Rmans 11 (2017) Israel s past, Israel s present, and nw tnight Israel s future That s where Paul has been leading us ver the curse f the past tw chapters f Rmans Paul wants t recncile the truth f a faithful, prmise-keeping Gd with the reality f an unbelieving Israel There s an answer here, smething that s been hidden frm the beginning f time, smething we need t understand But understanding it requires careful schlarship, an pen mind and an appreciatin f Israel s histry Paul addressed Israel s histry in chapter 9 And an examinatin f that histry revealed that Gd has always dispensed His mercy selectively within the natin f Israel Sme were even mercy while thers weren t S chapter 9 explained why nly sme in Israel embraced their Messiah when He appeared fr them The Lrd shifted His mercy away frm the Jewish natin t the Gentiles natins Then in chapter 10, Paul addressed Israel s present circumstances Even tday, Israel remains intently fcused n fllwing Gd and awaiting their Messiah s arrival Yet they aren t finding the very thing they are seeking because they cntinue t seek it with hard hearts They re intent n btaining self-righteusness rather than the righteusness that cmes by faith S chapter 10 explained why a zealus natin cntinues in their unbelief despite the simplicity f Gd s plan f salvatin The Lrd in His prvidence has elected t leave Israel in their disbedience fr a time t extend mercy t Gentiles 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 2! f! 24 As we reach chapter 11, Paul still has mre questins t answer regarding Gd s faithfulness and His plan fr His peple, Israel Including the mst imprtant questin f all: why? Rm. 11:1 I say then, Gd has nt rejected His peple, has He? May it never be! Fr I t am an Israelite, a descendant f Abraham, f the tribe f Benjamin. Rm. 11:2 Gd has nt rejected His peple whm He freknew. Or d yu nt knw what the Scripture says in the passage abut Elijah, hw he pleads with Gd against Israel? Rm. 11:3 Lrd, they have killed Yur prphets, they have trn dwn Yur altars, and I alne am left, and they are seeking my life. Rm. 11:4 But what is the divine respnse t him? I have kept fr Myself seven thusand men wh have nt bwed the knee t baal. Rm. 11:5 In the same way then, there has als cme t be at the present time a remnant accrding t Gd s gracius chice. Rm. 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is n lnger n the basis f wrks, therwise grace is n lnger grace. Paul pens the chapter with the next lgical questin he knew his readers wuld pse: des this mean Gd has rejected His peple, Israel? Des Israel s cntinuing unbelief mean Israel will never cme t faith in Jesus? Has Gd decided t cast them aside? That s the questin Paul s Jewish readers wuld naturally ask in light f Paul explained in chapters 9 & 10 Indeed, many believers have asked this same questin in the centuries since Paul wrte this letter In fact, sme believers and even entire Christian denminatins have answered this questin wrngly, cncluding that Gd did reject Israel frever They teach a wrng view f Israel called replacement thelgy They believe that Gentile believers in the Church have replaced the Jewish peple in Gd s plan Cnsequently, the prmises Gd gave t the Jewish peple will be fulfilled thrugh the Church These false cnclusins are especially irnic given Paul s direct answer t the questin in v.1 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 3! f! 24 Paul says unambiguusly the Lrd will never reject His cvenant peple Ntice the peple in view in v.1 (i.e., His peple) are the same peple Paul defined at the start f chapter 9 In chapter 9, Paul defined Gd s peple are thse wh physically descended frm Abraham, Isaac and Jacb, wh Paul called Israelites Paul s definitin prevents us frm shifting ur fcus t sme ther grup, a s-called spiritual Israel In v.1 Paul says clearly that Gd has nt will nt frsake His cvenant peple, Israel And Paul ffers himself as his best prf Paul says he is prf that Gd has nt rejected His peple And ntice again Paul s descriptin Paul called himself an Israelite, a descendent f Abraham f the tribe f Benjamin These are terms that can nly refer t a literal Jew The term Israelite is especially imprtant, because it was part f Paul s definitin f Gd s peple back in chapter 9 In the Bible, the term Israelite is nly ever used t describe a physical descendant f Jacb Gentile believers in the Church are never called Israelites in the Bible Only Jews, whether believer r unbeliever, can be cnsidered an Israelite S Paul says the prf that Gd hasn t rejected literal, physical Israel is that there are believing Jews tday, including Paul If Gd had rejected His peple, there wuld be n believing at all This argument can nly make sense if we understand that Gd determines wh receives His