{"id":171,"date":"2012-09-16T21:39:22","date_gmt":"2012-09-16T20:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=171"},"modified":"2012-09-16T21:39:22","modified_gmt":"2012-09-16T20:39:22","slug":"has-god-rejected-israel-romans-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=171","title":{"rendered":"Has God rejected Israel? Romans 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a thousand years the people of Israel had been waiting for their Messiah. But when Jesus Christ the Son of God was revealed, very many of God\u2019s chosen people rejected Him As we were thinking about this morning from Mark 6, when Jesus went back to Nazareth and preached the gospel, many did not believe.<\/p>\n

ROMANS 10:15 As it is written, \u201cHow beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!\u201d
\n16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, \u201cLord, who has believed our message?\u201d 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
\n\u201cTheir voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.\u201d
\n19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, \u201cI will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.\u201d
\n20 And Isaiah boldly says, \u201cI was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.\u201d
\n21 But concerning Israel he says, \u201cAll day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.\u201d
\n God\u2019s chosen people refused to believe. So the gospel was taken beyond the Jewish people and many Gentiles did believe and were saved. But for Paul this leaves important questions unanswered. What future plans does God have for the nation he had chosen in the Patriarch Abraham two thousand years before? Here is Paul\u2019s vital question.
\n11:1\tI ask then: Did God reject his people?
\nWe remember that this is a very personal question for Paul \u2013
\nI am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
\nSo Paul really cares about the people of Israel and their future in God\u2019s plan of salvation. And here is his answer.
\n11\tI ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.<\/p>\n

For the rest of Romans 11 Paul will explain how God has NOT rejected the Jews. Although it might appear that Israel has been rejected, or cast away, two things matter.
\nFirstly, that rejection is not total. It is not complete. Not all of Israel has been cast away. And as we will see in a few minutes secondly, that rejection is not final, it is not permanent.<\/p>\n

THE REJECTION OF ISRAEL IS NOT TOTAL<\/p>\n

Paul has already explained in Romans 9 that God has always kept for himself a remnant of Israel.<\/p>\n

Romans 9 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: \u201cThough the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
\n29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: \u201cUnless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.\u201d
\nPaul had also explained that salvation was always on the basis of faith and never earned by works.<\/p>\n

Romans 9 6 It is not as though God\u2019s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham\u2019s children. On the contrary, \u201cIt is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.\u201d 8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God\u2019s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham\u2019s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: \u201cAt the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel \u2013 only those who truly believed. So Paul now gives another example of the faithful remnant, this time from the time of Elijah.<\/p>\n

Romans 11:2 Don\u2019t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah\u2014how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 \u201cLord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me\u201d? 4 And what was God\u2019s answer to him? \u201cI have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.\u201d 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.<\/p>\n

Just as the faithful remnant in Elijah\u2019s time had been preserved, so some of Israel were being saved in Jesus\u2019s day. Those who put their trust in Jesus as Messiah and Lord. That faithful remnant included all of Jesus\u2019s apostles, and of course one of the faithful remnant was the apostle Paul Himself! Has God rejected Israel? By no means!! The rejection was not total! The remnant were still being saved!<\/p>\n

THE REJECTION WAS NOT FINAL<\/p>\n

God still has a plan for Israel. We will think in a moment about how this plan will be fulfilled. But Paul wants everybody to know that there is still hope for the Jews! And at the end of time, God will redeem his chosen people Israel.<\/p>\n

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
\n\u201cThe deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.\u201d<\/p>\n

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God\u2019s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God\u2019s mercy to you.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s gifts and his call are irrevocable. God made his promises to the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and when the time is right God will keep those promises to their descendants who are still His chosen people. That time will not come \u201cuntil the full number of the Gentiles has come in\u201d, and that will not be completed until the time when Jesus will return. At that point, \u201cAll Israel will be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it says \u201cAll Israel will be saved\u201d is it important to note two things. Firstly, Jewish teachers commonly said that \u201call Israel will be saved,\u201d but then went on to list which Israelites would not be saved. So the phrase means \u201cIsrael as a whole (but not necessarily including every individual) will be saved.\u201d
\nPaul\u2019s expectation is that there will come a point in the future when the great majority of the surviving Jewish people will receive the blessings of salvation. He is not talking about a gradual salvation of individual Jews, but a mass conversion of a substantial number in the end times. <\/p>\n

