New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

Romans Lesson 21 (2008)

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION – III
(The future glory through Israel)

Romans 11:1-36
Key Verse: 11:13-15

“I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”

There have been numerous nations, people and cultures that have flourished and declined in the history of humankind. Survivors of those ancient nations, people and cultures can no longer be found today. If there were a single nation that still exists with its clear identity, ancient religion and culture, Israel comes first on the list. Apostle Paul’s primary concern in chapters 9-11 is the nation Israel, God’s chosen nation that rejected Jesus. In chapter 9, Paul talks mainly about God’s election and the unbelief of Israel in chapter 10. Chapter 11 deals exclusively with the future of the nation Israel. It seems uninteresting for us to study so much about Israel. What does the nation Israel have to do with us? What does the future of Israel have to do with the future of the world? What does the future of Israel have to do with Christians who live in 21st century? We may say, “Well, we just believe in Jesus. That’s good enough! Why should we bother with Israel?” The content of chapter 11 appears to be boring and irrelevant to most of us who are not Jews. However, we learn that the future of Israel has a significant impact on everyone on earth, because it has to do with the glorious future of all believers in Christ.
FIRST, GOD DIDN’T REJECT THE NATION ISRAEL (1-10)

Look at verse 1a. “I ask then: Did God reject His people?” They say that there are around 13-15 million Jews in the world today. More than 2 million live in New York Area. Yet, we notice that not all of them are religious. In fact, it seems that many of them are as secular as any other people in the world, and are not interested in God at all. In some sense, it seems that there is no real difference between ungodly Jews and ungodly Gentiles. Is God finished with the nation Israel? Can we still call them God’s chosen people? Did God reject His people Israel?

The answer of the Apostle Paul is, “By no means!” and “God forbid!” (KJV) “No way!” In verses 1-6, Paul gives proof that God didn’t reject the nation Israel by giving three examples. The first example is himself. (1b) Look at verse 1b. “By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” Paul’s personal salvation story does not necessarily seem to prove his point. Paul is just one person. However, when we think about the way he was saved and was called to be a missionary to the Gentiles, we can understand his words better. Paul, who was also called Saul, was an orthodox Jew, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. Before he became a Christian, he hated Jesus and his followers and persecuted the Christian church. He was the leader among those who stoned Stephen, a godly Christian. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. He was a terrorist who should have been punished by God. But God not only showed His mercy to save him but also called him to be a missionary to the Gentile world. Paul was saved and called to be an apostle not because of what he had done but because of God’s mercy. In fact, he was saved because of God’s election. He was one of those whom God had foreknown, predestined, called, justified and will glorify. (Ro 8:29-30)

Look at verse 2a. “God did not reject His people, whom he foreknew.” In verses 2b-5, Paul gives the example of the Prophet Elijah, identifying his situation with that of Elijah. Elijah was active in ministry during the reigns of King Ahab and Ahaziah in Northern Israel. (1 Kings 19) At that time, the majority people in Northern Israel became idol-worshipers. On Mt. Carmel, he fought against 450 Baal priests all by himself and had a great victory over them. But after the victory, he was totally exhausted physically, mentally and spiritually and fell into depression. At that time, Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him. Elijah who once was a great spiritual warrior became so frightened that he ran away and appealed to God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me too.”

What did the Lord say to him? Look at verse 4b. “That’s not true, Elijah. You’re not the only one left. I’ve got 7,000 people scattered all over Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal. That’s 7,000 people. What are you talking about Elijah?” From time to time, while we struggle to live by faith, we also feel the same way as Elijah did. “I am the only Christian in my class” “I am surrounded by ungodly people in my office.” We also say, “I am the only one left.” Some one called it “the Elijah Complex.” I know some of you have that complex. Although we may think that we are the only ones, the truth is that God always has His chosen people reserved for His name’s sake in each generation.

Look at verse 5. “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” When Paul said “at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace”, he meant that there are those Jews who have become followers of Jesus Christ. For example, the first Christians were Jews. And all Twelve Apostles were Jews. We know that once when Peter delivered a message, 3,000 Jews came to accept Christ. The number of Jewish believers in Jerusalem increased remarkably for a while even during the time of persecutions. As God preserved 7,000 in Elijah’s time, God also preserved many Jews who accepted Christ in Paul’s time.

Then what happened to the rest of the nation Israel? They were not saved because they sought to establish their own righteousness. In verses 8-10, Apostle Paul quotes what Moses and David said in the Scriptures concerning the unbelief of the people of Israel. (Deuteronomy 29; Psalm 69:22-23) However, in spite of the hardened majority, there always has been a believing minority in Israel. And they are God’s remnants whom God had reserved for His name’s sake.

SECOND, THE RESULTS OF ISRAEL’S PRESENT REJECTION (11-24)

In verses 1-10, Paul makes it clear that Israel’s failure as a nation was partial, not total because God’s remnants existed in each generation. In verses 11-24, Paul is explaining that Israel’s failure as a nation is temporary, not permanent. Someday, God will restore Israel for His glory. Now then, if Israel’s failure is just temporary, what does it mean to us? In verses 11-23, Paul explains the result of Israel’s temporary rejection.

Read verses 11-12. “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. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!” Here, Apostle Paul is saying that their rejection as a nation opened the door of God’s salvation to the Gentiles, the salvation of the Gentiles would make the Jews envious, and thus God intends to save Israel someday and bring a rich blessing for the entire humankind.

Look at verses 13-14. “I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.” It is an interesting and amazing thought that salvation has come to the Gentiles in order to make Israel envious. How does the salvation of the Gentiles make Israel envious? What does it mean to make Israel envious? It’s not easy to make them envious of our lives in Christ especially when they have preconception about Christianity and see our shortcomings. It seems impossible to persuade them or argue with them to accept Jesus. Yet, according to Apostle Paul, the best way to help them is that our life as Christians should be different and reveal the beauty of Jesus so that it can make people to want to know what makes us different.

