Studies in Romans
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SUMMARY OF CONTENTS:
OPENING REMARKS: 1:1-17
BAD NEWS : Universality of sin and its condemnation 1:18 - 3:20
GOOD NEWS : A gospel that changes our relationship to God 3:21- 5:21
HOW TO GROW AS A CHRISTIAN : 6:1- 8-39
Sanctification 6:1-23 Union with Christ and its implications
The Place of the Law 7:1-25
Life in the Spirit 8:1-39
A SHORT DETOUR : Questions concerning Israel 9:1-11:36
Self-righteousness v Faith-righteousness 10:1-13
The restoration of Israel 11:1-36
HOW A CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO LIVE : 12:1-15:13
PERSONAL GREETINGS : 16:1-27
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Studies in Romans
THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL
Chap 11.1-36
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
The Remnant and the Remainder 11.1-10
In Ch. 9-11 Paul deals with the mystery of the Jews’ rejection
of the gospel and the rejection of the Jews by God. In Ch. 9,
election and rejection is dealt with. In Ch. 10, we find that the
Jews had themselves and not the doctrine of election to
blame for their failure to obtain salvation, which is available to
all. Many Jews rejected the gospel not because of ignorance,
but because of disobedience and rebellion.
The question asked in Ch. 11 is "Does the fact of Israel's
apostasy and their rejection by God mean absolute and final
rejection?" Logic would demand that the answer "yes" be
given but Paul rises beyond logic in this chapter.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
The Remnant and the Remainder 11.1-10
Paul’s contention is that ‘God did not reject his people’ v2. He
draws this conclusion, first from his own experience. If God had
cause for rejecting any Israelite, then Saul, persecutor of the
church, was surely a prime candidate. But instead God called
him to be the apostle Paul.
The history of Israel, appeared to be one of rejection.
Under Solomon, Israel had enjoyed a golden age.
But then idolatry led to exile. Her restoration was
followed by the oppression of the Selucids, with its
climax under Antiochus Epiphanes. Jerusalem’s
rejection of Jesus was followed by its destruction
by the Romans in 70 AD.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
The Remnant and the Remainder 11.1-10
How can Paul possibly say, ‘God did not reject his
people’? But is not the fact that Israel has survived
the ravages of history, the pogroms and concentration
camps, evidence that Israel is not utterly cast off? The
Jewish people continue to exist as a distinct ethnic
entity. In the mystery of God’s plan, he still seems to
have a purpose of mercy for the Jews.
God ‘foreknew’ [v2] them. This means that any
rejection of them that we may witness must be
understood against this backcloth: they are God’s
rejected people. God’s purposes of mercy and
salvation in history are not therefore completely
divorced from them. This is the subject addressed in
this chapter.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
The Remnant and the Remainder 11.1-10
In v1-6, Paul argues that the rejection of Israel is partial
and not complete. He reintroduces the idea of an Israel
within Israel and speaks of the experience of Elijah, who
was disabused of the notion that God had abandoned
his people – 7,000 Israelites had not bowed the knee to
Baal. In them the future hope of Israel resided. God was
operating through a remnant of faith. Paul may mean
that in his own day there was also a remnant in Israel
who had not rejected God’s Messiah, though their
identity was not obvious to the casual observer. Or, he
may mean, that in the counsel of God, there was a
hidden number of Jews who would yet respond when
they heard the proclamation of the gospel.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
The Remnant and the Remainder 11.1-10
In v7-10, Paul reviews the arguments of Ch. 910. It is the ‘elect-remnant’ who have obtained
the promise, and the rest are blinded. The
reference to the Jews seeking, in v7, takes us
back to 10:2ff. Notice their seeking was without
knowledge. They wanted to find God on their
terms. Whenever people do that, they end up
making God in their own image. They reject
revelation and cultivate prejudice. This results in
a judicial hardening, blinding and deafening as
God confirms them in their stubbornness. Paul
substantiates this conclusion by quoting Deut.
29:4, Isa. 29:10 and Ps. 69:22-23.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
The Remnant and the Remainder 11.1-10
The reference to Ps. 69 is particularly interesting. It
pictures men being overcome by their enemies, as
they feast in careless security. Their prosperity,
instead of strengthening them against danger,
endangered them by attracting their enemies.
Similarly, God’s Word, which should have been
their refuge became instead a snare, in which
they were caught. Truth, when resisted becomes
an instrument of hardening in the human heart.
