The Bible: Romans Chapter 11
God’s plan for the Israel and the Church

The place of Israel in God’s plan has always been a contentious issue so the first thing we must state is that Christians should not divide over it, some saying on one extreme that the church has replaced Israel which no longer has a special place, and others that if you don’t pray for Israel then God will not bless you. Within these two extremes lies the truth that the Bible declares. If God has made some issues in the Bible harder to understand then perhaps it’s so that we will meditate on them in greater depth.

¹ I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.  ²God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah— how he appealed to God against Israel: ³Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me? ⁴And what was God's answer to him? I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. ⁵So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. ⁶ And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

 This is in response to the last verse in chapter 10 which says: “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” God is holding out His hand to us and wants us to repent. The seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal were chosen by grace. Only a remnant of Israel are saved, not because of their works but by the grace of God. If you could be saved just by being fulfilling the Jewish laws then it would be by works, and grace would become meaningless.

⁷ What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,  ⁸as it is written:   God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.  ⁹And David says:   May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling-block and a retribution for them.  ¹⁰ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent for ever.

If we believe that it’s by election then we will be really free from thinking that any self effort will obtain our salvation. For true freedom we need to believe that God will do what He wants to. This may seem harsh, but we only see the picture from our side of the door. One day we will go through the door and see everything from the perspective of the God who is love.

¹¹ Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.  ¹² But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fulness bring!  ¹³ I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry ¹⁴in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

Paul’s attitude here is very emotive. While preaching to the Gentiles, he is full of desire for his own people, the Jews. So he uses this argument that the Jews transgressed to allow the Gentiles to be grafted in. He believes there will come a time at the end when many Jews will turn to Christ.

¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?  ¹⁶If 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.  ¹⁷ If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, ¹⁸do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

Secondly he argues that our attitude towards Jews should be that they are the root, and we should therefore respect them and not boast about the fact that we have salvation and they don’t. We should honour them as it is from the Jews who have the history of walking with God, and it is from the Jews that Jesus came.

¹⁹ You will say then, Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.  ²⁰ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.  ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.  ²² Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.  ²³ And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ 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!

The human heart so easily tends towards arrogance and boasting, and this passage is attacking it again. We should always honour the Jews and not despise them. We need to “Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”
Luke 12:5

 ²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  ²⁶And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.  ²⁷And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. ²⁸As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, ²⁹for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. ³⁰Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience,   ³¹so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you.  ³² For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

God made a covenant with Israel and will not break it. “All Israel will be saved” is a very extreme statement, but should try to understand it: Does it mean that everyone who lives in Israel will become a Christian? What about Jews who live outside Israel; and those who live in Israel who are not Jews? What about Those who have never sought or served God? It’s very hard to presume anything from this passage, but the point is that “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable”, in other words He keeps His promises. Perhaps we should interpret it to mean that all Jews will have their eyes opened to the fact that Jesus is the truth. One thing is sure: God loves the Jews, and therefore so should we.

Doxology: ³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  ³⁴ Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?  ³⁵Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?   ³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.

Passages like this are often called a “Doxology”, which means a short declaration of praise and general doctrine. In the context of the chapter, it’s a declaration that we cannot understand God’s mind. As in previous chapters, we’re drawn to the conclusion that humility is essential if we are to walk in faith.

Conclusion:
Israel clearly has a place in God’s plan, but stubbornly taking one position or another position can lead to division. The motivation of people who divide on issues such as this is generally that they want to use this to feel justified before God. But salvation doesn’t come from being a member of “the perfect church”; If faith is proved by anything it’s by our our works – visiting the sick, widows and orphans, those in prison, loving our neighbour as ourselves, etc; in short, laying down our lives for others. Dividing the church does great harm, and at all times we need to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”, being both the Church and the actual city. But let’s not be distracted from God’s clear purpose: On a Great Day sometime in the not too distant future, Jesus will return for His Bride, the Church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. Amen!

(For a more detailed and balanced exposition of the Church and Israel see the widely used Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, pages 859 – 86)

Rivers of Life Church Oxford UK leaflet No.12/3    Created 6^th February 2012