mercy, as Paul has shwn in chapter 9 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 4! f! 24 Therefre, if even ne Jew is believing, it s prf that Gd has nt frsaken His peple Because it means Gd chse a Jew t receive His mercy Therefre, Paul says explicitly that his faith is prf that Gd has nt frsaken the Jewish peple, thse Gd freknew The peple Gd freknew are thse Jews Gd had n His mind frm befre the fundatins f the earth These peple Gd freknew, He predestined t salvatin And thse He predestined He called int faith preserving a remnant within the larger cmmunity f apstate Israel Paul is identifying himself as a member f the Jewish remnant in his day Mrever, Paul s saying that the cntinuing existence f a believing Jewish remnant is prf f Gd s cntinuing faithfulness t His peple Just as Gd has nly selected sme t believe in Israel s past, He cntinues t select nly a remnant t believe tday And the cntinuing existence f a remnant prves that Gd is nt dne with the Jewish peple If Gd had n intentins f preserving His natin, then He wuldn t have perpetuated faith amng Jewish peple He wuld have withheld His mercy, faith wuld have died ut, and eventually the peple themselves wuld ceased t exist The same way Gd extinguished the Canaanites, the Phenicians, the Philistines and ther peples But instead, the peple f Israel live n, and amng them, Gd cntinues t preserve a remnant f believing Jews like Paul Therefre, we can be sure Gd still has a plan fr His cvenant peple Because Gd has always called just a minrity f His peple int faith, it s always been easy fr smene t assume Gd had turned His back n Israel Even sme f Gd s greatest servants have made this same mistake, and in v.2 Paul cites ne such an example frm the Old Testament 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 5! f! 24 He reminds us f a mment in Elijah s ministry In 1Kings 19 we find Elijah discuraged and frustrated in his effrts t bring an end t Israel s apstasy He s battling an evil king, Ahab, and his murderus wife, Jezebel And he s dismayed by the rampant idlatry gripping Israel under their influence His frustratins reach a crisis in chapter 19, s Elijah runs t Mt. Hreb, the muntain where Gd appeared t Mses during the Exdus And Elijah demands that Gd take his life because Elijah believed that he was the last remaining faithful Jew in all Israel He cries ut t Gd that I alne am left and they will kill me sn Frm Elijah s perspective, the natin was already lst s there was n pint in cntinuing in his ministry Essentially, Elijah was declaring what sme were declaring in Paul s day: the natin was lst because the Lrd has frsaken His peple Israel But in v.4 Paul reminds us f Gd s respnse t Elijah s pity party The Lrd tld Elijah that He had kept 7,000 within Israel frm bwing t the false gd f Ahab, Baal There are three imprtant things t ntice in Paul s example First, the Lrd kept a remnant that Elijah knew nthing abut The verb kept emphasizes an actin by Gd t actively ensure the cntinuatin f faith amng Israel He didn t say I fund r I have received, but the Lrd said I kept Clearly, Gd was wrking t assign His mercy t sme in Israel keeping them in faith Secndly, this grup was unknwn t Elijah The prphet believed he was truly alne in Israel Everywhere he lked, he saw nly apstasy and unbelief 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 6! f! 24 Yet there were thse wh knew and trusted the Lrd, but they weren t the pwerful r prminent They were quietly serving Gd, in the shadws Finally, ntice the number the Lrd preserved frm apstasy: 7,000 The precise f this number immediately grabs ur attentin This was nt an estimate, fr there is n indicatin in the text that Gd was runding up r dwn He didn t say abut seven thusand r smething similar that wuld clearly indicate the number was an apprximatin Instead, the Lrd gives a precise cunt f Jews wh were believing in Elijah s day, and the cunt was exactly 7,000 Nt 6,999 r 7,001 but 7,000 And the number 7 is als ntable, since seven is the Bible s number t signify cmpleteness r the whle f smething S the precisin and specificity f 7,000 reaffirms the Lrd svereignly wrking t chse wh may receive His mercy in Israel There is simply n ther way t explain such a precise number f believing Jews Either Gd chse precisely wh wuld believe, r else tis the greatest cincidence in the histry f cincidences And in case yu re tempted t vte fr cincidence, Paul makes sure yu understand this number was n cincidence In v.5 Paul says Elijah s example is prf f hw the Lrd wrks t preserve a remnant in Israel Paul says in the same way tday we will find a precise number f Israel preserved frm apstasy by Gd s gracius chice By His grace, He chse t save sme in Israel And if it s always by Gd s gracius chice, then it can never