The Restoration of all things begins with Israel
Notes
Transcript
Picture 1: More Riches
Picture 1: More Riches
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
There is a chronology of salvation here
Israel stumbles by rejecting her Messiah
God uses Israel’s fall to bring salvation to the Gentiles
Israel notices the Gentile’s spiritual blessings and is envious of it.
God gives full blessing to Israel, which means much more blessing for the whole world.
Picture 2: Firstfruits and Roots
Picture 2: Firstfruits and Roots
1. This is the meaning of the analogy of firstfruits. The festival of Firstfruits required all Israelites to come and bring a portion of the first of the harvest. This represented the reality that the land was God’s, so the crop they grew on it was also God’s. The first tithe of the land was holy, or set apart for special use. But it represented the entire crop.
“And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.
and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.’ “Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God.
The analogy for God’s blessing the Gentiles through Israel is that if he gave a “firstfruits” blessing through Israel’s transgressions, then the “whole lump” is just as divinely authorized too. This “whole lump” cannot be given until Israel accepts her Messiah.
Yet we know that faith is the path to blessing, while disobedience is the way to judgment. The Mosaic Covenant clearly states that when the nation obeys Israel will be blessed. When Israel disobeys, she will be cursed.
Israel disobeyed by rejecting her Messiah, and was judged for it. Just as Jesus predicted, 40 years after his death and resurrection, the nation was destroyed by the Romans and the people driven from their land. This judgment was the last and final judgment that God placed on Israel. Meaning that God promised to protect and defend Israel in exile. So Israel today is not subject to any additional judgment of God, nor has she for almost 2000 years. Nevertheless, Israel disobeyed and proved once again that when you walk away from God, bad things happen.
Yet the basis of God’s blessing the Gentiles is that God promised he would bless the world through Abraham’s descendants. (Gen 12:1-3). This was an unconditional promise, meaning that God will still bless the world through Israel, even if they disobey. We quite rightly see a promise of the Messiah here, but it’s wider than that. Israel is the conduit of God’s blessing to the world. When Israel as a nation disobeyed, God kept his promise and blessed the Gentiles anyway, by given us the promise of salvation. But it is not the most normal way of blessing. The normal way is for people to believe and obey God, and by their faith they not only bless themselves, but everyone around them. So if God manages to bless the world through Israel in abnormal circumstances, what will happen when Israel believes and he can use the usual way?
The answer to that is nothing short of resurrection. When Israel receives her King, then the King will come to be received. In other words, Jesus comes back. And when he does, he will deliver Israel, and then we will have the resurrection of the dead.
“At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
The “root and branch” analogy is simpler. The roots are the beginning of God’s blessing the Gentiles. Since the root and the branch are attached by the tree, if one is holy, so is the other. To be holy means to be set apart for a unique or special purpose. God has begun to set the Gentiles apart for his special use in the church. If he does that at the beginning, he will still be doing it at the end, for God’s work of salvation now during Israel’s hardening is integrally connected to his future blessing of Israel.
Paul’s role was as the apostle to the Gentiles. That is, God sent him to preach salvation to the Gentiles. Of course, therefore his primary goal was to help Gentiles. But the subject in Romans 11 is not Gentiles, but Jews. Since Paul wasn’t ministering to Jews primarily [some were in the churches, but most were Gentiles.], you might think that he didn’t really have anything to do with Jewish ministry. But he would disagree with you. In addition to bringing salvation to the Gentiles, he also had a role by making the Jews jealous of the spiritual blessings he was bringing to Gentiles. Now he knows that God will save all Israel some day, but he knows that this is not his job. His job is only to save some. The general theology
For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
Picture 3: The Grafted Olive Tree
Picture 3: The Grafted Olive Tree
Interpreting the Image:
Olive Lesson 1 - be humble because you don’t belong
Olive Lesson 2 - Be humble because God supports you
Olive Lesson 3 - Be cautious because God can withdraw from Gentiles just as easily as he did with Jews.
Olive Lesson 4 - Be Hopeful because God can graft Jews back in.
Picture 4: The Mystery of Israel’s Hardening
Picture 4: The Mystery of Israel’s Hardening
Reveal 1 - It’s temporary to let the fullness of the Gentiles come in
Reveal 2 - It’s temporary because God’s calling is irreversible
Reveal 3 - It’s temporary so God can show mercy to all