What about the Jews? (Rom 11)
When re read the bible, we often see it as two sections. After all, we have divided it up as such – Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament is all about the Jews and the New Testament about Christ and another group of people called the Gentiles. We probably should call it “The Tale of Two peoples.” But in doing so, we often miss the link between the two. You see the Old Testament is not about the Jews as much as it is about God. Similarly, the New Testament is not so much about the Gentiles as it is about God. Yes Christ feature pretty heavily, but who is Christ? The incarnation of God. The God of the Old Testament is said to be the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the God of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, which is surprising really since from our brief reading of the two testaments, he certainly seems to have changed.
What do I mean? Well the Old Testament is full of promises made to the Jews – promises made by God to the Patriarchs, promises made through the prophets. Promises about being a chosen people – but they seem to have dropped off the back of the pack and been left behind. They seem to be lost – even forgotten. And then there is the question of how do we treat them. We are taught in the New Testament that Christ is the only way of salvation. Any one who wants to approach God must do so through Christ. What does this mean for the Jews? They don’t even recognise Jesus as a prophet, let alone the Son of God. Does that mean we should reject Judaism as a false religion? Or should we respect them since that is after all where Christianity came from in the first place.
The apostle Paul faced this exact dilemma when he was writing the letter to the Romans. He was a Jew by birth, but was also a Christian. He had come to the realisation that Jesus was the Messiah, he had accepted this on faith and he felt like screaming at the rest of the Jews “Wake up! You are missing the best part!” In actual fact, Paul regularly did say this to the Jews he came in contact with, and this is what got him into so much trouble. Of all the people who should have got it, they just couldn’t seem to get it. And they were lost as a result. But if the Jews were lost, what about all the promises of God? Was God’s promises and plan defeated because the Jews wouldn’t coopperate? Did God simply transfer the promises over to the Christians and just let the Jews slip out of the picture?
Paul’s answer is a strong No. God’s word stands true – it is trustworthy.
In September, 1938, a man who lived on Long Island was able one day to satisfy a lifelong ambition by purchasing for himself a very fine barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home, he was extremely disappointed to find that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck, pointing to the sector marked "Hurricane."
After shaking the barometer very vigorously several times, its new owner sat down and wrote a scorching letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument, and on the following morning, on his way to his office in New York, he mailed the letter. That evening he returned to Long Island, to find not only the barometer missing, but his house also. The barometer’s needle had been right. There was a hurricane!
God has not rejected the Jews because he has said so. And it has to be the case for God never changes His word. He never goes back on a promise, He never is defeated and He never makes a mistake! So if this is all true, what on earth is going on with the Jews!
Over the next 2 weeks, we are going to try to answer the question “What about the Jews?” To do this we are going to have to go on a journey back to their very inception as a nation and trace their history through. We need to be able to grasp how they were meant to fit into God’s overall plan and how that plan is being worked through even in the world today.
So let’s begin by praying and then we’ll have a look at some history.
Lord we know that you are a God who is faithful and true. Your word is reliable and trustworthy and for this we give you thanks. We ask now Lord, as we begin to look into the whole issue of the Jews, the covenant and the place we share in your plan, that you would illuminate our eyes to your overall plan. Help us to get excited that you have indeed chosen us to serve you and we pray that these studies would spur us onto live a life worthy of your calling. Amen
The Selection of the Jews:
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be working our way through Rom 11, but before we do that, we need to go back to Genesis which actually holds the key to all the questions we’ve raised today. So It is imperative - absolutely critical that we grasp the concepts there. Turn with me to the first chapter. Here we see the creation of the world in seven days culminating in Adam and Eve whom he desired to have a relationship with. And of course at the end of all the creative work (1:31) God looked out and saw that it was good. Well it wasn’t long before some rot appeared in the perfect creation as a result of the rebellion of Man. We all know the story of the forbidden fruit, and how Adam and Eve were banished from the garden of Eden for their disobedience. From here on, the degeneration of mankind gains momentum quickly. Chapter 4 we see the first murder (4:8), and by Chapter 6, God is sorry he ever created man (6:5-7) so we see the first great judgement of God – the flood. But this did not solve the problem. Although only a handful of righteous people survived, they quickly multiplied and quickly forgot about God. They believed that they could replace God (11:4) and so God judged them again, confusing their languages and dispersing the people through out the land.