be accrding t ur wrks Paul says in v.6 ne excludes the ther, because they are mutually exclusive 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 7! f! 24 When Paul says wrks, he s referring back t what we learned in chapter 10 The Jewish peple are pursuing Gd s mercy by trying t d the wrks f the Law They are zealus but withut a true knwledge f salvatin is fund But Paul says if the remnant f believing Israel nly cmes frm Gd s chice, then it can never be earned by wrks, even wrks f law The Jews are barking up the wrng tree, seeking t be justified by their wrks Meanwhile, the remnant f Israel, thse wh will receive Gd s mercy, are thse Gd chses by His grace If Gd allwed Israel t receive mercy because f their zealusness, then salvatin wuld cease t be by grace If yu want Gd t reward the zealusness f Israel, then yu re vting fr Gd t d away with grace fr everyne And then suddenly, we all wuld find urselves in an impssible race t earn salvatin Either we accept that Gd finds thse He chses t receive His mercy (which is the Bible s definitin f grace) Or we seek t find Gd s mercy by ur wn effrts, which is the BIble s definitin f wrks But f curse we want the Lrd t wrk n the basis f grace, fr if it were any ther way we culd never receive mercy Therefre, we accept Gd s svereignty and understand that Gd is chsing t wrk with nly a minrity in Israel fr nw And this is Paul s cnclusin t, and it leads t the next questin Rm. 11:7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has nt btained, but thse wh were chsen btained it, and the rest were hardened; Rm. 11:8 just as it is written, Gd gave them a spirit f stupr, Eyes t see nt and ears t hear nt, Dwn t this very day. 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 8! f! 24 Rm. 11:9 And David says, Let their table becme a snare and a trap, And a stumbling blck and a retributin t them. Rm. 11:10 Let their eyes be darkened t see nt, And bend their backs frever. Paul asks What then r we culd say, what des all this mean? Paul explains that the righteusness Israel is seeking (thrugh wrks f Law) it has nt btained The natin f Israel as a whle has nt fund righteus Righteusness came fr them in the persn f Jesus and they rejected Him They failed t cnfess Christ in faith, and the Lrd cntinues t withhld His mercy fr the majrity f Jews S Israel cntinues pursuing righteusness the wrng way, while saving faith cntinues t be fund by Gentiles In the meantime, Paul says a minrity f Jews, peple like Paul himself, were chsen by Gd t receive righteusness These are the elect f Israel, the remnant that demnstrate Gd s cntinuing faithfulness t the Jewish peple They had what they had by Gd s chice, and nthing demnstrates that better than Paul s wn cnversin stry Paul was literally arrested by Jesus while walking n a rad, and Jesus never ffered Paul a chice f whether t fllw Him Paul was chsen t be part f the remnant But the rest f Israel has been hardened by Gd, Paul says The last time we saw Paul use the term hardened was in chapter 9, when Paul raised the example f Pharah Pharah s sinful heart was set against the Lrd frm the start But as Paul shwed us, the Lrd acted t ensure Pharah s heart remained disbedient s Pharah wuldn t give in prematurely 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 9! f! 24 Therefre, we shuld apply the meaning f the wrd in a similar way here t describe Gd s dealing with Israel Israel initially ppsed Christ by their wn sinful hearts Gd didn t have t d anything t create Israel s unbelief Unbelief was Israel s natural cnditin just as it is fr all fallen humanity But Paul says Gd hardened Israel s hearts t ensure their cntinued resistance t the Gspel And nce again, Paul backs his teaching with Old Testament scripture that declares the same truth The first qute in v.8 cmes frm the Law in Deuternmy where Mses fretld that Gd wuld ensure His peple Israel remained utside His mercy Paul paraphrases the verse, s here s the exact wrding f Deut 29 Deut. 29:2 And Mses summned all Israel and said t them, Yu have seen all that the Lrd did befre yur eyes in the land f Egypt t Pharah and all his servants and all his land; Deut. 29:3 the great trials which yur eyes have seen, thse great signs and wnders. Deut. 29:4 Yet t this day the Lrd has nt given yu a heart t knw, nr eyes t see, nr ears t hear. Deut. 29:5 I have led yu frty years in the wilderness; yur clthes have nt wrn ut n yu, and yur sandal has nt wrn ut n yur ft. This scene is near the end f the frty years f wandering Mses is addressing the generatin f Israel that grew up in the desert This is the generatin that will be allwed t enter the Prmised Land in cntrast t their parents wh were barred fr unbelief But right befre they enter, Mses addresses them He says thugh they had seen great miracles in the desert, nevertheless this generatin still wasn t a believing peple Why nt? Hw culd they nt believe given all the miracles they have seen Gd ding? 