It’s good to be back with you again. I’ve been asked to look at the subject of the future of Israel, and so we’ll begin with that in Romans 11. I’ll just read a couple of verses here, but then we’re going to try to accomplish a minor miracle and work through Romans 9, 10, and 11. This is the passage in the Scriptures where this question is taken up directly and at length. If you’re going to study this subject, there are many, many, many passages that deal with it, many in the Old Testament in particular, but there is no passage that’s more definitive than this one. So this is the passage, I think, to go to for the question.
Romans 11, and I will read verses 25 and 26. “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. This will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Let’s bow together for prayer.
Our Father, we come to open Your Word and we look to You to be our teacher. We ask that You will open our minds and our hearts to see it, and may we, as we complete it, come to the same conclusions of the Apostle Paul and marvel at the greatness and the wisdom and the grace of our God. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you will just look back quickly to Romans chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. Paul tells us here—if you just glance through it, and by the way, I do want to work through Romans 9 through 11 this evening. That will mean that I cannot spend time on every verse. I’ll be flying through it, and in fact, I’m going to assume that you have some familiarity with Romans 9 to 11. If that’s not the case, I’m sorry. You may want to take some time this week to go back through it with it fresh in your mind. But we will highlight Paul’s argument as he goes through this passage.
But we begin with Romans chapter one, where Paul tells us here that he writes this letter to the church at Rome for the purpose of expounding the gospel in its various dimensions. But what’s in particular important for our purposes this evening, verses one and two: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son.” So Paul is telling us here that he’s writing not only to expound the gospel in its various aspects, but in particular he’s writing to tell us that this gospel is in keeping with the Old Testament revelation. This is a gospel which was promised beforehand through the prophets.
So this is a big subject for Paul. His agenda is not only to expound the gospel, but to go beyond that and to explain how this question of the prophecies concerning Israel have meshed with this gospel that he’s preaching now. He says in verse 16 here, this gospel goes to the Jew first, but also to the Greek, so there’s a global embrace of the gospel. There’s a global scope involved. And that’s, in fact, now the case as Paul writes. This gospel has gone global. It has gone to the Gentiles. He has begun to preach it. Paul’s writing to a church at Rome, which evidently is a mixed congregation. It is primarily a Gentile congregation, but evidently a significant Jewish makeup in the church as well. And there’s evidence that there’s some conflict over that division. Paul writes in part to deal with that.
But now this is the case: that the gospel has gone beyond Israel. It’s gone to the Gentiles. Gentiles are coming to Christ en masse. And in fact, Israel en masse is rejecting it. Now that’s the problem. That’s the problem we come to when we come to Romans chapters 9 to 11. If you glance through the Old Testament prophets, if you read through them even in a cursory manner, you see that there is a central role that is promised for Israel in God’s redemptive plan—that God will restore Israel, and Israel in turn will become the fulcrum for the nations, and the gospel will go out to all, and the world will be blessed.
We find that in Jeremiah chapter 31. We’ll see that in Romans chapter 11, where Paul alludes to that, where God promises that He’ll make this new covenant, and Israel’s sins will be forgiven. They’ll return to their land, and God will bless them. We find the same in Isaiah chapters eight and nine. We were just looking at this at our congregation recently. Isaiah 8 and 9, the promise of the Son who will come, the famous Christmas prophecy. In Isaiah 9, the child will be born, the Son is given. The prophecy of Israel’s suffering for a long time, Israel’s rejection for a time, but then Israel’s blessing under Messiah.
We find the same thing in Hosea chapters one to three. Paul will cite that in this passage as well, where God says that Israel, who is “My people,” will be called “Not My people” because they’ve been unfaithful to the covenant. There’ll be something like a divorce proceeding and they’ll become “Not My people.” But they’re “Not My people” who have no claim on God’s promise at all anymore because they had violated the covenant. “Not My people,” Israel, will be called the children of God. And God promises a blessing that will return to Israel. For instance, Hosea 3, verse 5: “Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. And they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.” So there’s this great promise that in the latter times, Israel will come to faith. Messiah will come, Israel will embrace her Messiah, she’ll prosper under Messiah, and she will be saved.
