Paul answers the question that is on the minds of so many today. I see the debates online, in the conversations that I hear in many places, sermons in the pulpit that tell us God is done with Israel, the Israel in the Promised Land is not the real Israel, and on and on we hear. But Paul tells us that the best example that God is not done with Israel is him. He is a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, of the seed of Abraham. If God were done with the Jews, if God were done with Israel, then Paul would not be saved. And by the way, neither would any of the other apostles; they were all Jews.
Paul uses the example of Elijah from 1 Kings 19: 1-10 as a reminder that God is never defeated. He always has lots and lots of people all over the place. If you recall the story, Elijah is emotionally and spiritually defeated; he is running from Jezebel and runs away to a place by himself. And there, God feeds him and lets him get some rest. But after about 40 days, God sends him back to anoint the next king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom), and God reminds Elijah that He has more than 7,000 men in Israel who had not bowed to Baal. Elijah thought that he was the only one left serving God; nothing could be further from the truth.
Paul then tells us in verse 5 that He has a remnant in Israel. There is no need to have a remnant if God is done with Israel. We can read and see in Revelation 7:1-8 that there are 144,000 Jewish missionaries who are sent out to find and bring to Israel the believing Jews. So, if these are Jews, then they are NOT SDA church people. The Seven-Day Adventists have NOT replaced Israel, and the Law-keeping in the world will not change that.
In verses 5-6, Paul reminds us that salvation is by grace only. The Jews who are saved will not be saved and cannot be saved by keeping the Law; they, like everyone else, have to believe in the Messiah and the resurrection.
As far back as Job, the earliest book in the Bible, the idea of resurrection has always been tied to salvation. In Job 19:27, Job says that he knows He will see God with his own eyes even if he dies. For now, God has allowed a ‘blindness’ to overtake the vast majority of the Jews about Jesus. They are not able to see Him; they rejected Him and, for a time, are blind. But God tells us in Romans 11:25 that the blindness of Israel is temporary until the time of the Gentiles is completed. Then God will revert to dealing with the Jews, both punishing them for their unbelief and tormenting the world for coming against His chosen people. The rabid hatred for Israel amongst the Muslims, the liberals, the UN, and the EU should tell us that God is not done with them.
Paul then uses an agricultural impossibility to show us who is the branch and who is the vine. In nature, it is impossible to graft a wild olive branch into a cultivated olive tree. But we, the Gentiles, were grafted into the vine, Israel, by God and God alone.
In Romans 4, we are told that Abraham is the father of all those who believe. Thus, God did what is impossible in the farming industry; He took wild branches (us, the Gentiles) and grafted us into the vine (Israel). We should not be arrogant; it is a supernatural act of God that has done this. Always remember that the vine feeds the branches and not the other way around.
Our Gospel is a Jewish one, with a Jewish Messiah, who walked in Israel, died in Israel, resurrected in Israel, and will return to Israel. If God is done with Israel, we have no hope. If God could give up on Israel, He can give up on us. In Romans 11:26, Paul emphatically states that ‘all Israel will be saved.’ In verse 27, we are told that God will ‘take away their sins.’
Then we are reminded in verse 29 that the ‘calling and gifts of God are irrevocable’; this should make us rejoice. All of the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all of the promises He made to David and Solomon, will be fulfilled. God will be right and everyone else wrong.
Paul reminds us in verse 33 that God’s ways are unsearchable and His ways past finding out; God has a plan; He has never lied to us, and He never will. He has never broken a promise or a covenant, and He is not about to begin with either Israel or you and me. God cannot give up on Israel, and as such, we can be assured that He will not give up on us. God be praised!!!
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario
The post Romans 11: God Has Not Put Away Israel :: By Sean Gooding appeared first on Rapture Ready.
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