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 10! f! 24 Mses says the answer is the Lrd had nt given them eyes t see r ears t hear Mst imprtantly, Gd had nt given them hearts t knw Him Mses wrds make it abundantly clear that n ne believes unless and until the Lrd chses t bring them mercy That s Paul s pint here in chapter 11 Like the generatin f Israel that came ut f the desert, the Lrd has nt given the Israel f ur generatin hearts t knw Him either Apart frm a small remnant, Israel has been hardened David cnfirms this cnclusin in Psalm 69 saying let their table becme a snare and stumbling blck This qute is Jesus speaking prphetically thrugh David, asking the Father t bring retributin upn thse wh crucified Jesus Israel s table refers t the banquet table that pens the Kingdm When Jesus came t Israel, this table was set fr Israel in the sense that Israel culd have received the Kingdm had they accepted Jesus as their King Instead, they rejected Jesus, s Jesus says let their rejectin be cause fr Gd t withhld the Kingdm frm Israel In that sense, Jesus ffer f the Kingdm became a snare, a trap, a stumbling blck and a retributin t Israel What culd have been Israel s ticket t the Kingdm became just cause fr Gd t withhld the Kingdm and keep Israel under judgment S Gd has purpsed t withhld salvatin frm Israel as a whle (apart frm a small remnant) because f their rejectin f Jesus But this was nt a plan t crush r destry Israel, as Paul explains next This fllwing sectin f Rmans 11 is especially imprtant t Paul s verall argument in chapters 9-11 S we need t understand it carefully 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 11! f 24! First, we need t understand that at this pint Paul is talking expressly abut natins, nt individual peple He s cmparing Gd s plan fr the Jewish natin with His plan fr Gentiles That s the questin we ve been fllwing frm the start f chapter 9 Therefre, we can t apply what Paul is saying t the circumstances f a single individual, whether Jew r Gentile Let s lk at the next sectin and we ll see this pattern at wrk Rm. 11:11 I say then, they did nt stumble s as t fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgressin salvatin has cme t the Gentiles, t make them jealus. Rm. 11:12 Nw if their transgressin is riches fr the wrld and their failure is riches fr the Gentiles, hw much mre will their fulfillment be! Rm. 11:13 But I am speaking t yu wh are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apstle f Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, Rm. 11:14 if smehw I might mve t jealusy my fellw cuntrymen and save sme f them. Rm. 11:15 Fr if their rejectin is the recnciliatin f the wrld, what will their acceptance be but life frm the dead? Rm. 11:16 If the first piece f dugh is hly, the lump is als; and if the rt is hly, the branches are t. In vs.11-16 Paul reaffirms that Israel still has a special place in Gd s plan He asks did the Lrd allw the natin t stumble s they might fall? By fall Paul means t cease t be Gd s peple, t disappear, t be frsaken And f curse, the answer again is n, Gd desn t have Israel s destructin in mind Instead, the Lrd withheld His mercy frm Israel, allwing them t reject Jesus and t be justly set under judgment fr ding s fr a gd purpse And that gd purpse was yu and me We Gentiles are nw enjying the Lrd s grace, begin given pprtunity t receive His mercy 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 12! f! 24 And in the prcess, we serve Gd s purpse in making Israel jealus As I said last week, we make Israel jealus in the sense that we stir within the Jewish peple are renewed desire fr their Messiah We aren t leading Jews t becme jealus f Jesus nr t agreeing He is their Messiah Nevertheless, ur declaratin that Jesus is Messiah serves t strengthen Israel s anticipatin and desire fr a Messiah In the same way that when yur best friend gets a girlfriend r byfriend, it make yu wish yu culd find ne t Paul then asks us t cnsider hw Gd is wrking in this way fr the benefit fr the entire wrld, bth Jew and Gentile Paul cmpares the mistake Israel made with the way Gd used it fr gd Israel s rejectin f Jesus was their transgressin (singular) That transgressin gave Gd just cause t send Jesus t Gentiles instead, as we learned in chapter 10 Nw yu and I enjy great riches in Christ because Gd allwed His wn peple t sin against His Sn That s a whle ltta gd t cme frm a very bad thing S if Gd culd use Israel s rejectin f Christ t accmplish very gd things fr us, what mre gd things might cme when Israel receives Christ? Paul describes that mment as Israel s fulfillment at the end f v. 12 He means when Gd finally fulfills His prmises t give Israel the Kingdm That can nly happen if and when Israel receives Christ, f curse S Israel receiving Christ will bring abut even better things fr the wrld than their rejectin f Christ brught t us Isn t that an amazing thing t cnsider? 