Introduction:
Has God rejected the nation of Israel? That’s the million dollar question, Christians and politicians struggle with what exactly to do about Israel. To be honest, this is a question that I struggle with. However, I take comfort that I am in good company because the apostle Paul struggled with this as well. Has God washed His hands of the nation of Israel? In no way would I ever suggest that Israel does not have the right to exist. The question I struggle with is has Israel fulfilled their part in God’s plan or is there still something more. Let’s review what we have learned up to this point. In chapter 9, we learned that God had chosen Israel as His possession and gave them tremendous blessings. In chapter 10, Paul showed us that God rejected Israel because they chose to reject the Messiah. Now as we arrive in chapter 11, Paul will address exactly what the future holds for Israel. So, once again I will ask you to check your preconceived ideas at the door and approach this text with an open mind. Although I confess that I do not have this all figured out, I think Paul sheds some important light on some of these nagging questions. Let’s dive into Romans 11 and discover what insights we can learn.
I. Putting the important issues into perspective.
A. An overview of Israel’s history.
1. 2100 BC: Abram heeds God’s call and moves from Mesopotamia to Canaan; the nation is begun with Abram.
2. 1876 BC: Abraham’s seventy descendants go from Canaan to Egypt to escape a famine; they are enslaved by the Egyptians for nearly four hundred years. During this time they become a people numbering perhaps two million.
3. 1446 BC: God redeems his people from slavery and establishes them as a nation at Mt. Sinai by giving them a complete civil, liturgical, and moral code of laws by which they are to govern themselves. The land of Canaan, promised originally to Abraham, is to be their home forever.
4. 1400 BC: The Israelites under the leadership of Joshua begin the conquest of the Promised Land.
5. 1380-1050 BC: Israel was ruled by different judges during this period.
6. 1050 BC: Saul is anointed by Samuel as the first king over Israel.
B. Israel’s chaotic existence.
1. Israel undoubtedly had ups and downs. They were constantly displaying disobedience to God and occasionally adopting the pagan worship practices of the nations around them which would lead to God disciplining the people.
2. 931 BC: Rehoboam becomes king. The northern tribes revolt and the kingdom is divided. From here on, the northern tribes are called Israel and the southern tribes are called Judah.
3. 722 BC: The ten northern tribes of Israel are decimated by the Assyrians, with a large portion of the population carried into captivity in Assyria.
4. 586 BC: The capital of the nation, Jerusalem, is destroyed by the Babylonians, and the population of the two southern tribes is carried into captivity in Babylon.
5. 538–432 BC: Groups of exiles return from Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem. The nation endures four hundred years of conflict and infighting.
6. 331 BC: Alexander the Great conquers the land of Israel.
7. 166-129 BC: The Maccabean revolt and time of Jewish independence.
C. Israel in Paul’s day.
1. Israel had been under Roman rule since Pompey conquered the territory in 63 BC.
2. The Jewish people accepted their freedom in both their governing system, and in maintaining their own traditions, yet the Roman government required that everything be ultimately subject to Roman authority.
3. The Jewish religious and governing system was divided between two parties:
a. The Pharisees: the people’s party, taught the law and traditions of Israel’s patriarchs, and were strictly conforming to Jewish law.
b. The Sadducees: the wealthy and conservative leaders who rejected the traditions in favor of political and religious cooperation with the Romans.
4. The Jewish population as a whole resented the Roman occupation and were very unwilling subjects.
II. Focusing on the key issues in our text.
A. The question for Paul is, has God rejected Israel?
1. The situation is that God has not rejected Israel, Israel has made the choice to reject God.
2. God doesn’t operate the way we do. Throughout the Bible we see God continuing to remain faithful to His promises despite human unfaithfulness.
3. The obvious evidence for this is the fact that there have been many Jewish people including the apostle Paul who have come to faith in Jesus Christ.
4. We need to understand that Paul is not thinking of the Jews as a nation but as individuals.
a. The nation of Israel has fulfilled their role in God’s plan, so the idea of rejection is that they no longer have a role in God’s plan.
b. Salvation is still available to the Jewish people as individuals through faith in Jesus Christ.
