Have you ever given up on a person? You even felt that the person is beyond your reach… even beyond the reach of God. Well, when we look at the nation Israel, we tend to think that way. In view of the ongoing and, it seems, never-ending conflict there, it appears to us that God gave up on Israel. Is there a future for Israel? Or, has God rejected her totally and finally? The answers to these questions about her future will also determine our future. For ours is tied up with hers.[1]
Before we turn to Romans 11,[2] let us look at big picture of the book of Romans. There are five parts in this puzzle, namely, sin, salvation, security, sovereignty and sacrifice. Tonight, we will zoom in at the sovereignty of God in Israel. First, Paul talked about sin. All of us stand guilty equally and desperately before God. Then, he talked about salvation. We can only be saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. He then moved on to security. By the Spirit, we are secure in our relationship with God. Here questions about the fate of Israel will come into play. If God gave up on the Jews, what would keep Him from giving up on us? That’s how important this issue is to us.
Here we will find that God will keep His commitment to the believers just as He will keep His covenant with Israel. Interestingly, the first 8 chapters of Romans discussed the past or justification,[3] the present or sanctification,[4] and the future or glorification[5] aspects of salvation. The next three chapters on Israel mirror it. “The emphasis in chapter 9 is on Israel’s past election, in chapter 10 on Israel’s present rejection, and in chapter 11 on Israel’s future restoration.”[6] Just as God was, is and will be faithful to Israel, so also He was, is and will be faithful to us.
Chapter 9 answers the question, “Why did God choose Israel over all the other nations?” It was because of His mercy, not because of any merit on their part. Chapter 10 answers the question, “Was God right in rejecting Israel?” Israel did not believe so God rejected her. They were not ignorant. But rather they ignored the salvation God offered through Christ. Thus, Paul argued, God was right in rejecting Israel. It was not an arbitrary decision. Now, chapter 11 answers the question, “Was the present rejection of Israel total and final?” Romans 11 gave four reasons why the rejection of Israel by God at the present time is neither final nor fatal. Now, in view of our limited time, I will just highlight some verses in our passage. If ever you want a full-blown exposition of the text, I encourage you to join a Precepts class.
First, God has not given up His people because He reserved them for Himself.[7] In verse 1, Paul asks the question, “Did God reject his people?” He framed his question in such a way that the answer can only be a resounding “No!” But even with that, Paul answered his own question: “By no means!” In Greek, it was a very strong, negative. It was if Paul was exclaiming, “How could you even think about it? It’s so absurd!” Thus, God will never reject His people. It is not just unthinkable. It is impossible.
Verse 2 tells us why, “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.” The word “foreknew” means “to forelove” or “to choose.” God chose Israel even before they were born or had not done anything that would merit His favor. Paul even gave himself as an example. If God can call somebody like him, surely He can call the nation Israel back to Him. “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”[8] He also cited an Old Testament example. In view of the widespread idolatry at that time, Elijah the prophet thought he was the last man standing. He even told God, “I am the only one left”. But God assured him that even in the midst of a great apostasy He has “reserved” a remnant for Himself.
So, He chose to love Israel and nothing or no one could ever change that. If God would not turn His back from Israel, He would not turn His back from Christians also. He will keep us just as He kept His people.
Second, God has not given up on His people because He will not replace them.[9] Verse 11 asks, “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?” Yes, Israel fell. Actually, they saw and they heard but they refused to believe. Thus, God made them blind and deaf. But those hardened were not victims. Their condition is a result of their rejection. They cannot fault God for their hardened condition. They were not ignorant. They ignored God. They were not wounded but wrongdoers. It was a willful disobedience. They were not victims. They were violators. The question now is, “Was it a fatal fall?”
Again, Paul exclaims, “Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 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!” Israel’s fall gave us the opportunity to rise up. God opened a door for Gentiles to receive salvation. Her sin resulted to their salvation, her loss to their gain, her defeat to their victory. In a sense, they fell forward, not backward.
And there is more. Paul pointed out that since the sin of Israel led to the salvation of the Gentiles, one can just imagine what will come out of her obedience. We were not meant to replace them. The salvation of the Gentiles is not an end but a means to an end. God intentionally did this to make Israel envious. Paul used envy or, literally, jealousy here in a positive not in a negative meaning, as in, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.”[10] The intent was that when the Jews saw what we Gentiles are enjoying, they would be so envious that they would want it for themselves. We would be like salt that would create a thirst in them. Now, I just wonder. When unbelievers see our lives, do we create a thirst in them to receive the Lord as Savior or we cause them to reject Him?
