THE
RESTORATION OF ISRAEL
A. Israel and the remnant of
grace.
1. (Rom
11:1a) Has God cast
away (rejected) His
people Israel?
I say then, has God cast away His
people? Certainly not!
a. Has
God cast away His people? Paul’s question
makes sense at this point in Romans. If Israel’s rejection of the
gospel was somehow both consistent with God’s eternal plan (Romans
9:1-29) and Israel’s own choosing (Romans
9:30-10:21),
then does this mean that Israel’s fate is settled, and there is no
possibility of restoration?
b. Certainly
not! Despite their present state, Israel is not permanently cast
away. Now Paul will explain this answer.
2. (Rom
11:1b) Evidence that God has not cast
away His people: Paul himself.
For I also am an Israelite, of
the seed of Abraham, of the
tribe of Benjamin.
a. I
also am an Israelite: Paul’s faith in Jesus as the Messiah
proved there were some Jews chosen by God who embraced the gospel.
b. I
also: Whenever we want evidence of God’s work, we could and
should look to our own life first. This is what Paul did and what we
should do.
3. (Rom
11:2-5) The principle of a remnant.
God has not cast away His people
whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah,
how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have killed
Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they
seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have
reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to
Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according
to the election of grace.
a. God
has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... at this present time
there is a remnant: In Paul’s day Israel as a group
generally rejected their Messiah. Yet a substantial remnant embraces
the gospel of Jesus Christ, and God has often worked in Israel through
a faithful remnant (as He did in the time of Elijah).
i. “It is just possible that
Paul, likewise persecuted by his own countrymen, felt a special kinship
with Elijah.” (Harrison)
b. He
pleads with God against Israel:
Things were so bad that Elijah prayed against his
own people!
c. Lord,
they have killed Your prophets: Elijah thought that God had
cast off the nation and he was the only one left serving the Lord. But
God showed him that there was in fact a substantial remnant – though it
was only a remnant, it was actually there.
d. At
this present time there is a remnant: We often think that
God needs a lot of people to do a great work, but He often works
through a small group, or through a group that starts out small. Though
not many Jews in Paul’s day embraced Jesus as Messiah, a
remnant did and God will use that small
group in a big way.
i. “It was not the number as much
as the permanence of God’s plan for Israel that mattered in the time of
Elijah... He put his trust in God’s grace, not in numbers.” (Morris)
4. (Rom
11:6-10) God’s right to choose a remnant according to grace.
And if by grace, then it
is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no
longer grace. But if it
is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise
work is no longer work. What then? Israel has not obtained what it
seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just
as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that
they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very
day.” And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a
stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened,
so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.”
a. If
by grace, then it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer
grace: Paul left the previous verse noting that the remnant
was chosen according
to the election of grace. Now he reminds us what grace is
by definition: the free gift of God, not given with an eye to
performance or potential in the one receiving, but given only out of
kindness in the giver.
b. If
it is of works, it is no longer grace: As principles, grace
and works don’t go together. If giving is of grace, it cannot be of
works, and if it is of works, it cannot be of grace.
c. The
elect have obtained it, and the rest were hardened: The
elect among Israel received and responded to the mercy of God but the
rest were hardened by their rejection.
d. Just
as it is written: The quotations from Isaiah
29 and Psalm
69 tell us that God can give a spirit
of stupor and eyes
that they should not see and He can say let
their eyes be darkened as He pleases. If
God is pleased to enlighten only a remnant of Israel at the present
time, He may do so as He pleases.
i. Morris calls a
spirit of stupor “an attitude of deadness
towards spiritual things.”
ii. “The idea is that men are
sitting feasting comfortably at their banquet; and their very sense of
safety has become their ruin. They are so secure in the fancied safety
that the enemy can come upon them unaware” (Barclay). The Jews of
Paul’s day were so secure in their idea of being the chosen people that
the very idea became the thing that ruined them.
B. God’s plan in saving only a
remnant at the present time.
1. (Rom
11:11a) Does Israel’s stumbling as predicted by Psalm
69 mean that they have fallen away permanently?
I say then, have they stumbled
that they should fall?
a. Stumbled...
fall: As Paul presents it here, there is a difference between stumbling and falling.
Israel stumbled,
but they would not fall –
in the sense of being removed from God’s purpose and plan. You can
recover from a stumble, but if you fall you’re down.
