unbelief, and if that was the case with Jews, the same
would be the case with Gentiles.
Gentile Christians should then fear God, and remain in His
kindness, remain in the faith, lest they be cut off like the Jews.
Note that being afraid of God is important.
That is what "fearing God" means.
It does mean reverence, but it means more than just reverence. In
verse 3 we see that if the Jews do not remain in unbelief they can be, and
will be, grafted back into the tree.
This is what will happen at the end of this age. In
verse 24 Paul compares the Gentiles to a wild olive tree and the Jews to a
cultivated olive tree.
He says that grafting a wild branch into a cultivated tree goes
against nature, but God can do it.
If this is the case, there is no problem with a cultivated branch
being grafted back in to its own tree.
Gentiles
are seen as wild in the eyes of God, and so are unbelieving Jews.
God views His Jewish family as being cultivated, domestic, and not
wild. This
shows us the special nature of All
Israel Will Be Saved (ch.11:25-36)
In
verse 25 Paul says, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this
mystery…" The book of
Romans is a defense of salvation by faith.
Part of the salvation message is the salvation of the Jews.
Paul does not want people to be ignorant of this, but sad to say,
many people are ignorant of these things today.
In
verses 25 and 26 Paul goes on to say that Israel has experienced a
hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles have come in”.
Here is the word “full” again.
Earlier it was used with Israel.
Now it is used with the Gentiles in mind.
It is clear that Paul is saying that there is a certain number of
Gentiles that will be saved. When
that number is reached, Israel will return to the Lord.
Then there will be a certain number of Jews that will be saved. In
my thinking, at least to date, I see Gentile Christians being saved during
the Great Tribulation. If I'm
right on this point, then during the Great Tribulation there will be a
vast number of people getting saved, as I've mentioned earlier.
At some point during the time of tribulation the last Gentile will
be saved, and shortly after comes the influx of Jews into God's family,
that will reach its maximum with the return of Christ.
Paul
makes a dramatic statement in verse 26.
He says, “all Israel will be saved”.
Once the “fullness of Gentiles” comes in
“all Israel will be saved”.
Paul is saying that at some future point the all who are Israelites
will return to the Lord. You
could say that “all Israel” at that future date is the remnant talked
about earlier in the chapter. It
appears all Jews living at this time will be saved, but it is a remnant
when compared to all Jews throughout history.
Some
interpret Israel in this verse as “all Christians”, both Jew and
Gentile, since Paul has mentioned earlier that “everyone who claims to
be a Jew is not necessarily a Jew”.
It is very clear from the context that Paul is speaking about
“the nation of Israel”. He
is not talking about “a spiritual Israel” consisting of both Jews and
Gentiles. Once again, we
should understand Israel in these chapters to refer to the descendents of
Abraham as was understood in
the Old Testament because this is the way in which Paul has been using the
terms Jews and Israel. It is
bad Biblical interpretation to suggest the Jews are a combination of both
Gentile and Jews. In
verses 26 and 27 Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20 – 21 and Isaiah 27:9 when
he says, “the Deliverer will come ... and this is my covenant with them,
when I will take away their (Israel‘s) sins.”
This covenant was spoken to Abraham, confirmed with Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, and others all the way through the Old Testament, including the
prophets. If you read
Zechariah 12 through the end of the book, you'll see Israel's deliverance.
The point is that they have never been delivered in the way these
promises state. Therefore
God’s covenant, His promises of the Old Testament is still meant for the
Jews, not for a spiritual Israel, and certainly not for the church.
In
verses 28 to 32 Paul says that concerning the gospel, the Jews are enemies
to you, since they are in unbelief, “but as far as election is
concerned, they are loved by God on account of the patriarchs”.
What does this “on account of the Patriarchs mean?
Patriarchs refer to the fathers of Israel, meaning Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. God gave these men
specific promises. He gave
these men a covenant that would apply to their descendents only and not to
any one else. God will honour
these promises and the covenant. He
cannot, nor will not take these promises back.
And again, these promises have nothing to do with works, with
Israel's ability to live up to what God wants.
It's all a matter of God's sovereign choice.
We've seen that very clearly. The
word "election" here refers to the fact that God has chosen the
Jews, or "elected" the Jews to be special. The Greek word used
here is "ekloge", which means "to choose".
It was God's choice to pick Abraham.
Abraham did nothing, nor was worth anything to be picked by God.
Abraham was later "declared" as righteous because he came
to trust God, but that was well down the road, way after God chose him to
be special. In
verse 29 Paul says that , “God’s gifts and His call are
irrevocable”. This means
that if God made a promise to Abraham and to his descendents, that promise
will be fulfilled to them, and not to anyone else.
Paul clearly says that God will have mercy on the Jews and bring
them back into the olive tree, bring them back into the family of
salvation, because that is what He promised Abraham.
This is an important verse for those who believe the church has
taken the place of Israel in prophetic history.
It is not in God's nature to dishonour His promises.
Verses
30 and 31 make it clear. The
Gentiles now have the opportunity for salvation due to God's sovereign
choice. The Jews will once
again have their opportunity, also by God's sovereign choice.
There is still hope for the Jews, and even more than hope.
There's God's unchanging promise. Verse
32 says, “God has bound all men over to disobedience, so that He can
have mercy on all men”. We
have seen this picture earlier in Romans.
Paul proves beyond a doubt that all men have fallen way short of
God’s intention for them. Here
Paul says that God has “bound all men” over to their own disobedience.
He has let them stray as far as they want from Him,
yet in so doing, God will have mercy on all men.
He did show His mercy in the life of Jesus to all mankind.
Paul
ends chapter 11 with a doxology. It
is as if he has finished his discourse and now ends it with great words
about God. In a sense he has
ended his argument. From here
on out Paul goes into a different direction.
He begins to state the practical consequences of being saved by
faith. Paul
ends this part of his letter by saying, “O, the depth of the riches, the
wisdom and the knowledge of God! How
unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever! Amen."
We see how Paul views God here.
He has given his life to Elohim, the creator God, who is Lord above
all there is. These are
the words from a man who "really" knows God and the Lord Jesus
Christ. These aren't
superficial words. This is a
great enduring theological treatise.
You see the greatness of God in comparison to the wretchedness of
man. God is beyond our
knowing, but through the Lord Jesus Christ, we both know of God and know
God. So
in light of who God is, who we just saw, you can be assured that what He
says about His people Israel will certainly be as He says.
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