At the start of this past century in a church in Scotland, the following story is told. After the pastor finished his sermon and extended an invitation, a distinguished, older gentleman stood up and asked if he could quickly say a word. The pastor was caught off guard and wasn’t sure what the man wanted to say. However, he replied by saying, “Yes, fine.” The man walked up to the pulpit and then said to the church, “You are deceived and foolish to believe that there is such a thing as God! I will now prove there is no God.” The man then proceeded to take off his watch and place it on the pulpit. He then said, “God, if you’re really there, strike me dead for what I’ve just spoken. You’ve got five minutes.” Five minutes came and went and the man scoffed and sat down. An older Scottish saint said to a man next to him, “Aye, did he think he could exhaust the patience of God in five minutes?” That’s a great response!

However, could thousands of years of rebellion exhaust the patience of God? As we consider the past and present rejection of Israel in Romans 11, we must ask the questions: Has God’s love for Israel been quenched? Have His purposes for Israel been shelved? What about all the blessings promised to the nation that have not been fulfilled? An even more relevant question is: How can I, as a Gentile Christian trust the promises of God, when God was not able to fulfill His Word to Israel? Romans 11 will answer these questions with three declarations.

1. God’s program includes Jews (11:1-10).1Paul begins in 11:1-2a with these words, “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He?”2Thisquestion is not really a question; it’s a statement of fact. Therefore, Paul responds with an emphatic, “May it never be!” How can Paul be so certain that God hasn’t rejected His people?Paul states his first line of evidence, “For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Since Paul was able to believe in Christ, he can confidently say in 11:2, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.”It’s not a matter of God rejecting Israel; rather, Israel as a whole has turned her back on God3and is suffering the consequences of unbelief. Paul states that God “foreknew”His people. This means that God chose Israel to be His people and He selected individual Israelites for salvation.

Paul gives a second illustration to demonstrate that God’s program includes Jews. In 11:2-4, Paul writes, “Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.’4But what is the divine response to him? ‘I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.’”5Paul is not the lone exception; even in Elijah’s day God had a remnant. Paul’s point that a remnant does exist demonstrates that God has not abandoned His plan for the nation.

Through these two illustrations Paul has demonstrated that God’s program still includes Jews. Now, in 11:5-6, he applies what he’s been illustrating, “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Israel as a whole did not attain to God’s righteousness because they sought it by works. The elect remnant, however, did not attain to God’s righteousness, but it was solely out of grace. Grace and works are mutually exclusive. God’s election was established solely on the basis of grace. Verse 6 is a critical New Testament principle: “For by grace we have been saved through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9).

In 11:7-8, Paul writes, “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, ‘GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.’”6Paul continues to speak of present Israel but he groups the entire nation into a second category-the non-elect. These, he argues, have been “hardened.”7The primary verse being quoted, Deuteronomy 29:4, tells the story of Israel’s experience in the desert and their continual unfaithfulness in the face of the miraculous provision of God. In spite of all of His provision for them, the Israelites proved unfaithful, and God responded in judgment by refusing to give them further understanding.

In 11:9-10, Paul quotes a second Old Testament passage, Psalm 69:22-23:8“And David says, ‘LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.’ ‘LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.’”9These two verses inform us that the blessings God gave Israel turned into burdens and judgments. The spiritual blessings (9:4-6) that should have led them to Christ instead became a snare that kept them from Christ. Their religious practices and observances became substitutes for the real experience of salvation. As a result, the Jews have been darkened and will be frustrated for a season. Fortunately, great good has come out of this bleak situation.

[In 11:11-24 we learn that...]

2. God’s program integrates Gentiles (11:11-24).10In 11:11-15, Paul writes, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will theiracceptance be but life from the dead?”11These five verses reveal two important truths:

1. Israel’s failure was for a purpose. The purpose was to integrate Gentiles into God’s family. The purpose of Israel’s stumbling was for Gentile salvation; the purpose of Gentile salvation is for Jewish salvation. Have you ever watched a young child playing with a toy? And watched when they tired of that toy and set it aside just to have another child come along and begin playing with it. What does the first child do? “That’s mine, give it back, you can’t play with it.” He had no interest in it until some other child wanted to play with it. The Jews are still looking for peace, hope, and the Messiah. Yet, they can’t have what they want because it can only be found in Christ. That is why we are called to provoke the Jews to jealousy, so that they will look to Him whom they have pierced. Did you know that the vast majority of Jewish believers in the US have been led to Christ through Gentiles?12 We have the answer they need. We must tell them. If the Gentiles have received the blessing of salvation from the Jews stumbling, how much greater will be their blessing when the Jews return to the fold.

2. Israel’s failure is not final. There is a future for Israel. Paul calls it their “fulfillment” (11:12) and their “acceptance” (11:15). Today, Israel is fallen spiritually, but when Christ returns the nation will rise again. Today, Israel is cast away from God, but one day they will be accepted again. God will never break His covenant with His people, and He has promised to restore them.13

In 11:16-24, Paul illustrates how God’s program integrates Gentiles. In 11:16-17, Paul writes, “If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree.”

