What about the Jews? (Rom 11) – Part 2
Last week if you were with us, we began to look at the question - What about the Jews? You see we have a dilemma as Christians because although we know that God is trustworthy & reliable, we see the Jews to whom he promised so much in the Old Testament being, forgotten at best and rejected outright at worst.
We saw that the apostle Paul faced this exact same dilemma when he was writing the letter to the Romans. Of all the people who should have got it figured out who Jesus was, the Jews should have, but they just couldn’t seem to get it. And as a result, they were lost. 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 cooperate? Did God simply transfer the promises over to the Christians and just let the Jews slip out of the picture?
We saw last week that Paul’s answer was a strong No. If you have your bibles there, Open them to Romans 11 and follow with me. (Read Rom 11:1-2a) He hadn’t rejected the Jews, but to understand what on earth was going on, we needed to look back to the election of the Jews – to the promises which set them apart from all others. In case you weren’t here last week, or incase you were here, but just asleep lets recap quickly.
We started right back at the original promise to the Jews as given to Abraham in Gen 12. We saw it was an unconditional promise with two parts – being blessed and being a blessing. The two parts are equally as important and were neither to be neglected or the sole focus. These two promises could never be revoked for there were 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. “That is strange”, you say - but even from Abraham’s children, God was chosing who this promise would apply to. It was meant only for the faithful. This was unfortunately often a small minority of the population, often termed the remnant. In Romans 11 again we read (Read Rom 11:2-6)
Well if the promises only applied to the faithful remnant, what about the other Jews. Again Paul gives us the answer (Read Rom 11:7-10). The rest of the Jews became desensitised to the things of God. We learnt that the word in Vs 8 for Stupor actually comes from the Greek word pricked. These Jews, had for so long been exposed to the things of God, so long been stimulated by his law, that they became comfortable with it and completely apathetic. Their hearts, minds and eyes became hardened like a callous.
This finally led to the question which we pick up today - Is God finished with Israel? Paul’s answer is again clearly no (Read Rom 11:11), 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 address today, so please keep your bibles open and follow along. Before we go any further, we should pause and pray.
Lord as we open your word now, we ask for the divine ability to rightly divide and interpret your word. Speak to us Lord we pray and give us an insight into your holy and perfect plan. We don’t pray this so that we can be filled with pride, but so that we can be more effective in our service for you. Amen
The Current Situation:
"Runner’s World" told the story of Beth Anne DeCiantis’s attempt to qualify for the 1992 Olympic Trials marathon. A female runner had to complete the 26-mile race in less than two hours, forty-five minutes to
compete at the Olympic Trials. Beth started strong but began having trouble around mile 23. She reached the final straightaway at 2:43, with just two minutes left to qualify. Two hundred metres from the finish, she stumbled and fell. Dazed, she stayed down for twenty seconds. The crowd yelled, "Get up!" The clock was ticking -- 2:44, less than a minute to go. Beth Anne staggered to her feet and began walking. Five yards short of the finish, with ten seconds to go, she fell again. She began to crawl, the crowd cheering her on, and crossed the finish line on her hands and knees. Her time? Two hours, 44 minutes, 57 seconds.
This is in some ways a little bit similar to the situation of the Jews. Though they have stumbled again and again and again, many of them will just make it. But in the mean time, many others have already made it over the line – many Gentiles including you and I. Paul says in Vs 11 -24 …
Here Paul says that we are witnessing a unique period in history – a period when many Gentiles are coming to faith in God – remember that a Gentile is someone who isn’t a Jew. This is a period which has come about all because of the rejection of Jesus by the Jews. Did you grasp that the enormity of that statement? We have been given the chance to be part of God’s family because of the Jews’ rejection. But does that mean God has changed his plans?
Let’s go back to the Abrahamic Covenant for a moment for the answer is there. Remember last week when we looked at the Abrahamic covenant, we found that it had 2 parts to the promise. Does anyone remember what we called them? That’s right – the Top Line and the Bottom Line. I’ve written it out for you here again with the bottom line underlined
Gen 12:2–3
"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 is in here a promise of being blessed (The Top Line) and a promise of being a blessing (The Bottom Line). Top Line / Bottom Line – Blessed / Blessing. Now I want you to focus on the “blessing” part here – the Bottom Line. What is it all about? What does it mean – All peoples on earth will be blessed through you?
