God Is Not Done with Israel
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Romans 11:1-10
We have been going through the book of Romans verse by verse, and today we begin chapter 11, which is the last of this section where Paul makes parenthetical statements about Israel.
In Chapter 11 Paul talks about Israel’s Calloused Heart.
But not all of Israel is calloused - there is a remnant.
There has always been a remnant.
God’s desire has always been to save the entire world.
But because of the rejection of a whole line of Adam, God chose Israel.
It came to a point when not all of Israel followed God, they rejected God’s plan through the Messiah, so God had a remnant, a few that believed, the apostles and disciples.
Through these few the church was built.
And through the church we are to reach the entire world.
Israel was disobedient, and gripped by stubborn unbelief.
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
The nation as a whole did not believe or obey God.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
How can this be reconciled with the fact that Israel was God’s chosen people?
This section of Romans can be boiled down to one statement.
God has not rejected His chosen people, but not all people are chosen.
Romans 11:1 Paul asks the question,
1a I say then, Hath God cast away his people?
The Words cast away means to be pushed away, to be repelled.
The idea is a total and final casting away.
Is God done with the nation of Israel?
Paul’s answer is an absolute No!
God forbid!
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.
You can hear the heart of God when Jesus was on earth.
His heart was torn for His people.
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Jesus lamented the fact that Israel would not hear, and would not believe.
Can you hear the heart of God?
No, God loves Israel.
20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart;
21 And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
22 For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.
No God is not done with Israel, but not all of Israel will come to Christ.
Paul in the first ten verses of this chapter begins to offer a series of five proofs that God is not done with the nation of Israel .
I. Paul Himself Is Proof
I. Paul Himself Is Proof
Paul himself was a part of the remnant.
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
He is an Israelite, from the tribe of Benjamin.
God cannot be done with Israel, because Paul himself is an Israelite.
Those who are proponents of saying that God is done with Israel, usually have an agenda…for instance those who claim the inheritors of all blessings that were given to Israel.
But Paul says, God cannot be done with Israel, because God is not done with him, and He is Israeli.
Paul may be one of the most vocal proponents of Christianity and reaching the Gentiles of his day, but he is still an Israelite.
God’s relationship with Israel as a nation continues, His plan for Israel continues, even though not all Israelites will come to Him.
II. God’s Foreknowledge Is Proof
II. God’s Foreknowledge Is Proof
He said in verse 2, “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.”
God foreknew that there would be a remnant in Israel that would come to Jesus.
Paul was one of those.
A while back we looked at Romans 8, and we saw these verses...
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Those who God foreknew (to perceive or recognize beforehand, to know previously) those whom God would see Paul, and the other disciples, the apostles …he saw they would trust in Him.
So God could not reject Israel as a whole, because God foresaw that there would be some who would not reject Him.
What God foresees, cannot be change.
God has not rejected His chosen people, but not all people are chosen.
So Paul himself is a proof that God has not rejected Israel as a whole, because he, himself, is a Jew.
God’s Foreknowledge is a proof that God has not rejected Israel.
God in His perfect , error-less foresight —saw that He would not be done with Israel, why?
Because...
III. God’s Prophet Foresaw a Remnant
III. God’s Prophet Foresaw a Remnant
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Elijah foresaw the remnant, this comes from 1 Kings 19.
Elijah had a great victory over the prophets of Baal.
850 prophets of Baal were killed by the people of Israel at the command of Elijah.
King Ahab came and told his wife what happened and she vowed to kill Elijah.
Elijah has to run for his life, he finally finds rest under a juniper tree, and asks God to just kill him.
An angel ministers to him and feeds him, he finds a sanctuary in a cave, where the Word of the Lord speaks to him.
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
Paul now uses this as the highest authority of proof, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says that though all seem to reject, God keeps a remnant.
The vast majority of people in Elijah’s day, in Paul’s day, and even in our day are rejecting God, but there was a remnant.
A few who are loyal and obedient to God.
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Many of those remnant from times past are in that great cloud of witnesses, Ron Hamilton is now in that group, Charles Stanley, Clint Caviness (my youth pastor), Bob Garner, they had run the race before us and won the prize, now we must run our race.
Put down the weights, and follow Christ!
God had not rejected all of Israel, even though a great number had rejected Him!
But he had a plan…a plant that involved the Gentiles.
A plan to win the whole world to Himself.
That plan involved a remnant doing the work to reach the world.
Paul was proof that God was not done with Israel, he was a Jew.
God’s foreknowledge was proof he was not done with Israel, What God foreknows must come to pass.
God’s prophet’s foreknowledge was proof that he was not done with Israel.
There would be a remnant that would stay true to God.
And then the fourth proof that Paul gives is...
IV. The Remnant Today
IV. The Remnant Today
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
This is a strong statement from Paul, there is a remnant!
It is definite!
In Paul’s day there was a remnant, and the same is true today!
The vast majority of this world around us, even of the churches across this world have turned from the truth of God’s Word!
But there is a remnant!
If you haven’t read, the Trail of Blood, I would highly recommend it.
It is a small little book containing five lectures from a southern baptist preacher in 1931.
