Romans Chapter 11

The big question in Romans 9, 10 and 11 is what has happened to Israel? Is God done with them forever? The whole point of chapter 11 is an emphatic NO HE IS NOT! As we saw in chapter 10:13… “For WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” is a shocking announcement to Israel that the nation has been “demoted” to the level of the Gentiles…“there is no difference in Jew and Greek” (vs. 12) but He is not excluding Israel from grace salvation---without the works of the law. Paul concludes chapter 10 by reminding Israel that the nation had been disobedient and gainsayers their entire history and slapping God’s hand of mercy to them. They deserved to be “cast away”. However, it is not a question of what Israel deserves; it is a question of what God has done. That same question is still being argued today. Most “Christians” are taught that “the church” is spiritual Israel. This doctrinal issue is not a trivial matter.

Vs. 1… I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.  It appears from vs. 15 of this same chapter that Paul contradicts himself. The verse “appears” to be saying two different things. Most Bible teachers resort to the old stand-by answer that the King James translators made a bad translation here and “the original Greek” will show us the way. I do not recommend this approach. Let the context explain the proper interpretation.

The sense of verse 1 is that the nation of Israel is not PERMANENTLY cast away. However, they have been cast away AS GOD’S AGENCY ON EARTH DURING THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE. Some take this verse out of context and teach that the “his people” is the saved of any dispensation---not the nation of Israel. This teaching is called “Covenant Theology”. They use Rom. 2:28-29 to prove that believers are “spiritual Jews”… For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: [29] But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

However, verse 1 specifies who Paul is referring to when he says “his people”… For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham.  Paul is not talking about a cross-section of people around the world. This is explained in Jeremiah 31: 35-37… Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: [36] If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. [37] Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.  God attaches His promises to Israel to His ordinances that established the heven and earth.

However, there is an apparent problem because Jesus said that heaven and earth will one day pass away… Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matt. 24:35) So how does that affect the status of Israel with God? Will God break His covenant with Israel someday? “For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
[18] Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. [19] And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, [20] Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; [21] Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.”  (Jer. 31:17-21) There is a connection between Israel’s existence and the existence of the heaven and earth. 

• Psa. 72:5 & 17…They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations… His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
• Gen. 8:21-22 … And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. [22] While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
• Psa. 89:3-4…I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, [4] Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah 

This apparent conflict can be resolved if we consider that the heaven and earth will be “purged” at some point in the future as Jesus warned in Matt. 24:35 BUT  the earth and heaven will never cease to exist… But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (II Peter 3:10) and And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (Rev. 21:1) So, we can understand the meaning of “pass away” to be “pass away from its present form”. Heaven and earth will exist as long as God’s name is in existence…Isa. 45: 17-18…But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. [18] For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

So Rom. 11:1 is a guarantee to both Jews and Gentiles that God has not PERMANENTLY cast away His plans and purposes for the Nation of Israel in spite of Paul’s new, earth-shattering announcement that Israel has been TEMPORARILY set aside and is on the same level dispensationally with the Gentiles. Jesus announced that heaven and earth would “pass away”; in the sense that they will be purged and transformed. So too, Israel will be purged and transformed, but never abandoned permanently. If God has in fact abandoned Israel permanently (like Covenant theology teaches) that necessarily means God abandoned the Abrahamic Covenant the Davidic Covenant and God becomes a liar. This also means that God has forfeited the earth to Satan (who wants to be like the Most High---possessor of heaven and earth---Gen. 14:19). This is why Paul so forcefully answered the question about God “casting away his people”…God forbid!!! Therefore, the teaching that “the church” is spiritual Israel is a dangerous heresy because is confuses the issue of your identity in Christ.

Ezekiel 36:17-24 explains why God said He will never abandon Israel… Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. [24] For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin…Paul also answers the question about Israel being cast away and replaced with a new dispensation by reminding the nation that he too was a Jew, who was even a blasphemer, but God had welcomed him into salvation. This proved that God had ushered in a new dispensation but Jews were not excluded from participating in God’s offer of salvation by grace through faith.