The Illustrations Identified in Romans 11:16-17

In 11:18-22, Paul warns his Gentile readers, “do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.” In 11:18-19 Paul makes it clear that salvation is of the Jews,16therefore, Gentiles best not mess with Jews. After all, Gentiles have been grafted in. I am reminded of the relationship between a flea and a dog. Israel is the dog and the flea is a Gentile Christian. How foolish for the flea to despise the dog and to suppose that the dog is dependent on him. All the flea does for the dog is make him itch. All the Gentile does for the Jewish unbeliever is make him jealous. How foolish for the flea to look down on the dog. How foolish for Gentiles to disdain the Jews!

We can summarize 11:20-21 with the following truth: No one knows the grace of God who does not know the fear of God. This fear is further accentuated in 11:22 where Paul makes the startling point that if Gentiles follow the path of the Jews they will be “cut off.”17This does not refer to individual salvation but to God’s program for the Jews and Gentiles. Romans 11 deals with the problem that the community of Israel as a whole had lapsed from a position of God’s blessing. In this context, to be cut off is to become like Israel and not be a major player in God’s program. It is to lose the national blessings that result in salvation. None of this impinges on the security of an individual believer. We have a similar episode in Revelation 2:5 where the church of Ephesus as a whole is being addressed. Here, John records that Jesus has something against the church of Ephesus. He states that they have left their first love. As a result Jesus says, “I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place.” The removal of the lampstand is not the loss of salvation of individual Christians; it is the removal of the corporate church as a light and witness.

In 11:23-24, Paul returns to his theme, “And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?” Paul has said that God has grafted Gentiles into the benefit of the Abrahamic covenant (11:16-22). Now he states that someday God will graft Israel in again (11:23-24). In 11:24 Paul described this “grafting in” as contrary to nature. Usually a cultivated branch is grafted into a wild tree and shares its life without producing its poor fruit. But in this case, it was the “wild branch” (the Gentiles) that was grafted into the good tree and then bore fruit! I think C.S. Lewis says it best, “In a sense, the converted Jew is the only normal human being in the world.”

[Not only does God's program include Jews, but also...]

3. God’s program incorporates Jews18(11:25-36).19In 11:25-27, Paul writes, “For I do not want you, brethren,20to be uninformed of this mystery-so that you will not be wise in your own estimation-that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’21‘THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.’”22The word “For”indicates that Paul is going to further explain the previous section. Paul does not want his Gentile readers to be “uniformed,”rather he deeply desires them to understand these verses. Whereas Paul has explained the human side of Israel’s rejection, because of her disobedience, there is another side to this phenomenon, a divine side, as of yet unknown to his readers. Paul calls it a “mystery.”23A biblical mystery is not like the TV shows Diagnosis Murder or Murder She Wrote. Rather it is a truth that was unknown in the Old Testament that is now being revealed in the New Testament. Here, Paul is referring to the hardening of Israel, which permitted the Gentiles to enter into a relationship with Christ. The expression “the fullness of the Gentiles”refers to the total number of Gentiles who will be included in God’s program during the time of Israel’s hardening. After this “fullness”24has come in, then “all Israel will be saved.”The expression “all Israel will be saved”does not mean that every individual in the nation will turn to the Lord. It means that the nation as a whole will be saved, just as the nation as a whole (but not every individual in it) was not rejecting the Lord. The purpose, then, for which Paul is expounding this mystery is to prevent pride and to bring about humility on the part of the Gentile believers in Rome.

Now Paul writes in 11:28-32, “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.” In 11:28 Paul states that God has chosen the Jewish people. He follows this statement up in 11:29 with the often quoted, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” The word “irrevocable” means “not to repent.” God does not change His mind. He made promises to His people and He will fulfill them. In 11:30, 31, and 32, Paul focuses on the mercy of God. It is God’s mercy that permits any of us to be saved.

After eleven chapters of theology, Paul closes with a doxology25(11:33-36). For Paul, theology wasn’t dry, dull, or boring; rather it stimulated worship! Listen to these words: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?26Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?27For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him bethe glory forever. Amen.” God’s dealings with humanity are designed to stimulate worship of His glory, not questioning of His methods.28God would not be worthy of man’s worship if He could be comprehended by man’s wisdom.

Paul answers these questions by saying in effect that God will yet fulfill His great promises to the nation. But, at the present time there is another divine work of blessing under way-the salvation of Gentiles. Yet, in this chapter Paul clearly states that God WILL fulfill His promises to Israel and restore her to world prominence and blessing. In fact, Israel’s restoration will prove God’s righteousness. This chapter ought to be a great comfort to us because it demonstrates the unconditional love and acceptance of God. He is a covenant-keeping God who is forever faithful. Therefore, if He is faithful to Israel, He will be faithful to us. We can trust Him with our eternal salvation and with life’s every need. How can you say “no” to a love like that?

Copyright © 2001 Keith R. Krell. All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, C 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.Permissions: Feel free to reproduce and distribute any articles written by Keith Krell, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this information, not protect or restrict it.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: by Keith Krell, Timeless Word Ministries, 2508 State Ave NE Olympia, WA 98506, 360-352-9044, www.timelessword.com

Notes

All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
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