2. (Rom
11:11b-14) No, God had a specific purpose to fulfill in allowing
Israel to stumble – so that salvation would come to the Gentiles.
Certainly not! But through their
fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has
come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches
for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more
their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an
apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may
provoke to jealousy those
who are my flesh and save some of them.
a. Certainly
not! Paul has shown that God is still
working through a remnant of Israel today, but wants to make it clear
that the sinning majority of Israel is not lost forever.
b. Through
their fall... salvation has come to the Gentiles: We should
not forget that in many instances the gospel only went out to the
Gentiles after the Jewish people rejected it (Acts
13:46, 18:5-6, 28:25-28).
In this sense, the rejection of the gospel by the Jews was riches
for the Gentiles.
i. It wasn’t that the Jewish
rejection of Jesus as Messiah caused Gentiles
to be saved. It merely gave more opportunity for the gospel to go to
the Gentiles, and many Gentiles took advantage of this opportunity.
c. If
by any means I may provoke to jealousy: Yet, Paul’s desire
isn’t only that these riches would be enjoyed by the Gentiles only, but
that the Jews would be provoked to a good kind of jealousy,
motivating them to receive some of the blessings the Gentiles enjoyed.
i. “It is a matter for profound
regret that just as Israel refused to accept this salvation when it was
offered to them, so the Gentiles have all too often refused to make
Israel envious. Instead of showing to God’s ancient people the
attractiveness of the Christian way, Christians have characteristically
treated the Jews with hatred, prejudice, persecution, malice, and all
uncharitableness. Christians should not take this passage calmly.”
(Morris)
3. (Rom
11:15-21) To the Gentiles: yes, Jewish rejection of Jesus was made
into a blessing for you; but consider how great a blessing their
acceptance of Jesus will be.
For if their being cast away is the
reconciling of the world, what will their
acceptance be but
life from the dead? For if the firstfruit is holy,
the lump is also holy; and
if the root is holy,
so are the
branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a
wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a
partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast
against the branches. But if you do boast, remember
that you do not support the root, but the root
supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might
be grafted in.” Well said. Because
of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be
haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He
may not spare you either.
a. If
the firstfruit is holy: The firstfruit probably
represents the first Christians, who were Jewish. Their conversion was
something holy and good for the church. After all, each of the apostles
and most of the human authors of Scripture were Jewish. If the
conversion of this firstfruit was
good for the Gentiles, how much better will it be when the complete
harvest is brought in!
i. Many commentators take the firstfruit here
as the patriarchs, but it fits better to see it as the original core
group of Christians – who were each Jewish.
b. Some
of the branches... a wild olive tree: With the picture of
the tree and the branches, Paul reminds the Gentile Christians that it
is only by God’s grace that they can be grafted into the “tree” of God
– the “root” of which is Israel.
i. “When an old olive tree had
lost its vigor, it seems that one remedy in antiquity was to cut away
the failing branches and graft in some wild olive shoots. The result
was said to be the invigoration of the failing tree.” (Morris)
ii. The Jewish Talmud speaks of
Ruth the Moabitess as a “godly shoot” engrafted into Israel. (Cited in
Morris)
c. Do
not boast against the branches... you do not support the root, but the
root supports you: Lest Gentiles think of themselves as
superior to Jews, Paul also reminds them that the root supports the
branches – not the other way around.
d. Because
of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith: In
addition, any Gentile standing in the “tree” of God is there by faith
only, not by works or merits. If Gentiles are unbelieving, they will be
“cut off” just as much as unbelieving Israel was.
4. (Rom
11:22-24) Application of God’s purpose in Israel’s rejection that
the Gentiles might be reached.
Therefore consider the goodness
and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you,
goodness, if you continue in His goodness.
Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not
continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them
in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by
nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive
tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be
grafted into their own olive tree?
a. Consider
the goodness and severity of God: Paul stresses the need to continue
in His goodness; not in the sense of a salvation by works,
but continuing in God’s grace and goodness to us – a relationship of
continual abiding. This idea of a continual abiding in the “tree” is
also expressed in John
15:1-8.
i. “The conditional clause in
this verse, if
you continue in His goodness, is a reminder that there is no
security in the bond of the gospel apart from perseverance. There is no
such thing as continuance in the favour of God in spite of apostasy;
God’s saving embrace and endurance are correlative.” (Murray)
b. God
is able to graft them in again: And, if Israel was “cut off”
because of their unbelief, they can be grafted
in again if
they do not continue in unbelief.
i. “Evidently some Gentile
believers were tempted to think that there was no future for Israel.