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 13! f! 24 Israel is blessing us regardless f what they d When they sin against Jesus, it pened the dr fr Gd t give us mercy And when they finally receive Christ, it will bring us even mre riches, because it will bring abut the Kingdm Gd prmised Knwing this, hw shuld we Gentiles view the Jewish peple during this time, especially thse wh are nt believing in Jesus? Paul explains it t us saying specifically in v.13 listen up Gentiles Paul was the apstle appinted by Jesus t reach Gentiles But Paul says even thugh he was sent t Gentiles, he magnifies his ministry when he manages t reach a Jew here r there Paul always went t the Jew first befre reaching ut the Gentile in each city he visited, which was in keeping with Paul s desire t save the Jew That s hw Gentiles shuld lk at Jews as well We knw the natin has been set aside fr a time fr ur sake But we als knw Gd is still wrking a plan fr their sake, and they were Gd s means f reaching us in the first place S we shuld seek fr the lst Jew, fr the remnant Gd is seeking t save Because if their rejectin f Christ brught the recnciliatin t the Gentile wrld, then Israel s acceptance f Christ will bring abut the resurrectin In ther wrds, the first cming f Christ brught abut Israel s rejectin And therefre, Israel s acceptance f Christ will bring abut Christ s Secnd Cming That s the mment fr the resurrectin f all dead and the start f the Kingdm Daniel teaches bth these truths in many places, especially Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 14! f! 24 S seeking Jews fr Christ in cmpassin and understanding shuld be the natural respnse fr any Christian wh understands Gd s plan fr the wrld We stand in Christ because f Israel and we will receive the Kingdm nly when Israel des t S we have every reasn t treat that natin f peple with respect and seek their cnversin earnestly As Paul says, if the first piece is hly, s the lump, r if the rt is hly, s are the branches The lump r the rt bth refer t the beginnings f Israel Abraham, Isaac, Jacb, Mses, David these men f Israel represent the lump r the rt f Israel D yu cnsider these men t be hly? T be respected? T be hnred? Then likewise, yu must cnsider the natin Gd has prduced frm these men t be equally wrthy f hnr Nt because they are individually wrthy f ur respect r even if they are believing r nt But merely because they are Gd s peple, wh Gd has used t make available everything we hld dear At hearing this, sme Christians can t help but call ful We questin whether it s right t treat such an unhly, disbedient peple with respect After all, they crucified Jesus and they spit at the mentin f His name tday Jews typically treat Christians with great disdain And it was even wrse in Paul s day, f curse Jews were persecuting Christians t the pint f imprisnment and death Under thse circumstances, it was especially hard t accept the ntin that Gentile Christian shuld cntinue t hld Jews, even unbelieving Jews, in high esteem 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 15! f! 24 Nevertheless, Paul calls the church t set aside any prejudice r hatred fr Gd s peple, warning us f what may cme Rm. 11:17 But if sme f the branches were brken ff, and yu, being a wild live, were grafted in amng them and became partaker with them f the rich rt f the live tree, Rm. 11:18 d nt be arrgant tward the branches; but if yu are arrgant, remember that it is nt yu wh supprts the rt, but the rt supprts yu. Rm. 11:19 Yu will say then, Branches were brken ff s that I might be grafted in. Rm. 11:20 Quite right, they were brken ff fr their unbelief, but yu stand by yur faith. D nt be cnceited, but fear; Rm. 11:21 fr if Gd did nt spare the natural branches, He will nt spare yu, either. Rm. 11:22 Behld then the kindness and severity f Gd; t thse wh fell, severity, but t yu, Gd s kindness, if yu cntinue in His kindness; therwise yu als will be cut ff. Rm. 11:23 And they als, if they d nt cntinue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, fr Gd is able t graft them in again. Rm. 11:24 Fr if yu were cut ff frm what is by nature a wild live tree, and were grafted cntrary t nature int a cultivated live tree, hw much mre will these wh are the natural branches be grafted int their wn live tree? In this passage, Paul cntinues t speak in terms f natins, nt individuals It s critically imprtant t understand that cntext here Otherwise, we re likely t make serius mistakes