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ROMANS CHAPTER 11
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the
normative rules of language, context and logic 
which limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Romans.
This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more
importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective
comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
*** KEY EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS CHAPTER 10 ***
(Ro 10:10 NKJV) "For with the heart [one] believes for righteousness, and with the mouth [one] confesses for salvation. (Ro 10:11 NKJV) For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame [Isa 28:16].' (Ro 10:12 NKJV) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him (Ro 10:13 NIV) [For] 'Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. [Joel 2:32]' (Ro 10:14 NKJV) How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without [preaching]? (Ro 10:15 NKJV) And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring [good news] of good things.' [Isa 52:7] (Ro 10:16 NKJV) But they have not all obeyed the gospel, For Isaiah says, 'LORD, who has believed our report?' [Isa 53:1] (Ro 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Ro 10:18 NIV) But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.' [Ps 19:4] (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' " [Dt 32:21]" =
Author Paul refers to Dt 32:21 in Ro 10:19 to corroborate the previous point he had just made in Ro 10:18 referring to Ps 19:4, that all Israel had the opportunity to be informed of the knowledge of God and the gospel of eternal life, and the obligation to be faithful to Him as His chosen people to represent to all mankind, the LORD, His grace and the grace gift of His righteousness by a moment of faith alone in Christ alone unto eternal life = the gospel.
Deuteronomy chapter 32 is the LORD's message through Moses to Israel. The message is a prophetic song and a witness for the LORD to future generations of Israel. All generations of Israelites were to learn it and sing it repeatedly. The song informs Israelites that in the future Israelites will act corruptly toward the LORD - with no excuse because they have been informed about their Creator God and have a covenant with Him to be faithful. Evidently, generations of Israelites will become warped, crooked and perverse. They will sacrifice to demons, worship idols and false gods, they will evidence willful ignorance of God and His gospel, whereupon the LORD will respond with anger. He will hide His face from them, and forsake them, and they will be destroyed with many difficulties and disasters. Each generation of corrupt Israelites will be declared by the LORD, 'no longer be His children'. He will use "those who are not a nation [i.e, not of a single nation like Israel = Gentiles of various nations]," to make Israel envious. He will make Israel angry through favoring and using for His purposes a Gentile nation which has no understanding of Him compared to the Israelite people who will always have a unique relationship with Him as their God and His chosen people, the Scriptures, a Messiah-Savior Descendant through Abraham and Isaac. Hence it is implied that the LORD will surely preserve Israel in order to fulfill His promises to a future generation of faithful Israelites.
1) [Compare Dt 31:14-22; 32:1-21]:
(Ro 10:10 NKJV) "For with the heart [one] believes for righteousness, and with the mouth [one] confesses for salvation. (Ro 10:11 NKJV) For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame [Isa 28:16].' (Ro 10:12 NKJV) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him (Ro 10:13 NIV) [For] 'Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. [Joel 2:32]' (Ro 10:14 NKJV) How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without [preaching]? (Ro 10:15 NKJV) And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring [good news] of good things.' [Isa 52:7] (Ro 10:16 NKJV) But they have not all obeyed the gospel, For Isaiah says, 'LORD, who has believed our report?' [Isa 53:1] (Ro 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Ro 10:18 NIV) But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.' [Ps 19:4] (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21] (Ro 10:20 NIV) "And Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.' [Isa 65:1] (Ro 10:21 NIV) But concerning Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.' [Isa 65:2]" =
Author Paul refers to Deuteronomy chapter 32, (Ro 10:19), which speaks of God hiding His face from a generation of ancient unfaithful Israelites who were unfaithful, (Dt 32:20). Through making her envious of Gentiles and jealous of a Gentile nation which had no relationship with nor acceptance of the God of Israel, the LORD reminded Israel that there was no excuse for her unfaithfulness, (Dt 32:21). Furthermore, Paul refers to Scripture which declares that there is no possibility of one never having the opportunity to become knowledgable of God and His gospel, (Ps 19:4, Dt 32:21). Paul then quotes from Isaiah chapter 65, (Ro 10:20), which refers to Gentiles who found the LORD who did not seek Him and to the fact that He revealed Himself to Gentiles who did not ask for Him. So the LORD hid His face from a generation of unfaithful ancient Israelites and intervened into the lives of Gentiles so that they would find Him and be used by Him to His righteous purposes not the least of which was to make Israel angry and jealous for being disobedient and obstinately unfaithful to Him. A destiny of destruction for unfaithful generations of Israelites is in view; but remnants of Israelites throughout the ages will be preserved by the LORD so that His promise of a future generation of Israelites to occupy the promised land in the new heavens and the new earth as the LORD's chosen people would be fulfilled through the remnants' descendants, (Isa 65:9). Note that they would be faithful servants of the LORD, (cf. Isa 65:8-9, 17-18).
*** END OF EXCERPT ***
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."
(Ro 10:16 NKJV) But they have not all obeyed the gospel, For Isaiah says, 'LORD, who has believed our report?' [Isa 53:1] (Ro 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Ro 10:18 NIV) But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.' [Ps 19:4] (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21] (Ro 10:20 NIV) "And Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.' [Isa 65:1] (Ro 10:21 NIV) But concerning Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.' [Isa 65:2] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." =
Romans chapter
11 verses 1 & 2 state: (Ro 11:1 NKJV) "I say then, has God cast
away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away
His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of
Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying." Hence the
context of chapter 10 continues into 11 of God's unique temporal personal
relationship with generations of His chosen people, Israel. So chapter 11
does not teach of the attainment or loss of eternal life by individuals as
some maintain. For salvation unto eternal life was never offered to whole
groups of people, but to individuals, one at a time. Notice the key word "people"
as opposed to individuals which declares the subject under discussion:
God's unique temporal personal relationship with His chosen people Israel.
God is clearly declared by author Paul and the prophet Isaiah to whom Paul
refers as not having permanently rejected His people Israel whom, Paul
says, He foreknew to be His people forever. Hence there will be a
fulfillment of all of God's promises concerning His chosen people Israel.
This is corroborated by Paul's reference to Isaiah chapter 65 at the end
of Romans chapter 10 which stipulates that the LORD will preserve a
remnant of Israelites to fulfill His promises that His chosen people will
inherit the Promised Land, He will be their God and they will be His
people, (Isa 65:8-9)
(Ro 10:20 NIV) "And Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.' [Isa 65:1] (Ro 10:21 NIV) But concerning Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.' [Isa 65:2] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." =
Author Paul quoted from Deuteronomy and Isaiah at the end of Romans chapter 10 which indicate that the LORD hid His face from a generation of unfaithful ancient Israelites, declared them no longer His children and counted them for destruction, (Dt 32:21; Isa 65:1-2). On the other hand, the LORD declared that He would preserve a remnant of Israelites so as to have descendants to produce a future generation who would fulfill His promises that Israel would inherit the Promised Land, be His chosen people - faithful believers forever and He would be their God forever, (cf. Ro 10:20, Isa 65:1-18). Hence, Paul declares his answer to the question of whether God has cast away His people, Israel: "Certainly not!"
(Ro 10:20 NIV) "And Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.' [Isa 65:1] (Ro 10:21 NIV) But concerning Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.' [Isa 65:2] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." =
Paul also states that he is an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin implying his expertise on the matter of the destiny of Israel; hence his emphatic answer "Certainly not!" corroborating that God has NOT cast away His people, Israel.
(Ro 11:2 NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
(Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'?
(Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18]
(Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace"
(Ro 10:20 NIV) "And Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.' [Isa 65:1] (Ro 10:21 NIV) But concerning Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.' [Isa 65:2] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace" =
From the
phrase "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew" in Ro
11:2 we can determine by the references to Isaiah 65, (Ro 10:20-21) and to
1 Kgs 19, (Ro 11:4), that the meaning of foreknowledge is defined by Paul
as a knowledge beforehand of events which are a result of God's decree -
His plan and His instituting of that plan by direct intervention in order
to insure its outcome. The passages indicate that a remnant of ancient
Israelites would be preserved by the LORD so that His promise of a future
generation of Israelites to occupy the promised land in the new heavens
and the new earth as the LORD's chosen people forever would be fulfilled,
(cf. Isa 65:8-9, 17-18 ).
Notice that during Elijah's time, the LORD reserved for Himself seven
thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal. This reservation by God
of Israelites for Himself it is implied, is foreknown by God because He
decreed it via His election and will intervene to see to it that it is
fulfilled solely by grace through Him.
Having said that, Paul declares in Romans 11:5 that in the same way that the LORD foreknew the future generation of Israelites to be His chosen people - to be preserved for eternity to inherit the promised land, "so at this present time [i.e., in this present age] there [has been] a remnant of individuals [from all peoples] according to the election of grace" who will likewise be preserved for eternity. Notice that God has specifically elected, (chosen), by grace, i.e., by unmerited favor - by nothing that they would do themselves - a number of individuals to be a remnant destined for eternal life. For an individual to be part of a remnant by the election of the grace of the LORD evidently means that the LORD has foreknown him because He has chosen him by decree. This corroborates that God is proactive in what He foreknows will occur to the extent that He decrees, hence predestinates that occurrence and directly intervenes to make it come to pass. So individuals who make the specific choice of trusting in the gospel of their own volition are decreed to do just that and God intervenes to see that this comes to pass. Hence they are foreknown by the LORD to be a remnant destined to be preserved unto eternal life.
[J. Dwight Pentecost in his book, "Things Which Become Sound Doctrine," Revell Publishing, Westwood, N.J., 1965, pp. 138-9]:
"...Foreknowledge, as used in Scripture, refers to what God knows with certainty will come to pass because He has decreed that event. God knows all things, not only because He is an omniscient God, but because God by His decree has settled and established what will come to pass in fulfillment of His predetermined program. Foreknowledge, then, is the result of God's foreordination, or God's decree, of what would take place. God foreknows, not only what will take place, but the people who will be instruments in the fulfillment of His plan and His program. Foreknowledge has to do not only with what will take place but who will be included within the scope of God's program."
1) [Compare Isa 65:8-9, 15-18]:
(Isa 65:8 NIV) This is what the LORD says: "As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and men say, 'Don't destroy it, there is yet some good in it,' so will I do in behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
(Isa 65:9 NIV) I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah those who will possess My mountains; My chosen people will inherit them, and there will My servants live.
[Note the implication here that the LORD will not destroy all of the Israelites at any time in history so that in the future He can "bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah those who will possess [His] mountains; [His] chosen people will inherit them, and there will [His] servants live [forever]," with a view to the eternal kingdom. Hence all generations of Israel are in view relative to never being totally destroyed so that the those of the people of Israel who are believers will inherit the the eternal kingdom]
(Isa 65:15 NIV) You will leave your name to My chosen ones as a curse; the Sovereign LORD will put you to death, but to his servants he will give another name.
(Isa 65:16 NIV) Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth; he who takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My eyes.
(Isa 65:17 NIV) Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
(Isa 65:18 NIV) But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.' "
On the one hand the
LORD revealed Himself to those who were not Israelites, (i.e., Gentiles),
who neither asked for Him nor sought Him. In spite of the fact that they
did not call on His name, He said to them 'Here am I, here am I', (Isa
65:1). On the other hand, all day long the LORD had held out His hands to
generations of ancient Israelites but they were obstinate in their
unfaithfulness, pursuing their own evil imaginations in disobedience to
His commands to their own destruction, (Isa 65:11-12). So the LORD saw to
it that a remnant of ancient Israelites would be preserved so that His
decree and promise of a future generation of Israelites to occupy the
promised land in the new heavens and the new earth as His chosen people
forever would be fulfilled, (cf. Isa 65:8-9, 17-18) as His chosen people forever would be fulfilled, (cf.
Isa 65:8-9,
17-18)- ref. the New Covenant . So the LORD
intervenes so that a remnant of Israelites are not destroyed. Hence
descendants of Israel will inherit the promised land and have eternal life
in the new heavens and the new earth as He promised.
(1 Kgs 19:1 NIV) "Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
(1 Kgs 19:2 NIV) So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, 'May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.'
(1 Kgs 19:3 NIV) Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,
(1 Kgs 19:4 NIV) while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. 'I have had enough, LORD,' he said. 'Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.'
(1 Kgs 19:5 NIV) Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.'
(1 Kgs 19:6 NIV) He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
(1 Kgs 19:7 NIV) The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.'
(1 Kgs 19:8 NIV) So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
[Notice the LORD's intervention here with food, drink, protection and enablement to travel such a long journey in forty days and forty nights]
(1 Kgs 19:9 NIV) There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'
(1 Kgs 19:10 NIV) He replied, 'I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.'
(1 Kgs 19:11 NIV) The LORD said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.' Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
(1 Kgs 19:12 NIV) After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
(1 Kgs 19:13 NIV) When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'
(1 Kgs 19:14 NIV) He replied, 'I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.'
(1 Kgs 19:15 NIV) The LORD said to him, 'Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.
(1 Kgs 19:16 NIV) Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
(1 Kgs 19:17 NIV) Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.
(1 Kgs 19:18 NIV) Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel - all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.' "
Notice in 1 Kgs 19:16-18, that the intent and intervention of the LORD was to fulfill His purposes as He as decreed hence He had foreknown those purposes. For example, He declared and appointed Hazael, Jehu and Elisha to put to death Elijah's enemies.
Contrary to Elijah's statement that he was no better than past generations of his unfaithful Israelite ancestors, (1 Kgs 19:14), and deserved to die, (1 Kgs 19:4); God intervened to protect and preserve him from temporal destruction. Verse 19:18 in 1 Kings stipulates that as well as preserving Elijah, the LORD had reserved seven thousand in Israel. As Elijah had been faithful to the LORD so had all of the seven thousand whose knees had not bowed down to, nor 'kissed' Baal, implying the preservation of a remnant of faithful believers as a pattern of the LORD's election and sovereignty throughout all generations of Israel. Intrinsic in the phrase, "I have reserved" is the implication that the LORD had seen to it that this reservation would come about successfully, evidently via the same kind of intervention that the LORD made with Elijah to preserve his life and see to it that His decrees would be fulfilled, (cf 1 Kgs 19:5-18). It is thus implied that the LORD's pattern is to preserve a remnant of faithful believers throughout all generations.
