[𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘖𝘋 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴”, 𝘣𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘦.]

As we turned from the simple, straightforward gospel truths in Romans 10 to more complex concepts about GOD’s dealings with His chosen nation of Israel in Romans 11, I was grateful for encouragement from Peter that Paul’s letters contain some things that are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16).  I am in good company when my brain struggles to comprehend all that Paul was saying.

Paul closed chapter ten with the heartbreaking picture of the LORD, arms stretched open wide, pleading with Israel to turn to Him and accept His plan of salvation, only to have them insist on remaining stubborn and rebellious (10:21).  He opened chapter eleven asking and immediately answering the anticipated question, “Has GOD rejected His own people?  Of course not!” (11:1)

So, what did Paul say about the nation of Israel in this passage?

• GOD has not rejected the people He chose from the very beginning. (11:2)
• A few people of Israel have remained faithful because of GOD’s grace (undeserved kindness). (11:5-6)
• Most people of Israel have not found the favor of GOD they earnestly look for. (11:7)
• The hearts of most people of Israel are hardened, their eyes are shut, and their ears are closed. (11:7-8, quoted from Isaiah 29:10, Deuteronomy 29:4)
• Israel was disobedient, so GOD made salvation available to the Gentiles. (11:11)
• The world will receive a great blessing when Israel does receive GOD’s salvation. (11:12)
• If the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, GOD will be eager to graft their original branches back into His special olive tree where they belong. (11:17-24)
• Israel’s hard hearts will only remain until the full number of Gentiles comes to CHRIST. (11:25)
• The Rescuer from Jerusalem will turn Israel from their ungodliness.  GOD will take away their sins. (11:26-27, quoted from Isaiah 59:20-21, 27:9)
• Many people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News [about CHRIST], yet they are still beloved by GOD, for He chose them.  GOD’s gifts and His call can never be withdrawn. (11:28-29)
• GOD extends His mercy to Jews and Gentiles alike. (11:30-32)

Throughout this lesson in our Emmaus study (p 109-115), William MacDonald pointed out a key perspective from which to understand Paul’s statements about Israel and the Gentiles – that Paul was speaking about these groups as a whole, not about individual people.

Paul, himself, was a beautiful example of an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin who was reached and saved by GOD’s grace – the light and love of JESUS broke through, the scales that blinded his eyes fell, and his life was transformed from enmity against the Gospel to one of its strongest proponents!

Mr. MacDonald also shared some helpful thoughts about Paul’s illustration of branches broken off and grafted into GOD’s special olive tree (p 112-113):

“In this illustration it is important to see that the main trunk of the olive tree is not Israel but GOD’s line of privilege down through the centuries.  The wild olive branch is not the church; it is the Gentiles viewed collectively.  Otherwise, you face the possibility of true believers being cut off from GOD’s favor, and Paul has already shown this is impossible (8:38-39).

This is what we mean by the phrase “line of privilege”:  GOD decided to set apart a certain people to occupy a special place of nearness to Himself.  They would be set apart from the rest of the world and would have special privileges.  They would enjoy what we might call today, “favored-nation status.”  In the different ages of history, He would have a special inner circle.

The Jewish branches were broken off because of their unbelief, not because the Gentiles had any special claim on GOD.  The Gentiles were grafted in because, as a people, they stood by faith.

Paul later said to the Jewish people at Rome, “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of GOD has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen” (Acts 28:28).  As a people they  are to this day more receptive to the Gospel than the nation of Israel.  In this context, to stand is the opposite of to fall.  Israel had fallen from her place of privilege.  The Gentiles had been grafted into that place.

Israel’s severance need not be final.  If they abandon their national unbelief, there is no reason why GOD cannot put them back into their original place of privilege (11:23).” 

 . . .

As I spent time with this passage, I struggled most with these verses:

GOD has put them into a deep sleep.  To this day He has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear. (11:8, quoted from Isaiah 29:10, Deuteronomy 29:4)

GOD has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so He could have mercy on everyone. (11:32)

It is hard for me to understand why the LORD would intentionally place a barrier between anyone and the truth of redeeming grace, why He would hold anyone in disobedience when it is within His compelling power to draw them out of it with repentant hearts.  

When we face doubts and questions about GOD and His Word, we are encouraged to remind our hearts of the truth we know.  I know GOD loves His own (Isaiah 54:10, John 3:16).  I know GOD does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9).  I know GOD desires that all men come to know the truth and receive eternal life through faith in the finished work of CHRIST (1 Timothy 2:4).  So, how can I make sense of GOD’s purposes that seem conflicting in these verses?

I certainly appreciate that there are mysteries about the heart and mind of GOD that will be impossible for my finite mind to fully understand.  But I also believe He welcomes our questions – even hard ones! – when they come from a heart that is genuinely eager to understand His own.