Now, the problem is, Messiah has come. And Israel said, “No.” And it doesn’t seem to square with the promises God made to Israel through the prophets in the Old Testament. So there’s been a surprising turn of events. The gospel now has become largely a Gentile affair. And in fact, in Romans chapter four, verse 16, Paul is referring to Gentiles as the children of Abraham. So what’s that all about? Has Israel been displaced? Are the Gentiles now the people of God and not Israel at all? How does all of this fit? How does it square with the Old Testament revelation? If Paul’s gospel is, as he says in chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, in keeping with the Old Testament revelation, then what has happened? How do we explain this?
And it also has relevance with what Paul has just said in Romans chapter 8. Paul has just given this lofty passage about the great promises of God to those whom He saves in Christ, and they’re safe in Christ forever. Well, how do we know that that promise will be kept? If in fact these repeated promises in the Old Testament were made to Israel and that’s fallen to the ground, how can we believe that this promise that He’s giving to us will hold any better? So Romans chapters 9 through 11 deals with the subject of the gospel in Israel, but actually more specifically it’s dealing with this theological problem that has come up, and that is: Is God trustworthy? Is He faithful to His promise? Will He keep His word and specifically His promise to Israel? And here we have in Romans 9 through 11 a broad overview of God’s global redemptive purpose and Israel’s specific role in that purpose.
Israel’s Failure Is Not Total
In chapter 9, verses 1 to 6, Paul introduces the problem. In verses 1 to 3, this familiar passage here where Paul laments Israel’s failure to attain messianic salvation. Messiah has come, they’ve rejected Him, and he has his critics in mind. “Your mission is largely a Gentile mission. What happened to the promises for Israel?” And so Paul begins with this lament—this personal lament of what has happened to Israel. Verse three, Romans 9: “I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Now, by the way, note here that he’s talking about ethnic Israel, “my kinsmen according to the flesh.” This is not a spiritual Israel. There is such a concept of a spiritual Israel. We’ll talk about that in a little bit, but he’s talking about ethnic Israel, and that carries through all of these chapters. He sets it up to tell us that that’s who he’s talking about.
In verses four and five, then, he affirms that Israel’s privilege remains. Verse four: “They are Israelites. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” Now, the significance here in verse four is the present tense. To them belong the promises and the covenants. They belong to Israel. Well, that’s just the rub of the problem at hand. If these promises belong to Israel, then why isn’t she experiencing it right now after Messiah has come? Why is it she seems to have been rejected and Messiah has come and this has gone to the Gentiles? Well, surely, verse six, surely it cannot be—it cannot be that the Word of God has failed. That’s what he says in verse six: “It is not as though the Word of God has failed.” That’s an unthinkable thought. It can’t be it. So there must be some other resolution to this problem. And that is the subject of Romans 9 through 11.
Israel’s failure seems to put the lie to God’s promise. So what has happened and how do we understand it? Romans 9:6b all the way through chapter 11 then is given to answer that question. First off, in verses 6b and following all the way through verse 29, his answer is very simply: Make sure that you haven’t misunderstood the promise. Make sure you haven’t misunderstood the promise. Let’s start again with verse six: “It is not as though the word of God has failed.” And here he explains—notice the explanatory conjunction there: “For it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descendant from Israel belong to Israel. And not all are children of Abraham because they’re his offspring. But through Isaac, your offspring will be named.”
And then verse 10: “And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing, either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told,” and here he quotes Genesis chapter 25, “the older will serve the younger. As it is written,” and here he cites Malachi the prophet chapter one, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Now, very briefly here, what Paul is saying is that from the beginning, there has been a narrowing focus in God’s promise to Israel. God promised Abraham’s descendants would be blessed. But from the beginning, we see that that’s not all-inclusive necessarily. How do you know that? Paul says, “Read Genesis.” It was Isaac and not Ishmael. It was Jacob and not Esau. And who made the distinction? Who made the difference between Isaac and Ishmael, between Jacob and Esau? Well, it wasn’t the men personally, because it was before they were born, having done neither good nor bad. The purpose of God according to election might stand. God said the elder shall serve the younger. This is God’s determination, and so from the beginning there has been a narrowing focus to God’s promise, and all of that Paul says just lies on the surface of Genesis. We find the promise in chapter 12 and following repeated over and again, but from the beginning we see a narrowing focus.
