Romans 45 God's Plan for the Israelites (Rom 11)

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved.” (Rm 11:25-26)

God’s Plan for the Israelites
Even when the Israelites turned their backs on Him, God never turned His back on them. Even though the Israelites continually failed to keep the covenant God had made with them and even forgot about it, God never failed to keep it.
 
So, the Israelites will ultimately turn back to God and join in His righteousness by having faith in Jesus—not because they deserve it, but because God is faithful to them and takes initiative in their salvation. That’s what Paul discusses in Romans 11.
 
In this chapter, Paul asks two important questions regarding the Israelites’ salvation.
 
1. Did God Reject His People? (The Remnant)
First, Paul said, “Did God reject his people? By no means!… God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.” (Rom 11:1-2).
 
Paul makes it clear that the Israelites’ failure to receive salvation didn’t mean that God rejected them. Paul repeats what he explained before. In chapter 8, Paul talked about the five steps through which God works on our salvation. He used five verbs—foreknow, predestine, call, justify, and glorify.
 
So, the first step God takes is to foreknow us. The fact that God foreknew us is very important not only because it’s the first step, but because it guarantees the remaining steps.
 
In Hebrew, the verb ‘know’ is much more than just knowledge or perception. It is often used to describe a very intimate, loving relationship. So, for God to foreknow us not only means that He knew us even before we were born, but that He foreloved us.
 
The fact that God loves us shows us that His love is unconditional. God foreloved us not because we did something good or righteous for Him, but because He loves us just the way we are. And, His unconditional love for us is the foundation of our salvation. Out of love, God decided to save us, justify us and glorify us.
 
That’s what Paul implies by saying, “God did not reject His people, whom he foreknew.” In fact, He can’t reject His people because that goes against who He is. As John said, “God is love.” (1 Jn 4:16).
 
To further explain this, Paul uses an example from the Old Testament. He said,
 
“Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah - how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me” And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” (Rm 11:2-5)
 
Elijah was a great prophet who proved the God of Israel to be the true God against 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. But, when Jezebel tried to kill him, he was so afraid of her that he ran away. He even prayed for death. He lost hope not only because he was afraid of Jezebel, but because he thought that he was the only one left fighting for God.
 
So, he said to God, “The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kg 19:10)
 
God answered, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel - all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him” (1 Kg 19:18).
 
God strengthened Elijah by telling him that he was not the only one left. God had reserved 7 thousand faithful people. This verse supports a remnant theory. Even when we feel like everyone has turned away from God, He always reserves a remnant and works through them, His sincere, faithful disciples who follow His will without being compromised by the ways of the world.
 
That’s what Paul points out by saying, “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” (Rm 11:2-5)
 
What Paul was emphasizing was that even though it seemed like all the Israelites had failed to follow God, some of them did follow Him. By saying that “not all the Israelites accepted the good news.” (Rom 10:16), Paul was saying that there were still those who accepted the gospel. They were the remnant, whom God reserved. This also revealed that God didn’t reject the Israelites and that the Israelites hadn’t completely failed. But, reserving the remnant wasn’t  God’s only plan for the Israelites. By reserving the remnant, God also expected the others to recover their faith and return to Him. That’s the main subject Paul talks about in the remaining verses of Romans chapter 11.
 
2. Did They Fall Beyond Recovery?
The second question Paul asks in regard to God’s plan for the Jews is found in Romans 11:11. Paul says, “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” (Rm 11:11)
 
Paul said that because the Israelites stumbled, the door to salvation was opened to the Gentiles. But, that didn’t mean that God rejected the Israelites and chose the Gentiles instead. Paul said that God’s purpose for opening the door of salvation to the Gentiles was to make the Israelites envious so that they would return to Him.
 
Paul continued, “If their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!” (Rm 11:12)
 
Paul firmly believed that the Israelites would return to the Lord. Even though they were stumbling at that time, they hadn’t completely fallen beyond recovery. There was still a chance for them to recover their relationship with God. The Israelites’ refusal of Christ resulted in riches for the Gentiles. Yet Paul believed there would come a time when the Israelites would be included in God’s eternal kingdom.
 
