Romans 11:25-36

As we get into this 3rd and final chapter dealing specifically with Israel it is important to remember that in the original letter that Paul wrote, there were no chapter breaks. Verse 1 of chapter 11 picks up right where chapter 10 left off and is still in the same thought.

Verse 1

It is important to know as we get into chapter 11 that there is a horrible and dangerous teaching in some parts of the church that has existed for many centuries that today is called replacement theology. That is the teaching that God is done with the Jews completely and that He is now only concerned with saving Gentiles, and as such the church now replaces Israel. Now, hopefully you have been here long enough to know that is not true. There are many promises that God made specifically to the Jewish people that could never make sense being applied to the church. Though it is clearly obvious from this chapter that God is in fact at work through His Holy Spirit in bringing the Jews to salvation in Jesus Christ, there are some who would still teach otherwise.

The idea of replacement theology has many holes in its approach and is steeped in antiSemitism. The idea has in part been attributed to different parts of the church since the 1st century church fathers. It stems from the misunderstanding of the Old Covenant Law being fulfilled perfectly by Christ and thus the New Covenant of God’s salvation by grace through faith. We have seen however over and over in our study through Romans that God offers this way of salvation to the Jew and the Gentile. That not one is above the other, and if anything the gospel throughout the Nt is preached to the Jew first then also to the Greek. There have been a surprisingly large amount of influential church leaders who have held to this idea of replacement theology, and many more who have rejected the idea and taught against it from the scriptures. One of the most influential was the man who is most credited with the reformation when he nailed his nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517 - Martin Luther who is unfortunately on record as saying

“What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames. We dare not avenge ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat. I shall give you my sincere advice:

First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly and I myself was unaware of it will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the Jews, existing right before our very nose, in which they lie about, blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame Christ and us (as was heard above), it would be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know.

Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues. Instead they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies. This will bring home to them that they are not masters in our country, as they boast, but that they are living in exile and in captivity, as they incessantly wail and lament about us before God.

Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them. (remainder omitted)

Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the poor Jewscaptive with the saying of Moses (Deuteronomy 17 [:10 ff.]) in which he commands them to obey their teachers on penalty of death, although Moses clearly adds: "what they teach you in accord with the law of the Lord." Those villains ignore that. They wantonly employ the poor people's obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse them with this poison, cursing, and blasphemy. In the same way the pope also held us captive with the declaration in Matthew 16 {:18], "You are Peter," etc, inducing us to believe all the lies and deceptions that issued from his devilish mind. He did not teach in accord with the word of God, and therefore he forfeited the right to teach.

Fifth, I advise that safeconduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen, or the like. Let they stay at home. (...remainder omitted).

Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping. The reason for such a measure is that, as said above, they have no other means of earning a livelihood than usury, and by it they have stolen and robbed from us all they possess. Such money should now be used in no other way than the following: Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred florins, as personal circumstances may suggest. With this he could set himself up in some occupation for the support of his poor wife and children, and the maintenance of the old or feeble. For such evil gains are cursed if they are not put to use with God's blessing in a good and worthy cause.

Seventh, I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow, as was imposed on the children of Adam (Gen 3[:19]}. For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat. No, one should toss out these lazy rogues by the seat of their pants.”

With that in mind let’s proceed.

As we read verse 1 it makes sense that Paul would bring up the question considering that chapter 9 tells us of God’s election, and chapter 10 speaks of the Jews rejection of Jesus Christ their own Jewish Messiah.

But, asPaul typically does he answers his own question, and his answer is firm - By no means!

Then he explains how this idea is preposterous to begin with.

Paul is a Jew and was one that could brag about being the most strict kind of Jew...

Philippians 3:4–7 ESV

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

And yet God saved him while being the most strict type of Jew on his way to persecute Christians. IN fact Paul’s conversion was told and retold a total of 3 times in the Book of Acts (Acts 9, 22, 26).

The idea here in answer to the question in light of the last 2 chapters is that God has obviously chosen Jews who have likewise responded by faith and chose Him back. Besides all of that if God is done with the Jews, then Paul is hopeless and by the way so were the vast majority of the Apostles!

Verses 2-4

The idea of verse 2 is summed up or reconciled if you will in verse 5

God has not rejected the Jews, and in fact there is a remnant presently.

Notice that these are God’s whom He foreknew. The same word we saw back in 8:29 that speaks of foreordination. God knew exactly what He was doing and what He was getting into when He chose them, including their rejection of Christ. But at the same time that rejection wasn’t total. There were plenty of Jews in Paul’d day and plenty today who have recieved salvation in Jesus the Messiah.

Paul then goes on to express how frustrated Elijah was with his fellow Jews who were also rejecting God and His plan for the Jews in his day. So frustrated was Elijah that he was praying against them and calls out their specific rejection. But even then God had a word for Elijah found in verse 4. That word was that God had not rejected the Jews completely, nor did they completely reject God. Instead there was still a remnant of 7,000 men who had not abandoned God and worshipped Baal.

