#1656 Romans 11 Part 2 Renaissance Of The Remnant

 

I say then, has God rejected His people? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have left for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 In this way then, at the present time, a remnant according to God’s gracious choice has also come to be. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; 8 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.”

9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

And a stumbling block and a retribution to them.

10 Let their eyes be darkened to see not,

And bend their backs forever.” Romans 11: 1-10 LSB

Romans 11: 1-10 Remnant

V. 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew - It was always about a remnant, about those God chose, as in the case of Abraham from out of all the people in the world, Jacob over his twin Esau, and Jacob's name becomes what? Israel, the nation He set apart from all other nations to carry the oracles of God and from whom the Christ would be born. It has never been everyone born of Abraham, as Ishmael was also born of Abraham, nor was it because of tradition or the outward act of circumcision. In Jeremiah 31 we can see that it more likely for the fixed order of things to cease then it is for Israel to no longer be in God's eye, a nation before Him. He goes further and calls out men who would say that Israel is rejected by Him, that first they must needs to be able to measure the heavens and the foundations of the earth, basically to understand all of Creation. I know of no replacement theologian who has mastered all that as yet. 

…35Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name: 36“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.” 37This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done,” declares the LORD.… Jeremiah 31: 35-37

…7“Get up, O Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the Daughter of Babylon!” 8For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you— for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye— 9I will surely wave My hand over them, so that they will become plunder for their own servants. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me.”… Zechariah 2: 7-9

…27Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 28For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth thoroughly and decisively.” 29It is just as Isaiah foretold: “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.”… Romans 9: 27-29

…27The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.… Romans 2: 27-29

Vs. 2b -3 Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel - Paul has stated how he is a Jew and now come to believe in Christ. Now, he gives them an example from their prophets, how it has always been a remnant. Elijah was a prophet of the true God who challenged a wicked ruler of Israel, Ahab, who was led about by his wife and her 850 prophets of  Baal. Ahab calls Elijah the "troubler of Israel", deflecting the blame for God's discipline of the nation onto His prophet. They always hate the messenger. Elijah informs Ahab that it is not God's prophet but rather the king himself who troubles Israel by following the Baals and this comes from holding is wife up as a priestess. They are in a drought because of their idolatry and all the perversions that come with it. So for more background, there is a challenge made between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, that whoever's God or god answers by fire is the true God. Elijah's God answers by fire from heaven in a miraculous way after the prophets of Baal cut themselves, dance around and fail to get a response from their false deity. After this, the people of Israel saw and proclaimed, "the Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God." Elijah kills the prophets of Baal, and everything should be great now, right? I think Ahab expected a revival now, and I think this will be reflective of the end times as well, but when Ahab tells Jezebel all that was done, she calls for the death of Elijah, and he runs. After all that he runs into the wilderness. The miraculous didn't change her heart, and her husband continued to follow her. So now this is the setting, a dejected a confuse Elijah calls out against his people claiming that he is the only one left. 

More On the challenge from 1 Kings 18

1 Kings 19

Vs. 4-6 I have left for Myself 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal - You are not alone, it only appears that way, and actually if he was the only one left he would still have God and that is everything. I have sat in the room and haughtily been the only reformed Christian there, and it was never the atheists that bothered me so much, but those who claimed to know Christ and described one other than the Christ of sound Biblical understanding. The debates get old because the hearts remain unchanged, and you start to grow a martyr complex, especially when people start to slander you, even though Jesus said that would happen, but you commend yourself that you were a Christian before being a Christian was cool, yet it is God Who reserves a remnant. Elijah is depressed, it didn't go the way he thought, and God is ever so gently reeling him back to reason, letting him see that this is part of the plan, inside the sovereign will of God. 

…17Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. 18Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel— all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” 1 Kings 19: 17-18

…2who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods. 3So Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD burned against them. 4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”… Numbers 25: 2-4

…4because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal— something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind. 6So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.… Jeremiah 19: 4-6

…5He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One. 7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace… Ephesians 1: 5-7

V. 7 What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained - Israel sought God's blessing through the law rather than by grace, yet God held a remnant throughout all of her history. Those were the chosen, and those are marked by humility verses pride, a reliance upon God rather than self.

