Israel's Rejection Not Total

INTRO

The whole theme for Romans 9, 10, and 11 is Israel. Today, we will wrap up this section, which shows God is not done with Israel, His chosen people. Romans 9 talks about Israel’s past election as God’s people. Romans 10 talks about Israel’s present rejection of God. In today’s lesson, Romans 11 talks about Israel’s future restoration. Despite everything, God is not done with Israel. As we read Romans 11, Warren Wiersbe says we cannot apply Romans 11 “to the church today because Paul is discussing a literal future for a literal nation.”¹

Over the years, people have been puzzled, confused, and perplexed with the country of Israel. The Roman government once called Israel “a nefarious sect.” Historian Arnold Toynbee called the Israelites “a fossil civilization.”² In the last two years, the United Nations took a vote and decided the Temple Mount never belonged to the Jewish people. Even in our day, people are still refuting the role of Israel. But the people in the church today need to realize our roots and heritage are in the Jewish people. In Romans 15:25-27, Paul took up a collection from the Gentiles, who had received the spiritual benefit of the Messiah, because they wanted to minister to the poor in Jerusalem. Christians are obligated to minister to the Jews rather than discredit them.

TEACHING

Romans 11:1-4: Paul begins by talking about himself. If God had abandoned Israel, then what do we do with Paul who was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin? Then, in verses 2-10, Paul continues the argument based on the prophet Elijah. Verse 2 says God has not rejected His people. When Elijah pleaded with God against Israel, God said He had reserved 7,000 men for Himself who had not bowed down to Baal (vv. 2b-4). While these 7,000 men might not have been a whole country, they were a remnant committed to God. In Romans 9:27, Paul quotes Isaiah, who said a remnant of Israel would be saved.

Romans 11:5-8: Paul then transitions to his time, when “a remnant chosen by grace” (v. 5), was chosen by God. The remnant within Israel found salvation (v. 7), while the rest were blinded and hardened. Paul refers to Isaiah 29:10 when he wrote, “God gave them a spirit of insensitivity, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day.” In Deuteronomy 29:4, Moses said God had not given Israel eyes to see and ears to hear.

Romans 11:9-10: Paul next quotes from David’s word in Psalm 69:22-23. According to Wiersbe, Israel’s blessings became a burden and a judgment. “Their spiritual blessings should have led them to Christ, but instead they became a snare that kept them from Christ.”³

Romans 11:11-15: Because the Jewish people stumbled, salvation came to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous (v. 11). If the riches have come to the Gentiles, imagine what will happen when the fullness of the Jews takes place (v. 12). Paul was willing to magnify his ministry to the Gentiles so the Jews would become jealous so some of them could be saved (vv. 13-14). Their acceptance would bring life from the dead (v. 15). Just because we’re in this period of the Gentiles, it doesn’t mean God is done with His people Israel.

Romans 11:16-17: The first part of the dough offered up to God is a symbol so that the rest of the lump can also be holy (v. 16a). In the feast of first fruits, the priest would offer up a sheaf as a symbol that the whole harvest was His. “If the root is holy, so are the branches” (v. 16b), was the same mentality. The roots represented everything else. As Wiersbe said, “When God accepts the part, He sanctifies the whole.”⁴ God accepted the founder of the nation—Abraham. Despite the sins of Isaac and Jacob, God still accepted the rest of Israel.⁵ The branches that were broken off were the Jewish people who didn’t believe (v. 17a). The Gentiles, represented by the wild olive branches, were then grafted into “the rich root of the cultivated olive tree” (v. 17b). Looking back at verse 16, the holy root was the patriarchs’ calling, therefore all the branches are holy. The problem is some of those branches have broken off. The picture is this: many of the natural branches were broken off, resulting in more grafted branches than natural branches.⁶

Romans 11:25-27: “A partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of Gentiles has come in” (v. 25). We don’t know what that number is. We do know that we need to go to every country, tribe, tongue, and nation. The partial hardening means there will be a lot of broken natural branches until God says all the Gentiles that He has chosen have come to know the Lord. God’s plan included a hardening among the Jews, so the Gentiles could become part of His kingdom. “In this way all Israel will be saved” (v. 26). Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20-21 to make this point. The Liberator—Jesus—will come from Zion and take away their sins (vv. 26b-27). God is going to keep His promise. All of Israel will be saved when the fullness of the Gentiles takes place.

Romans 11:28-32: “God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable” (v. 29). In Malachi 3:6 God says, “Because I, Yahweh, have not changed.” God does not change! The disobedience of the Jews allowed the Gentiles to be saved by God’s mercy, which in turn allows Jews who believe in Jesus to also be saved (vv. 30-31).

There is a partial hardening of the Jews until the fullness of the Gentiles takes place. Somewhere in this process, when they see Jesus the Messiah in our lives, they will begin to realize what they have done. Zechariah 12:10 says the Jews will look at the Messiah whom they pierced and weep bitterly for Him. At that moment, according to Matthew 23:39, they will say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (NIV). When that happens, we will see Jesus for the Messiah will come back. Zechariah 14 tells us Jesus will put His feet on the Mount of Olives and split it in two when He comes back for His people.

CLOSING

Romans 9—11 show us God is not done with His own people, the Israelites.