So, how was he able to believe this and have confidence in it despite what he was facing at that time? It was because he trusted in the Lord. Paul believed that God, who had reserved His sincere people and had worked through them throughout the history of the Old Testament, was still reserving some of His people. Paul also believed that God never gives up on His people. The reason the Israelites couldn’t fall, even though they stumbled, was that God still held them tightly and had a special purpose for them.
 
Paul might have been referencing this passage.
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” (Ps 37:23-24)
 
In other words, what Paul truly believed in regard to the Israelites’ salvation was God’s sovereignty. Paul believed that Israel would ultimately return to Christ because he knew that the One who initiated their salvation would continue to work on it until its completion.
 
The Olive Tree Metaphor
To explain God’s plan for the Israelites, Paul used the example of an olive tree. He said,
 
“Some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root” (Rm 11:17)
 
Here, the branches broken off from the olive tree refer to the Israelites who denied Jesus. By rejecting Christ, they were broken. But, we also see that Paul emphasizes the existence of the remnant, those who remained in the tree, by saying only ‘some’ of the branches had been broken off.
 
So, some of the original branches, the Israelites, had broken off of the olive tree. And the Gentiles, referred to as wild olive branches, were grafted into the tree and came to share the nourishing sap from the olive root together with the original branches. That’s what happened in Christ—the Israelites and the Gentiles became one in Him.
 
Paul further explained that the original branches that broke off from the olive tree hadn’t been abandoned. As Paul said before, even though they stumbled, they didn’t fall beyond recovery. The broken branches still have chances to be grafted back into the olive tree.
 
As Paul said,
“If they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!” (Rm 11:23)
 
So, what Paul is trying to emphasize in Romans chapter 11 is God’s special purpose for His chosen people, the Israelites. God didn’t reject them, but reserved a remnant. Furthermore, God planned to help them return to Him by opening the door of salvation to the Gentiles. The riches that the Israelites’ return will bring will be very great. That’s God’s plan for both the Israelites and the Gentiles.
 
God’s Plan for The Israelites
Paul summarized God’s plan in verses 25-26. 
 
“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved.” (Rm 11:25-26)
 
Here all Israel refers to both physical descendants of Abraham by blood and spiritual descendants of him by faith. Paul emphasized the importance of God’s people knowing the mystery. We can summarize it in three parts.
 
1) Salvation reached the Gentiles through the Israelites’ failure.
2) The salvation of the Gentiles makes the Israelites envious and causes them to recover their faith.
3) Their full inclusion will bring much greater riches in the world.
 
The first step has already taken place. It’s the reason we are able to gather here and worship God today. The second step is taking place now, even though it is slow. We see many Jews coming back to the Lord nowadays.
 
They are called ‘the Messianic Jews, or Jews for Jesus’ because they accept Jesus as the Messiah. Until the 1960s, this group was very small, but their population continues to grow. And, according to statistics, as of 2012, the Messianic Jews grew to 200,000 in the United States and 20,000 in Israel.
 
Even though they’re still a minority compared to the whole population of Israel, what’s important is that they are coming back to Jesus.
 
Today, we talked about God’s plan for the Israelites. Even though they rejected Jesus and stumbled because they relied on their works as a means of salvation, God didn’t reject them. God not only reserved a remnant among them, but also waits for them to return to Him. What we see in this is God’s faithfulness and unfailing love for His people.
 
He is always working on the salvation of His people, including us. Even though we might stumble because of our weaknesses and sinful nature and turn away from God for a while, He never gives up on us, but holds on to us tightly so that we won’t fall. God always has a special purpose for us.
 
Even when we feel like there’s no way out, God always opens a new way for us. This is the God in whom we believe. The reason we are able to have confidence in our salvation is not because we deserve it, but because the Lord faithfully works on our salvation.