Israel's rejection not final

Bible Class talk on Romans 11

by Derek Warr in 1995

The thrust of the gospel is:

that the kingdom of God is to be established on the earth
that it is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, to Isaac and to Israel
that membership of the kingdom is only available through
- repentance from our sins
- rejection of the works of the flesh
- and faith in forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ our Lord

The chapter we are studying tonight demands a knowledge of these things before it can be understood.

One very interesting point was brought home to me quite strongly as I was attempting to put these thoughts together, and that was the magnificent grasp of scripture which Paul had. If you look at the chapter we are discussing tonight you will notice the number of quotations which Paul has made from the Old Testament. Some I have noted are in verses 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 26, 27, 34 & 35, as well as a number of allusions and general examples of Old Testament wisdom.

It appears to me that a great deal more information about what Paul was saying to the Romans is available to us if we check the references which he made and the context of these references. It seems to me that before Paul wrote the letter that he had been reading his Bible and that the thought he expressed were the result of his readings.

Now it is a sad fact that Israel as a whole does not understand the gospel. "Has God then rejected his people whom he foreknew?" See verse 2 & 3 of this chapter. Verse 3 refers us to Elijah. The purpose and mission of Elijah was to turn the hearts of God's people back to Him.

Turn to 1 Kings 18:36–37. Now turn to Malachi 4:4–5. The purpose and mission of Elijah when he comes again will be to turn the hearts of the children of Israel back to their fathers.

Israel of old failed to obtain what it sought, verse 7, because they thought that salvation could be earned, but as our Brother Kelvin Wilson stressed not long ago, eternal life is a gift of God and as verses 5 & 6 show, the basis is not works but grace. Romans 11:5–6

"So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace."

It is sad indeed that present day Israel after the flesh ranks as one of the most disbelieving nations on the earth.* A recent survey showed that only 1 in 3 Israelis believe in God. One in three!!! What echoes of scripture does this bring to our minds.

Turn with me to Zechariah 13:8–9. Two thirds of the people perish, the others turn back to the LORD. The principle is well established that repentance is a necessary condition of the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel.

Turn with me to Leviticus 26:40–42

Deuteronomy 30:1–3

"And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you … then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you."

Psalm 81:11-14

" But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would have none of me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. O that my people would listen to me that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes."

But has Israel stumbled so as to fall? Romans 11:11–12

Let us read from 1 Peter 2:6–10

For it stands in scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame." To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner," and "A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall"; for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.

And Ephesians 2:12

remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

So Peter tells us that Israel has stumbled over the rock which is Christ, and Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that we gentiles find grace through Christ by becoming part of the commonwealth of Israel and so become recipients of the promises to the fathers. How then does Elijah fit into all this?

Elijah comes before the great and terrible day of the LORD
He comes to an unbelieving Israel
His mission is to turn Israel back to God.
Israel repents and God sends them Jesus.

An identikit picture of Paul the Apostle

Facial composite of Paul the Apostle, created by the State Bureau of Investigations of North Rhine-Westphalia using historical sources, proposed by Michael Hesemann. CC Link

Now let us read Romans 11:13–15. From these passages it is clear that the acceptance back of Israel is at the time of their repentance and it is also clear that as their rejection meant salvation for the Gentiles, their acceptance brings the time of the resurrection (life from the dead).

Paul now moves to a digression with a parable about the wild and the cultivated olive trees. Olives are a very long lived tree, indeed it has been suggested that some of the olives near Jerusalem were growing at the time of Christ. They are propagated from the very best stock which is available (corresponding to Abraham) but over the course of time they may lose their fruitfulness ( corresponding to the nation at the time of Christ) . An unusual feature of the olive tree is that the tree may regain its vigor if a vigorous wild olive is grafted in and the old wood is pruned out. The wild olive imparts vigor to the tree and the old noble stock enriches the fruit on the wild olive graft. (This corresponds to the Gentiles becoming part of the commonwealth of Israel, the ecclesia) .

Olive tree growing in Israel CC

It is therefore clear that we Gentiles who are not of the stock of Abraham have no cause to boast against Israel because we know that in God's purpose with the nations they are the first to receive His blessings (Zechariah 8:20–23) and so at the appropriate time, when the full number of Gentiles whom God has appointed receive the truth, Jesus will return.

Romans 11:25:27 The background for these quotations is extremely interesting for the Old Testament references are quite clear that Jesus returns when Israel is in real trouble.

Turn with me to Psalm 14:4-7

"Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD? There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad."

Now turn to Isaiah 59. The whole chapter is relevant, but verse 17 to the end of the chapter will do for the moment.

Now try Jeremiah 31:31–34 (the whole chapter here is also relevant)

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer 31:31–34)

We rejoice therefore brethren and sisters to know that Israel will turn again to their God. We are indeed thankful that they with us will receive the mercy of God.

Let us turn to Isaiah 40, the chapter from which the next reference by Paul is quoted. Isaiah 40:9–17:

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the isles like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

Isaiah 41:14–20:

Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, says the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together; that men may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Let us conclude the talk tonight with the final paragraph of Romans 11. Verses 33–36:

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.