Now there’s more to be said than that, because it was a sweeping promise to the nation. But that simple observation already—that it was Isaac not Ishmael, Jacob not Esau, that there’s this narrowing focus within the descendants of Abraham—that observation already shows us that it casts this whole question in new light. Or maybe we’ve overread the promise. It doesn’t necessarily mean that every last physical descendant of Abraham will be blessed. So the theological problem that’s been raised now already has been shown to be not as acute as it might have seemed to be. You might have simply misunderstood the promise.
And in fact, verse six tells us that there’s this narrowing focus: “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” Now some have taken this to mean that Israel now, a true Israel, is an expanding term to mean the people of God, Jew and Gentile. But I want you to notice that’s not what the verse says. What the verse tells us is that there’s a narrowing focus. Not all who belong to Israel—that’s the descendants of Abraham—not all who belong to Israel are Israel. In other words, there’s a true Israel. And the true Israel is something within Israel, but it’s not all of them. And we have the same thing in verses 7 and 8, the same with Abraham’s seed and the children of the flesh, the children of the promise. There is this larger group of Abraham’s descendants, Israel. But within that group, he makes it very plain in verse 6, there’s a narrowing focus.
Now the point there, then, is that the standing with God is not determined by anything human. Our standing before God is not determined by mere physical descent. “You’re from Abraham.” That was the Jews’ problem in Jesus’ day. “We’re Abraham’s children. We’ve got this made.” No, there’s more to it. What matters is God’s appointment. He was Isaac, not Ishmael. It was Jacob, not Esau. There’s a narrowing focus. So yes, Israel is a blessed and chosen people, but not all Israel is Israel. From the beginning, it’s been the case that God has sovereignly chosen among those of Israel who would be blessed and who would not. And God has never been obligated to anyone. And it is His determination to say who is included in this and who is not. It is not intended, we see it from the beginning, it is not intended to be understood in an exhaustive sense of all of Abraham’s descendants. Now again, that doesn’t answer the whole problem, but it does cast the question in a new light and it shows that the problem is not as serious already as you might have thought it was.
Now we get to chapter 9, verses 14 and following. Paul begins this excursus on the justice of God. Once we say it was Isaac and not Ishmael, it is Jacob and not Esau, it’s up to God to determine who receives this blessing, what’s the objection that’s going to come up? “That’s not fair,” right? And you’ll notice in verses 14 and following that that’s exactly the objection Paul anticipates in this whole section. And I would love to spend time working through this, but we just can’t. But that is the question that Paul anticipates here, and he gives the illustration of Moses and Pharaoh—with Pharaoh, “for this purpose I’ve raised you up that I may show my power in you.” And he also, verses 19 and following, gives the illustration of the potter and the clay. It’s the potter’s decision. It is the potter’s right to determine what he does with this lump of clay. And if he can take out of this one lump of clay and make an ashtray, and with that same lump of clay make a beautiful vase, that’s up to the potter to determine that. And it’s same with this lump of fallen humanity, or in this case, this lump of Israel, who has been disobedient so many times over the centuries. It is to God to determine which of them will receive the blessing.
All right, again, the point then is that saving blessing depends ultimately not on anything human—not on family heritage, not personal standings, not on your individual effort—that’s verse 16, “not of him who wills or him that runs, but of God who shows mercy.” It is up to God, and that’s verses 23 and 24. He can have vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory, the potter doing what he wants with this lump of clay, and these who are vessels of mercy, verse 24, are those whom he has called. The ultimate deciding factor is: Whom has God called?
