Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Romans chapter 11 as we continue our study through the Word of God. Tonight we will finish up Paul’s fourth main division of this letter to the Romans, a section that covered Romans chapters 9 through 11, where Paul is dealing with election and he looks to Israel to illustrate this, to show us that if God is faithful to fulfill His promise to Israel, then His promises to us are sure, we can trust in Him!
In Romans chapter 9 Paul spoke of Israel’s past election, as he said “who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” Romans 9:4-5. Then in Romans chapter 10 Paul spoke of Israel’s present rejection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ as Paul said, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:1-4.
Now here in Romans chapter 11 Paul is going to speak of Israel’s future restoration, that they will receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Now, in some denominations, for some people, they feel that the Jews blew it by rejecting Jesus and thus, God is done with them, they have been put on the shelf, they have fallen, you might say, and they can’t get up. Arnold Toynbee, the great historian said that Israel was “a fossil civilization.” In other words, they are done with, there is no hope for them, and they are like the dinosaur, extinct! Well, not exactly!
Now, we are going to see tonight, Paul makes a very strong case for the restoration of Israel back to God and thus, with that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 11, starting in verse 1, and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
After all that Paul said in Romans chapter 10 of Israel, the logical conclusion is that God is done with His people, the Jews. But that is not the case as Paul tells us. What is his proof? He looks at his own life, a Jew, a Pharisee at one time, a keeper of the Law for righteousness at one time, a persecutor of the church of God, and yet, he got saved! Thus, the nation of Israel is no different and Paul’s point is simple, one day, the nation of Israel will be saved just as he was saved!
Listen to what God says regarding His people in Jeremiah 31:35-37, “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): ‘If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.’ Thus says the LORD: ‘If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD.’” God is in control and He will not fail His people, the Jews, they will be saved or we are in trouble!
Now Paul goes back to the Scriptures, to the prophet Elijah. In I Kings chapter 18 Elijah has a contest with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess to see whose God is real. And you know the story, an altar was built, wood was placed down and the sacrifice was placed on the altar. The contest was to see who’s God would accept the sacrifice by consuming it. The prophets of Baal went first and they jumped up and down, made all kinds of noise, Elijah mocked them, told them maybe their god was asleep, or didn’t hear them, which made them cut themselves and just go crazy trying to get the attention of their god, but nothing happened.
Finally, Elijah had enough of this foolishness, he had his people repair the altar, get the wood in order, place the sacrifice on the altar and then covered the sacrifice and wood with four water pots full of water and they did this four times until the trench around the altar was filled with water. Then Elijah prayed and we are told in I Kings 18:38-40, “Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!’ And Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!’ So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.”
What a great victory until Jezebel, the wife of king Ahab heard about what happened to her prophets, they were killed, and she made a threat against the life of Elijah, that he was going to be killed just as her prophets were! Now, this great man of faith, this great prophet of God who withstood the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel, what did he do when this woman threatened him? He ran for his life!
Elijah ends up in a cave, having himself a little pity-party. He complains to God that He alone is working for God, everyone else is against him and thus, against God, there is none serving the Lord except him. Finally the Lord replies back to Elijah and tells him, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” I Kings 19:18.
Paul is saying that just as the Lord had a faithful remnant back then, just 7,000 out of maybe some 1 million men or so, but He still had a remnant and the same is true today. The majority of Israel are unbelievers but there is a faithful remnant who do believe that Jesus is the Messiah, they are saved by grace through faith and not by the Law through works!
As Christians we too can go into the cave of self-pity and have ourselves a big old pity-party as Elijah did. We can think we alone are serving God, no one else is, or this church alone is serving God, there are no others who are faithful like we are, in fact they are against us! But that is not true, God has His faithful remnant wherever we go and thus, it is not the numbers that matter, but putting our trust in the grace of God and allowing Him to work through His people!
Paul speaks of the remnant being saved by God’s election of grace in the previous verse and now he tells us that grace is a free gift of God, it is not of works because then it would not be free, it would not be grace! Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, eternal life, and folks, that is free, you can’t earn it only receive it by faith!
It is as Paul said in Romans 9:30-32, “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.” Israel tried to obtain righteousness by the Law, and they could not for the wages of sin is death. On the other hand, the Gentiles, not seeking self-righteousness, they knew they were sinners when they saw God, obtained the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus. Israel tried to seek a relationship with God by their own efforts and they did not obtain it. Only those who receive the free gift of God found in Jesus will be saved, the elect Jews, the rest have been blinded!