in interpreting Paul s argument He cmpares the present generatins f Israel t the branches f an live tree Remember, Paul just spke f Israel s rigins as a hly lump r rt Nw he s just extending the metaphr further t speak f the future fr Israel The branches f this rt represent the present generatin f Israel These are the peple that have grwn up frm the rt They are the descendants f the patriarchs and they are the heirs t the prmises Gd gave t thse men But they didn t receive the Messiah, s Paul says the branches were brken ff 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 16! f! 24 S in Paul s analgy breaking ff natural live branches pictures Gd setting aside present generatins f Israel fr their rejecting f Jesus And we learned, Gd did s make salvatin available t Gentiles Paul pictures that as wild live branches grafted int the branchless rt In Palestine cultivated live trees differ frm wild live trees Naturally, a cultivated live tree prduces a certain type f branch, while a wild tree prduces a different type f branch Paul cmpares Gentiles t unnatural branches in the rt f Israel We are like smething wild which Gd has grafted int the hly lump f Israel We have what we have spiritually because Gd first made it available t Israel And we have it unnaturally, which is t say it wasn t given t us directly We nly have it because Gd s peple dn t have it fr this time Knwing this Paul says we have n right t be arrgant tward thse branches wh are brken ff, speaking f the unbelieving Jews f ur day Whether Gd chses t bring them t faith r nt, we have n place in treating them arrgantly As if t suggest we are better than them because we have received what they rejected Paul says remember wh his the rt in this arrangement Wh is hlding yu up, s t speak? S if we treat an unbelieving Jew disrespectfully, especially if we harbr antisemitic views, we re frgetting that his r her unbelief was rdained fr ur sake In v.19 Paul suggests that sme Christians might cnclude well Gd cut Israel ff t give us ur place in the Church Paul s making the argument f the replacement thelgian 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 17! f! 24 That the Church has replaced Israel in Gd s plan, therefre we have n reasn t give special cnsideratin t Jewish peple They are yesterday s news, as far as Gd is cncerned T this Paul respnds in v.20 that yes, they were cut ff fr ur sake, but remember yu stand by yur faith That is t say, the Gentile church has what it has merely because Gd decided we shuld have it He decided t shift His mercy tward us, s that by faith we might receive His righteusness Remember, we already learned that we have His righteusness nt because we were lking fr it but because Gd elected that we shuld receive it S Paul warns the replacement thelgian nt t be s cnceited in their view f Israel, but instead t fear Gd Because we Gd s pattern shuld be clear by nw In v.21 that if Gd was willing t set His wn peple aside fr a time, then certainly we shuld anticipate He is willing t d the same fr Gentiles Paul s alluding t what s cming fr Israel and the wrld There was a day in the past when the natural branches were the center f Gd s attentin In that day, the Gentile natins were subject t Israel s pwer and prestige When Gd wanted His peple t have the Prmised Land, the Canaanites were taken ut f the way When Gd wanted t free His peple, Egypt and the Pharah were cllateral damage But then Gd elected t cut ff thse natural branches t make rm fr unnatural branches t share in the gd things Gd gave t Israel While we sit in this privileged psitin, it s Israel that pays the price 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 18! f! 24 As Gd desires t bless ther natins, He sacrifices His wn peple But this isn t the end f the stry We knw Gd has a Kingdm n earth planned, where He Sn will rule frm the seat f David in the temple in Jerusalem Scriptures say that in this kingdm t cme, Israel will nce again be Gd s chief natin n the earth And all Gentile natins in the Kingdm will serve and hnr the Jewish natin S Paul directs ur attentin t that day, when Israel will nce again be in the driver s seat And as we cnsider that day t cme, we shuld ask hw will Gd will deal with us if we spent ur time n earth arrgantly against His peple? When they have becme ur masters and we are Israel s servants, will we wish we had thught twice abut ur prejudice? That s what Paul means when he says believers wh are arrgant against unbelieving Israel shuld fear Gd Then in v.21 Paul reveals that if Gd was willing t set His wn peple aside fr a time, then we shuld expect He will ne day He will d the same fr Gentiles In a day t cme, Gd s mercy tward Gentile will cme t an end And in that mment, He will turn His attentin back again t His wn peple