Now then, in verses 24 through 29, Paul does expand here now to tell us that God’s promise does include Gentiles. And here he cites Hosea, and he cites the prophet Isaiah as well. Chapter 9, verse 24: “Even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles.” Now the reference that he’s going to make now is from Hosea chapters one and two, where God speaks of Israel as “My people,” but they’re going to be called “Not My people.” Remember Hosea had the adulterous wife and she had children that he named with symbolic names, and one of them was named “Not My people.” Lo-Ammi, “Not My people.” But one of these days, these Lo-Ammi is going to be called Ammi, “My people.” Instead of “Not My people,” they’re going to be “My people.” They’ll be called the children of God. So they’re rejected because of their disobedience and unfaithfulness, but God has not forgotten His promise and He says He will bring them back.
Now, once you’ve said that—that there are those who have been excluded, and that yet God in sovereign mercy has included them—you’re just this far away from saying, “Oh, he can do the same for the Gentiles.” And that’s what he does then in these verses as well. And he quotes the Abrahamic promises, including the sand of the sea—that’s not just physical descendants of Abraham, but that’s the Gentiles as well—and the nations are promised to inherit Abraham’s blessing as well. Now you put all of that together, and you conclude then that the prophecy to Abraham and the promise to Abraham includes Gentiles ultimately.
Now verse 27, he quotes Isaiah, and this is very pertinent to his argument. He saw a time coming when only a remnant will be saved. Isaiah 10 is what he’s quoting here. I’ll read it for you: “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved.” So Isaiah himself saw a time coming when Israel would be largely in unbelief and not blessed. Only a remnant of them would be saved. So again, Paul is saying, you may have misunderstood the promise. And this big problem, this theological problem that you’ve had about God’s promises to Israel not being fulfilled, you might have misunderstood it.
Now in chapter nine, verse 30, all the way through chapter 10, Paul takes a bit of an aside here, but a very important part of his argument—but it is a bit of an aside. And he explains just why Israel has failed. God has promised Israel. The Messiah has come. Israel has rejected her Messiah. She’s not blessed. Why? Why is she not blessed? Well, verses 30 to 32 here take that question head-on. “What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness had attained it. That is a righteousness by faith.” Okay, here are the Gentiles, and they did not pursue righteousness on their own. They weren’t looking to be holy and righteous before God. But they have attained righteousness. How have the Gentiles attained righteousness? Well, that’s Paul’s gospel. They believed in Jesus, who is the end of the law and righteousness for all who believe. And the Gentiles now have received Him and they’ve attained this righteousness.
So let’s take that again. “What shall we say then that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it? That is a righteousness that is by faith. But that Israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.” Here’s Israel’s problem. By the way, this is an interesting answer to another theological question that often comes up. Paul is dealing here in the deep waters of sovereign election, and God chooses whom will be saved, and all of that. And you might at this point say, “Well, the reason then someone is not saved is because God didn’t choose them.” That’s not what Paul says. All the responsibility for their lostness, Paul says, is because they didn’t pursue Christ by faith. The responsibility is theirs. The offer was there, it was made, and they went about as though they could establish righteousness on their own. They pursued the law as though they were able to keep it.
This was the whole problem with the Jews in Jesus’ day and the apostles. Paul had to deal with this at length—that “we have the law.” And when Paul came along preaching free grace, that you’re saved apart from keeping the law, they said, “Oh, you’re cutting short the law.” Paul says, “No, you’re the ones cutting short the law because you claim to be saved by the law, and you’ve not lived up to it at all.” We’ve kept the law perfectly through the substitute that we have, and we’ve latched onto Him in faith, and in Him we have the promises of all of that that belong to those who keep the law. So Israel has failed to attain her blessing simply because she has refused Christ. The promises then in the Old Testament are essentially soteriological. They hang on the question of faith and faith in the Messiah. Israel failed. It’s available now only in Christ, who did not fail to live up to all that God required. He is really the true Israel. But Israel did not do it. That righteousness that the law promises is available now only in Christ. And Israel has refused Him. And that’s why they’re lost. Instead, Israel has pursued a righteousness of another kind that will never stand before God.