Through all this, God didn’t stop loving his creation and wanting a relationship with them. He wanted this more than anything and so sought out one who was faithful. Abraham was his name and God revealed himself in a special way to him, promising to be his God if he would allow it. The promise, which we often call the Abrahamic Covenant is found in Gen 12:1-3. Let us read it for in it is the whole plan of God.
Gen 12:1–3 - The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
There are three parts to this promise a promise of being a great nation, a promise of having a great name and a promise of being a blessing. Looking at it another way, there is a promise of being blessed (The Top Line) and a promise of being a blessing (The Bottom Line). Top Line / Bottom Line – Blessed / Blessing – You Got it / I hope so. This is an important concept to grasp and the Top Line / Bottom Line formula is repeated a further 4 times in Genesis alone - look at them., I’ve underlined the bottom line for you …
Gen 18:18 - Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.
Gen 22:15-18 - I swear by myself, declares the LORD …. I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. … and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed."
Gen 26:4 - I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
Gen 28:14 - Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
More than 400 paraphrases of this Top Line / Bottom Line covenant have been identified through out the Bible (e.g. Ps 67:1,2 & 7, Is 49:6, Rom 15:8&9, Gal 3:14). It is important to our discussion because it explains what is so special about the Jews and what their mission in life was. You see, Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation. Abraham had a son Isaac who had a son Jacob who in turn had 12 sons and from them, the 12 tribes of Israel were descended. The covenant made with Abraham was a promise made also to his descendants – the Jews. God promises to bless the Jews and to make them a blessing.
Now note the conditions of the promise here. Let us read the promise again and see if you can pick out what the conditions were …
Did you see them – Who didn’t seen the conditions? Who doesn’t have a clue what I’m talking about? Okay many promises or covenants come with conditions. Like – Pakistan, you co-operate with us in trying to find Islama Ben Laden and we promise we won’t bomb you! Or please let me borrow your car and I promise I’ll wash it before I return it. I’ll read it again and see if you can see the conditions…
Are you still struggling? That is just it – here is a promise without conditions. God promises to bless and to make them a blessing. There is no conditions – just a promise. And that is the dilemma Paul has. The selection of the Jews as God’s special people is based on an unconditional covenant. There are all these promises to the Jews – that they will be blessed and that they would be a blessing to all nations, but now we see a nation of Jews who are not blessed – they are not even saved. How can that be? Did God reject his people and change his plan?
The Concept of a Remnant
Paul’s answer is no. Turn over to Romans 11:1 and lets read a bit - Rom 11:1-6
Paul says that God did not reject his people and has never cut them off. He chose them – he foreknew them. This term refers to God’s divine choice of the Jews as his people. It reflects back to the Abrahamic Covenant which we have just been speaking about. God would never reject them, for he made an unconditional covenant with them. They have instead turned from him!
Paul cites the example of Elijah. Here was a faithful prophet who felt opposition from all sides and from just about everyone. Elijah was living in a time of apostasy during the reign of King Ahab. The worship of Baal was just about universally practised and the other prophets of God had been killed – or so Elijah thought. It felt as if he was fighting a losing battle, but God reassures him that he had reserved for himself a faithful remnant. You see there has always been a remnant faithful to God.
If we trace down through the history of the Israelites and even back to creation, we can see this again and again that God has always had a faithful remnant. When the whole world was Evil, there was Noah and his family, then there was Abraham. Idolatry and evil was not confined to other nations, Israel also suffered widespread corruption, but even then there were some who were faithful. Joseph was the remnant God used to save his family of twelve brothers. Moses, Joshua and Caleb stuck out from the others in the nation. There was Elijah’s remnant that we’ve already spoken about when the kings turned corrupt and even when God did punish the nation of Israel by invasion, exile and slavery, he protected and sustained a faithful remnant. Daniel was one, Nehemiah was another and they ensured that the promise was never fully extinguished. The prophets saw clearly, that even though God allowed judgement to fall on the nation, he would always sustain a remnant ( e.g. Is 10:20-23)
The situation in which Paul found himself was very much like that situation which had occurred again and again down through history. The vast majority of Israel (the Jews of the day) had rejected the gospel and the revelation of Jesus Christ. Despite their claim to being loyal to God and his law, they had missed the final revelation in his Son. Only a small remnant had turned to Christ and they had done so by grace. It was not by works they had done this, but was by divine grace.
But what about the promises and what about the others?