Verses 5-6

The word in the Greek translated as time is not chronos as we are used to seeing, but rather the Greek word kairos. Chronos is used to time in a general sense such as the seasons or time of day, but Kairos is decisive (foreordained by God) or crucial period of time.

The idea being that this particular time that will continue until what verse 25 calls the fullness of the Gentiles has come. It is now during this time (Kairos) that a remnant remains who worship God through their fulfilled relationship in Christ. I saw fulfilled because the Israelites or Jews as they are also called have been the people of God since he called Abraham to follow Him and promised to be not just his God but also the God of Abraham’s decedents that would not be able to be counted. So the Jew already has the right God, they were just waiting to come into a fulfilled relationship with Him through Messiah Jesus.

Remnant = that which has been left

The way Paul writes this is to say that the remnant was simply chosen out of the motivating factor of God’s grace.

Since it is God’s grace that is the reason for the remnant of Israel that is saved, it cannot also be works that caused their salvation. The 2 are distinct and separate from one another, and so it has to be one or the other, and it is clearly stated to be grace.

Verses 7-10

the elect = the elect of Israel recieved salvation as they responded to God’s gracious offer, while the rest were hardened in their rejection of His grace.

Paul goes onto to quote Isa 29:10, Deut 29:4, and Psalm 69:22-23 to show that God can and will give these things to those who reject Him and His grace in their state of hard heartedness toward Him. However this does not take away from those whom God saved by His grace. If that is God’s plan for the Jews whom He foreknew during this time, then that is God’s prerogative.

But even this seems to work alongside the arrogance and hardheartedness of the Jews as we see in the Gospels as they speak to Jesus as well as what we see in the Book of Acts as they reject Paul and others who preach the good news of the Gospel of Christ to them. Remember that many of the Jews in those days as well as in ours were under the impression by what they had been taught by the Rabbis that they were already guaranteed salvation because they are God’s chosen people. The problem is that they are all incomplete outside of Christ.

Verse 11

Stumble - almost fall

Fall - in this case to fall and be unable to get back up

With this question Paul introduces the thought that we will see him discuss through verse 24 of salvation being available to the Gentiles through the rejection of the Jews and how God has a plan for both Jew and Gentile through all of it. In fact Paul will in this section reiterate again that God loves the Jews, has a plan for their salvation, and that the Gentiles should not come to the conclusion that they are any better or more preferred to God than the Jews. What we will see in the section is that God’s plan is to make the Jews jealous for Him again through the salvation of the Gentiles.

You know what this tells me besides the fact that God desires all Jew and Gentile alike to be saved? That it is a fantastic thing when a Gentile get saved because God uses it to spark jealousy for Him in the hears of the Jew, and it is a fantastic thing when a Jew gets saved because God’s plan of action has succeeded in drawing the Jew to a completed or fulfilled relationship with Him through Messiah Jesus.

Let’s look at this section...

Verse 12

full inclusion = completeness or fullness

The idea of the statement seems to be the fully restored and completed relationship with God that the Jews will have in Christ when He comes again as verse 26 tells us.

Verses 13-14

Paul’s goal in doing his “job” well as an Apostle to the Gentiles is that his ministry would be so effective as to cause a jealousy in the hearts of his fellow Jews to come to God through Christ for salvation.

This tells me something important. My life, your lives, and the lives of the Christian worldwide should be lived in such a way that we provoke the Jewish people around us to jealousy as a part of God’s sovereign plan for their salvation. That also tells me that we should not go out fighting with and needlessly arguing with Jewish people, but rather showing them and when possible sharing the great blessings (every spiritual blessing in Christ) of God with them. That certainly leaves no room for antiSemitism or replacement theology in the church.

Verse 15

“If” is not in the hypothetical sense but rather the “if” is in reference to a fulfilled condition.

The word “if” may better be understood as the word since.

The reconciliation of the world is the preaching of the gospel by the gentiles all over the world. The rest of the world being that outside of Israel. But even this was part of God’s plan to provoke the Jews to jealousy so that they might return to Him.

life from the dead - this seems to be spiritually speaking as the Jews come to salvation in Christ at His return.

Verse 16

The lump of dough is a reference to

Numbers 15:17–21 ESV

17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you 19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the Lord. 20 Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. 21 Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord as a contribution throughout your generations.

In offering the first part of the dough to the Lord the entire lump or batch of dough was considered to belong to God and thus be a holy lump of dough.

Some commentators debate whether this is in reference to the first part of the church that was comprised of Jewish believers, or whether this refers to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Either way the conclusion is the same, what God accepted in the beginning as the first part of the dough He will call His own as a the whole lump. This is the same idea as the offering of the firstfruits of the harvest. It was an offering of thanks to God by faith that God would bring a bountiful harvest, and all that came in truly belonged to the Lord who made it grow.