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there ["gegonen" = has been] a remnant according to the election of grace" =
Paul declares that in the same way that the LORD foreknew the Israelites to be His chosen people - always to have a remnant of them to be preserved through tribulation against extinction by Him throughout the ages and then for all eternity - "so at this present time there ["gegonen" = has been] a remnant of individuals from the population of all mankind according to the election of grace" who will likewise be preserved through tribulation so that there will always be a remnant of believers in every age and then for all eternity. Notice that God foreknew via His specifically choosing by grace, i.e., by unmerited favor, i.e., by nothing that they would do themselves, a number of individuals from the population of all mankind to be a remnant to be destined for eternal life, (Ro 11:5). So for an individual to be part of a remnant by the election of the grace of the LORD evidently means that the LORD has foreknown him, in the sense of having determined beforehand that individual's eternal destiny, and thereby He has decreed his destiny to choose of his own volition to exercise a moment of faith in His Son for eternal life. This indicates that God is proactive in what He foreknows / determines beforehand what will occur to the extent that He decrees, hence predestinates that occurrence. So individuals who make the specific choice of trusting alone in Jesus Christ alone unto eternal life of their own volition have been decreed to do just that. Hence they are foreknown by decree of the LORD to be a remnant destined for certainty to be preserved from temporal destruction and unto eternal life because He will see to it that this will be accomplished yet without ever violating or intruding upon the volition of men.
(Ro 11:6 NKJV) "[But] if by grace, [then it is] no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work"
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there ["gegonen" = has been] a remnant according to the election of grace (Ro 11:6 NKJV) [But] if by grace, [then it is] no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work" =
Just as it was in the past from the population of Israel, so at the present time, a remnant from the population of all mankind has been chosen according to God's election of grace, (= unmerited favor), to receive eternal life. So eternal life being by grace cannot be by works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. On the other hand, if eternal life, being of the election of God's grace, were by works then works can no longer be works.
Paul emphasizes that God's election at the present time of a remnant from the population of all mankind by His grace unto eternal life was foreknown by Him just as it was with Israel of the past, (cf. Ro 11:2). That a remnant of the population of mankind has been preserved and is destined for eternal life was foreknown by God because He planned it and decreed that plan to come to pass which includes His intervention to implement that plan. Furthermore, God's election of grace unto eternal life is not in any way connected with any individual's meriting such activity. Hence whatever an individual does is mutually exclusive from that which motivates God's decrees, foreknowledge and intervention relative to the reception of eternal life - Jew or Gentile. Hence salvation unto eternal life being by grace, cannot at all involve any works, grace being mutually exclusive of works before, during and forever after the reception of eternal life. This excludes anything to do with demonstrating ones eternal destiny in order to verify its validity. Furthermore, the point is made absolutely clear that if salvation unto eternal life were connected with works at any time, directly or indirectly; then God could not provide it by His grace as unmerited favor; otherwise work is no longer work, i.e., grace and works are mutually exclusive.
(Ro 11:7 NAS) "What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened"
(Ro 9:30 NKJV) "What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; (Ro 9:31 NKJV) but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. (Ro 9:32 NKJV) Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. (Ro 9:33 NKJV) As it is written: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.' (Ro 10:1 NAS) Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, Ro 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction]. (Ro 10:2 NAS) For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. (Ro 10:3 NKJV) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. (Ro 10:4 NKJV) For Christ is the end of ... law [rules of behavior] for righteousness to everyone who believes." .... (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace (Ro 11:6 NKJV) [But] if by grace, [then it is] no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work (Ro 11:7 NAS) What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened" =
Israel and mankind throughout history will largely fail to obtain the righteousness of God unto eternal life. If individuals seek it at all, they seek it via their own righteousness; in the case of Israel via works of the Law, (Ro 9:31-32; 10:3-4; 11:7). On the other hand, remnants of individuals throughout history who are chosen by the grace of God to have His righteousness unto eternal life will choose of their own volition to obtain it via a moment of faith alone in Christ alone.
(Ro 1:18 NIV) "The wrath of God is revealed [to men] from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness... (Ro 1:21 NIV) For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened... (Ro 1:23 NIV) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Ro 1:24 NIV) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (Ro 9:17 NKJV) For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. (Ro 9:18 NKJV) Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace... (Ro 11:7 NAS) What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened" =
Despite the fact that God has always made it abundantly clear that a righteousness from God unto eternal life cannot be obtained via human effort, but only as a free gift by the grace of God through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone - a simple matter of a personal moment of choosing to believe; all of those not chosen by God throughout history will remain rebellious and persist in rejecting Him and hence be hardened by Him in their own willful rebelliousness. So all of the non-elect will refuse to choose to believe throughout their entire lifetimes to their own temporal and eternal destruction.
(Ro 11:8 NAS) "Just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. [Dt 29:4, Isa 29:10]
(Ro 11:9 NAS) And David says, 'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
(Ro 11:10 NAS) Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.' " [Ps 69:22-23]
(Ro 1:18 NIV) "The wrath of God is revealed [to men] from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness... (Ro 1:21 NIV) For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened... (Ro 1:23 NIV) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Ro 1:24 NIV) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (Ro 9:17 NKJV) For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. (Ro 9:18 NKJV) Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. (Ro 11:7 NAS) What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; (Ro 11:8 NAS) Just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. [Dt 29:4, Isa 29:10] (Ro 11:9 NAS) And David says, 'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. (Ro 11:10 NAS) Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.' [Ps 69:22-23]" =
God hardens those who persist in their rejection of Him and His grace salvation. In the case of Ro 11:10 / Ps 69:22-23, this hardening resulted in generation so Israelites down to this very day being sealed in their own unwillfulness to objectively see, hear and believe in God and His grace salvation causing God to cast them away from fellowship with Him unto His wrathful retribution.
Notice that the word "hardened" in Ro 11:7 NAS: "What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened" is clarified in the next three verses:
(Ro 11:8 NAS) Just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. [Dt 29:4, Isa 29:10] (Ro 11:9 NAS) And David says, 'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. (Ro 11:10 NAS) Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.' [Ps 69:22-23]."
God sovereignly saw to it that Israelites who were not chosen, (Ro 11:7), and in response to their continued willful ignorance and rejection of God and His grace provision of His righteousness unto eternal life through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, had a spirit of stuper = a state of great diminution or suspension of mental capacity causing them to no longer have the ability to accept information which explains Who God is and how one can secure a righteousness from God unto eternal life. This spirit of stupor is to be imposed upon all the non-elect throughout history, (cf. Ro 1:23-24; 9:18).
This is corroborated in verses 9 & 10:
(Ro 11:9 NAS) "And David says, 'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. (Ro 11:10 NAS) Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.' " [Ps 69:22-23].
[Bible Knowledge Commentary, Walvoord and Zuck, Editors, USA, 1988, Victor Books, p. 482]:
"The second quotation (in Rom 11:9-10) is of Psalm 69:22-23, which predicts that the very things which should have been the source of nourishment and blessing to Israel (table means their blessings from the hand of God, which should have led them to Christ... ) became the occasion for their rejection of God (a snare and a trap, a stumbling block; cf. Rom 9:32-33) and God's judgment (retribution) on them. Because they refused to receive God's truth (cf. Isa 6:9-10...) their backs will be bent under the weight of guilt and punishment forever."
[Expositors, p. 117-18]:
"7-10 Here is set forth in the case of Israel according to the flesh the tragic consequences of persisting in the pattern of 'works.' Once again Paul cannot overlook Israel's 'earnestly' seeking to get from God what they prized. There is a clear connection with 10:3, which refers to the effort of Israel to attain righteousness in God's sight by their method rather than His. The elect obtained righteousness because they did not go about it the wrong way but depended on divine grace. While this was true in the past, Paul is apparently thinking mainly of the present situation (cf v. 5). In distinction from the elect, Israel as a whole has become hardened. The comparison between present and past, already made on the favorable side between the current remnant according to the election of grace and the 7,000 in Elijah's time, is now projected to cover the dark aspects of the situation.
The failure of the bulk of Israel to attain divine righteousness and their being hardened instead, is in line with OT history. By the device of quoting, Paul throws the weight of Scripture behind his presentation... In the first quotation, he weaves together two passages (Deut 29:4 and Isa 29:10) so as to provide illustration from two periods. In Deuteronomy, it is the testimony of the eyes that is stressed; the people have seen the wonders of the Exodus time and the miracles of the nation's preservation in the wilderness, but from these experiences they did not derive a heart of loving trust in God. In Isaiah, the background is the faithful testimony of the prophets. Yet the people shut their ears to the voice of God through these spokesmen. As a consequence, God sent them a spirit of stupor. The verb (katanussOmai) from which the word 'stupor' comes means 'to prick'... It is clear that God did not give His people deaf ears to mock them any more than He gave them blind eyes to taunt them. What was involved was a judicial punishment for failure to use God given faculties to perceive His manifested power and to glorify Him...
David's word of imprecation follows in Ro 11:9, 10, taken from Psalm 69:22,23. He suffers reproach and torment from his enemies, who are also viewed as the enemies of the Lord. Apparently their feasts are times for special outbreaks of blasphemy. David prays that the Lord will make their table their snare so as to entrap them. Then comes the prayer for the darkening of the eyes that have looked with complacency and even glee at the sufferings of the one whom God has permitted to be smitten."
The Greek word "trapeza" rendered "table" in Ro 11:9 in the NAS refers to blessings from the hand of God, (cf. Ps 69:22-23). Instead of receiving the intended blessings which God had provided for them through His grace, including a righteousness from God unto eternal life through faith alone, the majority of Israelites stumbled and persistently rejected God's blessings out of unbelief. This caused the blessings to become a snare and a trap to them, hence the LORD brought the spirit of stupor upon them to freeze them in their rebelliousness unto eternal & wrathful retribution, (Ro 11:9-10 from Ps 69:22-33]
1) [Compare Dt 29:1-6 (cf. Ro 11:8)]:
(Dt 29:1 NIV) "These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.
(Dt 29:2 NIV) Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.
(Dt 29:3 NIV) With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders.
(Dt 29:4 NIV) But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.
(Dt 29:5 NIV) During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.
(Dt 29:6 NIV) You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God."
[The focus is on the experience of the ancient Israelites in their deliverance by the LORD from slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh - supernatural victories over great trials, miraculous signs and great wonders. According to a song given by the LORD to Moses which recited those experiences, the Israelites did not have a mind that could understand, nor eyes that could see or nor ears that could hear so that they could truly understand and trust in the LORD. Evidently, the Israelites were not capable of comprehending or trusting in Who the LORD was until the LORD Himself provided that understanding. Their minds and all human minds are so willfully flawed that they are unable to know the LORD and trust in Him on their own even when experiences are provided by the LORD that clearly point to Him]
2) [Compare Isa 29:1-11, (Ro 11:8)]:
(Isa 29:1 NIV) "Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! [i.e., Jerusalem]. Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.
(Isa 29:2 NIV) Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.
(Isa 29:3 NIV) I will encamp against you all around; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you.
(Isa 29:4 NIV) Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.
(Isa 29:5 NIV) But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,
(Isa 29:6 NIV) the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
(Isa 29:7 NIV) Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night -
(Isa 29:8 NIV) as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but he awakens, and his hunger remains; as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but he awakens faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.
[Bible Knowledge Commentary, OT, Walvoord & Zuck, Victor Books, USA, 1987, p. 1078]:
"Though Jerusalem is where festivals were celebrated before God (Isa 29:1), the city would be besieged and fighting and bloodshed would turn it into a virtual altar hearth.
Though the Assyrians under Sennacherib surrounded Jerusalem in 701 B.C. it was if God had done so. (I... I... I...My, vv. 2-3). Being humiliated (brought low), Jerusalem spoke softly rather than in loud tones. Though Jerusalem would be surrounded it would not be taken at this time. This assurance should have encouraged the people to trust God and to worship Him properly... Jerusalem's protection described in these verses refers to her deliverance from Assyria.. by God's sovereign intervention was Jerusalem spared... 29:5-8 refers to the Assyrian soldiers becoming like... dust and chaff when they were slaughtered... At the end of the Tribulation when nations (vv. 7, 8) will attack Jerusalem ... the LORD Almighty will come and destroy each attacking nation. The threat of those nations will vanish like a dream. When the Assyrian soldiers were destroyed in Isaiah's day... rather than turning back to God the nation got more deeply involved in sin"]
(Isa 29:9 NIV) Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer.
(Isa 29:10 NIV) The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).
(Isa 29:11 NIV) For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, 'Read this, please,' he will answer, 'I can't; it is sealed.'
(Isa 29:12 NIV) Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, 'Read this, please,' he will answer, 'I don't know how to read.' "
So due to her unfaithfulness and willful ignorance of God, the LORD brought a "deep sleep" over a generation of unfaithful Israelites; He sealed the eyes of her prophets and covered the heads of the seers [to block their visions, (29:10]. Information from God's Word was sealed up. It became unintelligible to Israel as if they did not know how to read, (v. 29:11).
3) [Compare Ps 69:1-24, (cf Ro 11:10)]:
(Ps 69:1 NIV) Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
(Ps 69:2 NIV) I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
(Ps 69:3 NIV) I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
(Ps 69:4 NIV) Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.
(Ps 69:5 NIV) You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from You.
(Ps 69:6 NIV) May those who hope in You not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the LORD Almighty; may those who seek You not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel.
(Ps 69:7 NIV) For I endure scorn for Your sake, and shame covers my face.
(Ps 69:8 NIV) I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons;
(Ps 69:9 NIV) for zeal for Your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult You fall on me.
(Ps 69:10 NIV) When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;
(Ps 69:11NIV) when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me.
(Ps 69:12 NIV) Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
(Ps 69:13 NIV) But I pray to You, O LORD, in the time of Your favor; in Your great love, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation.
(Ps 69:14 NIV) Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.
(Ps 69:15 NIV) Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.
(Ps 69:16 NIV) Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of Your love; in Your great mercy turn to me.
(Ps 69:17 NIV) Do not hide Your face from Your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
(Ps 69:18 NIV) Come near and rescue me; redeem me because of my foes.
(Ps 69:19 NIV) You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before You.
(Ps 69:20 NIV) Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.
(Ps 69:21 NIV) They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
(Ps 69:22 NIV) May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap.
(Ps 69:23 NIV) May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
(Ps 69:24 NIV) Pour out Your wrath on them; let Your fierce anger overtake them."
