The study of the Book of Romans chapter 11
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is my sincere Prayer that you are being Blessed even as you read this email.
Today, we study the Book of Romans chapter 11.
11:1 Hath God cast away his people? The question is asked in such a way that we know Paul expected a negative answer. The question is answer by a direct denial, God forbid. This chapter is designed to show that God has not abrogated all His promises to Israel. She is only temporarily laid aside. When God has finished with His largely Gentile work in the church, Israel will once again be restored and flourish with the blessing of God. Notice that the church does not take over all the promises to Israel. They are two very distinct works of God.
11:2-6 His people which he foreknew: Those with whom He was once intimately related. This deals with national and not individual destiny and is a strong argument to show that God has not terminated His program for Israel.
11:7, 8: The election (lit., "the chosen one"): These are the believing Israelites, like Paul (verse 1) who have believed and are being saved today. Were blinded: This is a judicial blindness. Like Pharaoh (9:18), Israel is blinded. This fulfills Isaiah 29:10 (Matthew 13:14).
11;9, 10 Paul quotes from David (Psalms 69:22, 23) to show that David anticipated that such an experience would be Israel's. God is working according to His eternal plan. The hardening of Israel will reach its height in the middle of the Tribulation. Scripture anticipates the condition of Israel as it is today. God is not surprised; neither should we be. If it were otherwise, we should be troubled.
11:11 Have they stumbled that they should fall? This is to ask whether Israel has stumbled so badly that they have fallen completely out of God's program. Is there no future for Israel? Paul shows that Israel's apparent rejection is not permanent because of God's purposes for Israel's rejection, and the promise of her restoration.
11:15 Israel's rejection brought the greatest blessing the Gentile world ever had-- the preaching of the gospel to the world. When she is restored the blessings to accrue to the world will be even greater. Paul anticipates worldwide millennial blessing and salvation.
11:16 The root: The root of the tree is the covenants promise to Abraham, which anticipated blessing to Jew and Gentile. Israel's essential nature is holy (set apart for God's purpose). The first fruit signifies Abraham; the branches refer to Israel individually.
11:17 Some of the branches...broken off: Israel is set aside, but there is a remnant. Wild olive tree...grafted in among them: The Gentiles do not displace Israel. They merely partake of the root and the fatness of the olive tree. Paul recognizes both a unity of the church with Israel as enjoying the same blessing, and a diversity--neither usurping the other.
11:19-24 When God is finished with the Gentiles He will reinstate Israel. Israel was set aside because of unbelief. The Gentiles have favor because of their belief. Therefore they should not be proud, but realized that intrinsic nature does not matter to or deter God. They should realize that God is capable of setting the Gentiles aside and of grafting Israel in again. This is precisely what He will do.
11:25 Mystery: Compare Matthew 13:11; Romans 16; 1 Corinthians 1:7-10; Ephesians 3:3. The fullness of the Gentiles refers to the time when the last Gentile will have been saved and the church will be removed from the earth by the Rapture. It is distinct from the Time of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24), which refers to the period of time from the Babylonian captivity (587 B.C.) to the rapture of the church.
11:26-32 And so all Israel shall be saved: National salvation will come to Israel. This is the ultimate fulfillment of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and will be realized when Jesus returns to the earth to set up His kingdom. Paul weaves together Psalm 14:7, Isaiah 59:20, 21, and Jeremiah 31:31 to show that he understood the Old Testament literally and that the Old Testament prophesied Israel's deliverance from sin. God cannot do otherwise because of His promises to the fathers and His unconditional covenants. God has set Israel aside temporarily for the sake of the Gentiles, but He has not forgotten them because of His promise to the fathers.
11:36 God is the source of all things--or him; God is the channel of all things--through him; God is the goal of all things--to him; and Man's only proper response to God is to worship Him.
This concludes the study of the Book of Romans. If you are not busy, I would like you to give me a summary of what you have learned.
Yours in Jesus Christ,
Bishop William B. Caractor