Verse 11 further clarifies this point… I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. In the dispensation of grace, God has a “provoking ministry” to Israel. It is like the tables are turned on Israel. Back in Time Past God used the nation of Israel to reach the Gentiles; but that did not work because Israel became like the Gentiles. Now he is using Paul’s message among the Gentiles to provoke the Jews to want what the Gentiles were getting. Look at verse 13… For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:  If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. Paul sought to emphasis his GENTILE APOSTLESHIP for the purpose of causing “some” Jews to desire to be a part of God’s new agency on earth (the church) and His new offer of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. There are many “Christians” who ignorantly teach that if you want to be blessed---bless Israel (Gen. 12:1-3). However, I contend that if you really want to bless Israel today---bless Paul’s apostleship.If you want to bless any nation today---Press Paul’s Apostleship. Set before the world what God is doing today with the “new creature”… That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
[16] Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. (Phil. 2:15-16)

Vs. 2-4… God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, [3] Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. [4] But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Elijah stands before 450 prophets of Baal and the rebellious people of Israel, but ONE THREAT FROM A POWERFUL WOMAN caused him to run like a coward and go into suicidal depression. The angel of the Lord told him something we all grace believers need to be reminded of… And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. (I Kings 19:7) You can’t do this by yourself. As “grace dispensers” it is easy to get focused on yourself and how lonely God’s message can make you feel. It is not about you.

Elijah thought that God had cast away His nation or should cast away His nation because he says in verse 2 that he made intercession AGAINST ISRAEL. God had to remind Elijah that he had 7,000 others in Israel who were not idolaters. 

There is a great deal of importance placed on going to church, being a member of a church and being faithful to a local church. I believe Acts 19:32 is a humorous but realistic view of what happens when we “go to church” or “belong to a church”… Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.

Romans 11:16-25 are very confusing unless we take the admonition of vs. 25 seriously… For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. To ignore or be ignorant of the “mystery” results in a person being “wise in your own conceits” (make interpretations up as you like). Failure to understand the stumbling, fall and diminishing of Israel as a nation is crucial to rightly dividing the word of truth.

To understand God's plan for the ages, and for the age in which we live, we must recognize the fact that the basic division in the Word of God is not that between the "Old" and "New" Testaments. It is rather that between prophecy and "the mystery"; between that which "God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21), and that which was "kept secret since the world began" until revealed through the Apostle Paul(Rom. 16:25).

Our Lord, when on earth, said to the Samaritan woman: "Ye worship ye know not what: We know what we worship, for SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS" (John 4:22). But after Paul had testified to the Jews from Jerusalem to Rome, almost in vain, he said: "Be it known therefore unto you, that THE SALVATION OF GOD IS SENT UNTO THE GENTILES and that they will hear it" (Acts 28:28).

This latter, the salvation of the Gentiles through Israel's rejection of Christ, had never been prophesied; it was a secret, "hid in God' (Eph. 3:9), "hid from ages and from generations"

According to the prophecy program Gentiles are to be blessed through Israel's rise (Isa. 60:1-3; Zech. 8:22-23). But according to the mystery program Gentiles are being blessed through Israel’s fall: "through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:11, 12, 15). Therefore the salvation of Gentiles and Jews today is based upon His eternal purpose, "the mystery ... kept secret since the world began,” but made known in due time through the Apostle Paul (Rom. 11:25; Eph. 3:1-4).

Vs. 16…For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

This verse introduces us to the olive tree illustration by pointing out that anything connected to the tree is holy. Paul sets this up by saying if the grain of the first-fruits is holy then the lump of dough made from the first-fruits grain will also be holy. To be holy is to be set apart for God’s service. An example of this is the serving utensils in the tabernacle …And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy; (Exodus 40:9 also 1 Kings 8:4; Ezra 8:28).

Vs. 17…And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

In determining exactly who the natural olive tree, its root and fatness, its natural branches, its graffed branches and the wild olive tree, represent it will help us to remember that in Romans 9-11 Paul is dealing with dispensational position, not with the doctrine of justification by faith.

The Cultivated Olive Tree…

Some of the more popular interpretations of who or what the olive tree represents is 1. The nation of Israel. The olive tree is not Israel in and of itself according to 11: 20.  2. Salvation. Notice that there were Jews on the olive tree who were unbelievers. This shows that the olive tree could not represent salvation. 3. The church. This olive tree has distinct Jews and Gentiles making up the tree. However, in the Church, the Body of Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:15).
So what does the domesticated olive tree represent? The “tree” is God’s plans and purposes as He reveals them over time to humanity. When He formed Israel (for a time) He made her “the branches” of this “tree of witness” to the world. God has worked through various individuals and nations during different dispensations to announce His plans and purposes to the world.  
The Wild Olive Tree…
This represents the world of lost sinners as they formulate their own plans and purposes in direct opposition to the plan and purpose of God. Even in the Garden, Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God required them to learn of His plan and purpose for them on the earth from Him. Satan convinced Eve and Eve Adam that it was worth it to make up their own minds about what is right and wrong. This propensity to separate oneself from God’s plan and purpose has been man’s (and Satan’s) undoing from the very beginning. On the other hand, having faith in God’s plan and purpose for “heaven and earth” is the very essence of salvation. The world of sinners (wild olive tree) has its own plans and purposes that are constantly sent out…”you only live once”; “do your own thing”; “what’s love got to do with it?”; “if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you are with”; etc. When a person is saved, they are saved for the purpose of being “graffed in” to God’s “tree of witness” (II Cor. 5:20… Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.)
The Natural Branches…
In the context of Romans 11 Paul is teaching that Jews are the natural (cultivated) branches. God chose Israel to be His servant according to Leviticus 25:55... For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. They were to be separate from the world and set apart for God’s service (vs. 16). This is why they would be considered holy. The word holy merely means to be separate. Those individual Jews who rejected God’s purpose for the nation of Israel were broken off from this “tree of witness” because of unbelief (vs. 20). This goes along with Paul’s definition of who a true Israelite is in Romans 9:8… That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Having Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as your ancestor meant nothing if you didn’t take God at His Word by participating in His plan and purpose. By the time Paul wrote Romans, most of the natural branches (Jews) were broken off (11:5,7) leaving a small remnant on the olive tree of God’s witness.   
Graffed in Branches…

