Romans 11:25-27
In Israel’s Salvation
Israel’s corporate stumbling, which is temporary,
not permanent, is called a mystery. In Scripture a mystery is not a
truth difficult to understand, but a truth previously unrevealed (and therefore
unknown) which is now revealed and publicly proclaimed (cf. Eph_3:9; Col_1:26;
at Mat_13:10-16, see the chart that
lists NT mysteries). Paul wanted to make sure his Gentile readers knew about
the mystery concerning Israel in God’s sovereign choice. God’s purpose was so
that you may not be conceited (lit., “wise in yourselves”). God’s sovereign
plan to put Israel aside temporarily in order to show grace to Gentiles is no
basis for conceit on the part of the Gentiles; it is designed to display
further the glory of God.
God purposed that some from all nations should by
faith receive the righteousness provided by grace. In order to achieve this
goal Israel’s relationship as God’s Chosen People was rescinded for a time and Israel
is now experiencing a hardening in part until the full number (plērōma, “fullness”) of the Gentiles has come in.
The word mystery is used to refer
to New Testament truth previously not revealed. This mystery has two
components. (1) Israel has experienced a partial spiritual hardening and (2)
that hardening will last only for a divinely specified period of time.
“Wise
in your own conceits” is another warning to the Gentiles against spiritual
pride and arrogance.
“Blindness
in part”: Although the nation’s blindness does not extend to every individual
Jew. Through all of history God has always preserved a believing remnant.
“Until
the fullness of the Gentiles be come in”: “Until” refers to a specific point in
time, “fullness” refers to completion, “has come in: translates a Greek verb
often used to speak of coming to salvation. Israel’s spiritual hardening (which
began with rejecting Jesus as Messiah) will last until the complete number of
elect Gentiles has come to salvation.
It
greatly concerns me when I hear someone run our Jewish brothers down. We have
been warned over and over in the Holy Bible not to think ourselves better than
the natural Hebrew. We are not the tree. We do not decide who is part of the
tree and who is not. The tree decides which branches He will accept and which
branches He rejects. It is none of our business. He does not have to explain to
you and me why He does it either. We should just be happy that He allowed us to
be grafted into the tree.
There
is a fullness for Israel (Rom_11:12)
and a fullness for the Gentiles. God is now “taking from the Gentiles a people
for Himself” (Act_15:14).
In
Rom_11:25 are two specific facts about
Israel’s hardening (cf. Rom_11:7-8):
(a) it is partial, “in part” (because throughout this time “there is a remnant
chosen by grace,” Rom_11:5), and (b) it
is temporary (because it will end when God’s sovereignly chosen number of
Gentiles has been saved).
“Hardening”
is pōrōsis (“hardening, dulling”);
it differs from the verb sklērynei (“hardens”) used of Pharaoh (Rom_9:18) and the noun sklērotēta (“stubbornness,” lit.,
“hardening,” Rom_2:5). The first noun (pōrōsis) refers to dullness, the
second suggests stubbornness.
To
confirm this, Paul quoted from Isa_59:20-21
and Isa_27:9. After “the fullness of
the Gentiles” (Rom_11:25 1, KJV) the
partial hardening of Israel will be removed and all Israel will be saved,
that is, “delivered” (in the OT “saved” often means “delivered”) from the
terrible Tribulation by the Messiah, the Deliverer.
“All
Israel”: All of the elect Jewish people alive at the end of the tribulation,
not the believing remnant of Jews within the church during this church age.
Since the remnant has already embraced the truth of the gospel, it could not be
in view here, since it no longer needs the salvation this verse promises.
“There
shall come out of Sion the Deliverer”: The Lord Jesus Christ’s millennial rule
will be associated with Mt. Zion. “Covenant”: The New Covenant. “When I shall
take away their sins”: Quoted from Isaiah 27:9. A necessary prerequisite for
Israel’s salvation.
Jeremiah
31:33 "But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be
my people."
So
many people I know do not want to believe that God will forgive the physical
house of Israel. This is so strange to me, because we were not worthy of His
forgiveness and He forgave us. Why would He not forgive His chosen family? My Bible says that every knee will bow and
every tongue confess Jesus when they see Him coming in the clouds.
The statement, “All Israel will be saved” does not mean that every Jew
living at Christ’s return will be regenerated. Many of them will not be saved,
as seen by the fact that the judgment of Israel, to follow soon after the
Lord’s return, will include the removal of Jewish rebels (Eze_20:34-38). Following this judgment God will
then remove godlessness and sins from the nation as He
establishes His New Covenant with regenerate Israel (cf. Jer_31:33-34).