It gives the history of Baptist Churches and presents a succession of believers who held to the truth of the Word of God from the first Christians all the way to modern day.
They were not always called Baptist, but like many of the Baptist today, we see a trail of blood, those who were martyred for the truth of God all the way through Church history.
I highly recommend every Christian read this booklet, it can be found on Amazon for just a few dollars, and other places as well.
Our Christian heritage is being re-written by many of the Baptist institutions of Education, calling our faith a protestant denomination that began in Europe during the Reformation.
Many people accept this new history, just as they do from modern history books in our schools.
This book shows how when the majority of what was known as Christianity veered off the path of truth and began to create false theology like:
infant baptism
indulgences
purgatory
transubstantiation
and saint and image worship.
There was a series of Christians from age to age, known by different names (Waldenseines, Anabaptists, later Baptists)
But these Christians through the ages held to the truth outside of the Catholic Churches, or reformed churches.
Even still today as Baptist across this country begin to cling to false theology and reject the truth of:
God’s Word being inspired
The sanctity of life
God’s design for Male and female
The sanctity of marriage
and many other areas
Many modern day Baptist are very little different from the world around them.
But God’s Word still commands us
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
We, as the remnant, cling to the truth of God’s Word, and God’s Word alone!
We do not need to cling to:
Popular belief
denominational decisions
the cultural acceptance
or any other thing outside of God’s revealed Word of God!
In Paul’s day the remnant of Israel spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
God was not done with Israel.
Paul put forth as his proof that God was not done with Israel
that He was a Jew and God was using Him.
That God’s foreknowledge required God not to be done with Israel.
That His prophets foreknowledge of the remnant showed God was not done with Israel.
And even today the remnant remains as a testimony that God has a plan, and that plan involves Israel.
V. God’s Grace Assures a Remnant
V. God’s Grace Assures a Remnant
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
A person is not saved because they have earned salvation.
He has spent 10 chapters reiterating this a hundred ways.
No man deserves God’s grace, either by works nor by heritage.
But just because you cannot be saved by being an Israelite, it doesn’t mean that God is done with Israel.
No God’s grace is sufficient!
God by his grace has given us salvation, just as those who remained faithful in Israel were saved by faith.
Therefore, God will always see to it that there is always a remnant of believers in Israel.
The vast majority have fallen at the snare of works.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
But the callous on Israel’s heart is not total.
There are some who hear the truth!
So Paul asks in Verse 7:
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for;
Israel pursued a law that would lead to righteousness but failed to reach it or even keep the law in the first place.
They failed to reach God’s righteousness.
All have fallen short of the righteousness of God.
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Verse 7 continues
7b but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Those who have come to God by faith in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, they obtained the righteousness by their faith in Christ and not by obeying the Law.
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
The rest were blinded, or their hearts were hardened.
He says that God has hardened most Israelites for a specific purpose.
Chapter 9 of Romans dealt with this idea of hardened hearts.
Pharaoh hardened his heart, and after multiple attempts, God hardened Pharaohs heart.
Paul continues in Verse 8-9 says
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
The picture of verse 9 is that of men sitting and feasting comfortably at a banquet table.
They are at ease, they are secure, and they posses a sense of safety.
In fact they are so comfortable that their safety becomes their ruin.
The enemy sneaks upon them unaware.
Verse 10 says,
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
Some say that Scripture is saying that God has blinded them.
However Scripture clearly says,
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
This means:
The Unbeliever’s Rejection is Willful
We saw earlier in this study on Romans how God hardened the heart of Pharaoh only after Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
He had given him over to a reprobate mind, if you will.
People get engrossed in this world around them, and do not want to see the truth of God.
Jesus said
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Waxed gross, literally means their heart has grown fat.
They have indulged in the things of this world to the point they cannot hear the truth.
Their sensuality is overrun by the lust for the things of this world.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Their blindness, or having grown fat, is due to deception by Satan.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Therefore They Are Rejected by God
And because they have rejected the truth, God rejects them.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
God told us, Genesis 6.3
3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
And yet, even though God has rejected the unbelievers in the nation of Israel, he has not forsaken them as a nation…he is not done with them…he has not cast them out.
He knows that a remnant still remains that believe.
It appears that one day all of those in Israel will turn to Christ, perhaps when they See Jesus Himself, When the fulness fo the Gentiles be come in (verse 25) All Israel shall be saved (v 26).
This, I believe is dealing with the Israelites at that time.
we’ll look at these verses in more depth in coming days, but this doesn’t mean that all Israelites of all ages will be saved.
It cannot when Chapter 9 tells us
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
If you remember he was saying not all those who were nationalistically of Israel were of Israel’s blessing, or saved.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Callous on Israel’s Heart is not total - there is a Remnant.
In the coming weeks we will continue looking at the Callous on Israels Heart.
We will see that the Callous is not final - there will be a restoration
and the Callous is a Warning to other nations.
But until then, Let us learn from Israel’s history.
It has been said, “the one thing man learns from history, is that man does not learn from history.”
May that not be our case.
May we yield to the truth of God
Stay faithful to our walk with God
and Continue to tell the Gospel of God.