Chapter 10 verses 14 and following, here Paul argues that Israel’s present failure should be no surprise. Now here he turns the tables. You’re all worked up about this question of why Israel isn’t experiencing the promised blessing? Here Paul turns the table and says that that present failure of Israel should be no surprise to you because even that present failure was prophesied. So that’s verses 14 and following, but I’ll just highlight some of that. That’s verse 19, where he cites Moses from Deuteronomy chapter 32, where Moses warned that God would make Israel jealous by a Gentile blessing. Way back at 1400 BC, Moses said to Israel, “The time’s going to come when you’re going to be so disobedient, you’re not going to be blessed, and God in turn will make you jealous by blessing the Gentiles.” That’s verse 19.
Actually, verse 16 echoes the same from Isaiah chapter 53: “Who has believed our report?” That’s Israel who has disbelieved the gospel. Chapter 10, verses 20 and 21, here he cites Isaiah chapter 65, verses 1 and 2, that God’s favor will be shown to the Gentiles who are not even asking for it, and this while Israel stubbornly refuses. Verse 21 of Israel: “He says, ‘All day long I’ve held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.'” Isaiah said that. And so God’s Word has not failed, and in Israel’s current failure, God’s Word is actually being fulfilled. That’s a turn of the argument, isn’t it? You thought this was a problem, that Israel wasn’t being blessed? No, the prophet said that would happen. In chapter 10, verse 21: “All day long I’ve held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” Here he tells us that God has offered His mercy to Israel and Israel has persisted in her disobedience and so is not blessed.
All right, now all of that sets us up for the climax of his argument, chapter 11. It’s the climax of the discussion. Is God now through with Israel? Given Israel’s continued unbelief, rejection of the Messiah, has God finally turned away from them and said, “That’s that, I’m done with you”? Well, actually, in chapter 11, there are two distinct questions that Paul takes up. We have the same expression in the Greek; it’s the identical expression. In the English here, it’s translated a little bit differently. But if you look at verse one and then verse 11, you’ll see this question comes up.
Verse one: “I ask then,” there’s the first question, “has God rejected his people?” And then verse 11: “I ask then, did they stumble in order that they might fall?” So we have two different questions. Verse one deals with the present status of Israel. Is God done with them? Has God rejected them? And so here he answers, “No.” Israel’s rejection and Israel’s failure is not total. Verse 11 then picks up the next question. “Did they stumble in order that they might fall?” That is to say, this deals not with Israel’s present status, but it looks ahead. Did they stumble now in order that they fall forever? That they’re gone now, that’s it, forever? And here Paul gives the answer: in verses one to 10, Israel’s failure is not total. In verses 11 and following, Israel’s failure is not final.
Now let’s see that quickly as we go through. Verses one to 10: Israel’s failure is not total. Actually, in verse 1, the question itself includes the answer. “I ask then, has God rejected His people?” A little expression at the end: “His people.” And then you attach the question to that. Has God rejected His people? Well, it’s a familiar statement to the Old Testament. 50 times or so more we have God promising to Israel, “I’ll be your God, you’ll be my people, I’ll dwell in your midst.” 50 times or more. Familiar promises: “His people.” And now the question: Has God rejected His people? Well, what does Paul say? “Has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”
So here he answers with biblical proof that there is a remnant, as promised. God has not rejected His people, Israel, totally. Their failure is not total. And the reason we know that the rejection is not total and the failure is not total is because there is a remnant, and Paul says, “I’m one.” And then in the following verses, he gives the illustration of Elijah. Remember Elijah had that persecution syndrome? “I’m the only faithful one left,” or “Nobody else is faithful, only me.” And he’s crying about it. And God says to Elijah—remember what He says?—”There are 7,000 who haven’t bowed the knee to Baal. You’re not the only one.” And Paul says the same today. Yes, Israel en masse has rejected Messiah, but not Israel all. And so, verse five: “So too at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace.” Now this is the heart of the paragraph, and he has two implications here in verse 5. One, God has been faithful and is faithful to His promise. There is a remnant. Even in this time of the unbelieving majority of Israel, God has kept His promise. Israel is not rejected in total. So one, God is faithful to His promise, and two, Israel’s failure is not total.