Individuals of a particular generation of Israelites are in view - enemies of David - who were unfaithful and godless, i.e., who willfully rejected the "table set before them," (Ps 69:22), i.e., the grace blessings that the LORD freely provided for them. Hence the blessings became a snare of retribution for them instead: the LORD darkened their eyes to the truths they willfully rejected about Him, (Ps 69:23a). He "bent their backs," so as to fix them in their state of sinful attitude toward Him forever in an eternal destiny subject to His wrath and fierce anger, (Ps 69:23b-24).
*** EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS CHAPTERS 1 & 9 RE:
GOD HARDENING INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR OWN REBELLIOUSNESS ***
(Ro 1:18) "The wrath of God is revealed [to men] from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness... (Ro 1:21) For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened... (Ro 1:23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Ro 1:24) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." =
The word "Therefore" which begins verse 24 concludes for the reader what was begun in verse 18 which has in view God's wrath being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of all mankind of all ages, especially immoral unbelievers:
The godless and wicked behavior of all mankind, especially immoral unbelievers suppresses the truth about God leading to futile thinking, a darkened heart, (mind), and the exchange of the glory of the immortal God for images of idols; whereupon God gives them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies, one with another. Hence sexual impurity is a potential outgrowth of godless and wicked behavior and God will give the godless, wicked individual over to such sinful desires implying temporal self-destruction.
The wrath of God is thus revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men who are immoral unbelievers who suppress the truth by their wickedness, (v. 18), in one way, as stipulated in v. 24, via God's giving such men over in the sinful desires for the degrading of their bodies with one another to their temporal self-destruction, (v. 24).
(v. 9:6 YLT) "And it is not possible that the word of God hath failed; for not all who [are] of Israel are these Israel (v. 9:7 YLT) nor because they are seed of Abraham [are] all children, but 'In Isaac shall a seed be called to thee' [Gen 21:12], (v. 9:8 YLT) that is, the children of the flesh - these [are] not children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for seed. (v. 9:9 NIV) For this was how the promise was stated: 'At the appointed time [it takes for a life to be born from conception] I will return, and Sarah will have a son.' [Gen 18:10, 14] ( v. 9:10 YLT) And not only [so], but also Rebecca, having conceived by one, [lit., "by one conception"] [by] Isaac our father - (v. 9:11 YLT) (for they being not yet born, neither having done anything good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to choice, might remain; not of works, but of Him who is calling,) it was said to her - (v. 9:12 YLT) 'The greater shall serve the lesser;' [Gen 25:23] (v. 9:13 YLT) according as it hath been written, 'Jacob I did love, and Esau I did hate.' " [Mal 1:1-3] (v. 14 NKJV) "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! (v. 15) For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.' " [Ex 33:19] (v. 9:16 NIV) It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. (v. 9:17 NKJV) For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.' (v. 9:18 NKJV) Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens." =
As God imposed one plague after another upon Egypt, Pharaoh responded to each with rebellion, deception and recalcitrant insolence toward God and Israel - refusing to let her go, (Ex 7-9:12). Note that Pharaoh's responses were of his own free will; and God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart, (Ex 7:3; 9:12) brought out Pharaoh's rebelliousnature all the more, in effect, sealing him to his own temporal and eternal destruction.
**** END OF EXCERPTS (ROMANS CHAPTERS 1 & 9) ****
(Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
(Ro 11:11 Greek) "LegO oun ...mE eptaisan ...............hina pesOsin = aorist
..............................."I say ..then, Not did they stumble .that .they might fall?
mE genoito .....alla tO ......autOn paraptOmati hE sOtEria
Not may it be! but .by the their ...offense ..........the salvation
tois ....ethnesin eis .to ..parazElOsai ................autous."
to the nations, .for the to provoke to jealousy them."
(Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!"
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!" =
Previously in Romans 11:1, author Paul answered his question, "Has God cast away His people" in the sense of Israel permanently no longer in fellowship with Him hence never again to represent Him on earth relative to Who He is and His grace salvation. And Paul's answers were an emphatic, "Certainly, not!" and "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew." Note that the phrase "whom He foreknew" implies that God absolutely will follow through on His promise that Israel of the future will forever be His chosen people a people of faithful believers who will represent Him and His grace salvation to the world. Now in Romans 11:11, Paul answers the same question, emphatically and in the negative: The Greek text of Ro 11:11 literally says "I say then, Not did they stumble that they might fall?" where the Greek phrase "hina pesOsin," literally "that they might fall" and rendered in the NAS, "so as to fall" is in the aorist tense, subjunctive mood which portrays the potential of a completed action of falling - a permanent falling away from God. And Paul's answer in the emphatic negative "mE genoito" = absolutely not! All generations of Israel have not completely, i.e., permanently fallen away from God. So the message of Ro 11:11 is that generations of Israelites have stumbled in unfaithfulness, rejecting God and His grace salvation; but Israel will never experience a permanent falling / casting away from God, (Ro 11:1, 11), for throughout history God will preserve the population of Israelites from extinction through the survival of remnants of Israelites who consequently will become a generation of faithful believers so as to fulfill His promise of a future eternal kingdom ruled by an eternal generation of faithful Israelite believers to be forever His chosen people to represent Him and His grace salvation to the world, (cf. Ro 9:27).
[BKC, op. cit., p. 483]:
"11:11-12. Paul asked still another question he anticipated from his readers. Did they stumble (cf. 9:32) so as to fall beyond recovery? Literally, the Greek says simply, 'Did they stumble so that they fell?' But the tense of the verb 'fell' and its contrast with the verb translated 'stumble' imply the idea of falling beyond recovery. Once again the question in Greek was worded to elicit a negative answer, and for the 10th and last time in Romans, Paul responded, Not at all! (mE genoito)... "They" refers to 'the others' (v. 7), the majority of the people of Israel, excluding the 'remnant chosen by grace' (v. 5)."
*** EXCERPT FROM ROMANS CHAPTER 9 ***
(v. 9:21 NKJV) Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (v. 9:22 ASV) What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering, vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: (v. 9:23 NKJV) and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, (v. 9:24 NKJV ) even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (v. 9:25 NKJV) As He says also in Hosea: 'I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.' [Hos 2:23] (v. 9:26 NKJV) And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ' You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God.' [Hos 1:10] (v. 9:27 NKJV) Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. [Isa 10:22] (v. 9:28 NKJV) For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.' (v. 9:29 NKJV) And as Isaiah said before: 'Unless the LORD of Sabaoth [lit., hosts] had left us a seed, [= descendants], We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah [Isa 1:9]. ' " =
The sovereignty
of God in choosing to demonstrate the riches of His glory with vessels He
created to receive His mercy and glory: believers throughout history, Jews
and Gentiles, (vv. 9:21-24), continues to be in view in Romans chapter 9.
[]
In Romans 9:27-29, author Paul addresses his (and our) time in history with a perspective of passages he quotes from Hosea and Isaiah. These passages refer to the salvation from premature physical death of a remnant of ancient Israelites who were part of the Northern Kingdom which kingdom was attacked and conquered by Assyria - hence preserving the northern tribes of Israel from extinction. The ancient remnant was described in those passages as returning to the LORD, the Mighty God, and truly relying on Him, (cf. Isa 10:20-23), i.e., being faithful believers. They were enabled by the LORD to return to their land.
So just as the LORD prevented the extinction of the Northern Israelite population by preserving a remnant of them - who would then believe in and be true to the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant through Isaac unto eternal life hence truly rely on the LORD; hence preserve His righteousness by fulfilling His covenent with Abraham and his seed Israel of a future generation of Israelite descendants of all tribes who would dwell forever with the LORD in the promised land; so God insures that there will always be preserved (saved from temporal destruction and premature physical death) a remnant of individuals who would be faithful believers in every age, Jews and Gentiles, i.e., all mankind, and hence preserve the human race from extinction so as to fulfill His righteousness and His promises to mankind.
The phrase "in righteousness" in verse 9:28: "For He [the LORD] will finish the work [of disciplining the Israelites with Assyria] and cut it short in righteousness [so that the Israelites would not all be wiped out as in Sodom and Gomorrah, (v. 9:29)] refers to the LORD's maintaining His righteousness by preserving His covenant with Abraham and his seed Israel and by implication, His promises to all mankind.
Had the LORD not intervened to save the remnant from extinction there would have been another Sodom and Gomorrah with no Israelites from the northern ten tribes left to descend from, (Ro 9:29), and fulfill the covenant God made with Abraham and his seed Israel, thus impugning the righteousness of God, because He would not be able to fulfill His promises to Israel. Note that since Lot and his family were not of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah but of the family of Abraham, all of the inhabitants of those cities perished leaving no descendants alive.
(v. 9:21 NKJV) Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (v. 9:22 ASV) What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering, vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: (v. 9:23 NKJV) and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, (v. 9:24 NKJV ) even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (v. 9:25 NKJV) As He says also in Hosea: 'I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.' [Hos 2:23] (v. 9:26 NKJV) And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ' You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God.' [Hos 1:10] (v. 9:27 NKJV) Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. [Isa 10:22] (v. 9:28 NKJV) For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.' (v. 9:29 NKJV) And as Isaiah said before: 'Unless the LORD of Sabaoth [lit., hosts] had left us a seed, [= descendants], We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah [Isa 1:9]. ' " =
Although the particular remnant of the ten tribes of the ancient Israelites was saved from temporal destruction preventing extinction of their tribes and then they turned from being godless unbelievers to being faithful believers, truly reliant upon the LORD, (cf. Isa 10:20); authors Isaiah and Paul are not saying that all Israelites throughout the ages remaining alive will be faithful believers. All Israelites are born unbelievers, and each must choose to believe in the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant unto eternal life in his mortal lifetime in order to become a believer; and then he must truly rely on the LORD to have his life preserved from temporal destruction and from premature physical death. Not all Israelites will do that and will suffer temporal destruction and premature physical death.
So Paul is
referring to passages in Hosea and Isaiah in order to say that just as God
saved a remnant of ancient Israelites who would trust and rely on Him and
hence be saved from temporal destruction, premature physical death and
extinction of the tribes; so in this age, Jews and Gentiles will be
preserved from temporal destruction and premature physical death for being
faithful in ones lifestyle to the faith one expressed in Jesus Christ unto
eternal life.
*** END OF EXCERPT FROM ROMANS CHAPTER 9 ***
VI cont.) [Ro 11:11-12 cont.]:
(Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
(Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!"
(1) PROCLAIMING HIMSELF AND HIS GRACE SALVATION TO MANKIND AND
(Ro 3:1) What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? (Ro 3:2) Much in every way! First of all, they [the Jews] have been entrusted with the very words of God. (Ro 9:1 YLT) Truth I say in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing testimony with me in the Holy Spirit, (Ro 9:2 YLT) that I have great grief and unceasing pain [= sorrow] in my heart - (Ro 9:3 ASV) For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (Ro 9:4 YLT) who are Israelites, whose [is] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the lawgiving, and the service, and the promises, (Ro 9:5 ASV) whose [are] the fathers, and from whom [is] the Christ, according to the flesh, who is [sovereign] over all, [Who is] God blessed forever. Amen ... (Ro 9:27 NKJV) Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. [Isa 10:22] (Ro 9:28 NKJV) For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.' (Ro 9:29 NKJV) And as Isaiah said before: 'Unless the LORD of Sabbath [lit., hosts] had left us a seed, [= descendants] We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah. [Isa 1:9]' (Ro 9:30 NKJV) What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; (Ro 9:31 NKJV) but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. (Ro 9:32 NKJV) Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. (Ro 9:33 NKJV) As it is written: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.' (Ro 10:1 NAS) Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, vv. 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction and premature physical death] (Ro 10:2 NAS) For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21]... (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous." =
Note that the Greek noun "paraptOmati," which literally means "offense" is translated "transgression" in the NAS in Ro 11:11. It describes an entire people, Israel, who over the centuries have been characterized as having largely been persistently unfaithful to the LORD. They have continually committed offenses, i.e., transgressions or violations of known commands of God. A single offense or transgression that the entire historical group of all generations of Israelites all committed at once cannot be in view, because a single offense does not fit the context in the book of Romans of generations of Israel being generally unfaithful. Rather, "paraptOmati" has a plural sense to it, describing multiple violations of known commands of God over a period of time in order to continue to describe the unfaithful generations of Israel who have been disciplined by God over the ages. Just as one can say that one has sin in ones life which refers to multiple sins, so one can say Israel has transgression or offense which refers to multiple transgressions or offenses over a period of time. This is consistent with the context begun in Romans chapter 9 portraying a history of Israel continuously being unfaithful to God which led to the LORD removing temporal salvation from Israel and providing it for the Gentiles as part of a group comprised of Gentiles and Jews.
So the salvation in view in Romans 11:11 is a temporal one, a deliverance of a group of people from temporal difficulties unto godly fellowship and blessings and greater longevity. It cannot be referring to salvation unto eternal life coming to the Gentiles because salvation unto eternal life had been available to all mankind, before Jews existed, shortly after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden, (Gen 3:14-21).
Before the LORD moved His temporal salvation and blessings to Gentiles, the Israelites had them as part of God's unique temporal personal relationship with them which included His plan to promulgate the truth about Himself, His grace and the gospel through Israel, (Ro 3:1; 9:1-5). But in the light of Israel's unfaithfulness, it would now be the Gentiles as a group who were designated to receive God's unique temporal personal with them including His temporal salvation unto blessings in order to promulgate God's plan to represent Him and His grace salvation to the world. Note that Israelites are not portrayed in Ro 11:11 as excluded from having the availability of eternal life. They are portrayed as no longer under God's temporal salvation unto fellowship and blessings from Him. Furthermore, Israel was at that time so unspiritual as to not be able to discern who did have salvation unto eternal life and who did not, hence they wouldn't have been able to be jealous of those Gentiles who had received eternal life as opposed to those who had not. On the other hand, certain Gentiles who chose to become faithful believers who were then delivered from temporal difficulty unto visible godly temporal blessings as God's representative people on the earth instead of Israel would easily be discerned by unspiritual Israel and hence give them reason to be jealous, (Ro 11:11). Note that the fact that those particular Gentiles were faithful believers would not be discernible by the unspiritual Israelites. Hence temporal salvation of the Gentiles as a group of people representing God is in view in Ro 11:11 NAS.
