Book of Romans
Lesson #27
Romans 11:15 - 11:28
By Rev. James May
For a very long time; some say between 70 and 90 years, the Prophet Hosea preached in Israel. He continually warned Israel of God’s patience wearing thin and that judgment against the nation was imminent. Hosea’s ministry lasted through the reign of several of the kings of both the northern and southern kingdoms including Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah who were the kings of Judah, and Jeroboam the son of Joash who was king of Israel.
God’s longsuffering and patience in trying to turn Israel from her idolatry is very evident, yet there came that day when God decided that enough was enough.
The story of Hosea is amazing. Here was a righteous man, a godly man; a prophet of God who was instructed to go and marry a prostitute and to have children by her. The children that would be born of this marriage to an unfaithful wife would be given names that would show exactly what God was thinking of in his dealings with Israel and Judah. The unfaithfulness and spiritual adultery of the Jews would be clearly revealed in the relationship of Hosea and Gomer.
The firstborn to Hosea and Gomer was a son named Jezreel, which means “Seed of God” or “God will sow”, or “God will scatter”. Through Jezreel the seed of the Jews would be scattered among the nations as God’s judgment against Israel began to fall.
The second child born to Hosea was a girl that was given the named Loruhamah, which means. "she hath not obtained mercy". This was the second step in God’s judgments coming upon the northern kingdom of Israel. First they would be scattered and slaughtered by their enemies. Then they would not have God’s mercy any longer. In his righteous judgment, mercy would be withdrawn as the Israel faced destruction.
At the same time, mercy would be extended to the southern kingdom of Judah and God would spare them a little while longer.
Hosea and Gomer would have a third child, another son whose name would be Loammi, which means “Ye are not my people”.
How far had Israel fallen! God had chosen them to be his people above every nation on earth. He had bestowed upon the Jews blessings and privileges like no other people. But the Jews did not behave toward God like they were supposed to. They didn’t keep their eyes on God. They refused to obey his law. And most of all, they refused to be faithful in serving and worshipping him. Instead they made images of golden calves and worshipped the idols of Baal and other gods. These outlaw Jews, who continually rejected God and embraced idolatry did not deserve to be called by his name, therefore God rejected them and disowned them.
Yet the day would come when God’s mercy would once again shine upon Israel and the Jews would again be called the people of God. In these last days, both Israel and Judah will take to themselves just One King. They will finally be reunited as one nation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ their Messiah and the whole world will know that they are yet called the People of God and God will fight for them again.
Now in Romans, Paul is still talking about the plight of the Jews, and their being cast away and rejected because of their unbelief and idolatry; and also of their reconciliation back to God.
Romans 11:15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Through that great dispersal and rejection of the Jews, the gospel was sent to the Gentiles. Israel and Judah were cast away, scattered by god; and through their judgment we obtained the blessing.
Now Paul says that God would once again call Israel to himself. The Jews will be accepted back and received because of their repentance for sin and acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Messiah. This whole scenario is compared to the resurrection of a dead nation! Israel would be as a dead people, raised to new life!
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
What is this term “firstfruit” referring to? In that great day when the Lord is finally revealed in Israel as their true Messiah, many of the Jews will turn to Jesus in repentance and become the firstfruits of a resurrected nation. They will be the first of the converted Jews under the preaching of the gospel. The firstfruits of any ministry are the converts who first came to Jesus at the beginning of the ministry.
If the firstfruits (new converts) are holy through being washed in the blood of Jesus and forgiven of their sin, then the larger number of converts to follow, who will be converted by the ministry of these firstfruits, will also become “a holy lump”.
It follows that if a true gospel is going to be preached, and true converts will be saved through Jesus Christ, that the converts will also be holy. If the root is holy; so are the branches because both received their holiness through faith in Jesus!
So the day is coming when Israel shall be called the People of God. God will graft them back into his family just as he has done for the gentiles, and once again Israel will be a part of God’s chosen people, and will be God’s chosen nation in the earth.
Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Israel and Judah were the natural branches of God’s people, chosen by God. Yet they were “broken off” and cast aside as unworthy. Then, by God’s mercy, the gospel came to the gentiles who are considered to be “wild olive trees”, and we were grafted into the branches of the real olive tree, then we all together will be nourished by the same root on the same tree.