She had rejected the gospel and it had now passed to the Gentiles;
Israel was finished, rejected, cast off. God had chosen them instead.
It is this kind of pride that Paul is opposing.” (Morris)
c. How
much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their
own olive tree? If the Gentiles seemed to
“graft” into God’s “tree” easily, we know it won’t be hard for God to
graft the natural
branches back into the tree. We can also
assume that the natural branches will have the potential to bear much
fruit.
C. God’s plan for Israel includes
their eventual restoration.
1. (Rom
11:25-27) The promise that all Israel will be saved.
For I do not desire, brethren,
that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in
your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until
the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be
saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He
will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My
covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
a. Lest
you be wise in your own opinion: This is a warning to take
this soberly. Christians must not be
ignorant of this mystery.
b. Blindness
in part has happened to Israel: Paul summarizes his point
from Romans
11:11-24. God’s purpose in allowing blindness
in part to come upon Israel is so that the fullness
of the Gentiles can come
in.
i. In
part has the idea of “temporary”; Israel’s blindness is
temporary. “One day the Jews will realize their blindness and folly.
They’ll accept Jesus Christ, and the glorious national restoration of
these people will bring in the Kingdom Age.” (Smith)
c. Until
the fullness of the Gentiles has come in: At that time, God
will once again turn the attention of His plan of the ages specifically
on Israel again, so that all
Israel will be saved. God’s plan of the ages does not set
its attention on everyone equally through all ages.
d. All
Israel will be saved: This all
Israel is not “spiritual Israel.” It isn’t
“spiritual Israel” in Romans
11:25, because that Israel is spiritually blind. Therefore, we
shouldn’t regard it as spiritual Israel in Romans
11:26.
i. There is a distinction between
national or ethnic Israel and spiritual Israel. Paul makes this clear in Galatians
3:7 and other passages. Nevertheless, God still
has a purpose and a plan for ethnic Israel and will bring salvation to
them.
ii. We also know this is not
“spiritual Israel” because Paul says this is a mystery –
and it is no mystery that spiritual Israel
will be saved.
iii. Harrison on all
Israel: “It was the view of Calvin, for example, that the
entire company of the redeemed, both Jew and Gentile, is intended. But Israel has
not been used of Gentiles in these chapters, and it is doubtful that
such is the case in any of Paul’s writings.”
iv. “It is impossible to
entertain an exegesis which understands Israel here
in a different sense from Israel in verse
25.” (Bruce)
e. Will
be saved: This states clearly for us that God is not finished
with Israel as a nation or a distinct ethnic group. Though God has
turned the focus of His saving mercies away from Israel specifically
and onto the Gentiles generally, He will turn it back again.
i. This simple passage refutes
those who insist that God is forever done with Israel as a people and
that the Church is the New Israel and inherits every promise ever made
to national and ethnic Israel of the Old Testament.
ii. We are reminded of the
enduring character of the promises made to national and ethnic Israel
(Genesis
13:15 and 17:7-8).
God is not “finished” with Israel, and Israel is not “spiritualized” as
the church.
iii. While we see and rejoice in
a continuity of God’s work
throughout all His people through all ages, we also see a distinction
between Israel and the Church – a distinction that Paul is sensitive to
here.
f. All
Israel will be saved: This does not mean there will be a
time when every last person of Jewish descent will be saved. Instead,
this is a time when Israel as a whole will be a saved people, and when
the nation as a whole (especially its leadership) embraces Jesus Christ
as Messiah. (WHY? BECAUSE AS PETER SAID IN JOHN 6:68 "WHERE CAN WE
GO? YOU HAVE THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE"
i. Even as the apostasy of Israel
did not extend to every last Jew, so the salvation of Israel will not
extend to every last Jew; Paul is speaking of the “mass” of Jews when
he says all
Israel. “All
Israel is a recurring expression in Jewish
literature, where it need not mean ‘every Jew without a single
exception’, but ‘Israel as a whole.’ ” (Bruce)
ii. And, when all
Israel will be saved, they will be saved through embracing
Jesus Christ as Messiah – as unlikely as this seems. They are not saved
with some peculiar “Jewish” salvation.
iii. The Bible indicates this is
a necessary condition for the return of Jesus Christ (Matthew
23:39, Zechariah
12:10-11). Jesus will not return again until God turns the focus of
His saving mercies on Israel again, and Israel responds to God through
Jesus Christ.
g. The
Deliverer will come out of Zion: The quotations from Isaiah
show that God still has a redeeming work to accomplish with Israel, and
that it will not be left undone.