What it is speaking about here is the fact that God chose the Jews to be his people not so they could be privileged, but so that they could do something for him. They were chosen to serve – to be witnesses to the whole world. God wanted a people who would trust Him, live for him, obey him and serve him so that 1) they would be an example to other people and 2) so they would draw other people to God. Many people miss the idea that the Old Testament is a missionary book. The Jews were chosen to be an outward looking people, but instead were an inward looking clique.
If you don’t believe me, Turn to Ex 19:5-6. Here God says to Moses
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
3 ministries they were to enjoy. They were to be a special treasured possession – his First born. They were also to be a holy nation – set apart for God, wholly dedicated to God. And they were to be Kingly priests. This is where their ministry is made clear. You see, priests act as mediators between God and people. The Israelites as a nation were to be priests between God and who? Well if all the Israelites were priests, the only other people left were the Gentiles. They were to create that link between the nations and God.
Now if you were God and had to rate the Jews on their job of making God known to the nations what would you give them out of 10. They did a fairly poor job overall. Instead of being proactive in their witness, they were quite happy to sit in their towns and synagogues and wait for others to come to them. Actually this was not quite true for by the time of Jesus, they had made it so hard for people to get near to God, that most couldn’t be bothered. There were so many rules and regulations to try to keep – it was certainly not appealing to the majority.
And then to top it all off, they missed the chance in a life time to get to know God personally. They didn’t see who Jesus was and rejected him. It wasn’t enough that they refused to follow God’s plan, but they have replaced it with their own.
God’s plan didn’t change – he still desired that all men might come to know him, but the Jews chose not to be involved. But this didn’t change God’s plan, he just utilized others to do his work – his work of reaching the world. And who did he use – who else, but the Gentiles and the faithful Jewish remnant. He opened up the way for Gentiles to lead other Gentiles to salvation on a scale that had never been seen before – a scale that would actually make Israel jealous. – That’s what it says (vs 11 - their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious). And that is the context in which Paul saw his ministry to the Gentiles as (vs 13&14 - I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them).
But don’t write the Jews off, because if we have a reason to celebrate in their rebellion, if God is able to bring good out of their sin, imagine what he will do when they finally realise their mistake and turn back to God – won’t that be a time for partying.
Paul has not forgotten that there is small remnant of Jews which are faithful. In vs 16 he speaks about the firstfruits and the roots. (vs 16 - 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). Following the pattern of offering the firstfruits of the grain as a sacrifice to God (Num 15:18-21), Paul says that if the remnant – those who are accepted by God because of their faith are holy, then the hole of the nation which will follow will be seen as holy. Similarly if the roots are holy so too will be the branches that grow from it.
The use of the roots and branches analogy here prompts Paul to think of another analogy. (Read vs 17-24).
Paul describes us (Gentiles) as branches that are grafted into the Jewish root stock. He pictures the nation of Israel as a cultivated olive tree and contrasts it to the Gentile nations which are a wild olive tree. He paints the picture that God has broken off some of the branches from the cultivated olive tree because they have rebelled and not accepted Him. Notice that Paul is very specific here. It is not all the branches – only some. There is a remnant still alive and well. For the others, even though they had good root stock – their history, their traditions, the revelations from God, they are not worthy to remain on the tree. In their places, God has grafted in branches taken from the wild olive tree – You and I. He has cut off good branches from good stock and grafted in worthless branches. Think about that for a while.
By grafting us into his kingdom, he has shown kindness, mercy and forgiveness, but Paul warns that this is no grounds for pride or arrogance, because of two reasons. Firstly, we are dependant upon the nourishment given to us by the Jewish root stock – the foundations given in the Old Testament days. Secondly, we should remember that God cut off some cultivated branches so that we could be a part of the kingdom – how much more quickly would he cut us off if we become like the Jews and become comfortable, complacent, inward looking, self centered and confident in our status before God. Remember that the Jews were chosen to serve so that the nations would be blessed. If we aren’t serving in a way that aims to bring others into the kingdom, we are kidding ourselves and are just like the Jews.
Even in the image of the olive tree, Paul repeats that the fat lady has not sung for the Jews that have been cut off. See it in vs 23 - And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
In this picture, I see there are potentially 3 places you and I as branches could be ….
1) Some of you may be still on the Wild Olive Tree. You haven’t yet received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and you are still part of the Gentile nations which will one day face the Judgement of Christ. One day this Rebellious tree will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus said in Matt 7:16-20 - By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. You need to look seriously at the claims of Jesus and come to him in repentance.