The Jews had become so comfortable in their traditions, so secure in their rituals that it became a snare to them, a trap for them and they then saw no need for Jesus, no need for a savior. We need to be careful, for the same can happen to us as we become comfortable with traditions and rituals instead of a relationship! We see here that Paul is quoting from Isaiah 29 and Psalm 69 to show how God has placed a spirit of stupor upon His people; they were dead to spiritual things.
Now that does not seem fair! Let me say this, God is fair and He gave to them what they wanted. They did not want to see that Jesus was the Messiah so God blinded their eyes to that truth. They did not want to hear the Words of the Messiah so God caused them to be deaf to the things of God. He only gave to them what they wanted and that judgment continues to this very day! Now for those who wanted to see and hear, their eyes and ears were open and they were saved! Again, God will give to us that which we want, and that is not always good!
Has Israel stumbled so far that they have fallen out of the grace of God? Not at all! Now, as salvation has come to the Gentiles God will use that to cause Israel to be jealous as they see God blessing the Gentiles with the hope that Israel would turn back to God. When I was in High School I ran Cross Country and the top seven runners on our team would get these awesome sweats and track outfits while the rest received these baggy and ugly things. What that did for me was it made me jealous, I wanted to wear those outfits and thus, I worked hard, and I finally worked my way to the point where I was in the top seven, a varsity runner and I had one of those awesome track outfits. Now the difference here is you don’t have to work to receive salvation, just receive it by faith. God is not done with Israel but through the salvation of the Gentiles He is provoking them to jealousy so they might return back to Him and be saved!
Of this verse, Morris makes this interesting point: “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.” What a powerful point he makes, may we take it to heart and make people jealous, not just Jews, of what we have, Jesus, so that they would desire to have what we have!
Paul puts things into perspective for us as he tells us that because of the Jews rejecting Jesus the Gentiles have been blessed, and then when they come to know the Lord there will be even more of a blessing. When will this be? In the Kingdom Age!
Paul is speaking of Israel outside of Christ; that those outside of Christ are dead, but when they receive Jesus it will be like life coming to a nation that was spiritually dead!
Paul has been looking at the future of Israel, their restoration and to prove his point he goes back to the past. In other words, if Abraham, being a type of firstfruits, a type of the heave offering to the Lord, (Leviticus 23:9-14, Numbers 15:17-21), if he was holy and accepted by God, it assures us that as the part is sanctified, so will be the whole, Israel will be saved.
How was Abraham justified, was it by his works? Not at all, for Paul told us back in Romans 4:1-5, “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” So just as Abraham was saved by grace through faith, so too will his descendants, and thus, at the end of the tribulation period we will see Jews, as a nation, call upon Jesus.
Those branches that were broken off were the unbelieving Jews and the wild olive branches, the Gentiles, were grafted in. Now this is interesting because the wild olive branch was unfruitful in holiness, wild and yet it was grafted into the natural olive tree and what was unfruitfulness in holiness, wild now is fruitful in holiness, it has taken on a new nature, the nature of God that was given to Israel and now has been assimilated into the lives of the Gentiles. It is as Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Now it is easy to boast about what we have and look down upon the Jews for what they don’t have, what they have missed out on, and from there it is just a short step to self-righteousness. The Jews developed that mentality; they believed that every Jew would be snatched from the fires of Hell because they were a child of Abraham, even if they were wicked! On the other hand, every Gentile, no matter how good they were, would go to Hell because the only reason they were created was to fuel the fires of Hell. The only way a Gentile could escape that was by becoming a Jew.
But Paul said in Romans 9:6 “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.” In other words, just because you are a descendant of Abraham does not mean you are saved, you must believe by faith in Jesus and then you are of Israel, governed by God! You see, we stand by faith; it is not that we are so special. Israel was cut off because of unbelief, and that too can happen to us, to Gentiles if we turn from the Lord and we know that during the Last Days the apostasy or falling away will come, where Gentiles will turn away from the Lord, and we can see that happening in churches across America!
VERSES 22-24
Look at the goodness of God, grafting us into the natural olive tree. Now in reading this you might come to the conclusion that God is just waiting for a Jew or Gentile to cross that line and bam! They are cut out of the olive tree. I don’t believe that is the case. God is merciful, He is longsuffering, He is patient and His desire is that all would be grafted in, both Jew and Gentile. I truly believe that God is waiting for us to turn to Him so that He can graft us in and not the other way around. The thing is if you want to reject God, He will give you what you desire, but He is patient, He is longsuffering!