2. (Rom
11:28-29) God’s love and calling for Israel still endures.
Concerning the gospel they
are enemies for your sake, but concerning the
election they
are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
a. Concerning
the gospel... concerning the election: Even though it seemed
that in Paul’s day the Jews were enemies of God and were against Jesus,
they are still beloved –
if for no other reason, then for
the sake of the fathers (the patriarchs of
the Old Testament).
i. Of course, they are loved for more than
the sake
of the fathers, but that by itself would be enough.
b. The
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable: This is
another reason why God hasn’t given up on national and ethnic Israel.
This principle, stated by Paul, comforts us far beyond its direct
relevance to Israel. It means that God will not give up on us and He
leaves the path open to restoration.
3. (Rom
11:30-32) Paul cautions the Gentile Christians to remember where
they came from and where God has promised to take the Jewish people.
For as you were once disobedient
to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so
these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you
they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to
disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
a. You
were once disobedient to God: The Gentile Christians came
from disobedience;
yet God showed them mercy, in part through the disobedience of Israel.
b. Obtained
mercy through their disobedience: If God used the
disobedience of Israel for the good of Gentiles, He can also use the
mercy shown to Gentiles for the mercy of Israel.
c. God
has committed them all to disobedience: The idea is that God
has shut up both Jew and Gentile into custody as lawbreakers. God offers mercy to
these prisoners, based on the person and work of Jesus.
4. (Rom
11:33-36) Praise to God for His plan and the progress of the plan.
Oh, the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of
the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to
Him and it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to
Him are all
things, to whom be glory
forever. Amen.
a. Oh,
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! As
Paul considers God’s great plan of the ages, he breaks into spontaneous
praise. Paul realizes that God’s ways are past
finding out, and God’s wisdom and knowledge is beyond him.
i. Who would have planned the
whole scenario with Israel, the Gentiles, and the Church as God has
planned it? Yet, we can see the great wisdom and compassion in His plan.
ii. “It is strange that, with
such a scripture as this before their eyes, men should sit down coolly
and positively write about counsels and decrees of God formed from all
eternity, of which they speak with as much confidence and decision as if they had
formed a part of the council of the Most High, and had been with him in
the beginning of his ways!” (Clarke)
b. For
who has known the mind of the Lord? The
quotations from Isaiah
40:13 and Job
41:11 emphasize both God’s wisdom and sovereign
conduct; no one can make God their debtor.
i. Or
who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? You
can try all you want – but you will never make God a debtor to you. You
can’t out-give God. He will never need to repay a debt to anyone.
c. Of
Him and through Him and to Him are all things: “All these
words are monosyllables. A child just learning to read could easily
spell them out. But who shall exhaust their meaning?” (Meyer)
i. It is all of
Him: This plan came from God. It wasn’t man’s idea. We
didn’t say, “I’ve offended God and have to find a way back to Him.
Let’s work on a plan to come back to God.” In our spiritual
indifference and death we didn’t care about a plan, and even if we did
care we aren’t smart enough or wise enough to make one. It is all of
Him.
ii. It is all through
Him: Even if we had the plan, we couldn’t make it happen. We
couldn’t free ourselves from this prison of sin and self. It could only
happen through
Him, and the great work of Jesus on our behalf is the through
Him that brings salvation.
iii. It is all to
Him: It’s not for me, it’s not for you, it’s all to
Him. It is to
the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians
1:6). It’s for His pleasure that we are created, and we find our
fulfillment in bringing Him glory and honor.
d. To
whom be glory forever: The fact that Paul can’t figure out
God makes him glorify God all the more. When we understand some of the
greatness of God, we worship Him all the more passionately.
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David Guzik – No distribution beyond personal use without permission
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© 2012 David Guzik –
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