DID GOD REJECT HIS OWN PEOPLE? Chapter s 9, 10, 11 must be understood in view of the fact that God does call every man (John 6:44-45); every man responds to this call in some way (Matthew 13:18-23); It is God's desire that everyone come to him and be saved(2 Peter 3:9). The questions which Paul deal... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD HAS NOT REJECTED HIS PEOPLE. Paul formally states that God has not rejected his nation of Israel in the fact of choosing the Gentiles. WHERE ELIJAH PLEADS WITH GOD AGAINST ISRAEL. "Whoever says God has rejected his people Israel, must be ignorant of what the scripture says." Paul quotes 1 Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM THE ONLY ONE LEFT. Paul, like Elijah, was lonely and persecuted, and Israel as a nation seemed to have abandoned God or been abandoned by Him. But Paul better understands God's way (and His faithfulness).... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT ANSWER DID GOD GIVE HIM? This quotes 1 Kings 19:18 as the answer. SEVEN THOUSAND MEN. _The Expositor's Greek Testament_ says: _"God_ has reserved the seven thousand; He has reserved them for _Himself:_ it is on this the proof depends that He has not cast off His people. The seven thousand ate I... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS THE SAME WAY NOW. God's answer in Romans 11:4. AT THIS TIME. In the Greek, this points to the present time (as Paul writes) as a CLIMAX. The idea is the same as Romans 9:6-13. BECAUSE OF HIS MERCY. The emphasis is on this fact. But note that God's faithfulness in keeping his people is not base... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS CHOICE IS BASED ON HIS MERCY. Paul again emphasizes that nothing a man can do will give him the right to place an obligation on God. God did not accept this "small number" because they obeyed the Law, but because they accepted his offer of mercy! _Salvation is not achieved but seized!_ FOR IF GO... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT THEN? "How will we describe the present situation, if not in the painful language of Romans 11:1_?"_ IT WAS THE SMALL GROUP. See Romans 11:5. THE REST GREW DEAF TO GOD'S CALL. [EPOROSETHAN is 3 pers. pl. aor. 1, ind. _passive._] Compare 2 Corinthians 3:14. Paul is purposely vague about how they... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE SCRIPTURE SAYS. The quotation is a paraphrase _of_ Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 29:10; Isaiah 6:9-10. GOD MADE THEM DULL. It is God who sends this spirit of dullness - not arbitrarily or at random, but as a JUDGMENT. When God cannot convince, he confuses! Compare Isaiah 29:13; Psalms 95:7-8; 2 Th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND DAVID SAYS. The quotation is Psalms 69:22-23 in the Septuagint. This does not mean the Jews are more sinful than the Gentiles. The Jew loved the Law of God, but the Law misunderstood, destroyed him. See also what Peter said in Acts 15:10. "This veil is removed only when a man is joined to Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
DID THEY FALL TO THEIR RUIN? "Have they been irrevocably doomed to hell, with no chance at all for salvation?" BY NO MEANS! [_God forbid_ is not in the Greek.] God has no desire to see anyone be lost eternally (Matthew 18:14). BECAUSE THEY SINNED. God did not decree that they should sin, but he used... [ Continue Reading ]
BROUGHT RICH BLESSINGS. The Jews scattered throughout the world among the Gentiles were a big help in spreading the Good News of Christ (compare Acts 2:5). But this _scattering_ was the result of their own rebellion (compare 2Ma. 1:27). God made use of the unbelief (and rejection) of the Jewish Nati... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM SPEAKING NOW. The church at Rome was made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. It is important for Gentile Christians to have the right attitude toward Jewish Christians, since they are ONE in Christ (Galatians 3:28)! AN APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES. "As _apostleship_ to the Gentiles is represe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SO BE ABLE TO SAVE SOME OF THEM. Paul was willing to use every resource and even be sacrificed as a martyr, to turn his people to Christ! Each Jew who is saved, goes to make up the _complete number_ of Romans 11:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHEN THEY WERE REJECTED. This returns to the reasoning of Romans 11:12. See notes on Romans 11:11. The unbelieving Jews have become "undigested Jonahs," running from God. IT WILL BE LIFE FOR THE DEAD! _Jowett_ says: "Words fail him and he employs the strongest he can find, thinking rather of the... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THE FIRST PIECE OF BREAD. The symbolism is taken from Numbers 15:17-21. A portion of the grain-harvest was baked into two loaves (Leviticus 23:17) which were presented to God as a sacrifice. This "first-portion" or _first piece_ made the whole loaf holy, including the produce of the entire land.... [ Continue Reading ]