Seeking (1934)(epizeteo from epi = intensifies meaning + zeteo = try to learn location of something, searching for) means to search or look for (people [Jesus] Lk 4:42). To seek in order to know describing an intellectual inquiry (Acts 19:39). To have a strong desire for and so to wish for (Mt 6:32, Lk 12:30 Ro 11:7). To desire (a sign = Mt 12:39, 16:4, Lk 11:29). Inquire of (Lxx = 2Ki 1:3). Seek a charge (Lxx = 2Sa 3:8)

What was Israel “so earnestly” seeking? The answer can be found in [Ro 9:30-10:3] -- They were pursuing righteousness, a right standing before God. The situation was ironic. The Jews zealously sought to be accepted by God on the basis of works and the righteousness of the Law (cf. Romans 10:2-3). However, they were not accepted by God; only the elect were, because of God’s sovereign choice by grace.

So this is the situation: Most of the Jews have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. Why? [Ro 9:32] Because it is obtained only by faith and they were stubborn and rebellious.

The writer of Hebrews says that…

(NASB) indeed we have had good news (gospel) preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard."

Chosen (1589) (ekloge from eklegomai in turn from ek = out + légo = select, choose, eklegomai meaning to choose or select for oneself, but not necessarily implying rejection of what is not chosen) means literally a choosing out and in Scripture speaks of election, the benevolent purpose of God by which any are chosen unto salvation so that they are led to embrace and persevere in Christ’s bestowed grace and the enjoyment of its privileges and blessings here and hereafter. Although not used in this way in the present context, ekloge, can describe election which is vocational. The Lord called out the tribe of Levi to be His priests, but Levites were not thereby guaranteed salvation. Jesus called twelve men to be apostles but only eleven of them to salvation. After Paul came to Christ because of God’s election to salvation, God then chose him in another way to be His special apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Rom. 1:5). - Precept Austin

Vs. 8-10 Let their eyes be darkened to see not - They had before them even more than the gentile world, more than the knowledge that Creation calls for a Creator. They had the law of God and the prophets, and those spoke to the coming of Messiah, Who He would be, the time of His coming, and yet they refused to believe. 

…20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,… Romans 1: 20-22

Let… be darkened (4654) (skotizo from skótos = darkness) means literally to be or become dark, to be unable to give light and figuratively to obscure. Aorist imperative (passive voice) calls for action that comes from without the one who is darkened (spiritually speaking) This is a terrible imprecation (uttering in a sense a curse upon another). Because Israel refused to see the Lord Jesus as Messiah and Savior, they lost the power to see Him. Because they steadfastly, stubbornly refused to hear the pleading voice of God, now they were smitten with spiritual deafness. That terrible judgment continues to this very day. - PA

Bend (4781) (sugkampto from sún = together + kámpto = to bend, bow) means to bend together, to bow down low. It pictures bend together as of captives whose backs were bent under burdens. This is written in the form of a command (aorist imperative) This picture suggests the hunched over position in which blind people sometimes walk as they grope their way on a path they cannot see that leads to a destination they do not seek.

Forever (1275) (diapantos from diá = through + pantós = all) literally means through all and describes continuous unbroken permanence of a characteristic habit. This means through all time and so constantly or continually. It does not mean “without end,” but is more accurately rendered “constantly” or “continuously". That is, as long as it lasts, may there be no relief.

It is difficult to tell exactly what calamity this is supposed to represent. It may be a figure for the hard labor of slavery, the heaviness of a burden, a state of weakness, or the overwhelming effects of grief or fear. Any of these could apply to first-century Judaism. Paul may be saying,

“May their backs be always weak and feeble under the burden that they bear because of their rejection of the gospel” (Fitzmyer).

Or he may be referring to “the state of slavish fear in which the Jews shall be held as long as this judgment of hardening which keeps them outside of the gospel shall last” (Godet).