The gospel brings light, but light that is refused
becomes darkness [Lk 11:34].
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
But what of the great mass of the people of Israel? Has God finished with
them? Paul indicates that their fall is temporary and not final. He argues
that the ‘fall’ of the Jews proved to be an integral element in the salvation
of the world, and indeed in their own ultimate salvation.
Paul asks, ‘Have they stumbled that they should
finally fall?’ Is this the great climax of their history?
Has evil triumphed over grace? Paul answers that
the Jews’ rejection led to the salvation of the
Gentiles, which, in turn, will provoke the Jews to
jealousy leading to their eventual salvation. Paul’s
words have been interpreted in at two
unsatisfactory ways:
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
1. The Jews rejected the gospel and were rejected by God.
Then God graciously overruled this and used it to advance
his own purposes of grace. This view presents God patching
up a state of affairs that he had not originally envisaged,
and which had caught him unawares. It questions both
God’s omniscience and his foreknowledge.
2. The Jews’ fall was essential, and God arranged events in
this way because he needed a rejected people through
whom he could bring about his purpose of salvation. This
view calls into question the reality of the Jews
responsibility for the matter of their own rejection.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
There is mystery here that finds a parallel in Jesus’ words about Judas Iscariot:
‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The
Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who
betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.’
Matt 26.22-24.
There had to be a Judas to betray Jesus, that is true but it is also true that he
was a free agent. Both Judas and the Jews are a part of the same mystery of
Divine grace and redemption. Both are vessels of mercy through being vessels
of wrath. The Jews rejection of the Messiah, which led to the climax
of the cross, was the means of the world’s salvation.
Their loss means riches for the Gentiles. Paul speaks of the result,
not only in terms of the rejection of the Jews but of their
‘acceptance’ which brings ‘life from the dead’ v15.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
The expression ‘life from the dead’ seems to point to the restoration of
Israel, signalling the ushering-in of the new heavens and earth thus
indicating that the conversion of the Jews will immediately precede the
return of Christ.
When the Jews first came to the promised land they
were heralds of the coming of the Lord’s anointed.
Their presence there was part for the preparation of
the coming of the Redeemer. Could their return to
Israel after almost 2000 years foreshadow the return
of the King of Glory? Paul is encouraging us to watch
the Jews because all that happens to this people is
of divine significance.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
How are we to understand the phrase
‘provoking the Jews to envy’ v14?
Paul sees his mission to the Gentiles as
having an indirect bearing upon the Jews.
The more successful his mission is, the
more likely the Jews will be provoked to
envy.
The salvation of others is often a stimulus
to non-Christians. Many have come to
faith by observing the joy of Christians and
thinking ,‘I want what he/she has got’.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
In v16-24 Paul provides another proof against Israel’s
final rejection. The patriarchs are described as the
firstfruits. The term ‘first fruit’ comes from the OT. and
refers to the portion of food /harvest that was offered
to God so sanctifying for use the remainder.
Here the first-fruit stands for Abraham and the
patriarchs, through whom the rest of the nation would
be sanctified. Cf also the relationship between the root
of a tree and its branches v16.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
Paul’s point about ‘the whole batch being holy’, and the branches being
‘holy’ though significant, must not be misunderstood. Israel is not ‘holy’ in
the sense that all her members are righteous but in the sense of having been
separated to God.
God’s choice of them, in his choice of Abraham,
is once for all. Paul is not rebuilding the
argument he demolished in Ch 2-3 where Jews
felt secure because, ‘We have Abraham for our
father’. The Jews’ relationship to the patriarchs
does not effect their salvation, but affirms a
destiny that they will enter into by faith. It is this
idea that is developed in the ‘olive tree’ analogy.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
The ‘olive tree’ describes the church of God from the time it was first
instituted. Paul views the N.T. as a new growth from the original body.
He warns the Gentiles who’ve been grafted into the olive tree [the church]
against pride and complacency. It would be easy for Gentiles to assume that
the Jews had been cut off forever, and themselves become complacent.
The grafting procedure described here
is horticulturally wrong – it’s always the
cultivated branch that is grafted into
wild stock - but Paul’s argument rests on
the unusualness of his illustration.
Since the grafting-in of wild stock is
contrary to nature, it reveals both the
power and grace of God.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
Now, if the procedure is contrary to nature, then two further
possibilities exist. First, the action can be reversed, the Gentile
branches can be taken out again and the original branches can
be grafted in again. The operative factor in each case is faith.