SOME OF THE BRANCHES. In the next seven verses, Paul answers an objection which a Gentile Christian might have to his use of the "root and branches" symbolism. The olive tree, of which Abraham is the root, is the _chosen family of Abraham -_ not his descendants in a natural way (of the flesh), but h... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU MUST NOT DESPISE. Paul tells the Gentile Christians that they must not despise those Jews who do not believe in Christ (those who were broken off). A farmer grafts cultivated branches on wild stock; the grafting in of the Gentiles is contrary to nature (but no less real). But it is the Gentile w... [ Continue Reading ]
YES, BUT. "I know I am not the root, but the branches were broken off to make room for me. Doesn't this make me superior to them?... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS TRUE. This means: "There is some truth in this line of reasoning." But these branches were not just broken off to make room for the Gentiles. BECAUSE THEY DID NOT BELIEVE. What Paul is saying here, helps to explain what he said in Romans 9:14-18. It was their own unbelief which caused them t... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD DID NOT SPARE THE JEWS. If God broke off the natural branches because of their disbelief, he will break off the Gentile branches who cease to believe.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW KIND AND HOW SEVERE GOD IS. To those Jews who have fallen, Christ said: "the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you" (Matthew 21:43). Some twelve years after Paul wrote these words, the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem and 1,100,000 Jews (who had fallen) DESTROYED THEMSELVES (see _note on_ Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE JEWS. They can be part of the tree also. See note on Romans 11:11. The curse of _dullness_ in Romans 11:7-10 is not absolute, then, but vanishes when the Jew believes in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14). This proves the Jew has _free will_ in this matter. (As this is being written, many Jewish yo... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU GENTILES. If God saves the Gentile, this is proof he will also save the Jew! If the Gentile can be joined to the free of Abraham by faith, how much easier will it be to re-join the Jew who believes in Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS A SECRET TRUTH. [MUSTERION = something hidden, which has now been revealed. Compare 1 Corinthians 2:7-10] Otis Gatewood writes: _"_Romans 11:25_ does not_ say that by a special act of God the Jews are blinded _until the end of time and the Gentiles come to fully control the political kingdo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS IS HOW. [HOUTOS = in this way, like this, this is how.] Paul paraphrases Isaiah 59:20 which is a prophecy fulfilled by the _first coming_ of Christ! It is not the "end time" which Paul looks at, but the events before the Days of Punishment (Luke 21:20). The gospel was preached to all the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS. The central truth here is that the _sins of Jacob_ will be forgiven according to Jehovah's COVENANT - not the one at Sinai, but the promise to Abraham (Galatians 3:17-18).... [ Continue Reading ]
THE JEWS ARE GOD'S ENEMIES. Compare Romans 11:11. BUT BECAUSE OF GOD'S choice. _MacKnight_ says: "The very persons here said to be beloved [friends] in respect of the election [God's choice], are in the preceding clause said to be enemies in respect of the gospel. Wherefore, this election cannot be... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD DOES NOT CHANGE HIS MIND. See Galatians 3:14-18.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FOR YOU GENTILES. The church at Rome was mostly made up of Gentiles. You disobeyed God in THE PAST. See 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. BECAUSE THE JEWS DISOBEYED. It is an important fact of Paul's theology that God's choosing of the Jews will never be revoked - that is, that the "door of mercy" will alway... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ORDER THAT THEY ALSO. Some Jews disobeyed God because they saw the Gentiles coming to Christ. Paul's point is that both Gentile and Jew will receive God's mercy in Christ. Compare Romans 3:21-24.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD. "God has placed all men under the sentence of death for their disobedience, in order, that by admitting them into his covenant and church, he might make them aware that he gives a free gift to all.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW GREAT ARE GOD'S RICHES! In response to Romans 11:32, Paul gives a doxology of praise to God! The whole world, with its racism, violence, lust, and unbelief, may seem to be "disorganized confusion!" But when we see it as Paul sees it, God's Purpose is over all and through all! No one can obligate... [ Continue Reading ]