2) Some of you may be grafted branches on the cultivated tree. You have already come to him in repentance, you have accepted him as Lord and Saviour and you are already bearing good fruit. It is a good place to be.
3) There are maybe others of you still that were on the cultivated tree, have been cut off, or are in danger of being cut off, because you, like the Jews, have become comfortable with your position. You are Christians by name only and don’t belong in the kingdom as true citizens. You need to be careful, that you do not suffer the same fate as the Jews because Paul warns that God will not hesitate to judge us also.
Where are you today? Where do you need to be? The challenge is for us as wild olive branches to stay deeply imbedded into the cultivated tree and bear good fruit. There is an interesting aside here and while I risk stretching the analogy, there is a further thought to be got here. What is the purpose of the olive tree? To bear fruit isn’t it. What was the fruit that the Jew were to bear? Olives - Yes Yes – but remember the Abrahamic covenant – what were they supposed to do – remember the bottom line. They were to be a blessing – to bring other nations, other people into a relationship with God. With all their blessing, this should have been quite an easy task – this is what their whole purpose in life was. Now think about us Gentiles grafted in as wild, worthless quality branches. What is our purpose in life? To bear Olives!!!! As part of the kingdom we have the same ministry as the Jews. We are to bring other nations, other people into a relationship with God. How is your fruit bearing going? Are you on the verge of being cut off? A challenge isn’t it? We all know the Great commission – Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, etc etc etc. Notice the same terminology here “All nations” compare with Abraham’s promise – you will be a blessing to “All nations.” It’s the same commandment, because we have the same purpose, because we are all part of the one tree. Exciting isn’t it – you are part of God’s eternal, master plan
I want to challenge you to serve in a way which has as its aim evangelism. If you are a steward on the door? Why are you doing it? I challenge you to keep an eye out for new people and shock them with love and friendship. Make a point to introduce them around after the service. If you are on morning tea – the same challenge – do it with the aim to get to know new people coming into the church. If you are a helper in play group or youth group or Kogs. Why are you serving? If you are doing it for your own benefit or that of the church kids, you are just like the Jews – feathering the nest so to speak. Make it your aim to use this ministry as a way of outreaching – a way of bringing blessing to the nations.
We need to close soon, but we’ve got one last question to answer – What about the Jews in the Future?
The Future of the Jews.
Lets read a bit more from Rom 11:25-32…
Israel is currently experiencing calluses, but this won’t be forever – only until the full number of Gentiles have been saved. To put it another way … “God has his plan and knows when his mercy will overcome the rebellion of the Jews and when he will soften their hearts and minds. This will be the right time and the number of Gentiles saved will be the right number as it will be part of God’s plan.”
When this happens “all Israel will be saved.” Now in the context here, Israel must be taken as meaning the nation of Israel for in Vs 25 we are told that Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. So it includes by those hardened and those not hardened. Vs 26 continues “And so all Israel” – The same Israel the nation is the subject. But be careful not to take it too literally. Right through the Scriptures, this same terms “all Israel” is taken to refer to a representative group, not always every single individual (e.g. Josh 7:25, Josh 8:21, 1 Sam 17:11 – Was every individual included in these statement?). I don’t know, maybe in a miraculous way, God will bring about a 100% salvation of the Jews, but it is more likely that it will be a large scale repentance which is representative of and seen to be the nation being saved.
The Jews are still loved by God because of their individual self worth and because of the faith of the patriarchs to whom God made unconditional promises. Paul writes vs 29 - for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. The events have happened this way to show his mercy.
When is this all going to happen? Well Paul doesn’t specify here. John may give some hints in Revelation when he speaks about the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. If you believe in a pretribulation rapture. This will occur in the time of the tribulation. But we haven’t got the time now to debate these What we can be assured of is that God has promised it and will bring it to pass.
So what does all this mean for us? What can we do?
1) we can pray for the Jews - They need the Lord and they are not excluded from salvation because of their heritage. If you know Jews, pray for them, endeavour to share Christ with them.
2) We can get on with the work God intends us to do. We are part of the cultivated olive bush, so lets bear some fruit and bring more branches onto the bush.
3) We can watch our attitudes – be careful that we don’t become complacent and comfortable. For this was the downfall of the Jews.
God has shown us immense love and mercy by including us in his kingdom. We can’t hope to understand all his plans regarding the Jews, but we should rest easy that he is wise and has everything under control. Paul ends his discussion with a doxology that I think is apt for us to meditate on as we close (Read vs 33-36).