In summary, Paul says all in Israel not included in the remnant chosen to salvation by sovereign grace were hardened. He explains this hardening in that God gave them a spirit of slumber, an insensibility of heart that made them insensible to the gospel, sightless spiritual eyes, and deaf ears. How are we to understand this? Moses records the fact that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but not until Pharaoh had first hardened his own heart. The original hardening came from his totally depraved nature. Then God hardened Pharaoh’s heart by forcing him to an issue which he did not want to meet. The more God demanded that he let Israel go, the more Pharaoh rebelled. The more he rebelled, the harder his heart became. So with Israel. Israel rejected God and His Word, and the more it did so the harder its heart became. Light rejected, blinds. In addition to this natural hardening of the heart, there was God’s judicial action of hardening as a just judgment upon its sin of rejection. - PA

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#1655 Romans 11 Part 1 Has God Rejected His People

 

I say then, has God rejected His people? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have left for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 In this way then, at the present time, a remnant according to God’s gracious choice has also come to be. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; 8 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.”

9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

And a stumbling block and a retribution to them.

10 Let their eyes be darkened to see not,

And bend their backs forever.” Romans 11: 1-10 LSB

Romans 11: 1

Throughout the book of Romans Paul has made the case against men that all are under the curse through Adam, and that all have proven that out in that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." He has also made the case that salvation is available in Christ, but it is through faith, which is a gift, and this faith comes by hearing, and the hearing is to be the Word of Christ. 

…23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.… Romans 3: 23-25

…27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,… Romans 3: 27-29

…8But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! 10For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!… Romans 5: 8-10

Paul goes on to answer the question of why the nation of Israel as a whole did not receive the Messiah, Who was promised to them and predicted throughout the Old Testament. He himself did not believe at first, but this makes it all the more of grace, and in Romans 8 and 9 we are taught about predestination, of God's choosing men from eternity, before they were ever born. We come to find that it isn't about being related to Abraham that saves you, for we see Abraham try to make another way through Ishmael, but God chooses His own way and raises Isaac from the barren womb. After that we see twins come from Isaac and God chooses Jacob, who becomes Israel. Salvation also didn't come through circumcision, and this was no new teaching, that God looked not for the outward, but for the inner circumcision of the heart. 

…10Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac. 11Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand, 12not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”…

…13So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not! 15For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”…

 Romans 9: 10-15

…28A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God. Romans 2: 28-29

…3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns. 4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.” Jeremiah 4: 3-4

More On Jeremiah 4

V. 11 I say then, has God rejected His people - Sadly, regardless of the simple reading of the OT prophets, like Isaiah, who speak to a coming restoration of Israel from a remnant, and also about the vast majority of Israel rejecting Christ along with then nations, many of todays evangelicals cannot interpret Isaiah 2 the same as they would Isaiah 53, in a literal sense. Replacement theology arose in the early church though Paul is so eloquently battling it here. The problem with many reformers today though is that they only reform so far as their favorite early reform teachers, and not back to the simple meaning of Holy Scripture. That which can be grasped by a child they reject for formulas, and rather than relying on the Holy Spirit they fall into the errors of those who thought the nation too far gone, the people too dispersed, as though God could not bring them into the land again. Yet He has, and the salvation of Israel will be no different then ours, they must also be born of the Spirit. 

1This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.… Isaiah 2: 1-3

More From Isaiah 2

10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.… Zechariah 12: 10-11

More From Zechariah 12

…25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.… Ezekiel 36: 25-27

More On The Work Of Salvation Ezekiel 36

Barry Horner has the following discussion of how the respected preacher C H Spurgeon approached the problem of the Jews and the Nation of Israel…

C. H. Spurgeon like Andrew Bonar, his contemporary, held Augustine and Calvin in high esteem, but this pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London did not embrace their essentially (replacement) eschatology. Rather, Spurgeon maintained a fervent interest in the Jewish people and particularly their being reached with the gospel. Preaching on Ezek 24:26 in 1855, just prior to the rise of modern Zionism, he plainly declared,

