Feb 23, 2020
Originally Presented: May 4th, 2008
Scripture Reading: Romans 11:11-15
Romans 11 is meant to display the divine and sovereign plan God has planned for the people of Israel. To the question as to whether or not God has rejected Israel, after their having rejected Christ, Paul responds with a resounding, "No. Of course God will not reject His people whom He has chosen" (Rom 11:1,11).
The proof that Paul offers to buttress the notion that God has not rejected the Israelites is twofold in this chapter. First, although God has, in one sense, turned away from the Jews, this forsaking is not complete. God has still kept for Himself a remnant of Israelites, whom He has saved (Rom 11:5).
Second, God's forsaking of the Jews is not final. One day He will pour out His Spirit on the Jews and they will be saved (Rom 11:25-27). In the mean time, there is a wondrous purpose for the transgression of the Jews in rejecting Christ, a purpose which God Himself has designed. ". . . by their [Israel's] transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles . . ." (Rom 11:11). In His design for the human race, God has blinded the eyes of the Jews (Rom 11:8), partially and temporarily, so that the truth of the gospel of Jesus might go to the whole world.
There is yet a further purpose in God's plan. The salvation of the Gentiles will be the means in drawing a future generation of Jews to Christ in faith (Rom 11:11,12). God's overall plan, slow and cumbersome though it might seem to us, will result in people the world over, both Jews and Gentiles, displaying the grace and mercy of God in Christ. And every tribe and tongue will sing His praise forever.