Israel's Admission in the Future Chapter 11

Three Proofs that God Has Not Rejected His People Forever

In this chapter, Paul shows that God will again occupy Himself with Israel and bring them to blessing. He begins by asking: “I say then: Has God rejected His people? By no means [far be the thought – JND]”. Was the accusation of the Jews true, which said that the gospel Paul preached ignored God's promises to Israel? Paul answers this in the simplest way – NO! While the Scriptures declare that God would “reject” His people because of their failure to receive the Messiah (Dan. 9:24-27; Mic. 5:1-3; Isa. 61:1-3; Ps. 69:22-36; Jer. 31:37-40; Zech. 11:1-13:6, etc.), nowhere do the Scriptures affirm that the rejection would be complete or final. Paul goes on to give three proofs that show that God has not completely rejected His people.

At Present There Is a Remnant of the Nation that Believed the

Gospel and Was Blessed

Chap. 11:1-6 – The first proof that God has not completely rejected His people (Israel) is that there is at present “a remnant” of Jews who believed the gospel of God's grace. Paul, in fact, is an example. He says: “for I also am an Israelite, of the descendants of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin” (v. 1). Even though the mass of the nation has been blinded by unbelief, there is still a remnant of elect individuals who believed, whom God reserved for Himself, as He had in the days of Elijah. This “election of grace” is the firstfruits of the nation and is a promise of the definitive restoration of Israel in a coming day (Eph. 1:12). This shows that when men fail in their responsibility, God maintains His sovereignty and secures a remnant that believes. He will not allow His purpose of blessing to be frustrated (Job 42:2; Isa. 46:10). Thus, the election of believing Jews in the present time is entirely a work of sovereign grace.

Chap. 11:7-10 – While the elect remnant of the nation entered into blessing, the mass was judicially “hardened [blinded – JND]”. This hardening should not have been a surprise to the Jews, because their own Scriptures affirm that this would happen! Paul quotes Isaiah 29:10: “As it is written: God gave them a spirit of deep sleep: eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear” (v. 8). He also quotes David, who prophetically uttered the Messianic imprecatory prayer on the cross when He was rejected by the people: “Let their table before them [their sacrificial system] become a snare; And when they are at ease, let it be a trap to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; And make their loins tremble continually” (Ps. 69:22-23 – TB). (See also Isa. 6:9-10 with John 12:39-41, and also 2 Cor. 3:14-15.) Thus, this hardening is a governmental judgment of God upon the nation as a whole, but individuals among them may still come to Christ by faith and be blessed.

By Calling the Gentiles, God Is Provoking Jealousy in the Jews – And

This Proves that He Has Not Finished His Dealings with Israel

Chap. 11:11-25 – The second proof that God has not finished His dealings with Israel is seen in His calling of the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy (v. 11). Paul says: “Have they stumbled, that they should fall? By no means [far be the thought – JND]. But through their fall [withdrawal] salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to emulation [jealousy]”. The fact that God wanted to provoke Israel, stirring them to jealousy so that they would return to Him, shows that He has not yet finished His dealings with them. Paul agrees that Israel “stumbled”, but he insists that they did not fall, in the sense of everything being over for them. Reading the verse as found in the KJV can be confusing, because after affirming that they did not fall, it goes on and says that they had a fall! This enigma is easily clarified by understanding that the word “fall” in the eleventh verse is actually a different word in Greek, and should be translated as “transgression” (TB). “Fall”, in the sense that Paul speaks of here, is a final thing “without recovery.” “Transgression”, on the other hand, does not carry that connotation. This occurs again in verse 12. Thus, Israel stumbled and transgressed, but they did not fall from God's purpose to bless them.

Paul said that the “diminishing [loss – JND]” of Israel opened the way for the Gentiles to have great “riches”. The “riches of the Gentiles” refers to the favor that God extended to the Gentiles in the gospel, without regard to whether they believed or not. In other words, the “loss” of Israel has been the gain of the Gentiles. This is a principle in God's ways that is found in many places in Scripture (Isa. 49:4-6; Acts 13:46-48, 18:5-6, 28:24-28; Rom. 1:16). He adds: “how much more their fullness!” That is, if the failure of Israel brought blessing to the Gentiles in this Day of Grace, how much more will it be so when God restores Israel! Today, the blessing through the gospel has gone to the world in a limited way, but then there will be a worldwide conversion of the Gentiles (Ps. 22:27, 47:9; Isa. 2:2-3; Zech. 2:11; Rev. 7:9, etc.). Redeemed Israel will be God's channel to bless the nations in that day (Isa. 60-61, etc.).