The Place of the Unrepentant Jews
One thing to note about God’s promise was that not all of Israel was included in the promise. The distinction we need to make here is that there is a distinction between a physical Israel and a spiritual Israel. Right from the word go, God was making distinctions. Abraham had 2 sons, but only Isaac received this blessing. Isaac also had 2 sons, but only Jacob received the blessing. Right down through the ages, a distinction has been drawn between the whole people and the faithful remnant. Just being an Israelite was not enough – they had to claim the promises
An aged and ragged Indian wandered into a border settlements, begging for food to keep him from starving. A bright-coloured ribbon from which was suspended a small, dirty pouch was seen around his neck. On being questioned, he said it was a charm given him in his younger days. Opening it, he displayed a faded, greasy paper, which he handed to the interrogator for inspection. It proved to be a regular discharge from the Federal Army, entitling him to a pension for life, and signed by General Washington himself! Here was a name which would be honoured almost anywhere and which, if presented in the right place, would have insured him support and plenty for the remainder of his days. Yet he wandered about, hungry, helpless, and forlorn, begging bread of the charitable to keep him from starving.
What a picture of the Jews, with all the promises of God in their hands -- and of Christians, too, with the promise of their inheritance in their possession, yet starving in the wilderness!
You see, back in chapter 2, Paul wrote “28A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God”
God’s selection of some for blessing and others for condemnation is independent of the merits of those whom He chooses. His choice is a sovereign choice. His blessings are granted in accordance with grace and not works. This means that our salvation and our enjoyment of God’s blessings do not depend upon our worth or our works but on God’s grace. Now I’m not going to get side tracked on the issue of divine election versus free will – personally I think they are two sides to the same coin. What is important to see here in this passage is that in his divine wisdom, God has hardened those who are not a part of the true Israel. Read it with me from vs 7…
The first quotation is a combination of thoughts from Deut 29 and Is 29. The word for stupor actually is from a work meaning “to prick” like a needle. The idea being that Israel has had so much stimulation and spiritual sensation, that they have become apathetic and their sensations dulled just like you would when a callous forms on your skin – tough and hard. Many of our translations describe their state as blindness and Paul says that this is the state of the Jews in his day and we could probably say the same thing.
The second quotation here is taken from Ps 69. It was David praying against his enemies. Their feasts were special times of idolatry and blasphemy and so David prays that these would be used to entrap them. The same pictures of dulled senses and limited usefulness are presented. The Greek word “Forever” can be translated forever, but more commonly means “Continually” – so the idea is that they are continually hardened and continually in bondage to the law.
So we see the state of the Jews currently – they have had so much revelation, so much insight, so much stimulation, that they have become dulled by it and are blinded by their religious structures invented to bring them closer to God. It is a sorry state to be in and one which we should be careful never to fall into ourselves. You see, the Jews were not aware that the hardness of heart was developing – they didn’t seek it really – they just became comfortable – comfortable with their position and the law. We are in the same dangerous state that the Israelites were in. If we become comfortable, we can be in danger of becoming de-sensitised to what God has for us. If we do, we become no different to the Jews – hard, callused and blind. We need to stay subtle and mouldable by maintaining our teachable spirit. We need to spend time in prayer and study of his word. We need to wait upon God and his direction.
But as we close, one last question should be asked – lets see in Vs 11…
No the Jews are not completely out of the race – they’ve stumbled, but they are hanging in there. God’s plan and promise for the Jews has yet to reach its ultimate conclusion, but while they are stumbling, we as Gentiles are being given a unique opportunity, one which we need to praise God for. This is what we are going to be talking about next week as we continue to look at Romans 11 – The place of the Gentiles and the future of the Jews..
As we close for today, let’s recap where we’ve come from…
We started out by looking at the dilemma that we have trying to come to grips with the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. On the one hand - the Old Testament being a book focussed on the Israelite Nation and the promises given to them. And on the Other Hand the New Testament which hardly mentions the Jews in a good light. The question asked was whether the Jews were rejected by God.
The answer was no and to show this, we went right back to the original promise to the Jews as given to Abraham. We saw it was an unconditional promise with two parts – being blessed and being a blessing. It could never be revoked for it had no conditions attached.
We then talked about the fact that even though this promise was unconditional, from its inception, it was not meant for every Israelite – but only for the faithful – the remnant if you like. While the majority of Israel has become hardened and desensitised to God, there has always been a faithful remnant.
Is God finished with Israel? The answer is clearly no, but how do they fit into the future of God’s work and where do the Gentiles fit into all of this. These are the questions we are going to leave to next week, so I hope you can join us again then.