So the transgression of particular generations of Israelites in history, i.e., their persistent unfaithfulness toward God caused the LORD to cut Israel off from His group salvation - His deliverance from destruction and difficulty unto blessings and from personal fellowship with Him; whereupon God moved to provide these to all mankind outside of the nation Israel to Gentiles and Jews who were faithful servants of the LORD through faith in Christ. This then includes Gentiles. A unique group comprised of faithful servants of the LORD of Jews and Gentiles alike will receive God's temporal salvation and personal fellowship as a group as once faithful Israel did, in order to serve His purpose of proclaiming Himself and His grace salvation. This evidently was to be done in such a manner as to make Israel jealous in order to save some of them, (Ro 11:11, 13).
*** EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS CHAPTERS 3, 9 & 10 RE: TEMPORAL SALVATION OF ISRAEL ***
(Ro 3:1) What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? (Ro 3:2) Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God." =
Paul provides a "first of all" answer to his question of "What advantage is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision" with "Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God", (Ro 3:2).
Notice that both questions, "What advantage is there in being a Jew?", "Or what value is there in circumcision?" are anwered by the one answer in verse 3:2, hence both questions are intimately related and have Jews in view. The phrase "First of all" in verse 3:2 which begins the verse which answers the questions posed in Ro 3:1, implies that there is more than one answer to the questions. The entire passage, however, only provides this one answer. Other answers can be found elsewhere in Scripture.
Verse 3:2
stipulates that there is much advantage in being a Jew and much value in
being circumcised in every way! The phrase "The very
words of God" refers to the actual words of God spoken directly to
the Israelites and relayed to them through others in times past,
especially to and through Abraham and the patriarchs, Moses, the prophets
and the Law, and most especially those actual words of God recorded in
Scripture. The concept of being entrusted with the very words of God
conveys the responsibility of faith and obedience to them and preservation
and communication of those words to the world. This responsibility was
implied in vv. 2:17-25, wherein the Jew, the one who is circumcised, is
directed to obey the Law as an Israelite and as the mandate of his
circumcision in order to represent the righteousness of God to the world
giving value to his circumcision.
(Ro 9:1 YLT) Truth I say in
Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing testimony with me in the Holy
Spirit, (Ro 9:2 YLT) that I have great grief and unceasing pain [= sorrow]
in my heart. (Ro 9:3 ASV) For I could wish that I myself were anathema
from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (Ro
9:4a YLT) who are Israelites, whose [is] the adoption, and the
glory, and the covenants, and the lawgiving, and the service, and the
promises, (Ro 9:5 ASV) whose [are] the fathers, and from
whom [is] the Christ, according to the flesh, who is [sovereign] over all,
[Who is] God blessed forever. Amen"
[To the Israelites: theirs is the adoption by God as sons, and the glory of God to experience on earth and in heaven, and the covenants God has made with them, and the Law giving, and the privilege of service of worship of God in the tabernacle and the temple, and the promises which are connected with the covenants God gave to the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. Note the unique blessings that God provided for the Israelite people as part of His special and unique group salvation of them in order for them to be His people - His representative on earth to proclaim truths about Him and His grace, especially His salvation unto eternal life a moment of faith alone in His one and only Son alone]
(Ro 9:1 YLT) "Truth I say in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing testimony with me in the Holy Spirit, (Ro 9:2 YLT) that I have great grief and unceasing pain [= sorrow] in my heart - (Ro 9:3 ASV) For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (Ro 9:4a YLT) who are Israelites, ... (Ro 9:27 NKJV) "Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. [Isa 10:22] (Ro 9:28 NKJV) For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.' (Ro 9:29 NKJV) And as Isaiah said before: 'Unless the LORD of Sabbath [lit., hosts] had left us a seed, [= descendants] We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah. [Isa 1:9]' (Ro 9:30 NKJV) What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; (Ro 9:31 NKJV) but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. (Ro 9:32 NKJV) Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. (Ro 9:33 NKJV) As it is written: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.' (Ro 10:1 NAS) Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, vv 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction and premature physical death] (Ro 10:2 NAS) For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge." =
Paul declares to his
brothers, i.e., fellow believers, that his heart's desire and prayer to
God for the Israelites is that they may be saved, i.e., preserved from
premature physical death and temporal destruction by becoming faithful
believers who truly rely on the LORD, (vv. 9:30-33).
Notice that Paul had earlier
expressed great grief and unceasing pain in the Holy Spirit, wishing that
he himself were anathema from Christ for his brethren Israelites' sake,
his kinsmen, (Ro 9:1-4a). In Ro 10:1-2, Paul stipulates that his earnest
desire and prayer to God for the Israelites stems from the fact that he
was an Israelite himself, one who had rejected Christ. The Israelites were
zealous for God but their zeal was not based on knowledge, i.e., not based
on the truth about attaining righteousness through exercising a moment of
the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant for eternal life and
then truly relying on Him in order to be individually saved from temporal
destruction and premature physical death.
Note that temporal salvation of a remnant of people unto godly blessings has a prerequisite of believing unto salvation for eternal life and faithfulness to that faith for each individual of that remnant which opportunity is afforded to every individual. And the ultimate salvation of the whole future generation of all Israel has in view all Israelites becoming faithful believers to represent God forever as His chosen people.
*** END OF EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS 3, 9 & 10 ***
VI cont.) [Ro 11:11-12 cont.]:
(Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
(Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!"
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there ["gegonen" = has been] a remnant according to the election of grace ... (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!" =
Since Ro 11:11 says, "But by their [Israel's] transgression [temporal] salvation has come to the Gentiles;" and since Ro 11:12 says that Israel's fall and failure is riches for Gentiles and the world then we can conclude that Gentiles and Jews receive such temporal salvation which includes a special temporal relationship with the LORD when they become faithful servants of the LORD. It has already been established that such a group of individuals who have been called to and have become faithful servants of the LORD belong to Jesus Christ, (Ro 1:5-6), and receive such riches as the LORD's temporal salvation. Israel's temporary falling away from the LORD translated into riches, i.e., temporal blessings for the world - to a unique group comprised of faithful servants of the LORD of Jews and Gentiles alike. The riches are bestowed in order to serve His purposes of promulgating the truth about Himself and His grace salvation to the world. Hence the group must comprise faithful servants of the LORD. But then Paul exclaims, "How much more their [the Israelites'] fullness" where the Greek word "plErOma" rendered "fullness" in the NAS means the completed or perfected end of Israel when she will finally fulfill God's promise to have all Israel completely and perfectly faithful to Him as His chosen people for the rest of eternity, (Ro 11:1-5).
(Ro 11:13 NKJV) "For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry,
(Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them"
(v. 10:1 NAS) "Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, vv. 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction]. (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21] (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression [temporal] salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them" =
Paul magnified = glorified his ministry to the Gentiles in front of fellow Jews so that his work might come to their attention in order to provoke them to jealousy and save some of them from temporal destruction - this time as part of a unique group of faithful servants of the LORD outside of Israel and comprised of Jews and Gentiles alike
Notice that
Paul is speaking to Gentiles in his letter to the Romans. He declared
himself to have a ministry appointed by God, (Ro 1:1-4; Gal 2:6-8
)
as "an apostle to the Gentiles." In view of this, Paul
continued, in Ro 11:13-14, the train of thought begun in Ro 10:19 and
restated in Ro 11:11, of his doing the LORD's work wherein "[temporal]
salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them [Israel] jealous."
Paul states in Ro 11:14 that he deliberately magnified, i.e., brought
glory to his ministry by openly declaring details of it to the world,
implying how God was the power behind him. Paul did this so that his
ministry might come to the attention of fellow Jews in order to "provoke
to jealousy those who are [his] flesh, [i.e., fellow Israelites] and save
some of them," i.e., [= preserve some of them as part of a unique
group comprised of both Jew and Gentile from temporal destruction. This
unique group of faithful servants of the LORD outside of Israel would be
comprised of Jew and Gentile alike. Although Paul's actions were intended
to provoke some of his fellow Israelites to jealousy leading them to
express a moment of the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant
through Isaac, Jesus Christ, so as to receive salvation unto eternal life
and then to be faithful to that faith so as to receive God's blessings and
temporal salvation and the personal fellowship with the LORD as part of a
unique group of faithful servants; Paul himself provided neither
salvation, he was only an instrument through whom the grace of God worked
to make those provisions. So to be saved in the context of chapters 9
through 11, means to be preserved as a unique group of people comprised of
Jew and Gentile, faithful servants of the LORD - from temporal destruction
and premature physical death for being faithful in ones lifestyle to the
faith one expressed in Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
(Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
(Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. [Num 15:20]"
(v. 10:1 NAS) "Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, vv. 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction]. (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace. (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" =
Notice that Romans 11:11 indicates that by their transgression, i.e., their persistent unfaithfulness through a number of generations, the people of Israel became estranged from God. And by this transgression, Israel lost her temporal salvation unto her own unique personal fellowship with God which temporal salvation was provided by God to the Gentiles as a group to make Israel jealous. And then notice that Romans 11:12 indicates that Israel's failure brought riches for Gentiles and the world. And finally, Ro 11:15 stipulates that Israel's being cast away as a result of her failure to be faithful results in the reconciling of the world. Hence the reconciling of the world and Gentiles includes riches and temporal salvation. So Gentiles became part of God's reconciliation of the world - reconciliation to a unique temporal fellowship with Him of that group of the world, predominately by population Gentiles but also Jews - since they are also part of the population of the world, i.e., all individuals who choose to become faithful believers and servants of the LORD. Although God's temporal salvation / reconcilation came to the Gentiles to make Israel as a people jealous, among other reasons, Jews were still afforded the opportunity to be part of God's reconcilation of the world as part of that group comprised of predominately Gentiles by becoming faithful believers and servants of the LORD.
Since Romans 11:14 states that Paul intended to provoke fellow Jews to jealousy of his ministry to the Gentiles so that he might save some of them referring to salvation as a group from temporal destruction and difficulties unto godly fellowship and blessings; and since Romans 11:15, Paul parallels the temporary casting away of the people of Israel unto estrangement with God with their temporary loss of temporal salvation as a group of people, then such a loss has become the "reconciling of the world" wherein that phrase is portrayed as a restablishment of the temporal salvation of all individuals with God as a unique group of people comprised both of Jew and Gentile who have become faithful believers and servants to the LORD, now His chosen people to represent Him.
Although eternal reconciliation is not specifically in view in this verse, the temporal reconciliation with God has a prerequisite of expressing a moment of faith alone in the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant that came through Isaac unto eternal life, Jesus Christ, and then being faithful to that faith.
Finally, in Romans 11:15b, Paul asks and answers the question, 'How much more will Israel's acceptance of that faith and being faithful to it result in their return to temporal salvation / reconciliation to fellowship with God?' Answer: like them all being raised to life from the dead.
Since a literal physical raising from the dead of every individual of a future generation of Israelites brought about by each ones accepting the truth of the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant while physically alive cannot logically and contextually be in view in Ro 11:15; then the Greek phrase "zOE ek nekrOn" rendered in verse 11:15 NKJV "what will their [future Israel's] acceptance be but life from the dead" must be figurative or spiritual but not literally physical. What is in view is the transformation of every member of an entire future generation of a nation of the Israelite people from being spiritually dead and godless in their lifestyle to a lifestyle that is spiritually alive and faithful to God, to a group lifestyle that is characterized by a unique personal relationship with the LORD as His chosen people - "like life from the dead."
(v. 10:1 NAS) "Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, vv. 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction]. (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace. (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches." =
Verse 11:16 begins with the word rendered "For" meaning 'because,' in explanation of the point author Paul made in verses 11:1-10, i.e., that God has chosen Israel to be His people. Paul explains, that despite Israel's unfaithfulness over the ages, God has reserved and made holy, i.e., set apart for Himself, a remnant of Israelites, to be saved / preserved from destruction throughout the ages so that a future generation of Israelites will survive to be His chosen people forever. The remnants are decreed by God to choose to be of the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant through Isaac, Jesus Christ, unto eternal life and to be faithful to that faith. So the LORD will see to it by direct intervention that a future generation of Israelites will be preserved and become His faithful servants, in fellowship with Him, and receive the riches of His eternal and temporal blessings, and to represent Him and His righteousness to all humanity forever.
The word rendered "firstfruit" in Rom 11:16 NKJV represents in ancient Israelite agriculture, the first of the harvest of grain which is secured and formed into bread dough and then offered to God as part of the whole lump of dough - figuratively speaking - that would be produced by the entire crop when it is all harvested and processed into dough. And notice that it is God to Whom the offering of the firstfruits is made - to be declared holy, i.e., set apart to God as representing the whole harvest, i.e., the whole "lump," as holy and set apart to God. Furthermore, the word "firstfruit" is used in verse 11:16 to characterize the remnants of Israelites which God directly intervenes to save, i.e., to preserve from destruction throughout the ages seeing to it that they choose to become faithful servants of Him and in order to insure the survival of the Jewish race unto that future generation that God has promised will forever be His people and His faithful servants. The word rendered "the lump" refers to those Israelites, of whom the remnants are a first representative part, who will be His chosen people, holy and set apart to choose to be of the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant through Isaac, Jesus Christ unto eternal life, and be faithful to that faith. The text in Romans 11:16 further declares that if the firstfruit, the remnant, is declared to be holy, the remnant being representative of the whole body of the future generation of Israel, then that whole body, the lump, is declared to be holy, set apart to God, choosing to be His faithful servants.
Note that this implies that not all Israelites will be His chosen people and that the power behind what makes the remnant and the future generation of faithful Israelites is God Himself.
[Jameison, Faucett and Brown, commentary]:
"The Israelites were required to offer to God the first-fruits of the earth - both in their raw state, in a sheaf of newly reaped grain (Lev 23:10, 11), and in their prepared state, made into cakes of dough (Num 15:19-21) - by which the whole produce of that season was regarded as hallowed [= holy, set apart to God]... as to it the word 'lump' best applies... as the separation unto God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from the rest of mankind, as the parent stem of their race, was as real an offering of first-fruits as that which hallowed [made holy, set apart to God] the produce of the earth, so, in the divine estimation, it was as real a separation of the mass or "lump" of that nation in all time to God."
1) [Compare Numbers 15:17-21]:
(Num 15:17) '''The LORD said to Moses,
(Num 15:18) "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land to which I am taking you
(Num 15:19) and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to the LORD.
(Num 15:20) Present a cake from the first of your ground meal and present it as an offering from the threshing floor.
