The Book of Romans, Chapter 11 – Israel Has Not Been Rejected

 

The Book of Romans, Chapter 11

Israel Has Not Been Rejected

Romans 11 is one of the most important chapters for understanding Israel, the Gentiles, God’s sovereignty, and God’s plan of salvation. It also completes Paul’s argument about Israel that began in Romans 9.

Israel Has Not Been Rejected

Romans 11:1, I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Verse 2. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

(Commentary Break): Paul’s conversion and apostleship provided living evidence that God had not abandoned Israel. Once a persecutor of the church, Paul encountered the risen Christ and became a servant of the gospel. His faith demonstrated that a Jewish remnant continued to believe according to God’s grace (BibleHub.org). Additionally, this should put to rest the foolish idea that has been circulated that God has replaced or will replace Ethnic Israel (that is the prophetic and spiritual Israel of the ancient Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were chosen by God under the Mosaic Covenant) with the Church.

Secondly, the phrase “His people whom He foreknew” is genuine, purposeful knowledge that exists before the fact. In its five New Testament appearances, the term is sometimes applied to God’s eternal counsel and sometimes to human advance knowledge. Both uses reinforce the storyline of redemption—God lovingly orders history, and believers are called to live wisely in light of what they have been shown beforehand. The Old Testament consistently presents God as One who “declares the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). The New Testament develops that theme: divine foreknowledge is not passive observation but an active, covenantal commitment. What God knows beforehand He graciously orders and secures for His glory and His people’s good. Thus foreknowledge intertwines with predestination, calling, justification, and glorification (Romans 8:29–30). Thus, God has not rejected His people – the ones He has chosen from before time. (End Commentary Break).

Verse 3. “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.”

(Commentary Break): Romans 11:3 refers to Elijah’s complaint to God during a time when it appeared that Israel had almost completely abandoned God. Elijah believed that he was the only faithful person remaining in Israel. He saw widespread rejection of God and believed his own life was now in danger. Paul uses Elijah’s situation to make a larger point about Israel in his own day. Even though most of Israel had rejected Jesus as Messiah, God had not rejected Israel. The larger message is not only for the ethnic Jew, all Christians and the Church today. (End Commentary Break).

Verse 4. But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” Verse 5. In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. Verse 6. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace. Verse 7. What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; verse 8, just as it is written:

“GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR,

EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT,

DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.” Verse 9. And David says,

“MAY THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP,

AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.

Verse 10. “MAY THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT,

AND BEND THEIR BACKS CONTINUALLY.”

(Commentary Break): God Himself had preserved a definite remnant during Ahab’s reign, when Baal worship had spread widely through the nation. Their faithfulness rested ultimately upon God’s sovereign keeping, not upon Elijah’s ability to identify them. Paul applies this historical event to show that God had also preserved a believing remnant within Israel in his own day. God’s preservation of seven thousand faithful Israelites in Elijah’s day establishes the pattern for His dealings with Israel. National unbelief never cancels God’s covenant faithfulness or exhausts His saving purpose. God’s preservation of seven thousand faithful Israelites in Elijah’s day establishes the pattern for His dealings with Israel. National unbelief never cancels God’s covenant faithfulness or exhausts His saving purpose.

God preserved this remnant and so it is for all times, by His sovereign favor, not because of human merit or works. Salvation rests on God’s gracious initiative and is received through faith, fulfilling His promises to Abraham and establishing believers in Christ as recipients of mercy. (End Commentary Break).

Verse 11. I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Far from it! But by their wrongdoing salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Verse 12. Now if their wrongdoing proves to be riches for the world, and their failure, riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! Verse 13. But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Therefore insofar as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry verse 14, if somehow I may move my own people to jealousy and save some of them. Verse 15. For if their rejection proves to be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? Verse 16. If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are as well.