Not long shall it be ere they [the Jews] shall come—shall come from distant lands, where'er they rest or roam; and she who has been the off-scouring of all things, whose name has been a proverb and a bye-word, shall become the glory of all lands. Dejected Zion shall raise her head, shaking herself from dust, and darkness, and the dead. Then shall the Lord feed his people, and make them and the places round about his hill a blessing. I think we do not attach sufficient importance to the restoration of the Jews. We do not think enough of it. But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this. I imagine that you cannot read the Bible without seeing clearly that there is to be an actual restoration of the children of Israel. "Thither they shall go up; they shall come with weeping unto Zion, and with supplications unto Jerusalem." May that happy day soon come! For when the Jews are restored, then the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in; and as soon as they return, then Jesus will come upon Mount Zion to reign with his ancients gloriously, and the halcyon days of the Millennium shall then dawn; we shall then know every man to be a brother and a friend; Christ shall rule with universal sway.

Speaking on Ezek 37:1-10 in 1864 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in aid of funds for the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel amongst the Jews, Spurgeon declared,

This vision has been used, from the time of Jerome onwards, as a description of the resurrection, and certainly it may be so accommodated with much effect… But while this interpretation of the vision may be very proper as an accommodation, it must be quite evident to any thinking person that this is not the meaning of the passage. There is no allusion made by Ezekiel to the resurrection, and such topic would have been quite apart from the design of the prophet's speech. I believe he was no more thinking of the resurrection of the dead than of the building of St. Peter's at Rome, or the emigration of the Pilgrim Fathers…

The meaning of our text, as opened up by the context, is most evidently, if words mean anything, first, that there shall be a political restoration of the Jews to their own land and to their own nationality; and then, secondly, there is in the text, and in the context, a most plain declaration, that there shall be a spiritual restoration, a conversion in fact, of the tribes of Israel… Her sons, though they can never forget the sacred dust of Palestine, yet die at a hopeless distance from her consecrated shores. But it shall not be so forever… They shall again walk upon her mountains, shall once more sit under her vines and rejoice under her fig-trees. And they are also to be re-united. There shall not be two, nor ten, nor twelve, but one-one Israel praising one God, serving one king, and that one king the Son of David, the descended Messiah. They are to have a national prosperity which shall make them famous; nay, so glorious shall they be that Egypt, and Tyre, and Greece, and Rome, shall all forget their glory in the greater splendor of the throne of David…

If there be meaning in words this must be the meaning of this chapter. I wish never to learn the art of tearing God's meaning out of his own words. If there be anything clear and plain, the literal sense and meaning of this passage—a meaning not to be spirited or spiritualized away—must be evident that both the two and the ten tribes of Israel are to be restored to their own land, and that a king is to rule over them. - Barry Horner quoting C. H. Spurgeon Via PA

V. 11b May it never be - J Mac points out that Paul uses the strongest form of negation in the Greek. The same repudiation he uses against those who would think that grace is a license to sin, refuting the antinomian argument. We also see that whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and His love for Israel is not based upon her perfect keeping of the law, not even in the remnant, for no one was ever saved by the law, it pointed out the trespass. God punished Israel, but will not abandon His remnant. He will restore them for the sake of His own glory, and as stated in Ezekiel, this will not be against His holiness or justice, for He will give them a new heart and cause them to walk in His statutes.

1What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? 3Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?… Romans 6: 1-3

…21Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty. 22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own. 23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.… 1 Samuel 12: 21-23

6“On that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the outcast, even those whom I have afflicted. 7And I will make the lame into a remnant, and the outcast into a strong nation. Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.… Micah 4: 6-7

More from Micah 4

…11On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, and the adversaries of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will no longer envy Judah, nor will Judah harass Ephraim.… Isaiah 11: 11-13

More on Isaiah 11

V. 11c For I too am an Israelite, a seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin - Paul's first argument is himself, look, I am not permanently cast off, and I am a Jew. Paul mourns for his brothers and sisters after the flesh and prays that they too will be saved and believes that some will because of what God says. He understands that it doesn't rest in the will of those who are lost, but in the power of God to save, to have them will anew. 

An Israelite is a descendant of Jacob (Israel) and thus an heir of the promises God gave to that nation.