Now as Paul uses the analogy of the root and branches he is making it clear to the Gentiles that salvation has come by a Jewish Messiah and without God’s promise to the Jews there would be no Messiah for the Gentile. If there is no Messiah there is no way for sin to be covered nor for people to be justified before a holy and righteous God.

You might say in today’s terms that Paul is reminding the Gentiles not to get to big for their britches.

God will do the work of turning the hearts of the Jews back to Himself.

Verses 17-18

What sustains the life of the other? Is it the branches that keep the roots alive or is it the roots that keep the branches alive?

Obviously it is the roots that sustain the life of the branches. You can cut off the branches and a tree will still survive, but if you cut the roots out, the tree will die. Likewise the Gentile recieved the blessing of salvation through the Jew and not the other way around.

Verses 19-21

A stern warning against pride and arrogance towards the Jews by Gentiles is given here.

Verse 22

Please note that Paul is not suggesting that we can keep our salvation through good works. Rather he is simply reminded them and us that we are to continue to abide in Christ just as He said...

John 15:1–9 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

Verses 23-24

And this flies right in the face of the horrible theological position that God is through with Israel and that the church now replaces Israel. God’s plan is to graph the original natural branches that were broken off back in.

Verse 25

Mystery has been defines as “a hidden purpose or counsel of God which when revealed, is understood by the believer.”

fullness of the Gentiles - This will be the glorious moment that the last person elected for salvation in the church age (the time that spans from the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 until the Rapture) comes to faith in Jesus Christ. What will follow that moment will be the Rapture of the church followed by the 7 year tribulation also known as the 70th week of Daniel.

This is where the this partial hardening which is only temporary comes in to play, because what will be followed by the 2nd Coming of Christ will be the Jews seeing Him and repenting before Him. What follows this is the 1,000 year (millennial) reign of Christ or what is sometimes called the Kingdom Age. At the end of the 1,000 years there will be the Great White Throne Judgement that takes place, which is then followed by the revealing of the New Heaven and New Earth that we will enjoy in His presence for all eternity.

Needless to say we really want to see that last person get saved that brings about the fullness of the Gentiles, which should motivate you all the more to sincerely share Jesus with everyone around you!

Verses 26-27

Paul quotes from Isaiah 59

Isaiah 59:20–21 ESV

20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. 21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Now, I don’t quite understand how, but Paul did just say it was a mystery. Somehow in God’s sovereign plan He will turn the Jews who are alive at Christ’s coming to Himself as they place their faith in Jesus Christ and fulfill what He told them 2,000 years ago...

Matthew 23:37–39 ESV

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

“One day the Jews will realize their blindness and folly. They’ll accept Jesus Christ, and the glorious national restoration of these people will bring in the Kingdom Age.” (Smith)

Speaking of the fullness of the Gentiles: “At that time, God will once again turn the attention of His plan of the ages specifically on Israel again, so that all Israel will be saved. God’s plan of the ages does not set its attention on everyone equally through all ages” (Guzik)

In the OT book of Zechariah there is a very precise prophecy about this...

Zechariah 12:10–13:1 ESV

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves. 1 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

Jesus said that this very thing would happen when He came back! That the Jews would be saved upon His return...

Matthew 23:37–39 ESV

Verses 28-29

for the sake of their forefathers - It started with God calling a Abram to a relationship by faith...

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God established a covenant starting with Abraham, that He will not break...

Genesis 17:7–8 ESV

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

That covenant was re-established even generations later during the days of Moses even before the Israelites were rescued from Egypt when God said...

Exodus 6:2–8 ESV

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”

And then again, after the law had been given the Lord said...

Leviticus 26:11–13 ESV

11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

You see when God establishes a covenant, He always keeps His end of things even when men fail to keep their end.

Calling isn’t the calling of a job or title necessarily, but in this context the calling to a restored and fulfilled relationship with God through faith in Christ.

This also means that since God won’t change His mind about calling the Jews to Himself, so also God won’t change His mind about calling anyone else to Himself out of His Agape love.

Verses 30-32

Us Gentiles were shown mercy by God even though we were disobedient to God, and we even specifically recieved salvation as God was merciful to extend salvation to us after the Jews rejected Jesus the Messiah and Saviour.

Likewise God will show mercy to the Jews as He has shown mercy to us.

That is because we are all guilty sinners before God who are all reliant upon His mercy whether we be Jew or Gentile. No matter what our DNA we need the mercy of God shown to us through the salvation offered to us through Jesus Christ alone.

Verses 33-36

Inscrutable - pertaining to being impossible to understand on the basis of careful examination or investigation

Paul quotes from Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11 to show that God can’t be put in a position of owing anyone anything, least of all salvation. That is an issue of His sovereign grace.

Communion

Luke 22:14–20 ESV

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

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