This knowledge should promote humility in the life of the
Gentile believer. It was spiritual pride that led to the Jews’
downfall. They assumed that because of their special
relationship with God no moral laxity or spiritual
waywardness on their part could endanger it! There are moral
conditions associated with both being broken off and of
remaining secure.
The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
The grafting-in of the Gentiles depended upon
faith. The ability to remain there, also rests in
faith.
Faith excludes boasting cf. 3:27. Paul’s
illustration not only serves as a warning to
Gentile presumption, secondly, it promotes
hope for Israel. If God were able to graft wild
branches into an olive tree, how much easier
it would be for him to restore the natural
branches to their original place!
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
In v25ff Paul unfolds the mystery that there is a day coming when the
blindness that prevents the Jews from believing the gospel will be
removed, and they will be enabled to believe.
When will the great tide of blessing for the Jews, that Paul has
been unfolding, become a reality? The operative word in
v25 is ‘until’. Not until the full number of Gentiles
has come in. Paul is not thinking of a day when
the whole Gentile world is converted, but of when
every Gentile destined for salvation has come to
faith. Then the blindness will be removed from
Israel and the restoration will take place.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
In other words, when the rejection of Israel is no longer needed in the purpose
of God for the world’s redemption, then Israel will be gathered to her God and
be saved v28. But what does ‘all Israel’ in v26 mean? Some,
like Calvin, have suggested a ‘spiritual Israel’, others suggest
‘a remnant of Israel’. Some claim every single Israelite is
intended, but that would make nonsense of everything the
Bible teaches. The context presses us to consider that ‘all
Israel’ refers to a mass movement - the period of hardening
is over and the Jewish people will move from a position of
unbelief to one of repentance and faith. The climax of Paul’s
thought is the restoration of Israel once the Gentile church
is complete without implying that every single Israelite will
be converted. Historically, the church’s Mission to the Jews
has been motivated by this expectation.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Engrafted Branches 11.11-24
In v28-32 Paul underlines the wonder of God’s dealings with his people in a
series of striking paradoxes. They are both ‘enemies’ and ‘loved’ by God. Their
refusal of the gospel means they have ridden out to face God on the field of
battle but their hostility has not destroyed God’s love for them,
and more importantly, his election of them for ‘his gifts
and call is irrevocable’.
The Gentiles have received mercy through the unbelief of
Israel in order that, prior to the consummation of the age,
Israel in turn might receive mercy through the mercy
shown to the Gentiles. So that one of the significant
features of human history is that ‘God has bound all men
[Jew and Gentile] over to disobedience so that he might
have mercy on all’.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Doxology 11.33-36
The doxology in v33-36 concludes not only the chapter but the
block of teaching on Israel that began in 9:1ff., and it possibly
looks back on all that Paul has been saying since 1:16.
Paul has recognised that there is a conscious
purpose in the universe that far transcends all
human thought. There is a depth in the riches,
wisdom and knowledge of God that stretches
well beyond the tiny galaxies of human thought.
The trail of God’s riches that Paul has been
unfolding [see especially 2:4, 9:23 and 10:12]
leaves him spellbound and enraptured.
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Doxology 11.33-36
As he considers God’s character, he recognises
that he cannot begin to plumb the depths of the
‘wisdom and knowledge of God’ cf. Col. 2:3.
The most intrepid explorer would return from his
voyage of discovery and admit his failure to
penetrate the forest of the ‘unsearchable nature
of God’s judgements’ cf. Isa 55:8-9.
In v34 Paul republishes the findings of Isaiah [Isa.
40:13], who, having set the deductive power and
reasoning of man over against the solitary majesty
of God in the counsels of his perfect will,
concludes there is ‘no contest’ [cf. Deut. 29:29].
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The Restoration of Israel: 11:1-36
Doxology 11.33-36
In v35 Job is called to the stand, and we hear the words,
recorded in Job 41:11 which argue that, since God acts
in sovereign grace, men can do nothing to earn or merit
salvation. Indeed, God does not need anything that man
could give him. God is Creator, Sustainer and Director of
all that is seen and unseen.
How foolish to try to put him under the microscope of
our puny intellects, and hope to understand his
greatness! Better we humble ourselves before him in
sheerest wonder and adoration. That is what Paul does!
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