The graffed in branches are primarily Gentile believers "branches" from a "wild olive tree," graffed in among the believing branches (Jewish remnant). Some of the Jewish remnant had been saved by the kingdom gospel and others had been saved by the gospel of Christ; both were in God’s tree of witness.  This was the only time in human history that two gospels had been preached at one time and either one would bring salvation. So, Gentile believers were graffed in to God’s cultivated olive tree along with the Jewish remnant. .  

Jewish believers constitute a very small minority of the church, the body of Christ. Practically

speaking, therefore, Paul calls God's work today "this mystery among the Gentiles" (Col. 1:27), and refers to the completion of the Body as "the fulness of the Gentiles" (Rom. 11:25). This is not strange when we consider the small minority of Gentile proselytes among the Jews when Israel was God's people.

When a wild olive branch is grafted into a domesticated olive tree the branch still produces wild olives. The grafted branch does not change into the fruit of the tree in which it is grafted. Some would contend that believers can still bring forth “wild fruit” (bad) (Rom. 12:1-2) and there is a sense in which that is true. However, I believe it teaches us that Israel and the Church have two different purposes in the plan of God. Both have been and should be God’s witness on earth. However, their witnesses were designed to be DIFFERENT to the world of lost sinners. Satan’s top priority is to hide this distinction from people and thus seal their eternal destiny in the lake of fire. (II Cor. 4:3-4… But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: [4] In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.)… Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: (Eph. 4:18)

The Root…    

The root is the purposes and plans that the Lord Jesus Christ has for the church, the body of Christ. In Isaiah Jesus is described as “a root out of dry ground” (Isa. 53: 2). Paul received the revelation of the mystery from the Lord Jesus Christ progressively. He (Jesus) is the source of every plan and purpose of God. When a believer works with God in His plan and purpose, he can truly say he is living from the root and fatness that supplies God’s “witness tree”. His message “stabilizes” the believers and “renews” our minds so that we remember we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3)

Don’t forget that the root supports and gives life to the tree not the reverse…
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Col. 3:4)
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,  (II Tim. 1:1)
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:17)
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (II Cor. 4:10)

Please note that the olive tree does not symbolize the nation of Israel, the church or salvation as many teach. It represents a “tree of testimony” to announce God’s purposes on earth. When the nation of Israel was a part of the tree, they failed their assigned task and God broke them off from the tree. God did this because Israel stumbled over the Rock of Offense (Jesus Christ) at the Cross as prophesied in Isaiah 8:14… And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; Both Peter (1 Peter 2:7-8… Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, [8] And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.) and Paul (Romans 9:33) points out the Old Testament prophesies as having been fulfilled.   

Israel had rejected the testimony of God the Father in the Old Testament by killing the Father’s messengers—the prophets (Luke 11:47; Acts 7:52). They rejected the testimony of the Son by killing Him and finally they rejected the testimony of the Holy Spirit by stoning Stephen. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit when he testified against Israel; therefore the leadership of Israel did not reject Stephen but the Holy Spirit. This blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was unforgivable and resulted in Israel’s temporary fall from God’s favor (Matthew 12:31). Israel could blaspheme the Father (Ezekiel 20:27) and not live in fear of eternal condemnation and they could blaspheme the Son, (Matthew 12:32) but the Holy Spirit was the last means by which God would reach out to Israel.