In that day, the Gentiles will be cut ff just as Jews were cut ff Once again, we re nt talking abut individual peple being cut ff Paul s talking abut natins mving in and ut f Gd s favr in His plan fr the wrld In summary, Paul asks us t cntemplate the kindness and severity f Gd 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 19! f! 24 The same Gd that cut ff Israel has welcmed the likes f us int His mercy He is shwing severity t Israel fr nw while shwing us kindness But Paul adds at the end f v.22 that this state is nt permanent Gentiles shuld nt depend n Gd s mercy remaining available t us frever In a day t cme, the Lrd will shift His mercy back t the Jewish peple, s that He might fulfill the prmises He made t them In that day, Gentiles will be cut ff, and the Jewish natin will be grafted back int their wn rt again After all, Paul argues, if Gd can graft in unnatural branches, then He can certain g back t grafting natural branches back in Or simply put, if Gd was willing t ffer salvatin t a peple wh were nt His peple Then hw much shuld we expect Him t ffer salvatin t the peple wh ARE His peple Remember the qute frm Hsea in Rmans 9: Rm. 9:25 As He says als in Hsea, I will call thse wh were nt My peple, My peple, And her wh was nt belved, Belved. Rm. 9:26 And It shall be that in the place where it was said t them, Yu are nt My peple, There they shall be called sns f the living Gd. The prphet said that Gd wuld call Gentiles His peple But then he added that in a time t cme the Lrd wuld call Israel sns f the living Gd again S as we prepare t finish this chapter, here s what we knw Gd dispenses His mercy as He chses Histrically, Gd has selected nly a minrity f Israel t receive mercy 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 20! f! 24 When the time came fr Israel t receive their Messiah, they rejected Him because f their hard hearts Gd gave Israel the message that salvatin was by faith early and ften Yet they stubbrn refused t accept Gd s wrd preferring t seek their wn righteusness Mrever, Gd did nt give the natin hearts t knw and receive Christ as judgment fr their sin He left them in their sins, allwing their sinful hearts t g their wn way, leading t the rejectin and crucifixin f Christ This was Gd s plan, t set His peple aside, s that He culd fulfill His prmise t Abraham t bring His mercy t all natins Tday, His mercy is ging ut t all natins because f Israel s rejectin f Christ Meanwhile, Gd has hardened Israel s hearts t leave them utside His mercy fr a time In the meantime, we Gentiles are are receiving Gd s mercy must nt lk arrgantly upn His peple thugh they remain unbelieving Hw can we lk upn Israel with cntempt knwing they were left unbelieving s we might receive Gd s mercy? It s a humbling truth and it shuld leave us with great sympathy fr the Jewish peple S all that remains fr us t understand is hw Gd plans t fulfill His prmises t Israel Rm. 11:25 Fr I d nt want yu, brethren, t be uninfrmed f this mystery s that yu will nt be wise in yur wn estimatin that a partial hardening has happened t Israel until the fullness f the Gentiles has cme in; Rm. 11:26 and s all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, The Deliverer will cme frm Zin, He will remve ungdliness frm Jacb. Rm. 11:27 This is My cvenant with them, When I take away their sins. 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 21! f! 24 This is a pwerful sectin f Paul s letter, yet it s brief n details Mst f the details are available in ther scripture, but time wn t permit me t walk thrugh all f it Yu can see the details in ther studies like Revelatin s I will just summarize here as Paul des Beginning with the Paul s preface in v.25 Paul prepares us t receive a mystery A mystery in the Bible is a truth that has existed frm the beginning but was hidden frm ur understanding until revealed in the New Testament There are eight such mysteries in the New Testament, and Paul revealed fur f the them Here we find ne f them Paul says unless we understand this mystery, we re likely t be wise in ur wn estimatin We might be tempted t think we knw what Gd is ding with Israel and the Gentile church But in reality ur wisdm is in ur wn eyes nly, because we lack a critical piece f infrmatin Once again, Paul s describing thse wh hld t replacement thelgy, wh believe the Church has replaced Israel This view is necessarily a partial truth, because it understands Gd s pattern up t the pint f the First Cming f Christ But that s where the understanding stps, and s it misses the rest f the stry Paul says here s the rest f the stry: the hardening that Israel has experienced since Christ is partial and temprary It s partial because it still allws fr a remnant, a small number f believing Jews wh never cease t