Paul is also a physical descendant of Abraham (Covenant: Abrahamic), the one to whom God gave the covenant promises.Tribe of Benjamin

In Acts Paul defends himself before the Jews testifying…

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all are today. (Acts 22:3)

"(before Agrippa) So then, all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem (Acts 26:4) - Precept Austin

…2I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood, 4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.… Romans 9: 2-4

Paul is clearly an Israelite descended from Abraham and of the tribe of Benjamin and if God saved him, He could save other Jews.

This chapter gives a beautiful illustration of the interweaving of God’s providential arrangements. The circumstances under consideration are seen to be to one another as cause and effect:

(1) Israel’s downfall has resulted in the carrying of the gospel to the Gentiles (Ro 11:11, 12, 15, 30)

(2) but this present mercy to Gentiles will lead to the obtaining of mercy by Israel (Ro 11:26, 31)

(3) the mercy thus shown in the restoration of Israel will result in universal blessing (Ro 11:15)

Scofield summarizes Romans 11 as follows…

Israel has not been forever set aside is the theme of this chapter.

(1) The salvation of Paul proves that there is still a remnant of Israel (Ro 11:1).

(2) The doctrine of the remnant proves it (Ro 11:2- 6).

(3) The present national unbelief was foreseen (Ro 11:7-10).

(4) Israel's unbelief is the Gentile opportunity (Ro 11:11-25).

(5) Israel is judicially broken off from the good olive tree, Christ (Ro 11:17-22).

(6) They are to be grafted in again (Ro 11:23, 24).

(7) the promised Deliverer will come out of Zion and the nation will be saved (Ro 11:25-29).

That the Christian now inherits the distinctive Jewish promises is not taught in Scripture. The Christian is of the heavenly seed of Abraham (Ge15:5,v6 Ga3:29) and partakes of the spiritual blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant (Ge 12:2, note); but Israel as a nation always has its own place and is yet to have its greatest exaltation as the earthly people of God. - Precept Austin

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#1644 Romans 10 Part 2 How Will They Believe

 

14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!”

16 However, they did not all heed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

18 But I say, have they never heard? On the contrary, they have;

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,

And their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says,

“I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation,

By a nation without understanding will I anger you.”

20 And Isaiah is very bold and says,

“I was found by those who did not seek Me,

I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

21 But as for Israel He says, “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” Romans 10: 14-21 LSB

Romans 10: 14-21

V. 14 How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed - Christ has to be presented, the Gospel preached, and in order to do this one must know the true gospel. What is the gospel? It is that there is God, the uncreated Being, there is man, created in the image of God, but fallen. The gospel tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and it calls us to repent and believe in the One God sent to reconcile us to Him. Sadly, we are warned that there are those out there who will preach another gospel, one that doesn't convict men of sin and of God's righteousness, one that preaches another Christ, one that doesn't save. The gospel is received by faith, which is a gift of God and not of works. The most reluctant evangelist of all time was Jonah, and he did not want to tell the people of Nineveh to repent because he was afraid they might, and so he would have left them without a preacher, but God changed his mind.

5And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. 6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.… 

…8Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” 10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.…

Jonah 3: 5-10

…5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.… Hebrews 11: 5-7

…3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily. 5I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”… 2 Corinthians 11: 3-5

6I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!…

…9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse! 10Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11For I certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man.… Galatians 1: 6-11

V. 15 And how will they preach unless they are sent - Every believer is a sent one, to your family, to your friends, to your place of work, and if you are unwilling to proclaim the gospel there then you would not be much of a missionary elsewhere. If you won't proclaim the good news to those closest to you, then I dare say that you do not love them so much as you want them to like you. Of course there will be trepidation, for people are proud and don't want to be convicted of sin, the very first part of the gospel is the most repelling thing to them. It's okay to be afraid, but it is not okay to live there. Turn to God in prayer, pray for the courage and strength to speak but also to live up to what you speak. As a Calvinist I know that salvation is of the Lord, but that same Lord has also divinely instituted the means. His Scriptures tell us that faith, which is a gift of God, comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So study the word of God, live what it teaches, and then I pray that we will be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us, to everyone around us, otherwise all our talk of empathy and compassion is really just the cruelest fiction. 