But the second thing we need to note is that the only way Paul expects those Jews to be saved is if they turn to Christ for salvation. This is his point in quoting Isaiah 59.
\n26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: \u201cThe deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.\u201d
\nThe Jews will only be saved through Jesus Christ their deliverer, probably in the very last days just before, or even as the time when Jesus returns. In the passage we are about to look at Paul makes it clear that salvation is received by faith alone, when he says about the Jews,
\n23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
\nSo Romans 11 is teaching us that a day which is coming when huge numbers of the Jews alive at that time will repent and put their faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

This is a difficult issue. Here is a helpful paragraph from the IVP Bible Background Commentary on the New Testament.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike some interpreters today, Paul does not regard God\u2019s promises to ethnic Israel as cancelled\u2014only deferred; God still had a covenant with the fathers. Most readers today subscribe to one of two systems: Israel and the church are separate and irreconcilable entities, and Israel will be restored; or Christians become the true Israel and ethnic Israel has no more purpose in God\u2019s plan. Paul would have rejected both extremes, believing that ethnic Israel as a whole would return to the covenant in the end time, joining the Gentiles and Jewish remnant that already participate in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul is saying that God\u2019s call and election of Israel remains even though they have rejected their Messiah. So what\u2019s happening to Israel now, in these days?<\/p>\n

7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8 as it is written:
\n\u201cGod gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.\u201d
\n9 And David says: \u201cMay their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
\n10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Paul was writing the majority of the Jews had rejected Jesus. God had hardened their hearts. But that wasn\u2019t the end of the story!
\n11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!<\/p>\n

God still has plans for Israel. But their rejection of their gospel was itself part of God\u2019s masterplan, opening the door of salvation to the Gentiles.<\/p>\n

11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!
\n13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. <\/p>\n

Here is God\u2019s masterplan. The Jews have rejected Christ and some Gentiles have accepted Him and been saved. But Paul\u2019s hope is that Jews will see Gentiles enjoying the blessings which had originally been promised to them and be inspired to repentance. If the Jews are provoked to jealousy, they will then seek once again the salvation which had always been intended for Israel. Paul explains this with a picture of an olive tree which everybody would know represents the nation of Israel. <\/p>\n

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, \u201cBranches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.\u201d 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
\n22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s perfect masterplan of salvation, the nation of Israel since Paul\u2019s generation has been cut off from the olive tree to make space for Gentiles to be saved. But God\u2019s plan is that one day the remaining descendents of Abraham, ethnic Israel, will be grafted back on to the olive tree and share in the blessings of salvation which by God\u2019s grace are rightfully theirs. What a great day that will be!<\/p>\n

SO WHAT\u2019S GOING ON WITH ISRAEL RIGHT NOW?<\/p>\n

We need to recognise that this is a question which Paul wasn\u2019t really concerned about. Christians today often want to know where contemporary Jews stand in relation to the Kingdom of God. Paul isn\u2019t answering that question. His perspective is eschatological \u2013 his concern is with the end times \u2013 where will Israel stand when Jesus returns. And his answer is that although at present the nation of Israel has been rejected, they still remain potentially part of God\u2019s eternal Kingdom.
\nBut what part does the nation state of Israel today have in God\u2019s purposes, if any? Opinions differ!!!<\/p>\n

Here were Paul\u2019s questions. \u201cDid God reject Israel? By no means!\u201d His answer was in two parts \u2013 not completely, not totally, and not finally, not forever. And then Paul asked, Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!<\/p>\n

Romans 11 is a very difficult portion of Scripture and great minds differ on what it really teaches us about Israel here and now. But Paul ends this section of Romans with a wonderful song of praise to God which we can all say Amen to. We may not understand some of God\u2019s wonderful plan of salvation \u2013 but it is all safe in God\u2019s hands!<\/p>\n

33\tOh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
\nHow unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
\n34\t\u201cWho has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?\u201d
\n35\t\u201cWho has ever given to God, that God should repay him?\u201d
\n36\tFor from him and through him and to him are all things.
\nTo him be the glory forever! Amen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a thousand years the people of Israel had been waiting for their Messiah. But when Jesus Christ the Son of God was revealed,…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}