(Num 15:21) Throughout the generations to come you are to give this offering to the LORD from the first of your ground meal.' " '''
Note that the offering of firstfruits of a harvest to God was done as part of the lump of dough which comes from the entire harvest.
[BKC op. cit., p. 233]:
"12:17-21. The second set of regulations pertains to the offering of the firstfruits of harvest. When the people entered the land of Canaan and began to enjoy its produce, they were to show their devotion to the LORD by presenting to Him a cake baked from the first cutting of the grain."
(v. 10:1 NAS) "Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, vv. 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction]. (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace. (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches." =
The Greek phrase "kai ei hE rhiza hagia kai hoi kladoi" in Ro 11:16 rendered "and if [since] the root is holy, so are the branches" in the NKJV compares the source of sustenance and quality of life of the branches of a tree being its root with the source of holiness, i.e., the source of that which sets groups of people apart to God to be faithful believer / servants of the LORD being God Himself. Especially in view in this matter is God's righteous character, power and sovereignty which He will exercise in order to fulfill His promise of a future generation of faithful forever Israelites.
*** KEY EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS 11:1-5 WHICH POINT TO GOD'S INTERVENTION TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES AND PROMISES ***
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace" =
From the
phrase "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew" in Ro
11:2 we can determine by the references to Isaiah 65, (Ro 10:20-21) and to
1 Kgs 19, (Ro 11:4), that the meaning of foreknowledge is defined by Paul
as a knowledge beforehand of events which are a result of God's decree -
His plan and His instituting of that plan by direct intervention in order
to insure its outcome. The passages indicate that a remnant of ancient
Israelites would be preserved by the LORD so that His promise of a future
generation of Israelites to occupy the promised land in the new heavens
and the new earth as the LORD's chosen people forever would be fulfilled,
(cf. Isa 65:8-9, 17-18 ).
Notice that during Elijah's time, the LORD reserved for Himself seven
thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal. This reservation by God
of Israelites for Himself it is implied, is foreknown by God because He
decreed it via His election and will intervene to see to it that it is
fulfilled solely by grace through Him.
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there ["gegonen" = has been] a remnant according to the election of grace" =
Paul declares that in the same way that the LORD foreknew the Israelites to be His chosen people - always to have a remnant of them to be preserved through tribulation against extinction by Him throughout the ages and then for all eternity - "so at this present time there ["gegonen" = has been] a remnant of individuals from the population of all mankind according to the election of grace" who will likewise be preserved through tribulation so that there will always be a remnant of faithful believers in every age and then for all eternity. Notice that God foreknew via His specifically choosing by grace, i.e., by unmerited favor, i.e., by nothing that they would do themselves, a number of individuals from the population of all mankind to be a remnant to be destined for eternal life as servants of the LORD, (Ro 11:5; Ro 9:27, Isa 10:20). So for an individual to be part of a remnant by the election of the grace of the LORD evidently means that the LORD has foreknown him because He has decreed his destiny to be a servant of the LORD and eternal life. This corroborates that God is proactive in what He foreknows will occur to the extent that He decrees, hence predestinates that occurrence. So individuals who make the specific choice of trusting alone in Jesus Christ alone unto eternal life of their own volition have been decreed to do just that. Hence they are foreknown by decree of the LORD to be a remnant destined for certainty to be preserved unto eternal life because He will see to it that this will be accomplished yet through the volition of each individual.
*** END OF KEY EXCERPTS ***
(v. 10:1 NAS) "Brethren, [fellow believers] my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them [Israelites, vv. 9:30-33] is for their salvation [from temporal destruction]. (Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21] (Ro 11:1 NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace. (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches." (cont.) =
So it is God Himself Who provides holiness to the remnant and to the generation of future Israelites within their volition and cooperation. Logically speaking, the future generation of Israel which will be faithful servants of the LORD cannot be the root which provides its own holiness nor that of the Israelite remnant firstfruits throughout past ages.
The next two verses, (Ro 11:17-18), clarify that Israel and all groups of people are only branches which are supported by the root, God Himself:
(Ro 11:17 NKJV) "And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,
(Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you."
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Ro 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, (Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you." =
Paul continues the context of the gain or loss of temporal salvation of whole generations / groups of people which salvation results in a unique temporal relationship of that generation of people with God as that group remains faithful to Him. Paul illustrates this by using the imagery of the grafting in and the cutting off of branches from natural and wild olive trees and the source of their sustenance, the root of the natural tree. Natural branches represent ancient Israel of the period of time beginning when Israel was declared to be God's chosen people. Branches from the wild olive tree represent the group comprised of faithful believers in the current time of when Paul was writing his epistle. Such a group of faithful believers comprised of Gentiles and Jews in Paul's current time and age comes from the population of the world as a result of the temporal reconciliation of the world to God due to His casting away of unfaithful generations of Israel, (Ro 11:15). On the other hand, Paul is specifically addressing the Gentiles in this new group of faithful believers which has been grafted into the natural olive tree, (Ro 11:13) into its own unique temporal relationship with the LORD. The phrase in Ro 11:17, "If some of the [natural] branches were broken off," refers to those generations of ancient Isreal which were unfaithful, and as a consequence, were cast away from their unique, personal, temporal relationship with Himself as His chosen people; and from the availability of God's temporal salvation from destruction, (Ro 10:19; Dt 32:5), resulting in their discipline and estrangement from God. Note the word "some" in the phrase "If some of the [natural] branches were broken off" in verse 11:17 indicates that not all Israelites were broken off from the olive tree of temporal fellowship and blessing with the LORD. This implies that some remnants of Israel were faithful believer / servants as part of an unfaithful generation of Israel; and some generations of Israel were faithful believer / servants of the LORD and hence remained 'connected to the tree and sustained by the root', i.e., experienced God's temporal salvation and were preserved in their unique, personal, temporal relationship with the LORD and sustained by Him. Paul further states that just as a wild olive tree, (which represents faithful believers of the world of Paul's current generation, both Jews and Gentiles as a group together), can be grafted into the natural olive tree and with the natural branches of Israel that remain be "a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree" - the root referring to the LORD; so branches of the natural olive tree, referring to a future generation of faithful Israel can be grafted in to become "a [fellow] partaker of the root and the fatness of the olive tree," once more God's chosen people, Israel. Then comes Paul's warning that the new generation of faithful individuals from the world comprised predominately of Gentiles and also of Jews as God's representatives on the earth must not become arrogant and boast against the natural branches having been broken off, but remain humble and faithful to the LORD because it is the root, the LORD Who supports them in their position, not the other way around. For they can be broken off from the tree just as the natural branches were, i.e., just as some generations of ancient Israel were estranged from God in the past.
(Ro 11:19 NKJV) "You will say then, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.'
(Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
(Ro 11:21 NKJV) For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.' "
(Ro 11:1 NKJV) "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ro 11:2 NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? (Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18] (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Ro 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, (Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you; (Ro 11:19 NKJV) You will say then, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:21 NKJV) For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.' " =
The personal pronoun "you" in verses 11:18-21 is singular and refers to an individual Gentile who is part of and represents the Gentile / Jewish group of faithful believers. The Greek phrase "Te pistei hestEkas" rendered "and you stand by faith" in Ro 11:20 NKJV is literally, "by the faith have [you] stood." The Greek verb "hestEkas" is in the perfect tense which conveys the message to the individual Gentile, and to all individuals that comprise the Gentile /Jewish faithful believers of Paul's age, that he has to this point stood by faith but that faith must be maintained to continue standing in such a unique temporal relationship with the LORD. Because of unbelief, generations of Israel were broken off from their unique temporal relationship with the LORD, but the new found group of Gentile / Jewish faithful believers of Paul's time who now stand in their own unique relationship with the LORD by faith instead of Israel is warned by Paul not to be haughty, i.e., arrogant about their new found relationship with the LORD replacing Israel. They are instead to fear God Who Paul declared did not spare the natural branches, Israel, when she demonstrated unbelief. This implies that the Gentile / Jewish believers may also waiver in their faith. Hence Paul is saying that the LORD will not spare the group of Gentile / Jewish faithful believers from temporal destruction and loss of their temporal relationship with Him any more than He spared past generations of unfaithful Israel unless they do continue in the faith.
Paul addresses an expected objection to the point he made to faithful Gentile believers, (who are part of the new found group of Gentile / Jewish faithful believers of Paul's contemporary age), not to boast of their new found unique temporal position of fellowship with God at the expense of those generations of unbelieving Israel being broken off from their unique, personal, temporal relationship with God, (Ro 11:18-20). Paul admonishes such objectors that branches of the natural olive tree, i.e., faithful believers - especially faithful Gentile believers of that new found, Gentile / Jewish group who are portrayed as the grafted in wild branches, don't support the root, but the root, i.e., the LORD, supports them. Verse then 11:19 states that some objector "Will [still] say, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' " This arrogantly implies that the faithful Gentile-Jewish believers who have temporarily replaced Israel at Paul's time and age in history, as God's chosen people, merited being grafted into their own unique temporal fellowship and blessings with God over Israel. In Ro 11:20, Paul answers this objection beginning with, "Well said," indicating that the objector's answer was accurate relative to God's turning His back on past generations of Israel, breaking off those branches of His chosen people from fellowship due to their "unbelief" = their unfaithfulness; which led to the generation of Gentile / Jewish believers "stand[ing] by faith "being grafted in[to]" their own unique temporal relationship with God. Whereupon, Paul repeats his warning about being blatantly and disdainfully proud: "Do not be haughty, but fear [God]. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either." This implies that the newly grafted in branches of the group of faithful Gentile / Jewish believers of Paul's time and age are just as liable to be broken off for unbelief as Israel was. This statement implies that every group of individuals that is in fellowship with God has the potential of being unfaithful at any given moment and remains faithful only by the grace of God - for it is the root which supports the branches, not the other way around, (Ro 11:18).
(Ro 11:22 NKJV) "Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
(Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
(Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?"
(Ro 11:2a NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Ro 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, (Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you; (Ro 11:19 NKJV) You will say then, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:21 NKJV) For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.' (Ro 11:22 NKJV) Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?" =
Consider the severity of God in His response to generations of Israel which fell into continued unbelief whereupon He cut them off from their unique temporal relationship with Him. On the other hand, consider the goodness of God which He expressed toward those groups of people who continued to be faithful to His goodness as He enabled them to continue in their temporal relationship with Him. Finally, consider how much more readily Israel will be grafted back into her unique relationship with the LORD when she no longer continues in unbelief.
Paul concludes his answer to a proposed objector who might arrogantly defend his boasting about his group comprised of people of the world, (Ro 11:15), i.e., predominately Gentile but also Jewish believers of this age replacing Israel as God's chosen people, by saying " 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in,' " (Ro 11:19b). Paul's focus is mainly on the Gentile component of that group of people, (Ro 11:13). And Paul says in Ro 11:22, "Therefore [= in conclusion] consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell [= referring to those generations of unfaithful Israel who were cast away from fellowship with the LORD]; but toward you [Gentile and Jewish faithful believers of Paul's age with a focus on the Gentile component], goodness, if you continue in His goodness." So if Gentile faithful believers, (as well as Jewish faithful believers), remain faithful to the goodness - the righteousness that characterizes God; then God will bless them all as a group with His goodness. Hence Paul reminds today's group of Gentile and Jewish faithful believers with an emphasis on addressing the Gentiles, that nothing is finalized, there is a need to remain faithful to God; "Otherwise," [Paul says], you [too] will be cut off," (Ro 11:22c). Furthermore, Paul indicates that Israel can at any time [and definitely will in the future as Paul has already stipulated, (cf Ro 11:16)] be grafted back into their unique fellowship with the LORD as His chosen people "if they do not continue in unbelief, for [Paul says] God is able to graft them in again," (Ro 11:23). Hence, Israel's being cut off from her unique temporal fellowship with God will last only as long as she remains unfaithful to the faith of Abraham in a Messiah-Savior Descendant through Isaac, Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Furthermore, Paul compares how much easier it will be for Israel, a natural branch to be grafted back in by God "into their own ['natural'] olive tree", i.e., into their own unique fellowship with Himself, than for the group of Gentile / Jewish believers - branches from a wild olive tree - branches which are not acclimated to the natural olive tree, i.e., that particular order of things that God designed for Israel.
(Ro 11:2 NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
(Ro 11:3 NKJV) 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'?
(Ro 11:4 NKJV) But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' [1 Kgs 19:18]
(Ro 11:5 NKJV) Even so then, at this present time there [has been] a remnant according to the election of grace"
So God has not cast away His people [Israel] whom He foreknew, hence decreed to be His people forever. He will intervene to see to it that a future generation of Israel becomes faithful believers and His people forever. In the same way, the group of Gentile-Jewish faithful believers of Paul's time receive God's temporal salvation and fellowship by His grace as His chosen representatives to the world of Himself and His grace salvation.
(Ro 11:25 NAS) "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
(Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9]
(Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins. [Isa 59:21; Jer 31:33]' "
(Ro 1:5 NIV) "Through Whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith [in the gospel, vv. 1 & 2] among all the Gentiles for His name's sake. (Ro 1:6 NIV) And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." (Ro 7 NIV) To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ro 1:8 NIV) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.... (Ro 8:29 NKJV) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image [of glory] of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Ro 8:30 NKJV) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Ro 11:2a NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Ro 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, (Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you; (Ro 11:19 NKJV) You will say then, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:21 NKJV) For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.' (Ro 11:22 NKJV) Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." =
The phrase "The fullness of the Gentiles has come in," in Ro 11:25b NAS, refers to the number of Gentiles whom God has chosen to become faithful servants of the LORD as part of a group of individuals from the world reconciled to God, (Ro 11:15), in a unique temporal relationship with the LORD to represent Him and His grace gospel to the world; who were previously described as having believed in the gospel, (Ro 1:5), saints, set apart to belong to Jesus Christ, (Ro 1:5-7), having demonstrated their faithfulness to the LORD, (Ro 1:8). Note that trusting in Christ unto eternal life is a prerequisite to become a faithful servants of the LORD.
This reconciliation made available to the world which included the Gentiles was as a result of Israel's transgression and being cast out of her temporal relationship with the LORD. Paul had already implied that the Gentiles he addresses in his letter to the Roman believers, are a part of this group, (cf. Ro 11:30). He also indicated that the Gentiles he addresses in his letter have believed in the gospel and are part of a unique body of believers who belong to Jesus Christ, (Ro 1:5-7), to be conformed to the image of His Son, (cf Ro 8:29).