MacArthur sums up Ro 10:14, 15 noting that "Paul’s main point in this series of rhetorical questions is that a clear presentation of the gospel message must precede true saving faith. True faith always has content—the revealed Word of God. Salvation comes to those who hear and believe the facts of the gospel." - Precept Austin

…18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.… 2 Corinthians 5: 18-20

V. 16 However, they did not all heed the good news - People's response, even their hostility, does not dictate whether we share the gospel or not. In fact, Jesus' rejection and death was prophesied by Isaiah 700 years before it happened. 

…25“I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf. 26But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. 27My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.… John 10: 25-27

More from Isaiah 53:1

Vs. 17-18 Hearing by the word of Christ - It is not about you, your charisma, your great argumentation, no, it is about the Holy Spirit working upon the hearts of those who God set His affection on before time began, and called to believe in His gospel. 

So faith comes from hearing - The gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit and is heard. The same Spirit births faith in the gospel message in the hearts of the elect. This is a supernatural transaction which saved sinners have the awesome privilege to participate in and cooperate with God's Spirit, by obediently speaking forth the word of truth by which God brings new birth! (cp Jas 1:18-note, Jn 3:7, 8) - PA

13But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth. 14To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.… 2 Thessalonians 2: 13-15

Into all the earth - This phrase appears first in the sentence to emphasize the universal accessibility of general revelation. Creation gives worldwide, ample witness of the Creator so that it is little wonder that those who desire to suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Ro 1:18-note) advocate natural evolution and abhor supernatural creation!

F F Bruce comments that "This might seem an exaggeration: the gospel had not been carried throughout all the earth, not even to all the lands that were known to the inhabitants of the Graeco-Roman world. Paul was well aware of that; at this very time he was planning the evangelization of Spain, a province where the name of Christ was not yet known (cp Ro 15:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24-note). But But by now the gospel had been carried to most parts of the Mediterranean area where Jews were to be found; and that is all the argument requires." - PA

Vs. 19-20 Did Israel not know - The Jews had been told that Messiah would come, would be rejected by His own, and that Gentiles would be called in. Israel was actually supposed to be a light to the other nations. Some look at Scripture, especially new Christians and they say, "How is it possible that Israel did not believe, did not accept the Messiah, given what was foretold about Him by Moses and the prophets, you see, look at it, I believed without knowing all that they had before them." If you truly believed then it was because you were born of the Spirit. One can know a lot of facts, memorize many things that God said, but unless you are born again you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 

…20He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation—children of unfaithfulness. 21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding. 22For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.… Deuteronomy 32: 20-22

I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation - In other words Gentiles will be saved and Jews will become jealous of their salvation. This is amazing grace and justice combined to bring about God's intended purpose of redemption of the world. When Israel rejected the Messiah, God sent the Gospel to the Gentiles so that they might be saved which is what Moses had predicted (Dt 32:21). Paul had alluded to the truth of Gentile salvation in Romans 9 (see Ro 9:22, 23, 24, 25, 26).

One reason why God sent the Gospel to the Gentiles was that they might provoke the Jews to jealousy (Ro 10:19 11:11). It was an act of grace both to the Jews and to the Gentiles. The Prophet Isaiah predicted too that God would save the Gentiles (Isa 65:1). The very calling of the Gentiles, predicted and interpreted as it is in the passages quoted, should itself have been a message to the Jews, which they could not misunderstand; it should have opened their eyes as a lightning flash to the position in which they stood—that of men who had forfeited their place among the people of God—and provoked them, out of jealousy, to vie with these outsiders in welcoming the righteousness of faith.” - PA

V. 21 All day long I have stretched out My hand to a disobedient and obstinate people - It is like the proverbs about wisdom crying out in the market place but everyone is too busy and disinterested to hear her. God had not been closer to, or made Himself more known to a people than the Jews. He has punished their wickedness and heard their repentance all throughout history, but it was always and only by the power of His own hand that they heard or repented. 

…46And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.… Luke 24: 46-48

…3because of the evil they have done. They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. 4Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’ 5But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.… Jeremiah 44: 3-5

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