Romans 11:1-36 Senior Pastor Alex Kennedy In chapter 11, Paul writes about God’s covenant faithfulness. He begins with the question, “has God rejected his people (the Israelites)”? He responds, “By no means!” and then gives 4 examples: Paul himself (1 Tim 1:15-16) God foreknew (v2) Elijah (v3-6) (1 Kings 19:1) There is still a remnant in Israel (v5) It is God who preserves the remnant, and those who believe do so entirely because of His grace. So what then? Israel failed… The Word of God has not failed. Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. The order goes this way: First, Israel sought the righteousness of God, but when confronted with the choice of getting it by works or gift (grace), the majority sought it through works, while the “elect” accepted it as a gift. Then, the majority was “hardened”. Those who so wanted to please God were the same people who rejected His love for them and were hardened by Him. This hardening occurred in the Old Testament (and continues today) and was ultimately manifested in both the ten northern and the two southern tribes of Israel being carried into captivity. Verse 8 tells us that “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” (Is 29:10) This hardening involves spiritual drowsiness or numbness. God has always treated ethnic Israel in this way…if they hardened themselves, He hardened them, giving them “a spirit of stupor”. Paul is quoting Isaiah, who is quoting Moses’ words in Deuteronomy. This passage refers to a time of Israel’s abject sinfulness, including leadership who were typically drunk. (Is 28:7) (Is 29:10) God, as a form of discipline, simply made it impossible for Israel, except for the elect, to understand spiritual Truth. God’s “why” is the fact that if Israel was not going to fulfill God’s mandate-to deliver the light of salvation to the Gentiles-then she would be prevented from receiving the light herself. Paul’s second question (v11) is “did they stumble in order that they might fall?” For the last time Paul answers, “By no means!” Rather, through their trespass: Salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. In other words, Israel’s hardening isn’t the final word (Acts 28:23-28). Paul goes on in vs 13-15 to speak directly to the Gentiles. The primary difference between God’s “jealousy” for Israel and the modern version of jealousy lies in who benefits. God’s jealousy is always for the benefit of someone else. Paul is convinced that Israel’s stumbling is temporary rather than permanent and that the nation will be restored as God’s people. He gives 2 examples, with the second one being a root and it’s branches. Normally, the process for turning a wild olive tree (Gentiles) into a fruit-bearing tree was to graft a branch from a cultivated tree (Jews) into the trunk of a wild one. Here, Paul describes a reverse process, calling his image “contrary to nature” (Rom 11:24) by saying that God has preserved the Holy root, pruned off the worthless branches, and grafted them in so that they could share in the nourishing sap from the olive root. Since the Gentiles were like “a wild olive shoot” grafted to a regular cultivated olive tree, they were indebted to Israel, not Israel to them. “Salvation is from the Jews”. Paul continues to speak to Israel’s future by saying that they can be grafted back into their own tree. He then speaks of a “mystery” in verse 25. The word “mystery” doesn’t mean something puzzling, but it does mean that something that was previously hidden is now revealed. This hardening of the Jews is: partial temporary God’s sovereign plan to put Israel aside temporarily in order to show grace to Gentiles is no basis for conceit on the part of the Gentiles; it is designed to display further the glory of God. In verses 26-27, Paul writes “all Israel will be saved”. This is a very complicated thought to understand because Israel is so complicated. All Israel refers to Israel as a whole, NOT each and every single person. We must be discerning with the conversation of the ethnic ancestors of Abraham and the nation of Israel. God uses the Jews to reach the Gentiles God uses the Gentiles to reach the Jews In verses 33-36, Paul moves to a place of worship of an all-knowing and powerful and loving God. We do not fully understand election, hardening, closing the eyes and ears of people who need Truth, or His timetable, but we can trust Him. Paul ends with two rhetorical questions: “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?” (Is 40:13) “Who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?” (Job 41:11) A God who needs our counsel or our gifts is not very interesting, awe inspiring, or worthy of our worship. “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Col 1-15:20) Questions to Consider: Why is it important that grace and works can’t be mixed? What happened to the Jewish people as a result of this? Why does Paul warn Gentile believers not to become arrogant? How can pride show up in Christians today? Why might God allow disobedience before showing mercy? What is something in your life right now that doesn’t make sense? Why can we trust God even when we don’t fully understand His plan? End your time together by reading Romans 11:33–36 together out loud.