Israel’s Failure Is Not Permanent
Now verses 11 and following, we take up this final stage of the argument. And this is where he brings it all together. Israel’s failure, here he argues, is not permanent. So in the first 10 verses, Israel’s failure is not total because there’s a remnant. And now he’s going to argue that Israel’s failure is not permanent. Verse one asks, “Has God rejected his people?” By no means. And then he gives two lines of argument. One, their failure is not total, and now beginning with verse 11, their failure is not permanent. And in fact, what he will argue here is that Israel’s failure at this point in history is actually a vital part of God’s purpose. God has a saving purpose to save—a global purpose. He’s going to save the world.
So verse 11: “So I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall?” Is this over for them now? “By no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles.” So God had a purpose. God was not caught off guard by Israel’s unbelief. God wasn’t surprised by it. It’s all part of God’s purpose. They have been set aside for a time, and it’s so that the gospel will go to the nations. Now, you’ll read this in various parts of the New Testament. You find it in the Gospels. You find it famously in Paul in the book of Acts. You remember when Paul is at Antioch in Pisidia? He and Barnabas were there, and there are people who believe, and the Jewish element in the city was really worked up over it. They begin to argue against Paul, and there’s this big clamor. And you remember what Paul says? This is Acts 13:46: “You’ve judged yourself unworthy of eternal life. I turn to the Gentiles.” There’s that turning point. Israel set aside. Paul takes the gospel now to the Gentiles. And what he’s affirming here is all of that was God’s purpose—setting aside Israel so that the gospel would spill out to the Gentiles.
Now notice that again, verse 11: “Rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as”—there’s the purpose clause—”so as to make Israel jealous.” Now that echoes what we saw earlier, Deuteronomy chapter 32, where Moses prophesied, “I will make you jealous from those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation, I will make you angry.” You’re going to reject God’s law; you’ll be unfaithful. God will bless the Gentiles and by that render Israel jealous.
Now verse 12 then takes the next step, and it’s a fascinating prospect. He’s reasoning here. It was God’s purpose to let Israel be set aside so that the gospel would go to the Gentiles. But verse 12: “Now, if Israel’s trespass, if their trespass means riches for the world”—now stop there. Israel rejecting the Messiah, what has been the result of that? Well, in God’s purpose, it’s been the spill-out of the gospel to the nations. That’s why us Gentiles are saved. This gospel has come to us. So that’s what he’s saying here. “If their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean?” Well, there’s a happy prospect. If Israel’s rejection and failure means blessing to the world, what in the world will happen when they come to Him in faith? Will there be spill-off effects that are even greater than the advance of the gospel that we’ve seen in this age? Well, it would seem that’s what he is saying. And verse 15 directs us to imagine the world scene at that point. “For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world,” which is what has happened, “what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” Israel who has been rejected will be accepted. And if in their rejection the nations were blessed, just try to imagine the blessing of their acceptance. He’s reasoning from the lesser to the greater.
Now in verses 16 and following, he gives us two illustrations. He expands really on only one of them, but two of them in verse 16: “If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump.” So if you put yeast—when you’re making a loaf of bread, any of you ladies make bread? My wife does. You put yeast in the bread, it doesn’t affect just that one part of the loaf. You know, it works its way through the whole thing. So that’s his point here. “If the dough offered the first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump.” And he gives another illustration: “And if the root is holy, so are the branches.” Simple reasoning.
And then verses 17 and following, he expands on this tree illustration. And I think I’ll take the time to read that. Verse 17: “But if some of the branches were broken off,” that is Israel, “and you Gentiles, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others.” So now, let’s stop here. We’ve got this tree—this tree of the Abrahamic promise—and Israel are the natural branches of that tree. But because of their unbelief, those branches have been cut off. Instead, wild branches have been brought in. And they’ve been grafted in. I don’t know a whole lot about this kind of thing—horticulture grafting in—but I’ve seen it done. You bring in a branch from another kind of tree and you attach it in a certain kind of way, and it receives the life from the trunk. You’re wild branches, you’ve been brought in, and now you are receiving the blessings that were promised to Abraham.