(Ro 8:29 NKJV) "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image [of glory] of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Ro 8:30 NKJV) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Ro 11:2a NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Ro 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, (Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you; (Ro 11:19 NKJV) You will say then, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:21 NKJV) For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.' (Ro 11:22 NKJV) Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." =
(Ro 11:25 Greek) "ou ...gar thelO ......humas agnoein ... .........adelphoi
..............................."Not for .do I wish you ......to be ignorant, .brothers,
to ......mustErion .touto hina mE .Ete ...............par heautois .....phronimoi
of the mystery .....this, ..that .not .you may be ..in ...yourselves .wise
hoti pOrOsis .apo merous tO israEl ....gegonen ..........achris hou ....to
that hardness in ...part ...........to Israel has happened, until ..which .the
plErOma tOn ...ethnOn .eiselthE"
fulness .....of the nations .be come in"
Paul explains a mystery to his brethren. The Greek word "adelphoi" rendered "brethren" in the Ro 11:25 NAS in this context means fellow believers since Paul is a Jewish believer who is specifically addressing Gentile believers, (cf. Ro 11:13). The Greek word "mustErion" rendered "mystery" in the NAS, refers here to that which has been heretofore unknown. Paul explains this mystery to the group of faithful Gentile believers so that: "Hina mE Ete par heautois phronimoi," literally, [so] that not you may be in yourselves wise." The phrase is best rendered in the NAS, "So that you will not be wise in your own estimation [i.e., opinion]." So Paul's purpose in revealing a particular mystery to 'brethren' believers who are Gentiles is so that they might not otherwise arrive at an opinion they arrogantly think is wise, (11:25); namely that natural branches i.e., Israelites were broken off from their unique personal temporal relationship with the LORD so that a group of faithful Gentile believers "might be grafted in" because the Gentiles merited their new found temporal relationship with the LORD, (Ro 11:19). So Paul's previous answer in Ro 11:18-24 still stood: The Gentiles' new found relationship with the LORD was not merited by them. It was due exclusively to the grace of God, (11:18-24). Paul declares that the LORD is the supporting root, not any Israelite or Gentile branch, (11:18). If God did not spare the natural branches [of unfaithful Israel], He may not spare the Gentiles either, (11:21). If the Gentiles do not continue by the grace of God in His goodness, they will be cut off like the Israelites were, (11:22). Furthermore, as the Israelites do not continue in unbelief, they will be grafted back in again without any regard for the new found position of the Gentiles, (11:23).
The mystery,
Paul explains, is that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until
the fullness of the nations, i.e., until the predestined number of
Gentiles, who have been called by God, become faithful believers in God
and His grace salvation unto eternal life, (11:25). Note that this is not
about salvation unto eternal life but temporal salvation, although
salvation unto eternal life is a prerequisite. Furthermore, it cannot be
said that the introduction of the availability of eternal salvation is in
view because Gentiles have had eternal salvation available to them since
shortly after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden.
*** EXCERPT FROM RO 8:29-30 ***
(Ro 5:1 NAS) "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Ro 5:2 NKJV) through Whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in [sure] hope of the glory of God (Ro 6:5 NIV) For if [since] we [believers] have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. (Ro 8:19 NKJV) For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God [unto glory]. (Ro 8:20 ASV) For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of Him who subjected it, in [the sure] hope (Ro 8:21 ASV) that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. (Ro 8:28 YLT) And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for [godly] good, to those who are called according to [His] purpose. (Ro 8:29 NKJV) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image [of glory] of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Ro 8:30 NKJV) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." =
(Ro 8:30 Greek) "hous ....de ..proOrisen .........toutous kai ..ekalesen
..........................."Whom .but He predestined .these ...also He called
kai hous ...ekalesen toutous kai ..edikaiOsen .hous ..de ...edikaiOsen
and whom He called these ...also He justified; whom .but .He justified,
toutous .kai ..edoxasen"
these ....also .He glorified"
Those that God predestined to be conformed to the righteous image of His Son He called to believe in His Son's atonement unto a declaration of righteousness and eternal redemption, and then declared them glorified.
The Greek word "ekalesen" rendered "He called" means called forth. In the case of verse 8:30, individuals were called forth by God to choose of their own volition to believe in His Son to be justified and glorified. And this occurred precisely in accordance with God's predestination - His decree. So those that God predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, (Ro 8:29), i.e., to be conformed to the righteousness of God in their experience; He called to believe in His Son's atonement unto justification, (being declared to have a righteousness from God which they all did of their own volition, (cf. Ro 3:21-24), resulting in eternal redemption and eternal life. This implies that God foreknew what would occur because He predetermined it by decree. Yet all was to be in accordance with the volition of the individual.
Thus all who are predestined are to be called. They are called by God's sovereign decree which is part of the process of predestinating something. And since it is a sovereign God Who does the predestinating, all who are called inevitably choose to believe in Jesus Christ of their own volition. Hence all who are called are justified, i.e., declared righteous. And those whom God justified, it is stipulated in the final phrase of verse 8:30, God glorified. The verb "glorified"is in the aorist tense referring to an action that has already been completed. The glorification of the believer has already been indicated in Romans, (cf. Ro 3:21-24; 5:1-2), as a sure thing in the future."
*** END OF EXCERPT FROM RO 8:29-30 ***
So God continues to harden generations of Israelites who persist in their rejection of being faithful to Him and His grace salvation. All but the remnants of Israelites throughout history have been hardened and cast away from their unique personal, temporal relationship with the LORD. This hardening resulted in generations of Israelites down to this very day being sealed in their own unwillfulness to objectively see, hear and believe in God and His grace salvation causing God to cast them away from fellowship with Him unto His wrathful retribution.
This is the natural state of man. Without God's intervention, no group of people would choose to believe in and be faithful to the LORD, especially relative to His grace salvation through His Son, the Messiah-Savior Descendant of Abraham, through Isaac unto eternal life. Note that in the time of Paul's ministry to the Gentiles and until the end of the age, all individuals of the world, Gentiles and Jews alike, who become faithful servants of God become members of a new found group comprised of Gentiles and Jews who are given by God a unique temporal personal fellowship with Him as His chosen people to represent Him and His grace salvation to the world, (Ro 11:15).
Paul had already implied that the Gentiles he addresses in his letter to the Roman believers, are a part of this group, (cf. Ro 11:30). He also indicated that the Gentiles he addresses in his letter have believed in the gospel and are part of a unique body of believers who belong to Jesus Christ, (Ro 1:5-7), to be conformed to the image of His Son, (Ro 8:29).
*** EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS 11:7-10 ***
(Ro 1:18 NIV) "The wrath of God is revealed [to men] from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness... (Ro 1:21 NIV) For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened... (Ro 1:23 NIV) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Ro 1:24 NIV) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (Ro 9:17 NKJV) For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. (Ro 9:18 NKJV) Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. (Ro 11:7 NAS) What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; (Ro 11:8 NAS) Just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. [Dt 29:4, Isa 29:10] (Ro 11:9 NAS) And David says, 'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. (Ro 11:10 NAS) Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.' [Ps 69:22-23]" =
God hardens those who persist in their rejection of Him and His grace salvation. In the case of Ro 11:10 / Ps 69:22-23, this hardening resulted in generations of Israelites, down to this very day, being sealed in their own unwillfulness to objectively see, hear and believe in God and His grace salvation causing God to cast them away from fellowship with Him unto His wrathful retribution upon those generations forever.
Notice that the word "hardened" in Ro 11:7 NAS: "What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened" is clarified in the next three verses:
(Ro 11:8 NAS) Just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. [Dt 29:4, Isa 29:10] (Ro 11:9 NAS) And David says, 'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. (Ro 11:10 NAS) Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.' [Ps 69:22-23]."
God sovereignly saw to it that Israelites who were not chosen and in response to their continued willful ignorance and rejection of God and His grace provision of His righteousness unto eternal life through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, had a spirit of stupor = a state of great diminution or suspension of mental capacity causing them to no longer have the ability to accept information which explains Who God is and how one can secure a righteousness from God unto eternal life. This spirit of stupor is to be imposed upon all the non-elect throughout history, (cf. Ro 1:23-24; 9:18).
This is corroborated in verses 9 & 10:
(Ro 11:9 NAS) "And
David says, 'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling
block and a retribution to them. (Ro 11:10 NAS) Let their eyes be darkened
to see not, and bend their backs forever.' " [Ps 69:22-23].
*** END OF EXCERPTS FROM RO 11:7-10 ***
(Ro 11:2a NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Ro 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, (Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you; (Ro 11:19 NKJV) You will say then, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:21 NKJV) For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.' (Ro 11:22 NKJV) Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob;' [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9; Jer 31:34]" =
Paul indicates in Ro 11:25 by the phrase "pOrOsis apo merous tO IsraEl gegonen" rendered "a partial hardening has happened to Israel" in the NAS that such a hardening is not for all generations of Israel, hence partial. He stipulates in Ro 11:25 that God caused a partial / temporary hardening of Israel until a predestined number of Gentiles, who have been called by God, become faithful believers in God and His grace salvation and come into their own unique temporal relationship with the LORD; whereupon "All [of a future generation of] Israel will be saved," i.e., reconciled once more in her own unique personal relationship with the LORD as faithful servants to represent Him and His grace salvation to the whole world forever as God's chosen people, (cf. Ro 11:26). Note that a prerequisite of becoming faithful servants of the LORD is to be saved unto eternal life through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone. The timing of this great reconciliation is when, as Paul quotes in Ro 11:26 from Isa 59:20-21 from the Septuagint translation, "The Deliverer will come from Zion [Israel], He will remove ungodliness from Jacob."
(Ro 11:2a NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; [Isa 59:20; 27:9] (Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins. [Isa 59:21; Jer 31:33]' " =
Author Paul has repeatedly stipulated, in the book of Romans, that Israel has not been permanently and completely cast away from her unique, personal, temporal relationship with the LORD, (cf Ro 11:2a, 11, 15). God's preservation (temporal salvation) of faithful remnants of Israelites throughout the ages will make a future generation of Israelites possible. And that future generation will choose to reconcile with the LORD via a moment of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, the Messiah-Savior Descendant of Abraham and then becoming faithful servants of God. And so future Israel will return to her former status of her unique, personal, temporal relationship with the LORD as His chosen people to represent Him and His grace salvation to the world. This time forever, (Ro 11:5; Isa 65:8-9; 15-18).
The phrase in
Ro 11:26 NAS, "And so all Israel will be saved" refers to the
temporal salvation / reconciliation of a future generation of Israel with
the LORD - a restoration of her former unique temporal relationship with
the LORD as His chosen people - a restoration of her former unique
temporal relationship with the LORD as His chosen people, (Ro 11:5 and Isa
65. ).
Note that a prerequisite of this temporal reconciliation is for every
individual of the generation to express a moment of faith alone in Christ
alone unto eternal life. In Ro 11:26, Paul further establishes that this
temporal reconciliation will occur in the future when the "Deliverer
will come from Zion." In verse 11:26, Paul quotes from the Septuagint
(Greek) version of Isa 59:20 which has the Greek word, "ho rhuomenos",
(present nominative participle, literally 'the delivering one' or the
'deliverer'), rendered "Deliverer" in the NAS. The Hebrew text
of Isa 59:20 has the Hebrew word transliterated "ga' al"
rendered "Redeemer" in the NKJV. Evidently the Deliverer /
Redeemer will come from Zion, a term identified with Jerusalem and Israel
signifying that He, their Messiah, will be a Jewish Man. The word rendered
"Redeemer" in Isa 59:20 NKJV means the same thing as the word
rendered "Deliverer" in the Septuagint Greek translation of the
Hebrew text: One Who delivers the nation Israel from her sins, i.e., her
Redeemer. The last part of verse 11:26 specifically stipulates "He
will remove ungodliness from Jacob [= Israel]." Since only God can
remove ungodliness, for man is neither sufficiently powerful nor holy,
then the Deliverer / Redeemer is God, as well as a Israel's Jewish
Messiah, a man. Furthermore, Ro 11:27 stipulates that the Deliverer /
Redeemer is the One Who has made a covenant with Israel to take away her
sins, corroborating that He is God.
(Isa 59:1 NKJV) "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
[Note that a temporal salvation, more specifically God's deliverance of Israel from oppression of foreign invaders and captors, is in view]
(Isa 59:2 NKJV) But your [Israel's] iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
[But temporal salvation would not be forthcoming to generations of ancient Israel for Isaiah declares that "Israel's iniquities have separated [her] from [her] God. And [her] sins have hidden His face from [her], so that He will not hear [her]." Evidently, God will remove ungodliness from Jacob [= Israel, cf. Isa 59:21]
(Isa 59:3 NKJV) For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.
(Isa 59:4 NKJV) No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
(Isa 59:5 NKJV) They hatch vipers' eggs and weave the spider's web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
(Isa 59:6 NKJV) Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands.
(Isa 59:7 NKJV) Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
(Isa 59:8 NKJV) The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Sin Confessed
(Isa 59:9 NKJV) Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
(Isa 59:10 NKJV) We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.
(Isa 59:11 NKJV) We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.
(Isa 59:12 NKJV) For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:
(Isa 59:13 NKJV) In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
(Isa 59:14 NKJV) Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.
(Isa 59:15 NKJV) So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.
(Isa 59:16 NKJV) He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
(Isa 59:17 NKJV) For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
(Isa 59:18 NKJV) According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.
(Isa 59:19 NKJV) So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
(Isa 59:20 NKJV) 'The Redeemer ['Deliverer', Septuagint] will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,' Says the LORD.
(Isa 59:21 NKJV) 'As for Me,' says the LORD, 'this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants,' says the LORD, 'from this time and forevermore.' "
[Notice that the Redeemer / Deliverer will come to Zion - to Israel - to those who turn from transgression in Jacob [Israel]. This implies that all of that future generation of Israel have turned from transgression, i.e., they have accepted via a moment of faith in Jesus Christ as their Redeemer to Deliver them from their sins at which time He comes to Redeem them and enable them to live according to the Spirit of God upon them in accordance with the words of God which He has put in their mouths forever]
[BKC, OT, p. 1115]:
"Because of the depravity of the nation, national salvation and prosperity would have to come from God's initiative. In chapter 59 the LORD again spoke of the people's sins and His provision of salvation because of the Abrahamic Covenant.