There was a Jewish medical doctor who took care of a Christian lady who was very old and about to die. Yet, he noticed that she had such peace, joy and love in her heart. And when her husband came, both he and the woman were so thankful to the doctor who took care of her. The doctor was wondering, “How can these people have such wonderful peace, joy and love which I don’t have even when they face death? They are Christians.” The doctor began to read the Bible, of course the New Testament, and was converted. And he wrote a book, “Why I became a Christian!” This is a wonderful story to share.

Look at verse 15. “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” Although the majority of Israel rejected the gospel, God can never fail in His redemptive work and history. Instead, through their rejection, the Gentiles could receive the gospel, and the Gentile world was reconciled to God. It showed the great progress in God’s redemptive history. Paul was making a case by saying “How much more progress and blessings the acceptance of the Jews as a nation will bring to the whole world?

Verses 16-24 are a parable of the ingrafted branches, in which Paul teaches us what kind of attitude we Gentile Christians must have toward God and toward the unbelieving Jews. Look at verses 17 and 18. “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, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” Here, Paul warns us Gentile believers seriously that we should neither boast our salvation nor look down upon those unbelieving Jews, feeling superior to them. Why not? It’s because we have nothing to boast about over them and because it was only by God’s mercy that we are grafted to the root of the blessed Jewish heritage.

In verses 19-24, Paul continues to warn the Gentile Christians that we should never be arrogant or self-righteous before God. In fact, God does not want any of His children to boast, be proud or arrogant for any reason. Instead, we should humble ourselves before the Lord and give glory and thanks to Him. Otherwise, we can be cut off from God’s blessing anytime.

THIRD, WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE NATION ISRAEL (25-36).

Look at verses 25-27. “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. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’” These are quotations from various Scripture verses, such as Isaiah 59:20, 21, Isaiah 27:9, and Zechariah 12:10-12 and Zechariah 13:1. Here, the phrase, “all Israel will be saved”, does not mean that every single Jewish person in history will be saved. It rather means that the majority of the Jews in the time of Jesus’ second coming will be saved.

They say that there are 13-15 million Jews in the world with 6.4 billion people. In the past and present, the majority of the Jewish nation rejected Jesus. And they are still waiting for the Messiah to come. We know that modern Israel is a secular Jewish state. It’s not just that the majority of Jews don’t believe in Jesus. It’s that most of them don’t even practice their own religion. How can we believe that the majority of Jews will return to God and accept Jesus as their Messiah? After all, can we say that Israel as a nation are still God’s chosen people? Paul is saying “Yes.” How? It’s because Paul believed that God’s promise to Israel cannot be broken. In verses 26-27, Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20,31, 27:9 and Jeremiah 31:33-34, which reads, “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (26-27)

Look at verses 28 and 29. “As 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; for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Paul was saying that even though Israel as a nation has rejected God’s call and became blinded, the fact that they are God’s chosen people is not changed at all. Moreover, in God’s due time, there will be a great spiritual revival among the people of Israel and they will accept Jesus as their Messiah and become missionaries and Bible teachers for the whole world. God has a glorious hope for His people Israel.

There are many things we should pay attention to as we live in this troubled world day to day. We should pay attention to the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ through sincere prayer and Bible study. We should remain in the grace of Jesus Christ and share the gospel with others until Christ’s return. However, as Bible believing Christians, we must not fail to pay attention to what is happening to the nation Israel because the future of the world is closely related to the future of Israel. Before Christ’s return, God will surely revive His people Israel to believe in Jesus Christ. When Jesus was still on earth, he taught his disciples about the signs of the end of the age. After telling them about many signs of the end of the age, he told them the parable of the fig tree, which reads, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (Mt 24:32-33) Here, the fig tree refers to the nation Israel. For nearly 2,000 years, the people Israel didn’t have their homeland. During World War II, nearly six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany. In fact, it was not until 1948 that the nation Israel returned to its homeland. The president of Iran declared that he would wipe off the nation Israel from the map. In recent years, due to the rise of Islamic militant terrorism the world has become a much more dangerous and unstable place to live. We don’t know exactly when Christ will return, but we do know that it’s near, very near.

Violence, war, injustice, ethnic division, genocide, immorality, deception, corruption, and poverty all make it seem that the devil is winning the battle in every corner of the world and God has failed. It’s easy to be disheartened as we see what is going on in the world today. But we should never forget that God never fails in what he desires to do. In each generation God always has His chosen people for His name’s sake. At present, He is working mightily and steadily to save His lost ones through His remnants in every corner of the world. There is also a great hope for the future of the world through the restoration of His people Israel. And that will bring even more blessing to the whole world.
Evangelism is not easy. We feel that it’s getting harder than before. People don’t trust each other any longer. They don’t trust us simply because we claim to be a Christian. Instead, if we say that we are a Christian, some of them might run away from us. What can we do? How can we be a blessing to them? According to Paul, we should make them envious of our lives in Christ. It does not mean that we should always pretend to be perfect and successful in the world. God knows that we are not perfect. In fact, none of God’s remnants is perfect. Therefore, we should be authentic before God, which means that we can glorify God either by success or by failure through our humble and sincere attitude before Him. We should also accept others just as they are, trying to building up the relationship of trust and respect with great patience, so that they may also open their hearts to Christ Jesus. We as Gentile believers have no reason to be proud or arrogant toward anybody or toward the unbelieving Jews. We received salvation only by God’s grace and mercy. May we remain humble and thankful before God and earnestly pray and share the joy of God’s salvation until Christ’s return.