Not Ashamed- Part 39- Israel's Future

Introduction- Romans 11:25-36

Last week we saw how that God has now directed His attention and thus His spiritual blessings away from the nation of Israel and to the Gentile nations.

Yet there is a danger that because we are now the recipients of these spiritual blessings that we may become prideful.

We must remember the warning that Paul gave in verse 20 to “be not highminded, but fear”

If we like the nation of Israel become lifted up with pride supposing ourselves to be superior and self-sufficient, we shall be cut off just as they were.

Tonight we will see even more plainly presented that God is not finished with the nation of Israel and that His plans and purposes for them will ultimately come to fruition.

If we consider what the scripture has to say and we interpret it literally not needlessly spiritualizing it, we cannot help but conclude that God will one day direct His attention to the nation of Israel once again.

The Mystery (Vs. 25)

This final portion of the chapter begins with the mention of a mystery.

The word “mystery” as it is used here simply speaks of something formerly unknown which has now been revealed.

The mystery referred to here is how that the blindness or hardening of Israel would be the catalyst that would ultimately result in the spread of salvation among the Gentiles.

The fact that Gentiles would be included in God’s plan was prophesied in the Old Testament scriptures and yet how this would come about was not realized until this mystery was revealed.

The Roman believers needed to be reminded of this fact lest they should conclude that they were somehow superior or that they had somehow earned these newfound spiritual blessings.

It is also important to consider the wording of this verse because it will help us to understand that the blindness/hardening that has happened to the nation is only in part.

This means that not every individual in the nation is hardened and that there will yet be some who turn to God in faith during this time.

Notice also that the hardening is not permanent but temporary. The nation as a whole will continue in blindness “until” the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.

This means that one day the blindness or hardness will come to an end when God has finished the work that He is now doing among the Gentiles.

There can be no denial that God will again work among the Jewish nation in the future.

God’s Future Work (Vs. 26-27)

Once this time has passed and God’s workings among the Gentiles are complete then ultimately all Israel shall be saved.

Once again the focus here is on the nation so this does not mean every Israelite that has ever been born for this has already clearly been refuted.

What is meant here is that when God once again turns His attention to the nation of Israel that He will do a great work such that the nation as a whole will repent turning to God in faith.

Zechariah 12:10 KJV 1900

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The spirit of grace and of supplications: And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Zechariah 13:6 KJV 1900

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Zechariah 13:8–9 KJV 1900

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, Two parts therein shall be cut off and die; But the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, And will refine them as silver is refined, And will try them as gold is tried: They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: And they shall say, The Lord is my God.

This prophecy speaks of a day when the Lord Jesus Christ (the one whom they pierced and the one with wounds in His hands) will return and the response of the people to Him as they recognize that they crucified their Messiah.

They will then recognize Jesus for who He is and the nation will believe on Him (again not neccessarily every individual but the nation as a whole).

Paul quotes several OT scriptures in combination to show that this is what has been prophesied should happen.

Isaiah 59:20–21 KJV 1900

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, And my words which I have put in thy mouth, Shall not depart out of thy mouth, Nor out of the mouth of thy seed, Nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, From henceforth and for ever.

Isaiah 27:9 KJV 1900

By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; And this is all the fruit to take away his sin; When he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, The groves and images shall not stand up.

Paul has now shown that the future work that God will do among the nation of Israel should not come as a surprise but should be expected on the basis of the fulfilment of prophecies given throughout the OT scriptures.

The Plan of God (Vs. 28-32)

At the present moment when Paul was writing to the Roman believers the nation of Israel had become the enemies of God and of the gospel and in a sense of the Gentile believers also as they seek to further the gospel in the world.

Yet they remain God’s chosen people and as such His love for them is unwavering. They are beloved for the fathers’ sake (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc…).

They are beloved because they are the descendants of the men that God has made an everlasting covenant with.

God’s promises are sure and the gifts that the nation of Israel have received and the calling that God has given to them has not and will not change.

God has not changed His mind regarding the place of the nation of Israel in His plan.

At this point we have a wonderful contrast which reveals in a sense what has been God’s plan from the beginning.

The Gentiles were in the past living in rebellion against God due to unbelief yet now they have obtained mercy through the rebellion and unbelief of the Jews.

Now the Jews are living in rebellion against God because of their unbelief, but through the mercy that God has shown to the Gentiles the Jews may be provoked to jealousy and will also obtain mercy when they ultimately turn back unto God.

Ultimately both the Jews and the Gentiles and thus all humanity have rebelled against God in unbelief but God is merciful to all and willing to save any that will return to Him in faith.

The Praise of God (Vs. 33-35)

This final section of the chapter is a stirring doxology as Paul breaks forth in praise when he considers God’s plans and provision for the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles who have rebelled against Him.

The depths of the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge are absolutely beyond our human comprehension.

The ways that God has worked in the past and the ways that He continues to work in the present as well as the ways that He will work in the future are amazing to consider and will lead us to marvel at His wisdom.

Not one of us would have been able to imagine how God would work in the nation of Israel and ultimately among the Gentiles to bring about His plan and purposes in the world.

God’s plan of redemption and His means of bringing men to repentance and salvation are outside the boundaries of our understanding.

We might simply say there is no way that the ways of God come from the minds of men for they are too complex and too wonderful to have originated in the mind of man.

God does not owe to any man a debt of gratitude for the plan that He has orchestrated, for no man could have begun to devise such a remarkable means for the redemption of humanity and we have contributed nothing to it of our own accord.

The final statement in the chapter really serves as a reminder that God is ultimately the originator of all things, the orchestrator of all things, and ultimately the objective of all things, and He alone is worthy of glory.

God is the one to whom we owe everything, it is He who has created us, it is He who sustains us, and it is He who gives to our life meaning and purpose as we glorify His name!

Conclusion

From this final section of the chapter we can confidently conclude that there is coming a day when God will again fix His attention upon the nation of Israel.

This portion of scripture also gives us a glimpse into the plans and ways of God as He works all things together, be they good or evil, to bring about His purpose.

God has not forgotten the promises that He made to the fathers of Israel and He will not fail to keep them but in the present God has shifted His focus away from national Israel to work and move among the Gentiles presenting the Gentile nations with the opportunity to receive the spiritual blessings that come from relationship with God.

What we read here should cause you and I, like Paul, to marvel at the wisdom and knowledge of God in accomplishing His purposes in spite of the unbelief and rebellion of some.

This serves to give us even greater confidence that nothing and no one can foil God’s plans and purposes for His wisdom if far greater than we can comprehend.