(1) The LORD's ability to save. 59:1 The prophet reminded the nation that the LORD could save them in spite of their difficult circumstances. He is powerful enough - His arm (cf. v. 16...) is not ... short. And He is caring enough - He is not dull of hearing. This implies that Israel simply needed to call out to God and He would come to her rescue.
(2) Israel's spiritual depravity (59:2-15a). 59:2-8. However, though the LORD could save them, the nation's sins had separated them from the LORD... Though He could hear them (Isa 59:1) He chose not to (v. 2). Sin prevents prayer from being answered... Those sins included murder, lying, injustice (cf. Isa 59:9, 11, 14-15), and planning evil (vv. 3-4). Their actions were like those of deadly poisonous snakes (vipers and an adder), for they were harming each other. Just as people can see through cobwebs, which therefore are inappropriate for clothing (v. 6), so God could see through the evil deeds of these people and judge them. In a hurry to do evil things, they were bringing ruin to others (v. 7) and were constantly traveling down evil paths. As a result they knew no peace (cf. 48:22; 57:20-21.
59:9-15a. Here the prophet, using first-person plural pronouns (us... we ... our), identified with the people (cf. 6:5). Israel was so corrupt spiritually, without justice (cf. 59:4, 11, 14-15) and righteousness, that it was as if they were in darkness and were blind and dead. As a result, the oppressed were angry like growling bears and moaned like doves. They wanted justice and help but found none (v. 11). Isaiah confessed that the people were noted for their many... sins, deliberate rebellion (cf. 1:5; 58:1) against the LORD, lying, injustice, and dishonesty (59:12-15a).
(3) The LORD's promise to help Israel (59:15b-21). 59:15b-16a. Because of her depraved condition (vv. 2-15a), no one but the LORD could save the nation. Being displeased with her injustice (cf. vv. 4, 9, 11, 14), He realized there was no one to intercede on her behalf. Isaiah was not saying that the LORD did not want to get involved, but that Israel was totally incapable of helping herself. Only God could help her. This is true of salvation in any era. No one can save himself. Only God can forgive sin and change a person's heart.
59:16b-20. In His power (by His... arm; cf. v. 1...) God provided salvation, both spiritual and physical, for him (i.e., for Israel personified as a man). Like a warrior God goes forth to fight for His people. Righeousness is His breastplate and salvation is His helmet... God's other garments are vengeance and zeal. This verse (Isa 59:17) means that God supplies righteousness and salvation (cf. v. 16) for His people as He zealously executes vengeance on His enemies (v. 18). Because of this, people everywhere will acknowledge His glory, overpowering majesty, and strength (like a pent-up flood let loose). When the LORD executes judgment on His enemies (at Christ's Second Coming), the Messiah will go to Zion. He will be the Redeemer... of those Israelites who turn to Him in repentance (59:20). Showing their future hope, the nation was being encouraged to repent.
59:21. When the Messiah returns in judgment (v. 18), He will inaugurate His covenant ... pouring His Spirit on believing Israelites... and instilling His words within them..."
(Isa 26:21 NIV) "See, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.
(Isa 27:1 NKJV) In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
(Isa 27:2 NKJV) In that day sing to her, 'A vineyard of red wine!
(Isa 27:3 NKJV) I, the LORD, keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day.
(Isa 27:4 NKJV) Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns Against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
(Isa 27:5 NKJV) Or let him take hold of My strength, That he may make peace with Me; And he shall make peace with Me.
(Isa 27:6 NKJV) Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, And fill the face of the world with fruit.
[Note that what is being portrayed is the time of the coming of the LORD from heaven to punish the people of the earth for their sins, (Isa 26:21). At that time the kingdoms of Jacob (Israel's Southern Kingdom, Judah), and Israel, (Israel's Northern Kingdom), will evidently "Take root... bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit," (Isa 27:6)]
(Isa 27:7 NKJV) Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him? Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?
(Isa 27:8 NKJV) In measure, by sending it away, You contended with it. He removes it by His rough wind In the day of the east wind.
(Isa 27:9 NKJV) Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered; And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: When he makes all the stones of the altar Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust, Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.' "
[At the time of the LORD's punishing sin on the earth with temporal destruction, the iniquity of Jacob, i.e., the sins of all Israelites will be covered - be removed]
(Jer 31:1 NKJV) ''' "At the same time," says the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."
(Jer 31:2 NKJV) Thus says the LORD: "The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness- Israel, when I went to give him rest."
(Jer 31:3 NKJV) The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
(Jer 31:4 NKJV) Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
(Jer 31:5 NKJV) You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.
(Jer 31:6 NKJV) For there shall be a day When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, "Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God."
[BKC, OT, p. 1169]:
"The national restoration of Israel (31:2-22)...
31:2-6. God assured the Northern Kingdom that He will restore her. Those who had survived the sword (probably Assyria's destruction of Israel) will yet experience God's favor as He leads them into the desert for their new Exodus (cf. 16:14-15...). The turmoil of their long years of exile will cease when God intervenes to give rest to the nation Israel.
The motivation for God's future restoration of the nation is His everlasting love ('ahabāh) which He will freely bestow on His people.. and His loving-kindness (hesed...). God had made a covenant with Abraham... and another covenant with the nation Israel... and He vowed to stay faithful to His commitments. Israel could look forward to experiencing God's blessing.
Jeremiah drew three word-pictures that will characterize God's restoration of Israel. First, it will be a time of renewed joy. Israel will once again take up her tambournines and dance with the joyful. The times of sadness will cease when the Captivity ends... Second, it will be a time of peace and prosperity as the people plant their vineyards on the hills of Samaria. Free from external threats, they will be able to enjoy their fruit... Third, it will be a time of renewed commitment to the LORD. The watchmen stationed on the hills of Ephraim will summon the people to go up to Zion to worship the LORD.]
(Jer 31:7 NKJV) For thus says the LORD: "Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, " O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!"
(Jer 31:8 NKJV) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there.
(Jer 31:9 NKJV) They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.
[BKC, cont.]:
"31:7-9. God's restoration will be accompanied by songs of joy and the praises of the people for His deliverance. No one will be too far away for the LORD to restore him; God will gather His people from the ends of the earth. Also no one will be too insignificant for the LORD to deliver him; God will restore the blind and the lame along with expectant mothers. As God leads these people on their new Exodus into Israel He will provide for their every need. He will guide the people beside streams of water ... and they will travel on a level path so they will not stumble. God will do all this because of His special relationship to Israel. He is Israel's father ... and Ephraim (emphasizing the Northern tribes of Israel)... Jeremiah used the image of a father / son relationship to show God's deep love for His people...."]
(Jer 31:10 NKJV) "Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, And keep him as a shepherd does his flock."
(Jer 31:11 NKJV) For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, And ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
(Jer 31:12 NKJV) Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the LORD - For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all.
(Jer 31:13 NKJV) "Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, Will comfort them, And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.
(Jer 31:14 NKJV) I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness," says the LORD.
[BKC, cont.]
["31:10-14. Israel's regathering (like a flock of sheep...) will be accompanied by a renewal of God's material blessings. Those who will be restored to the land will rejoice in the bounty of crops (cf. Jer 31:5) and flocks. Jeremiah compared Israel's material wealth to a well-watered garden that was producing in abundance ... This outpouring of blessing will produce gladness ... comfort, and joy (cf. Jer 31:4, 7)."]
(Jer 31:15 NKJV) Thus says the LORD: "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more."
(Jer 31:16 NKJV) Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
(Jer 31:17 NKJV) There is hope in your future, says the LORD, That your children shall come back to their own border.
(Jer 31:18 NKJV) "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: "You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the LORD my God.
(Jer 31:19 NKJV) Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth."
(Jer 31:20 NKJV) Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.
[BKC, cont.]:
["31:15-20. The nation's future hope will contrast sharply with her present misery. The cry from Ramah was one of mourning and great weeping as Jeremiah pictured Rachel weeping for her children. To what was Jeremiah referring? Ramah was a town five miles north of Jerusalem, and Rachel was Joseph and Benjamin's mother. Joseph was the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, who became the two major tribes in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Thus Jeremiah was picturing the weeping of the women of the Northern Kingdom as they watched their children being carried into exile in 722 B.C. However, Jeremiah could also have had the 586 B.C. deportation of Judah in view because Ramah was the staging point for Nebuchadnezzar's deportation (cf. 40:1). In all likelihood these women were crying because they would never see their children again. But as the women of Israel and Judah wept for their exiled children, God offered a word of comfort. There was hope for their future because their children would return to their own land. God would bring about a restoration...
Jeremiah ended this section by recording Israel's cry of contrition that she will recite when she returns to the land. Though she had strayed (Jer 31:19) she will repent. When she returns to her God she will be ashamed and humiliated because of her sin. God in turn will express His great compassion for the wayward but returning nation...."]
(Jer 31:21 NKJV) "Set up signposts, Make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, The way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back to these your cities.
(Jer 31:22 NKJV) How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth - A woman shall encompass a man."
[31:21-22. God called on the captives to set up road signs and guideposts as they traveled to Babylon and to remember the road they would take. They would need this information during His promised restoration so they could return to their towns. This time of promised restoration will be so remarkable that it will be as if God will create a new thing on earth. That new event is described proverbially by the clause, a woman will surround a man.... The woman here is Israel (v. 21). She had been unfaithful, but in the future she will finally seek out her God and ask to be united with Him.]
(Jer 31:23 NKJV) Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: 'The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!
(Jer 31:24 NKJV) And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks.
(Jer 31:25 NKJV) For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.'
(Jer 31:26 NKJV) After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.
[BKC, cont.]
["2) The national restoration of Judah.
31:23-26. When God will restore the nation of Israel, He will also reverse the fortunes of Judah. Those living in the land of Judah will again invoke a blessing on Jerusalem (God's righteous dwelling) and the temple area (the sacred mountain... ). The land itself will be repopulated, and God will meet every need."]
(Jer 31:27 NKJV) "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
(Jer 31:28 NKJV) And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.
(Jer 31:29 NKJV) In those days they shall say no more: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.'
(Jer 31:30 NKJV) But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
[BKC, cont.]
[3) The establishment of a new relationship with Israel and Judah (31:27-40).
(The rest of the chapter focuses on the new relationship God will establish with His people. Jeremiah used the same Hebrew phrase to introduce the three sections that form this unit. Each section begins with hinnEh yAmīm bA'īm (lit., 'Behold, days are coming.' vv. 27, 31, 38...) In the third occurence the word for 'coming' was omitted, but it is clear that Jeremiah intended for the reader to supply it. Jeremiah used this phrase to introduce three aspects of the LORD's new relationship with His people.
31:27-30. God vowed to provide a new beginning for His covenant people. In this new age God will plant the nations of Israel and Judah with the offspring of men and animals. Jeremiah again uses agricultural and architectural mataphors to illustrate God's work... God had judged Judah for her sin, but He will reverse that judgment.
"God's work for the nation will silence a proverb that was common in Jeremiah's day.. Those facing judgment in Jeremiah's day felt they were being unfairly punished by God for their ancestors' sins. Though the fathers had eaten sour grapes, it was the children who experienced the effects of having their teeth... set on edge. This proverb was false because it implied that God was unrighteous. God's justice will guarantee that each guilty person will die for his own sin"]
(Jer 31:31 NKJV) "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -
(Jer 31:32 NKJV) not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them," says the LORD.
(Jer 31:33 NKJV) "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the LORD: "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
(Jer 31:34 NKJV) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," says the LORD. "For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." '''
[The temporal salvation / restoration of a future generation of Israel is in view, wherein the LORD will remember their sins no more. Their iniquity will be forgiven]
[BKC, cont.]
31:31-37. In addition to a new beginning God promised to make a New Covenant with His people. This New Covenant was expressly for the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom). It would not be like the covenant God had made with Israel's forefathers at the time of the Exodus because that covenant had been broken by the people (cf. 11:1-8). The earlier covenant God referred to was the Mosaic Covenant contained in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Twice God had announced a seeries of punishments or 'curses' that would be invoked on those who violated His Law... The final judgment would be a physical deportation from the land of Israel. With the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. this final 'curse' was completed. God had set a holy standard of conduct before the people, but because of their sinful hearts they couldn't keep those standards. A change was needed.
God's New Covenant will involve an internalization of His Law. He will put His Law in their minds and on their hearts, not just on stones... There will be no need to exhort people to know the LORD because they will already all know God... God's New Covenant will give Israel the inner ability to obey His righteous standards and thus to enjoy His blessings... In Old Testament times the Holy Spirit did not universally indwell all believers. Thus one different aspect of the New Covenant is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all believers...
A second aspect of the New Covenant will be God's provision for sin. ...as part of the New Covenant God will forgive Israel's wickedness and remember their sins no more...
To underscore Israel's permanence because of this New Covenant, God compared her existence to that of the heavens and the earth. As God had appointed the sun to shine by day and the moon and stars to shine by night... so He had appointed Israel as His chosen nation.... The power God displayed in creating the universe was the power that He exercises in preserving Israel as a nation."]
(Ro 11:28 NKJV) "Concerning the gospel they [generations of unfaithful Israelites] are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
(Ro 11:29 NKJV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
(Ro 11:2a NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:16 NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; [Num 15:17-21] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Ro 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a [fellow] partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, (Ro 11:18 NKJV) do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you; (Ro 11:19 NKJV) You will say then, 'Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:21 NKJV) For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.' (Ro 11:22 NKJV) Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob;' [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9] (Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' (Ro 11:28 NKJV) Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers." =
Paul declares in Romans 11:28, "Concerning the gospel they [unfaithful generations of Israelites] are enemies for your sake;" i.e., past generations of Israel and the Israel of Paul's day are "enemies" of God and His gospel of grace salvation. Previously, Paul stipulated that generations of Israel had been "broken off" = cast out of their unique temporal relationship with the LORD for unbelief and unfaithfulness, (Ro 11:2a, 15, 17), implying that they were at enmity with God and His gospel of grace salvation.