exist n earth Remember, this is imprtant because all by itself the remnant is prf that Gd is nt dne with His cvenant peple 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 22! f! 24 S Gd cntinue t maintain faith amng at least sme in Israel t make sure His natin carries frward Secndly, this hardening is temprary It wn t last frever It ends when the fullness f Gentiles cmes in The term fullness is a Greek wrd that can be translated a full cunt S when Gd has reached the full cunt f Gentiles He intends t save, then He will be ready t return His attentin t Israel At that pint, the hardening f Israel will cme t an end And the natin will receive Gd s mercy s as t believe in Jesus, just as Gentiles have nw received the same This is yet anther clear statement f Gd s svereignty in salvatin and His appintment f a certain number f believing peple In a way, we culd say that just as Gd had a certain number f Jews in mind fr His remnant (i.e., 7,000 in Elijah s day) Similarly, Gd has a certain number f Gentiles in mind fr salvatin acrss this age And like as the Jewish remnant was a small number relative t the verall number f Jewish peple Similarly, the Gentiles wh receive mercy will be a small number cmpared t the verall number f Gentiles wh walk the earth Furthermre, Paul qutes Old Testament scriptures t prve that Gd has fretld these details as well, thugh they were hidden until Paul s day In v.26 Paul qutes frm the very end f Isaiah 59 That chapter and the ne that fllws describes the circumstances surrunding Christ s Secnd Cming and the start f His Kingdm In the midst f thse event, Isaiah says the Lrd prmises t send Jesus frm Zin, referring t the Zin in Heaven 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 23! f! 24 He will cme fr the purpse f remving ungdliness frm Jacb Jacb is anther natin fr Israel, s it stands fr the natin f Israel At His Secnd Cming t earth, Jesus will remve all ungdliness frm Israel The natin f Jews alive n earth in that future day will all be saved by faith in Jesus This is a dramatic turn arund frm the situatin we find tday, which is exactly what Paul has been telling us will happen One day, the Lrd s mercy will return t His peple in a big way He wn t just save a remnant in that future day He intends t save all His peple Ntice hw Paul pens v.26: he says and s all Israel will be saved Every single Jew will receive mercy in that day t cme We see this mment described in Zechariah 12 Zech. 12:9 And in that day I will set abut t destry all the natins that cme against Jerusalem. Zech. 12:10 I will pur ut n the huse f David and n the inhabitants f Jerusalem, the Spirit f grace and f supplicatin, s that they will lk n Me whm they have pierced; and they will murn fr Him, as ne murns fr an nly sn, and they will weep bitterly ver Him like the bitter weeping ver a firstbrn. Zech. 12:11 In that day there will be great murning in Jerusalem, like the murning f Hadadrimmn in the plain f Megidd. Zech. 12:12 The land will murn, every family by itself; the family f the huse f David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family f the huse f Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; Zech. 12:13 the family f the huse f Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family f the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; Zech. 12:14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves. The setting f Zechariah 12-14 is the end f Tribulatin and the war f Armageddn and the return f Christ 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Rmans 11 24! f! 24 S we re talking abut the same mment as Isaiah was speaking abut in chapter 59-60 In that mment, Zechariah describes hw all Israel will be saved just as Paul says The Spirit f Gd will be pured ut n the peple f Israel s that all f them recgnize Jesus as Messiah Ntice Zechariah says all the families that remain n earth are saved in this way Here again, we cannt explain hw such a thing culd happen expect that Gd svereignly brings all these peple t faith by His grace Since there are n exceptins, we must acknwledge that this mment is determined by will r chice It was determined by Gd s will in keeping with His prmises t Israel Just as Isaiah says in v.27: this act f mercy is Gd keeping His cvenant with them, t save them and bring them int the Kingdm Gd prmised Israel this future thrugh the Abrahamic Cvenant And He reiterated it in the Msaic Cvenant (Lev 26:42) And Gd will keep His prmises But He has delayed the fulfillment f these things lng enugh t extend mercy t a certain number f Gentiles, including yu and me That number hasn t been reached yet, bviusly But ne day it will be reached, and then Gd will mve t rescue Israel frm unbelief 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.