The Jews at Jerusalem had blasphemed the Holy Spirit and it resulted in the fall of the Nation. God then used Paul to go to the Jews of the dispersion (nations of the world) and announce what God had done. The Jews in Pisidia blasphemed (Acts 13:45) and Paul turned away from them to the Gentiles. Then the Jews of Corinth, Greece blasphemed and for the second time Paul turned to the Gentiles (Acts 18: 6). And when Paul reached Rome the Jews again blasphemed (Acts 28:25-28) and for the third and final time Paul pronounced blindness upon them and declared that the salvation of God had been sent to the Gentiles. This brought the Transition Period to an end, as well as the book of Acts, the purpose of which was to explain the fall of Israel and the transition to the gospel of the grace of God among the Gentiles.

Therefore, the branches of the olive tree being broken off illustrates how God changed from the Kingdom program to the Grace program and also shows how He will eventually close out this current program to finish His program with the Jews. Keep in mind that the branches are groups, not individuals.

Vs. 18-22…Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. [20] Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: [21] For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

[22] Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.  

These verses indicate that some of the Gentiles were proud of the fact that God was now working through them. First, Paul reminds them that they receive their support from the root (the Lord Jesus Christ Gal. 2:20). They would not be of any value apart from the root. He later reminds them (verse 24) that the natural branches (nation of Israel) will easily graft back into the tree once again after the wild branches are removed. They should fear God instead of thinking too highly of themselves.

The Gentile believers must focus on the work of being God’s ambassadors and being a faithful witness to the world of God’s grace or they too will be cut off. Again, we are not talking about individuals nor is this a reference to salvation. It only indicates the group through whom God decides to work with as His witness to the world. This group is in a place of favor and God can decide to change the group He works through at any time if they are not faithful in carrying out His purpose.

 Vs. 23-24… And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. [24] For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

The group cut off by God has a chance to be grafted in again but only if they do not stay in unbelief. Not only can God graft them in but for those who say Israel will never be a part of the tree again, Paul makes it clear that the natural branches that have been cut off can be easily grafted back into the tree. This again shows that Israel is not completely nor forever removed from God’s place of favor. If the Gentiles, as a wild olive branch, can be grafted into the tree, how could it be that the natural braches will not be able to become a part of the tree again?

Vs. 25-26…For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

The whole purpose of the illustration is summed up in this verse. Seeing a clear distinction between Prophecy and Mystery will go a long way in helping you understand Scripture and remove much of the confusion that is so prevalent in “religion” today. Israel has been partially blinded and will remain that way until the Fullness of the Gentiles. Don’t confuse this with the Times of the Gentiles which speaks of the Jewish nation being militarily dominated by the Gentiles beginning with the Babylonian captivity…And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24). This fullness of the Gentiles refers to the last Gentile being brought into the Body of Christ.
After the fullness of the Gentiles, God turns back to Israel and the completion of her prophetic program. When Paul speaks of this program he quotes many Old Testament passages but when speaking of the Mystery program he only can point to it in his own writings (but he does use the Old Testament for illustrative purposes but never to show our formation or destiny).

[26] And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20 to show Israel’s future after the branches are regrafted.  He will then take up residence on the throne in Jerusalem in the Millennial Kingdom.

Vs. 28-29…As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. [29] For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

On one hand, Israel is an enemy of the Gospel. They rejected the Good News of the Kingdom, but out of this failure came good for our sake (Gentiles). God appointed Paul as the Apostle to the Gentiles and revealed to him the Gospel of Grace. Each person can now come to God as an individual without going through Israel. Jew and Gentile are now on a level playing field (Ephesians 2:12-16).

On the other hand, because God chose Israel to be His servant through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Israel is beloved. Although God has temporarily stopped dealing with Israel as a nation, there is absolute certainty that He will resume His dealings with her in the future.

Vs. 30-31…For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: [31] Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. [32] For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

When the Gentiles rebelled against God at the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), He turned away from them and told Abraham that He would form a nation through whom He would reveal Himself. It was because of the disobedience of the Gentile nations that God chose to form a new nation. Israel was greatly favored by God for 1,500 years. When they rejected God’s call to be the light of the world, God rejected them temporarily as a nation and His kindness and mercy have been demonstrated through the Gentiles…What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; (Romans 3:9). This was the changeover from God’s prophetic program with Israel to His Mystery program with the Church. This change in program was also beneficial to individual Jews as shown at the end of verse 31. God has extended His mercy to Jews just as He is doing with Gentiles. Israel’s national program has been put on hold but this verse proves God is not finished with the individual Jew.

Vs. 33-36…O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! [34] For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller?  [35] Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? [36] For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

In closing out these last three chapters Paul can’t help but marvel at the great work God did in His plan of salvation for all people. God had worked out this plan from before time was created and it is this plan that He revealed through Paul. Paul was overwhelmed by God’s mercy and infinite love directed toward such vile sinners. Even though time and time again man has rejected God, God continues to reach out to save us from our sin infused lives. How could a holy and righteous God involve Himself with such depraved beings?