About Jesus    Steve Sweetman

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Chapter 11

chapter  10    chapter  12

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.

Paul quotes from 1 Kings 19:10 – 14.  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”.  God responds 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 . 

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 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.  

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.  

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.

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 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 Israel , and their place in history.  Some hold to the idea that Israel has lost all significance and have no more relevance in history.  Others hold to the idea that God is not finished with Israel and that they still have a particular role to play.  This verse suggests that Israel indeed has a role to play in God’s plan for humanity.

Paul says that because Israel rejected Jesus, salvation could come to the rest of the world to make Israel envious.  He also says that because of Israel ’s loss, this would bring riches to the rest of the world.  He says in verse 12, “how much greater riches will their fullness bring”.  Do you see what Paul is saying here?  He uses the word “fullness” in relation to the Jews.  He will also use the same word in relation to the Gentiles. (ch. 11:25)

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.

In verses 13 to 16 Paul says this 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”?

Paul uses the words “life from the dead”.  Does this suggest to you the resurrection of the dead at the end of the age?  It appears with these words and others to come that Paul is saying that Israel will return to their Lord.  This return will culminate in life from the dead.  If you read Zechariah 12 through 14 , you will gain great insight into these things.

Paul relates all of this to an olive tree.  The original tree is the family of God, consisting of the Jews.   Because of their unbelief some of the Jewish branches were cut off the tree.  This meant that those who had faith in Jesus were grafted into the tree where the Jews 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.

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… 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. (ch. 11:12)

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.  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.

When this future salvation comes to Israel it will fulfill the covenant given to Abraham and his descendents.  Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20 – 21 and  Isaiah 27:9 when he says, “the Deliver will come...and this is my covenant with them, when I will take away their (Israel‘s) sins”.  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. 

The next paragraph is important.  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”. (ch. 11:28)  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.  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. 

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.