Paul, in speaking of the covering of the eyes of the Jews because of unbelief, tells us in II Corinthians 3:12-17, “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech — unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Paul is speaking of the Jewish people here but in reality, all who turn to the Lord, their covering, that veil that has covered their eyes will be removed and they will see the Lord, they shall be saved!
Paul concludes by saying if God can graft a wild olive branch into an olive tree, He can certainly graft back in that which was natural, and Israel will be saved!
In the epistles or letters of Paul he speaks of three things he doesn’t want us to be ignorant about, and tragically, as you look at the church today, these are the things that many are ignorant about. The rapture of the church, which he speaks of in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
He also speaks of Spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to us as we need and in I Corinthians 12:1-11 we are told, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
And here in Romans Paul tells us that he does not want us to be ignorant about the salvation of Israel, it is going to happen. God is not done with Israel yet! They will be saved! Their blindness is only “in part” or temporary, it will last until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. Of this Chuck Smith said: “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.” That day is coming!
What does Paul mean by “the fullness of the Gentiles”? He is speaking of the last Gentile to be saved before the Lord takes His Bride, the church home in the Rapture. It is at this point that the Church Age comes to an end and God will be dealing with the nation of Israel once again during the tribulation period or the 70th week of Daniel, that last 7-year period before the Lord returns to set up His Kingdom on this earth!
The Scriptures also speak of the “times of the Gentiles” which is different. Some say that this took place back in 1967 when Israel re-captured the city of Jerusalem, but I don’t see it that way. In Luke 21:20-24 we are told, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” The times of the Gentiles began when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon invaded Jerusalem and took the Jews away captive and it continues on today when Gentile nations are persecuting the Jews, even though they are in their homeland. And as you read those verses in Luke they are speaking of the end of the tribulation period and when this event happens, the Lord will return and the end of Gentile rule will come to pass, no longer will the Jews be persecuted by Gentiles, for the times of the Gentiles will have been fulfilled!
Who is this speaking of, the church or believing Jews? Neither, it is speaking of unbelieving Jews who will receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Does this mean every single Jew will be saved? Of course not but the nation of Israel, as a whole, will be saved! It is as we are told in Genesis 13:15 as the Lord said to Abraham, “for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” And in Genesis 17:7-8 the Lord said, “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” I can’t see how people can say that God is done with Israel, with the Jews when these passages, as well as others seem to be very clear, all Israel will be saved!
Yes, they have fought hard against the Gospel message but they are loved by God and this gift He has given to them can’t be taken away, it is irrevocable! You see, the covenant that God made with Abraham back in Genesis chapter 15 was a unilateral covenant based upon God’s faithfulness and not Abraham’s or his descendants! Why is that? Because when the covenant was cut, God walked through but Abraham was sleeping, thus, these promises of God will come to pass, all Israel shall be saved!
God showed the Gentiles mercy when they were disobedient to Him and through the disobedience of Israel they were saved. Now, as God has used the disobedience for good for the Gentiles, He can also use the mercy He has shown the Gentiles and bestow it upon Israel. The thing is, if you truly admit it, we all have come from disobedience, both Jew and Gentile, and have received the mercy of God, we did not get what we deserved – DEATH!
It is as Isaiah said, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.’” Isaiah 55:8-9. Also, in Psalm 139:6 we are told, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.” God has a plan, and we might not fully understand it now, but because we know the character, the nature of God, that He is good and there is no darkness in Him at all, we can trust that He is doing what is best!
Notice, “me” is nowhere to be found in this verse, why? Because it is all about Him and what He has done and all we must do is walk by faith, trust in Him! It is as Paul said in Ephesians 1:3-14, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” As we understand the greatness of God we learn to worship Him more and we wait for that day, we pray for Israel, to return to the Lord for in that day, the Kingdom will be established!
As we close this section of Romans tonight on election, we see how God’s character remains strong, for He is faithful and what He has promised, He will bring to pass, Israel will be saved and thus, so too will all the promises to the believing Gentiles be fulfilled! This is an important section for us to learn for before Paul moves onto dealing with application, he wants us to understand that God is faithful to His Word and thus, since He is, then Paul is able to say, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2. And we will see this next time in Romans chapter 12.