Paul says: “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles” (v. 13). He felt his responsibility toward the Gentiles, and from verse 13 to 32, he turns to speak directly to them. In interpreting this chapter, it is important to understand that Paul is not necessarily speaking of Gentiles as believers, but of Gentiles generically. His point is that they had the wonderful privilege of the gospel extended to them. We emphasize this because, later in the chapter, he speaks of the possibility of these Gentiles being “cut off”. True believers, as we know, are part of the Church, and such will never be cut off. The Christian profession in general, however, will be judged and cut off by God (Rev. 3:16), because it did not continue in the goodness of God. Paul wanted to “magnify” (KJV) his “ministry” by preaching to the Gentiles everywhere he could, because, in doing so, he could provoke some of his countrymen to “emulation [jealousy]”, and they would believe in the salvation of their souls (vs. 13-14).

He says: “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (v. 15) As surely as there was a “casting away” of Israel, there will also be “the receiving of them” again in a future day. The reconciliation here is not the same as in chapter 5:10-11, where everything is vital and eternal. Here it is dispensational, being a provisional thing for the Gentiles in this present time. Thus, the Gentile world was brought near to God (general approach), but this is only outwardly. He says that their (Israel's) receiving will be “life from the dead”. This is not referring to the literal resurrection of human bodies (1 Thess. 4:16, etc.), nor is it speaking of the national resurrection of Israel (Isa. 26:19; Ezek. 37:1-14; Dan. 12:1-3), but of what the Gentile world will experience as a result of Israel's restoration to the Lord. Mr. W. Kelly said: “Whatever divine mercy there is in the reconciling of the world, which we now know while the gospel goes to every creature, a completely different blessedness awaits the whole world as ‘life from the dead’, when all Israel is received back and saved. Will it not be for all on Earth – ‘life from the dead?’” (Notes on the Epistle to the Romans, p. 224).

Paul uses two figures to illustrate his point:

• A lump of dough.

• An olive tree.

First, regarding the lump of dough, he says: “And if the firstfruits [first piece of dough] are holy, the lump is also holy” (v. 16a). The “firstfruits” is the remnant of Jewish believers in the present time who believed the gospel. They “pre-trusted” (those who beforehand hoped

• ARA) in Christ (Eph. 1:12 – JND) and are the first fruits of the nation that

will be saved in the future (v. 5). Thus, if by God's grace the firstfruits are holy, so will “the lump” be holy. The lump is the nation in a coming day, when they believe in Christ (v. 26). Paul's argument is that the few Jewish believers today – “a remnant according to the election of grace” (v. 5 – JND) – are truly a pledge or a guarantee that the rest are true Israelites who will be saved. The existence of the remnant in this present time (the firstfruits) is evidence that the nation (the lump) will be saved in the future. By this we know that God has not given up on Israel; there are blessings reserved for the nation.

Paul then moves to the other figure – “the olive tree” (vs. 16b-32). He says: “if the root is holy, so are the branches”. The “root” is an allusion to Abraham, the father of the nation, who was set apart in a place of “holy” association with God (Isa. 51:2). Paul's argument here is that if the root (Abraham) is in an outward place of blessing, so are “the branches” (descendants of Abraham). However, being branches does not necessarily mean that all of Abraham's descendants are born of God. They were in a place of relative sanctification. Thus, as Paul spoke of reconciliation (v. 15), he also speaks of sanctification (v. 16)

• both are relative, not something vital or absolute.

Three Aspects of Sanctification

There are three aspects of sanctification (holiness) in Scripture that we must not confuse:

• There is absolute or positional sanctification as found in Acts 26:18; 1 Cor. 1:2, 30, 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 10:10, 14; and 1 Pet. 1:2. This has to do with believers being set apart for God, being born again and being saved.

• There is progressive or practical sanctification, as in John 17:17-19; Rom. 6:19-22; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 5:26-27; 1 Thess. 4:4-7, 5:23; Heb. 12:14. This has to do with the exercise of believers developing holiness in their lives.

• There is relative sanctification, which has to do with a person being placed in a place of external association with something holy.