5. God has not rejected the Jewish people, but as Paul has shown previously ethnic Israel has simply been replaced by spiritual Israel in God’s plan.
B. Understanding exactly what God foreknew in regard to Israel.
1. God knew that He would choose them to play a major role in His plan to redeem mankind.
2. God knew that Israel would be stubborn, idolatrous and would display unbelief.
3. However, God realized that there would be a small group of Jews that through faith would accept Jesus as the Messiah.
4. The majority of ethnic Israel would reject God’s gift of grace by pursuing a righteousness based on their own works.
5. Turning back to the account of Elijah, Paul shows that there has always been a remnant that has remained faithful to God.
C. Those that are under God’s grace are now His covenant people.
1. Paul’s point is made that by the presence of a remnant proves that God has not rejected the people of Israel, since salvation is still available to those from Israel who accept it.
2. The point we have to remember is that Paul has already shown that to be part of the remnant is not dependent of ethnicity but faith.
3. The NIV ignores an important Greek word at the end of verse five. The word ginomai which means “to originate” or “to come to be”, and it is a perfect tense verb.
4. The verb points to a single event in history that brought this New Covenant remnant about, undoubtedly he is referring to the establishment of the church in Acts 2.
5. The bottom line is that those who have by faith accepted the gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ are now God’s chosen people, the new Israel.
D. Israel hardening their hearts resulted in salvation coming to the Gentiles.
1. The reaction of the majority of Israel to God’s grace opened the door for God to extend His mercy and grace to those of us who were not born Jews.
2. The Jews have stumbled through their rejection of the Messiah, which is not the end of the story. Salvation will still be available to those who accept the Gospel message.
3. Even in these times we see that the Gentiles coming to faith has caused the number of Messianic Jews to continue to grow and expand their influence.
4. Just as non-Jews of the world have a hope in Christ, so the ethnic Jews have the same hope. However, we have to remember that salvation cannot happen apart from faith in Jesus Christ.
5. To interpret this passage as Israel being restored to their original role in God’s plan during the last days is not supported by the passage or the proper translation of the Greek text.
III. Highlighting two important principles that our text provides us with.
A. While people are impressed with large numbers, God does His best work many times through a small group or remnant.
1. In our culture we often view bigger as better. In fact, large numbers in the mind of many is a sign of success.
2. The Lord throughout time has defied man’s logic by literally turning the world upside down with a handful of faithful followers.
3. In God’s economy size does not determine effectiveness. What determines your effectiveness is how big your God is.
4. Every large church started as a small church with a big vision. Christians need to erase the word can’t from their vocabulary and realize through Him all things are possible.
B. Even when man is unfaithful, God is still faithful to keep His promises.
1. The nation of Israel has been unfaithful to God for centuries but God has not failed to deliver on any of the promises that He made to them.
2. If we are really honest we will admit that our lives our often characterized by unfaithfulness to God and just as with the nation of Israel God will keep the promises He has made to us.
3. What God has said He will do, we need to realize that regardless of our unfaithfulness God is still willing to forgive us and restore us.
4. For everyone, Jew or Gentile it all comes down to this; “What will you do with Jesus?”
Closing:
Kent Hughes in his book “Romans: Righteousness from Heaven” shares this story. My dean during seminary days was a brilliant Jew, Dr. Charles Feinberg. He was so intelligent that he could continue lecturing to his class without missing a syllable while writing a note to his secretary! How did this brilliant Jew come to Christ? Just after Dr. Feinberg graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pittsburgh he lived in an Orthodox Jewish household. That household had a “Sabbath Gentile,” a Gentile woman who was hired to serve them on the Sabbath. Though Feinberg was not aware of it, this woman had taken the rites of purification simply so she could bear witness in that home.
Feinberg was attracted by the quality of this believer’s life and began to ask questions. Although the woman could not give him all the answers, she took him to Dr. John Solomon, then resident head of the American Board of the Mission to the Jews, and Dr. Feinberg was led to Christ. He had been made thirsty—jealous so to speak, beautifully jealous—by this cleaning woman. The Church is to be a place where there is such love for Christ and such love for each other that Jews and Gentiles become thirsty for Christ. What a challenge!