What does this say to you and I? It says that we are grafted in as spiritual Jews; with the same privileges and honor as the Jews who accept Jesus. We all receive our anointing, our salvation and our calling from the same root and that “root” is in Jesus. Both Jew and gentile alike, are one in the same in the eyes of the Lord, once we are Born Again and saved by the mercy and grace of God through the blood of Jesus.
Romans 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Paul then warns us, as gentiles who are grafted into the Family of God through Christ, not to think that we can now boast, or brag that we are better than the Jews. Gentile Christians have no right to despise the Jews or to trample upon them as though they were not worthy of anything. We should pity the Jews, pray for the Jews and we should be so very thankful and humbled that God allowed us to be grafted in; and we should pray for Israel that they would also learn of Jesus and be saved.
Let us never forget that all that we have and all that we learn concerning God, and even the Savior that we love, all comes to us through the Jews. They carried the root that we are now connected to. And, but for the grace of God alone, we would never have known salvation without the Jews and their passing of the knowledge of God down to us through the ages.
Romans 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Romans 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Romans 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Let us be careful to keep a proper perspective on our relationship with Israel. We don’t have any reason to brag over them. We are no better. Sure, Israel fell and was cut off, and perhaps we have been faithful. But don’t think that any of us are above following the same footsteps of failure the Israel did. In fact, there are many gentile Christians right now who are going off into idolatry and being unfaithful in serving the Lord even though we have a greater revelation and a greater knowledge and understanding of the truth than Israel had.
Because of their unbelief, Israel was cut off! Because of idolatry, the Jews were rejected by God! Yes, we have faith! But don’t think that we are above doing the same thing that Israel did and losing out with God.
We have no reason to be filled with pride and think we are better than the Jews. We must have the fear of God in us; always ready to repent; knowing that anyone of us could fall from grace if we aren’t careful.
If God rejected Israel; what makes us think that God won’t reject an unbelieving and backslidden Christian, or that he still won’t cast aside a church that is unfaithful in worshipping him?
Romans 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Never forget that the judgments of God and the goodness of God in mercy are like a double-edged axe. The axe swings and if we are faithful in serving the Lord, the edge we will see if that edge of mercy and grace and the goodness of God. But if we are in unbelief and idolatry, the edge we will see is that of judgment and being cut off. Both the goodness of God and the severity of his judgments must be ever in our minds if we are to maintain a proper way of thinking in our hearts.
Romans 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
If we begin to think that we are better than the Jews, let us remember that God is still God. He is merciful and desires that Israel should still be saved. God will make a way and when the Jews decide to become believers, then God will surely graft them back into the family of God.
Romans 11:24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
This verse is self-explanatory to anyone who will hear what the message of Paul is to the church. We were cut off of a wild olive tree and grafted into the family of God. It was all accomplished through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Spirit of God. How much easier can it be in the spiritual realm to graft a natural branch back into the tree of life? God can bring the Jews back in and make them a part of the church that will be in Heaven, just as easily as he saved us to be a part of that church too.
Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Everything that has happened to the Jews; their rejection of God, their dispersal among the nations, their blindness to the identity of Jesus as their Messiah; all of these things, were not as God would have wanted them to be in the beginning. But God used the blindness of the Jews as a tool to bring the Gentiles into the way of salvation. Israel still lives in blindness to the truth to this day, and their blindness still plays a part in the continual growth of the church and the spread of the gospel to the gentiles. When the fullness of time has come, and the age of the Gentiles is over, Israel will be given clear vision once again!
Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
There is the great promise of God to the Jews! Their Deliver has come, and there will come a day when they shall know Jesus as their Messiah. The Jews will recognize the Lord and begin to believe upon him and serve him faithfully. They will turn from ungodliness and idolatry and turn to Jesus as their Lord, and God makes a great promise to them!
Romans 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Praise the Lord for his faithfulness in fulfilling his promises to Abraham and to his chosen people. The sins of the Jews will be forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus and they will be Born Again.
Romans 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
For the sake of the gospel, Israel became an enemy of God so that the gentiles could be grafted in and saved. But as far as God is concerned, they are still the chosen nation and they are loved by their Father in Heaven. And for the sake of their ancestors who believed the day would come when Israel would be saved, God is going to save them and make them a great nation! Thank the Lord for his faithfulness in keeping his covenants with his people.