So again, verse 17: “If some of the branches were broken off,” that is Israel, “and you,” that is Gentiles, “although a wild olive shoot were grafted in among the others, and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches,” that is those who were cut off. “If you are, remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. And then you will say, ‘Well, branches were cut off so that I might be grafted in.’ That’s true. They were broken off because of their unbelief. But you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note, then, the kindness and the severity of God. Severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off. And even they,” and that’s Israel, “if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in.”
So these branches that have been cut off, if they don’t continue in their unbelief, they can be brought back into the tree. “If they do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted in. For God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree?” So God makes this promise to the patriarchs. Israel is in unbelief. They’re unfaithful. God cuts off the branches, grafts in the Gentile branches, but God is able to graft—just as He brought in a wild branch—if He can bring in a wild branch, it’s even easier to bring the natural branches back. That’s the argument. “How much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?” Verse 23: “Even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in.” Faith is still the hinge. But if they do not continue in unbelief, if they in fact will believe, they will be grafted back in. And notice it’s their own olive tree. Their own olive tree. That harks back to chapter 9, verse 4 that we saw: “to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law,” and so on. So Paul’s reasoning here is very simple. If because of their unbelief they’ve been cut off, and you, through faith, have been grafted in, what could be more expected than that they would be grafted in again as well?
Verse 25 gives us the time frame: “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers, a partial hardening”—remember I said in verses 1 to 10, Israel’s rejection and failure is not total. Here it is again. It’s “a partial hardening has come upon Israel until”—that is, Israel’s failure is not permanent—it’s only “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” So Israel’s setback is partial and Israel’s setback is temporary until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. That is, God has a people whom He’s going to save from all of the nations. And when that number is complete, Israel will come back in. That’s the time frame. We’re not given a date. That’s the schedule, though.
And then verse 26, the conclusion of his entire argument, with a final affirmation: “In this way, all Israel will be saved.” Now, many in the past—I guess I’ll just stop and say this here—many in the past have wanted this to say that this means the church, Jew and Gentile. That just rips the verse right out of its context to affirm that. Paul has been talking about ethnic Israel from chapter 9, verse 1 forward. And here he’s come to the culmination of his argument. “In this way, all Israel will be saved.” That is, through this historical process—the purpose of this age, the gospel going to the world, Israel then provoked to jealousy, in the end coming back to faith and being saved. God has this global saving program, and through that process all Israel will be saved.
Now I guess we should say something about that expression “all Israel.” Does that mean every last living Israelite at that moment at that time in history will come to faith in Christ? I’m not ready to say that. But I am ready to say that at the very least, Paul is saying there’s going to be this great reversal. That now, majority Israel is in unbelief—it’s only a minority that’s believing—and one day, that’s going to be reversed, and all Israel will be saved. That’s the climax of the argument.
In verses 26 and 27—someone asked me recently if Romans 9 through 11 is talking about the salvation of Israel as an ethnic people, why doesn’t, after Paul has quoted verse after verse from the Old Testament, why doesn’t Paul quote us a verse at this point in his argument? I scratched my head and I said, “He does.” Verses 26 and 27: “As it is written,” Isaiah 59 here he’s quoting, “the deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when,” and this is Jeremiah 31, “is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” The high point of the Old Testament is the new covenant promise. Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, other places make reference to it. Isaiah 59 makes reference to it as well—that God, the first covenant with Israel at Sinai, it didn’t work. And it didn’t work because Israel is persistently disobedient. God says, “I’ll make a new covenant with them.” And it no longer will be, “If you, then I.” This covenant will be: “I will bless, I will forgive, and I will restore.” Well, that’s Paul’s argument in brief, at least, and quick overview.
I think it’d be helpful to glance at least at some corresponding passages. I guess I don’t have time to turn to them, but I will mention a few. I mentioned already Hosea the prophet, chapters one to three. It’s one of those passages that is just so difficult, it seems to me, to read and come out saying that there is no future for ethnic Israel when the prophet there explicitly says, “Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they shall come in fear,” that is, trembling with repentance, “to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.” Zechariah chapter 12, verse 10: “They’ll look upon me whom they have pierced, and they’ll look upon him, they’ll mourn for him as one mourns for his only child.” So it pictures Israel in a repentant state at some time in the future, repenting of their sin.