(Commentary Break): God is using Israel’s present unbelief as part of His larger plan to bring salvation to the Gentiles—and ultimately to bring blessing to Israel. So, particularly from a futurist, premillennial perspective, Romans 11:11–16 is important because it presents Israel’s current condition as neither accidental nor permanent. God is working through the Gentile mission while still moving toward His purposes for Israel.

The main theme is not that God replaced Israel with the Gentiles, but that God is working through both Jews and Gentiles in His larger redemptive plan. (End Commentary Break).

Verse 17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, verse 18, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. Verse 19. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Verse 20. Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; verse 21, for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Verse 22. See then the kindness and severity of God: to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; for otherwise you too will be cut off. Verse 23. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. Verse 24. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

(Commentary Break): Paul’s olive-tree illustration does not portray God cutting down Israel’s tree and planting a completely different Gentile tree (the Church). Rather, there is one olive tree, with branches removed because of unbelief and other branches grafted in—and God remains able to graft the natural Jewish branches back in. That fits naturally with Paul’s later statement in Romans 11:25–26 that Israel’s hardening is “partial” and that “all Israel will be saved.” Also notable is that it is the Gentiles, the Christian Church that is grafted in, which tell us that our covenantal history begins with Israel and the Jews. The New Covenant in Christ is built upon the old covenant of the Law. The law is completed, fulfilled by Him. Likewise the New Testament has been built upon the foundations of the Old Testament which is fulfilled by Jesus Christ birth, death and resurrection. (End Commentary Break).

Verse 25. For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; verse 26, and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written:

“THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,

HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”

Verse 27. “THIS IS [k]MY COVENANT WITH THEM,

WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” Verse 28. In relation to the gospel they are enemies on your account, but in relation to God’s choice they are beloved on account of the fathers; verse 29, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Verse 30. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, verse 31, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. Verse 32. For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that He may show mercy to all.

(Commentary Break): God’s continuing plan for Israel and His mercy toward both Jews and Gentiles. This is the theological conclusion. Everyone—Jew and Gentile—is guilty of sin. Everyone needs God’s mercy. Salvation ultimately demonstrates God’s mercy and grace, rather than human achievement. This does not necessarily mean every individual Jew throughout history will be saved. Rather, Paul is describing a future, large-scale turning of Israel to the Messiah. The emphasis is that God has not abandoned His covenant purposes for Israel. For a premillennial, futurist interpretation, this passage fits naturally with the expectation of a future spiritual restoration of Israel associated with the events surrounding Christ’s return. (End Commentary Break).

Verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! Verse 34. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Verse 35. Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM, THAT IT WOULD BE PAID BACK TO HIM? Verse 36. For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

(Commentary Break): God’s wisdom, sovereignty, mercy, and redemptive plan are ultimately beyond our full comprehension—and the appropriate response is humility, trust, and worship. It is significant that Paul doesn’t finish his discussion of Israel, election, Gentiles, and God’s sovereign purposes by giving us another theological argument. He finishes by worshiping God.

Theology should lead to doxology (worship of God): understanding what God has revealed should ultimately lead us to glorify God, even where we cannot fully understand everything He is doing. (End Commentary Break).

End Chapter 11.

God temporarily allowed Israel to stumble so that the gospel might reach the Gentiles. Praise His Name! But He has not abandoned Israel; ultimately, God will demonstrate His mercy to both Jew and Gentile and fulfill His promises to His glory. Romans 11 teaches that God has not rejected Israel. Although many Jews have rejected Christ, their hardening is partial and temporary. During this period, the gospel has gone to the Gentiles, who have been graciously grafted into God’s people. God will ultimately fulfill His purposes for Israel, and “all Israel will be saved” through His mercy and the Messiah.

God is faithful to His promises, salvation is entirely dependent upon His mercy, and neither Jew nor Gentile has reason to boast. God’s sovereign plan includes both Israel and the Gentiles and ultimately brings glory to Him.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

Next: (Coming Soon). The Book of Romans, Chapter 12. Dedicated Service.

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