A few thoughts came to me in the middle of the night.  Although they came in the form of more questions, I wonder if His Spirit is helping me to see these complex truths in a different light:

• I remembered a simple phrase from our study of John’s gospel last year in BSF.  “JESUS did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people … He knew what was in each person’s heart” (John 2:24-25).  Could GOD be causing His own people of Israel to be blind and deaf to the truth because He knows their hearts are not ready to receive and properly handle the truth about salvation through JESUS?
• Could GOD’s hand upon His people of Israel be similar (yet in a spiritual sense) to the wise and caring step a physician might take to create a medically-induced coma in a critically ill patient, providing time for deeper healing to happen in that physical body?
• Could GOD’s “imprisoning” men in disobedience actually be mysterious kindness on His part – to help them see more quickly the futility of their own efforts, to draw them to fall on His mercy that shines more brightly against the backdrop of sin-filled hopelessness?  Is this similar to the LORD casting Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, barring them with flaming swords from the tree of life, so they would not eat of it and live forever in a sin-cursed state?  Their banishment was for the good of their eternal redemption through CHRIST.

As I continued to wrestle these questions, I found Mr. MacDonald’s comments additionally helpful (p 110 & 115):

“The nation [of Israel] suffered what might be called “a judicial hardening.”  Refusal to receive the Messiah resulted in a decreased capacity and inclination to receive Him. This is exactly what the Old Testament prophets predicted would happen (Isa 29:10, Deut 29:4).  GOD abandoned them to a state of stupor in which they became insensitive to spiritual realities (11:8).  Because they refused to see the LORD JESUS as Messiah and Savior, they lost the power to discern who He was.  Because they would not hear the pleading voice of GOD, they were now smitten with spiritual deafness.  This terrible judgment continues to the present day.

In verse 11 Paul raises another question: Did they stumble that they might fall, never to be restored?  He denies such a suggestion emphatically.  GOD’s purpose is restorative.  His purpose is that as a result of their fall, salvation might come to the Gentiles, provoking Israel to jealousy.  This jealously is designed to bring Israel back to GOD eventually.

As a result of Israel’s rejection of JESUS CHRIST, the nation was set aside and the Gospel went out to the Gentiles (11:12).  Israel’s loss has been the Gentiles’ gain.  How much more will Israel’s restoration result in rich blessings for the world!  When Israel turns to CHRIST, they will become the channel of blessing to the nations. …

Having found both Jews and Gentiles to be disobedient, GOD is pictured imprisoning them both in that condition so that there would be no way out for them except on His terms.  This disobedience provided scope for GOD to show mercy to all, both Jews and Gentiles.”

 . . .

Paul concluded chapter eleven by shifting our focus from Israel and the Gentiles to the LORD our GOD, echoing my own realization (afresh, the more we study this book of the Bible!).  

Almighty GOD stands alone, far and above all human comprehension, power, wisdom, wealth, or ingenuity.  “How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways!” (11:33).

I really appreciated Mr. MacDonald’s closing thoughts from chapter eleven, including a beautiful summary of Paul’s letter so far (pp 115-116):

“The concluding doxology in verses 33-36 looks back over the entire letter and the divine wonders that have been unfolded.  Paul has expounded the marvelous plan of salvation by which a just GOD can save ungodly sinners and still be just in doing so.  He has shown how CHRIST’s work brought more glory to GOD and more blessing to human beings than Adam lost through his sin.  He has explained how grace produces holy living in a way that law could never do.  He has traced the unbreakable chain of GOD’s purpose from foreknowledge to eventual glorification.  He has set forth the doctrine of sovereign election and the companion doctrine of human responsibility.  And he has traced the justice and harmony of GOD’s dispensational dealings with Israel and the nations.  Now nothing could be more appropriate than to burst forth in a hymn of praise and worship.

The Almighty is self-contained.  He is the source of every good, He is the active agent in sustaining and controlling the universe, and He is the Object for which everything has been created.  Everything is designed to bring glory to Him.  Let it be so!  “To Him be glory forever.  Amen!”

There may be many things I fail to fully grasp, but I am encouraged to keep studying GOD’s Word!  As I catch even a glimpse of Who GOD is and who I am to Him, I simply agree with Job:

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. … Yet will I trust Him.  (Job 42:3, Job 13:15)

RESOURCES:

“The Letter to the ROMANS,” by William MacDonald, Emmaus Worldwide, 2020, Revised 2023.

The Bible Project, video summary of the book of Romans, Parts 1 & 2.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/romans-1-4/

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/romans-5-16/

“Knowing the Bible: Romans”, by Jared C. Wilson, The Gospel Coalition,  thegospelcoalition.org .