Third, God has not given up on Israel because He has a special covenant relationship with them.[11] Charles Swindoll wrote that “the Jews may be set aside, but they are still set apart as God’s covenant people.”[12] Verse 16 gave us two examples. “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.” Since the part of the dough is holy or set apart for God, then the whole dough is also His. Since the root is set apart, so are the branches. Bible scholars believed that the dough and the root referred to Abraham. So, since God made the mother of all covenants with Abraham, his descendants are included also in that covenant. Still, they are God’s chosen people. We may not agree with all their military actions nowadays. But that does not erase the fact that, even though they were set aside for the moment, they are still a people set apart for God.
That’s we should not be proud. There are those who teach that God had set them aside forever. Paul disagrees with that teaching. He illustrated it through the ancient grafting practices of the olive tree. During those times, when an olive tree fails to bear fruit, the gardener would remove the branch that does not bear fruit and replaces it with a branch from a wild olive tree that bears fruit. He grafts it so that the tree would bear fruit again.
The point of this illustration is that we Gentiles are just riding on the blessings meant for the Jews. It’s like enjoying the privileges of a resort even if we are not really card-carrying members of the resort. It was privilege extended to us, not a right. That’s why, though God gave us the privilege of enjoying a relationship with Him, we did not replace the Jews in their rightful place before God. He may have set them aside for a while but they are still set apart for Him. God can always graft them in. God would willingly accept the Jews back just as He welcomed the Gentiles.
Let us read verses 17-21 in the New Living Translation, “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root. ‘Well,’ you may say, ‘those branches were broken off to make room for me.’ Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.”
We should not gloat but rather be grateful for receiving the blessing of salvation. This does not mean that we can lose our salvation. He was not talking about the position of a believer but the present priority in the plan of God for the Gentiles over the Jews. God can demote the Gentiles just as He did to the Jews. We are where we are right now because of God’s grace, no more, no less.
And, lastly, God has not given up on Israel because He wanted to reveal His mercy to everyone.[13] Verses 25 to 26 tell us, “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. And so all Israel will be saved”. The spiritual hardening of Israel is just temporary. When the right time comes, God will bring about a revival in Israel. However, here is a case where “all” does not mean “each and every one.” Salvation is a personal responsibility and cannot be granted wholesale. Once a person dies, he loses his chance to be saved. The nation as a whole will come back to God. That will happen at the second coming of our Lord Jesus. His first coming resulted to rejection. His second coming will result to conversion.
They were just set aside for a moment but still set apart because, verse 29 tell us, “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” The word “irrevocable” means “not to be sorry afterward, not to be regretted, irrevocable of something one does not take back”.[14] God has to be consistent with His character. If He would revoke His covenant with them, if He would destroy them utterly or reject them finally and totally, He would cease to be God. “He does not revoke what He has given or whom He has chosen”.[15] He did this to reveal His mercy to all of us. Verse 32 tells us, “For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” Just as a diamond is set on black velvet to highlight its brilliance, so also Israel’s fall highlights God’s mercy. Thus, we are without excuse and only God can claim credit for our salvation.
So, if God did not give up on Israel, He won’t give up on us. Just as nothing can revoke God’s relationship with Israel, so also nothing can separate us from His love. God has neither totally nor finally rejected Him. In fact, they as well as us are totally and finally secure in Him. Yes, Israel still has future. That gives us hope also. Like Paul, I pray that this truth will lead us to worship God: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”[16]
[1]This message was a fruit of the Romans 11 paper I submitted to Dr. Keith Shubert of the International Graduate School of Leadership when I took his class, “Introduction to New Testament Epistles,” last year (2008).
[2]All Bible verses are from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.
[3]Romans 1:18-5:21
[4]6:1-8:17
[5]8:18-39
[6]Warren Wiersbe, Be Right: Romans (IL: Victor, 1982), 101.
[7]11:1-10
[8]1 Tim 1:16
[9]Romans 11:11-15
[10]2 Corinthians 11:2
[11]Romans 11:16-24
[12]Charles Swindoll, Learning to Walk by Grace: A Study of Romans 6-11 (CA: Insight for Living,
1999), 99.
[13]11:25-32
[14]Cleon L. Rogers Jr. and Cleon L. Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek
New Testament (MI: Zondervan, 1998), 338.
[15]John A. Witmer, “Romans,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 486.
[16]Romans 11:33-36.