Romans 11:28 further implies that according to God's election, succeeding generations of Israel, because of their willful unbelief and consequent unfaithfulness to the LORD are to be hardened by God in their state of enmity with Him until a chosen number of Gentiles become reconciled to the LORD; whereupon all of a future generation of Israel will be saved and reconciled to Him. The reconciled Gentiles are part of a group comprised of faithful servants from the world - Gentile and Jew alike - to represent God and His grace salvation in a unique temporal relationship with the LORD, (cf. Ro 11:11, 15). Note that God's hardening of Israel is stipulated as a partial one in the sense that not all generations of Israel will be included.
Note that
Romans 11:28 cannot be implying that only now do Gentiles have available
to them the gospel of eternal life, for they have had that opportunity
since Adam and Eve and Abraham, millennia ago
.
(Ro 4:13 NAS) "For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through law, but through the righteousness of faith... (Ro 11:2a NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:23 NKJV) And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; (Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9] (Ro 11:28 NKJV) Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers." =
The next phrase in Romans 11:28, "But concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers" has in view God's unilateral promise to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob that the descendants of Abraham through Isaac through Jacob are to be His chosen people, Israel, beloved in His sight. They have been chosen to be in a unique personal relationship with Him as His beloved faithful servants to represent Him and His grace gospel to the world forever, for the sake of the patriarchal fathers who will have them as their people as an everlasting inheritance in the Kingdom of God, (Ro 4:3).
*** EXCERPT FROM ROMANS CHAPTER 4 ***
(v. 4:11 NAS) "and he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised that righteousness might be reckoned to them, (v. 4:12 NAS) and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. (v. 4:13 NAS) For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through law, but through the righteousness of faith" =
The Old
Testament teaches that the LORD's promise to Abraham and to his physical
descendants through Isaac through Jacob, (Jews), was for them to have
eternal life and become eternal heirs of the world, not through law,
(human doing), but through the righteousness of faith in Abraham's
Messiah-Savior Descendant through Isaac through Jacob. Notice that the
word rendered "law" in verse 4:13 is without the definite
article and refers to rules of human conduct of which the Mosaic Law is
the supreme example. Paul continues with the subject of being declared
righteous before God apart from law, (human doing), but through faith by
referring to what the Old Testament has to say on the matter. The result
of being declared righteous before God has repeatedly been indicated as
eternal life, (cp Ro 1:2-4; 16-17 ).
Paul stipulates that Abraham and his physical descendants through Isaac
through Jacob, (Jews), will become heirs, i.e, eternal inheritors or
possessers of the world, not through law, (human doing), but through the
righteousness of a moment of faith, i.e., through expressing a moment of
faith alone in God's promise of a coming Messiah-Savior Descendant, the
faith of Abraham, which results in their being declared righteous before
God and their becoming eternal heirs of the world, (Ro 4:13).
*** END OF EXCERPT FROM ROMANS CHAPTER 4 ***
(Ro 8:29 NKJV) "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image [of glory] of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Ro 8:30 NKJV) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Ro 11:2a NKJV) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:20 NKJV) Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. (Ro 11:24 NKJV) For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9] (Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' (Ro 11:28 NKJV) Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. (Ro 11:29 NKJV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." =
In Ro 11:29,
the phrase: "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable,"
provides further explanation concerning God's gospel which offers eternal
life as an irrevocable and free gift via a moment of faith alone in Christ
alone, (cf. Ro 3:21-24 ;
8:29-29 ),
to which all who are called by the LORD to believe will inevitably and
irrevocably believe and be irrevocably secure in their salvation. Verse
11:29 also provides explanation relative to God's hardening of generations
of Israel until the fullness, i.e., the full number, of Gentiles has come
in = become faithful servants of the LORD, whereupon all of a future
generation of Israel will be irrevocably saved, eternally and temporally
when the Redeemer / Deliver comes to Zion. It further explains God's
calling, i.e., election of Israel relative to her eternal and temporal
relationship with Him; as well as God's unilateral and irrevocable
covenant with the patriarchal fathers of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
It is implied that when God calls, His calls are sovereign and irrevocable
even when it involves the volition of individuals and groups of people who
are enabled by God to exercise that volition according to His will. Note
that the Greek word "charismata" in Ro 11:29 rendered "gifts"
in the NKJV refers to that which is received being unmerited, i.e., not
dependent upon anything the recipient might do. Hence the covenant God
made with Abraham which was confirmed with Isaac and Jacob was unilateral
and irrevocable by nature. It depended solely upon the promises of God. So
the gift of eternal life would be received irrevocably by those elect of
God including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whom God called to choose of their
own volition to believe in a Messiah-Savior Descendant of Abraham through
Isaac through Jacob. Furthermore, the election of God included the
provision of a unique temporal relationship with the LORD to those who
were enabled by God to be faithful servants to Him with Israel especially
in view as God's chosen people.
(Ro 11:30 NKJV) "For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,
(Ro 11:31 NKJV) even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.
(Ro 11:32 NKJV) For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all."
(Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9] (Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' (Ro 11:28 NKJV) Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers (Ro 11:29 NKJV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Ro 11:30 NKJV) For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, (Ro 11:31 NKJV) even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy." =
Paul addresses
Gentiles of the reconciled group of the world comprised of Gentiles and
Jews, faithful servants of the LORD, (Ro 11:15). He tells them that they
were once disobedient to God yet have now obtained God's mercy, (Ro 11:30)
- a gracious, temporal reconciliation with the LORD as His chosen people
to represent Him and His grace gospel. Paul indicates that the Gentiles'
opportunity to be reconciled with God was as a result of the disobedience
of generations of unbelieving Israelites through God's sovereign election
and partial hardening of Israel, (Ro 11:15, 25). So Israel's disobedience
gave occasion to a group chosen by God - comprised of individuals of the
world, Gentiles and Jews alike - to become faithful servants of the LORD -
to be reconciled to him by His grace in a unique temporal relationship as
His chosen people to represent Him and His grace gospel to the world. Note
that for a group of individuals to become faithful servants of the LORD,
it requires each individual to express a moment of faith alone in Christ
alone unto eternal life and then be enabled by the grace of God to be
faithful, (Ro 9:30-33
).
(Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (Ro 11:13 NKJV) For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify ["doxazO" = glorify] my ministry, (Ro 11:14 NKJV) if ["pOs" = perhaps] I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9] (Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' (Ro 11:28 NKJV) Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers (Ro 11:29 NKJV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Ro 11:30 NKJV) For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, (Ro 11:31 NKJV) even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy." =
Due to the occasion of Gentiles receiving God's mercy as a result of committing Israel to her natural tendency to be disobedient, future generations of Israel will become the recipient of God's mercy of temporal deliverance / reconciliation with the LORD. This will occur when "the fullness of the Gentiles has come in," and "The Deliverer [Redeemer, Jesus Christ comes]... from Zion," (Ro 11:25-26).
(Ro 11:11 NAS) "I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. (Ro 11:12 NAS) Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (Ro 11:15 NKJV) For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:25 NAS) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Ro 11:26 NAS) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; [Isa 59:20-21; 27:9] (Ro 11:27 NKJV) For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' (Ro 11:28 NKJV) Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers (Ro 11:29 NKJV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Ro 11:30 NKJV) For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, (Ro 11:31 NKJV) even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. (Ro 11:32 NKJV) For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all." =
When God hardened generations of Israel in their unbelief and consequent unfaithfulness, in essence He committed them to their willful disobedience, (Ro 11:32). God did this so that the world, with Gentiles especially in view, the latter also being characterized as disobedient, would obtain God's mercy in spite of their transgressions. On the other hand, future generations of Israel through the mercy God bestowed upon the Gentiles, will also obtain mercy.
Paul explains that God has committed all groups of mankind, Jews and Gentiles alike to disobedience - their natural and willful tendency - that He might have mercy on them all. The result of His committment to disobedience is their hardened determination to be what they naturally are: willfully disobedient to God, making them all candidates for His mercy - temporal deliverance / reconciliation and eternal salvation solely through the grace of God.
*** EXCERPT FROM RO 11:11-12 ***
(1) PROCLAIMING HIMSELF AND HIS GRACE SALVATION TO MANKIND AND
(Ro 10:19 NKJV) But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.' [Dt 32:21]... (Ro 11:11 NAS) I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous." =
Note that the Greek noun "paraptOmati," which literally means "offense" is translated "transgression" in the NAS in Ro 11:11. It describes an entire people, Israel, who over the centuries have been characterized as having largely been persistently unfaithful to the LORD. They have continually committed offenses, i.e., transgressions or violations of known commands of God. A single offense or transgression that the entire historical group of all generations of Israelites all committed at once cannot be in view, because a single offense does not fit the context in the book of Romans of generations of Israel being generally unfaithful. Rather, "paraptOmati" has a plural sense to it, describing multiple violations of known commands of God over a period of time in order to continue to describe the unfaithful generations of Israel who have been disciplined by God over the ages. Just as one can say that one has sin in ones life which refers to multiple sins, so one can say Israel has transgression or offense which refers to multiple transgressions or offenses over a period of time. This is consistent with the context begun in Romans chapter 9 portraying a history of Israel continuously being unfaithful to God which led to the LORD removing temporal salvation from Israel and providing it for the Gentiles instead, until a future generation of Israel is reconciled to God as His chosen people forever.
So the
salvation in view in Romans 11:11 is a temporal one, a deliverance of a
group of people from temporal difficulties unto godly fellowship and
blessings and greater longevity. It cannot be referring to salvation unto
eternal life coming to the Gentiles because salvation unto eternal life
had been available to all mankind, before Jews existed
Before the LORD moved His temporal salvation and blessings to a group of faithful servants from the world, i.e., Gentiles and Jews, the Israelites as a nation had them as part of God's unique temporal personal relationship with Him which included His plan to promulgate the truth about Himself and His grace gospel through Israel, (Ro 3:1; 9:1-5). But in the light of generations of Israel's unfaithfulness, the relationship God would have would now be with Gentiles as a group who were designated to have God's unique temporal personal with Him including His temporal salvation unto blessings in order to promulgate His plan to represent the LORD and His grace salvation to the world. Note that individual Israelites are not portrayed in Ro 11:11 as being excluded from having the availability of eternal life. Note that later verses imply that Israelites from the period of Paul's time in history who trusted in Christ unto eternal life were included in the group of the world reconciled to God, Jews and Gentiles alike who are declared as personally belonging to Jesus Christ in a unique relationship with Him, (Ro 1:5-6; 11:15). On the other hand, Israelties are being portrayed in Ro 11:11 as no longer under God's temporal salvation unto fellowship and blessings from Him. Furthermore, Israel was at that time so unspiritual as to not be able to discern who did have salvation unto eternal life and who did not, hence they wouldn't have been able to be jealous of those Gentiles who had received eternal life as opposed to those who had not. On the other hand, certain Gentiles who chose to become faithful believers who were then delivered from temporal difficulty unto visible godly temporal blessings as God's representative people on the earth instead of Israel would easily be discerned by unspiritual Israel and hence give them reason to be jealous, (Ro 11:11). Note that the fact that those particular Gentiles were faithful believers would not be discernible by the unspiritual Israelites. Hence temporal salvation of the Gentiles as a group of people representing God is in view in Ro 11:11 NAS.
So the transgression of particular generations of Israelites in history, i.e., their persistent unfaithfulness toward God caused the LORD to cut Israel off from His group salvation - His deliverance from destruction and difficulty unto blessings and personal fellowship with Him and move to provide these to all mankind outside of the nation Israel. This then includes Gentiles. A unique group comprised of faithful servants of the LORD of Jews and Gentiles alike will receive God's temporal salvation and personal fellowship as a group as once faithful Israel did, in order to serve His purpose of proclaiming Himself and His grace salvation. This evidently was to be done in such a manner as to make Israel jealous to save some of them.
*** END OF EXCERPT FROM RO 11:11-12 ***
(Ro 11:33 NKJV) "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! [Isa 40:13]
(Ro 11:34 NKJV) For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?
(Ro 11:35 NKJV) Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him? [Job 41:11]
(Ro 11:36 NKJV) For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
(Ro 11:2 NKJV) "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying... (Ro 11:29 NKJV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Ro 11:32 NKJV) For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all (Ro 11:33 NKJV) Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! [Isa 40:13] (Ro 11:34 NKJV) For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? (Ro 11:35 NKJV) Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him? [Job 41:11] (Ro 11:36 NKJV) For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." =
Paul expounds upon the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, especially re: the temporal and eternal destinies of generations of Israelites and Gentiles as God's decrees and election are sovereignly fulfilled. Paul further exclaims how unsearchable - how unfathomable - are God's judgments, i.e., His decrees, and how His ways are past finding out. He emphasizes the unknowable wisdom and knowledge of God - a knowledge without limit and beyond the capacity of man to learn all of, with the rhetorical questions in Ro 11:34, "For who has known the mind of the LORD?" and "Who has become His counselor?" Then verse 11:35 asks, "Who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to Him." The answer implied: 'No one,' - all blessings flowing from God are by His grace. God owes no one and answers to no one. All that He does is by His grace = unmerited favor. His wisdom is beyond the reach of anyone. Verse 11:36 then ends chapter 11 with an affirmation of God's omnipotent and eternal power and glory: "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Whom be glory forever. Amen."
"Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has taught Him?"
"Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine."
[BKC, p. 486-7]:
"As Paul ended his discussion on the revelation of God's righteousness in His sovereign choice, he burst forth in a doxology of praise to God. He exclaimed, Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! The plan of God for the salvation of all people demonstrates God's infinite knowledge and His ability to use it wisely. God has revealed some of His judgments and His paths ('ways') so that people may know them, but it is humanly impossible to exhaust them. Beyond tracing out translates the one word anexichniastoi, which means 'incapable of being traced by footprints'...
The apostle then quoted Isaiah 40:13, which shows that God is the sole Designer of His wise plan. No one knows His mind or gives Him advice. This is followed by a free quotation from Job 41:11, which testifies to God's sole responsibility for His acts. God is indeed the Sovereign of all things, the One to Whom all creatures are accountable and Whom all should glorify. He is under no obligation to repay anyone, for no one has ever given Him anything. Paul concluded, For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. God is the first Cause, the effective Cause, and the final Cause of everything. His deep ways are beyond man's discovering (Rom 11:33); beyond man's knowing (v. 34a), beyond man's counseling (v. 34b), and beyond man's giving (v. 35). 'All things' come from Him and by means of Him... and are for Him and His glory... Therefore, To Him be the glory forever! Amen ... God is the only proper One to magnify... The all-sovereign God deserves the praise of all His creatures."