I’m prepared to argue that this is exactly what is in view in Isaiah chapter 53. Who are these people who have not believed the report? Who are these people who say, “We saw him and we couldn’t believe it. He seemed like a tender shoot, somebody to be rejected and despised,” and finally crying out and, “Oh my, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. Oh, we, like sheep, have gone astray. We’ve turned everyone to his own way. The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Oh, this is Israel’s repentance.
And there’s one other passage that I think is extremely important that confirms what Paul is saying here, and that’s from Jesus Himself. Look at Matthew 23. In Matthew 23, Jesus—this famous passage—condemning the religious leaders of Israel for their hypocrisy and ultimately for the rejection of Him. Verse 37: “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets.” You’ve got a long history of this. “Kill the prophets, stone those who are sent to it. How often,” Jesus says, “how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you would not.” And here’s the statement of Israel’s rejection, verse 38: “See, your house is left to you desolate.” Israel’s rejection. But now notice, that’s not the last word. Verse 39: “I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” Explicitly, Jesus is telling us that there will come a day when Israel will receive her Messiah and say, “Blessed is he.”
That’s a fascinating verse. In fact, many of an amillennial persuasion who generally reject the idea of a future for ethnic Israel have stumbled on this verse. In fact, John Murray, the professor at Westminster a generation ago—his commentary on Romans and other places where he writes as well—points to this verse and says this is undeniable, that we have it stated here that there’ll be a future conversion for Israel. And he argues this verse does not tell us whether that conversion will be at the moment of Jesus’ return or sometime prior to that. But unmistakably, it tells us that there’s coming a time when Israel will say to the Lord Jesus, “Blessed is He.” And that’s what Paul envisions in Romans 9 through 11.
The Status Of Israel Today
Now quickly, back at Romans 11, let’s look at something else. Let’s finish up the chapter quickly. I’ve probably taken too long. Verses 28 and following—we should notice this. The question now is: What then is the status of Israel today? This brings up a very contemporary discussion. With all that’s happening in Israel, what should we think about Israel today? Should we approve of everything they do? How should we think about Israel today?
Verse 28: “As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.” That is, they are enemies for your sake in the sense that because of their rejection of the Messiah, the gospel has spilled out to the Gentiles. “But as regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they’re beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”
So the status of Israel today: they’re enemies with regards to the gospel. They’re not a holy people today. They’re a people who reject the Messiah. And with regards to the gospel, we have to recognize that. They’re not our brothers. But God’s purpose in election stands. And he says here explicitly: “God’s gifts and callings are irrevocable.” God still has a purpose to save them. And He will bring them back. All of God’s covenant blessings will be kept.
Well then, verses 33 to 36, we have his concluding doxology. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom of the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.” Who would have imagined this kind of a program to save the world? That’s the thought. “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been his counselor? Who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.”
So Paul is thinking over this grand drama of history that was set in place at the beginning with purposes foretold all through it. God chose a specific man, Abraham, through whom He would make a nation, whom He would bless. That nation has rejected Him. It’s been set aside. And because of their setting aside, there’s been a second stroke of grace now. And the gospel has spilled out to the Gentiles. And the nations the world over are receiving the gospel and hearing of Christ and being saved. And yet He’s still not done with His original promise. By these Gentiles whom He is saving, He will in the end provoke Israel to jealousy and they will be saved.
So yes—and make no mistake about it—the blessing hinges on faith in Jesus. Always has, always will. But it’s just that faith in Christ that is promised that will come again to Israel. And they will look when Jesus comes and say, “Blessed is He.” So has God been faithful? Has He kept His word? Paul gets to the end of this: He’s more than kept His word. He’s done an amazing thing. He’s been working out this gracious plan from the beginning. “What a wonderful, glorious God this is,” he says. Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God.