Romans 11:28-29
Here Paul summarized God’s dealings with Israel
and with the Gentiles. In order for God to bring the gospel to Gentiles
He had to deal with Israel corporately as enemies. But in relation to
God’s choice (election) of Abraham and His covenant with him and the
patriarchs, Israel is beloved. Because God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
(cf. Rom_9:6-13), He loves the nation
and will carry through on His promises. This is another reason Israel’s
hardening must be temporary (cf. Rom_11:15,
Rom_11:22-25) and she must finally be
saved corporately: God chose her. And God’s gifts and His call are
irrevocable (lit., “for not repented of are the grace-gifts and the calling
of God”). He does not revoke what He has given or whom He has chosen (“call”
means election and salvation; cf. Rom_1:6;
Rom_8:30). This is Israel’s temporary situation
during her time of spiritual hardening.
“Touching
the election”: From the perspective of God’s eternal choice, Israel will always
be His covenant people.
“The father’s sakes”: The
patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who are the recipients of the Abrahamic
Covenant. All who have been called of God to do a job, can see from this
Scripture above that God does not take back a call.God’s sovereign election of Israel, like that of individual believers, is unconditional and unchangeable because it is rooted in His immutable nature and expressed in the unilateral, eternal Abrahamic Covenant.
Romans 11:30-32
God’s ultimate purpose is to have mercy on… all. Through not the author of sin, God allowed man to pursue his sinful inclinations so that He could receive glory by demonstrating His grace and mercy to disobedient sinners.
I Timothy 2:36 "For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;" "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." "For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
You see, not only were we heathen not keeping the law of God, but the Hebrews, who God had given the law to, were not keeping it either. In fact, the law was given as a schoolmaster to make us realize our need for a Savior.
Galatians 3:22 "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."
In verses 33-36, The majesty, grandeur and wisdom of God’s plan revealed in verses 1-32 caused Paul to burst out in praise. This doxology is a fitting response not only to God’s future plans for Israel (chapters 9-11), but to Paul’s entire discussion of justification by faith (chapters 1-11).
To do so justly God has bound (synekleisen, “enclosed, shut in on all sides”) all men over to disobedience. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom_3:23). “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin” (Rom_3:9), so that “there is no difference” (Rom_3:22). When the Gentiles rejected God and disobeyed Him (Rom_1:17-21), God chose Abraham and his descendants as His special people. Now the disobedience of the Jews enables God to show mercy to the Gentiles. Then, when that purpose is achieved, He will again show mercy to Israel corporately.
Romans 11:33-36
To God’s Glory And Praise
The minute we start speaking of someone who had no beginning and had no end, you get beyond our comprehension. In Proverbs, it lists so many things that God has done that we could never understand. Just the fact that God placed a planet in open space and it has stayed there is really unbelievable. Nature, itself, tells us that there is an intelligence so far superior to us.
Have you made any worlds lately? Neither have I. The human body is so complicated that doctors still do not know everything about it. Just take a look around you and it will not be hard to realize that God is a mystery that our little brain could never figure out. The best thing to do is just let God be God and realize that He has everything figured out for us. Accept Him on simple faith and then do it His way.
Beyond tracing out translates the one word anexichniastoi, which means “incapable
of being traced by footprints.” In Eph_3:8,
its only other use in the New Testament, it is rendered “unsearchable” and
refers to the riches of Christ.
The apostle then quoted Isa_40:13, which shows that God is the
sole Designer of His wise plan. No one knows His mind or gives Him
advice. Quoted from Isaiah
40:13 "Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] his counsellor
hath taught him?"God is all in all. We need Him, He does not need us. He loves us and wants us, but He does not need us.
Revelation 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
You see, the reason we were created in the first place was for God's pleasure. We are His, we are not our own.
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. We did not give to God, He gave even our life to us. We are what we are by the grace of God. We had absolutely nothing to do with what family we were born in, or what race we are, or what color our hair is, or how tall we are, or how intelligent we are: God chose.
Job 35:7 "If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?" This in Job said it all.
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 (Rom_11:34), beyond man’s counseling (Rom_11:34), and beyond man’s giving (Rom_11:35). “All things” come from Him and by means of Him (Joh_1:3; Col_1:16; Rev_4:11) and are for Him and His glory (Col_1:16). Therefore, To Him be the glory forever! Amen (cf. Rom_15:6; Rom_16:27; 1Pe_4:11; Rev_5:12-13). Colossians 1:16 "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"
God is the source, the sustainer and the rightful end of everything that exists.
It is God's world
and everything and everyone in it belong to Him too. In view of all this, how
could we neglect so great a salvation nor fail to give God the glory?
God is the only proper One to magnify (1Co_1:31). The all-sovereign God deserves the
praise of all His creatures.
0 comments:
Post a Comment