Israel in God’s Plan and her future Salvation

Read: Romans 11:1-36
Scripture reading: Romans 11:1
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”

• In Romans chapter 9, Paul points to God’s past dealings with Israel and highlights the sovereignty of God.
• In Romans chapter 10, he deals with God’s present dealings with Israel, based upon equity. Whether Jew or Gentle, all are invited to be saved in Jesus Christ.
• Here in Romans chapter 11, we come to God’s future dealings with Israel, which show His integrity. That is, God made certain promises to the nation of Israel, which He will fulfill.

Jews are God’s chosen people
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

This is an absolutely unique distinction so far as races of men are concerned. All who are believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, of whatever nation they may be, are in that sense the chosen people of God (1 Peter 2:9). But no single nation can ever claim to be the chosen people of God, except the Jews. The Jew is the greatest modern miracle. He is an absolutely unique figure in the history of the world. In almost every nation you will find him, as a stranger and a foreigner.

Jews can trace their lineage back thousands of years to one man, Abraham. It was into the Jewish tribe of Judah that the Son of God was born. Israel has a past, present, and a future as a nation. The person who denies the facts of Israel’s future, as laid out in Romans 11, would be as foolish as one who denied the facts of her past and present. Weather you like it or not, the Jews are God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:1-11; 14:2; 18:5) so Gentiles should show them love and respect.

Frederick the Great, king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786 (Prussia occupied the territory of modern-day northern Germany and Poland), asked for proof that the Bible is true in a discussion with his court chaplain. Frederick, under the influence of the atheistic French philosopher Voltaire, had become skeptical of Christianity and of the reliability of the Bible. King asked to the chaplain, If your Bible is really from God, you should be able to demonstrate the fact simply. Give me proof for the inspiration of the Bible in a word.”

“Your Majesty, it is possible for me to answer your request literally,” the chaplain replied. “I can give you the proof you ask for in one word.”

Amazed, the king asked, “What is this magic word that carries such a weight of proof?” he asked.
“Israel,” the chaplain said. Frederick the Great of Prussia responded only with silence (Boice, 3:1375-1376).

Jews were chosen by God to be a blessing to the world.
The promise to Abraham was, (Genesis 12:3) “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The Jews have been the historians of the world. A Jewish hand wrote the history of the creation. Jewish hands wrote the history of Israel’s connection with Egypt and Assyria and other great nations. The Jews have been the teachers of the world. Unto them were committed the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). The Jews are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness (Romans 2:19). “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). They prepared the way, too, for the coming of the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Through their rejection of the Messiah, salvation has come “to the Gentiles” (Romans 11:11). God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. He is still the God of Israel. The Jews may be despised, they may be hated by men today, they may be neglected even by Christians who owe so much to them; but they are still the chosen people of God.

God called Abraham
Jewish history begins with one man Abraham (Genesis 12:1; Acts 7:2-5; Hebrews 11:8).

Genesis 12:2-3 center on the blessing and offer a sevenfold promise to Abraham.
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3).

1. I will make you into a great nation.
2. I will bless you.
3. I will make your name great.
4. You will be a blessing.
5. I will bless those who bless you.
6. Whoever curses you I will curse.
7. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Abram was seventy-five years old when he responded to the call of God and left Haran (Genesis 12:4). Abraham died one hundred seventy-five years old (Genesis 25:7). So we come to the conclusion Abraham lived in the land of Canaan about one hundred years.

Israel’s history

• 1876 B.C.: Abraham’s seventy descendants go from Canaan to Egypt to escape a famine; they are enslaved by the Egyptians for nearly four hundred years. During this time they become a people numbering perhaps two million.
• 1446 B.C.: God redeems his people from slavery and establishes them as a nation at Mt. Sinai by giving them a complete civil, liturgical, and moral code of laws by which they are to govern themselves. The land of Canaan, promised originally to Abraham, is to be their home forever.
• 722 B.C.: The ten northern tribes of Israel are decimated by the Assyrians, with a large portion of the population carried into captivity in Assyria. Most never return to their homeland.
• 586 B.C.: The capital of the nation, Jerusalem, is destroyed by the Babylonians, and the population of the two southern tribes is carried into captivity in Babylon. The land and the nation lie fallow for seventy years.
• 538-432 B.C.: Groups of exiles return from Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem. The nation endures four hundred years of conflict and infighting.
• A.D. 70: The capital, Jerusalem, is destroyed by the Romans. Most of the population flees their homeland, seeking safety in parts of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.
• A.D. 70-1940: The nation is deconstituted, scattered primarily throughout Europe and Asia. Jerusalem and the homeland are the scene of scores of military conflicts, and are ruled off and on by Turks, Muslims, and Western powers—but not Israel.
• A.D. 1940s: The Holocaust in Nazi Germany (and other pogroms in Eastern Europe and Russia) results in the death of millions of Jews.
• A.D. 1948: The Zionist movement receives permission from the United Nations to reestablish Israel as a nation in her homeland. By 1967 Israel has regained control of Jerusalem and the main portions of her promised homeland.
• A.D. 1948-present: Millions of Jews from all over the world return to their ancient homeland, with more arriving each year. The nation is reconstituted and functions once again, four thousand years after its founding, as a major player in world affairs.

No other nation at the time of Israel’s founding has survived what she has survived: genocide, removal for over two millennia from their homeland, persecution, the repeated destruction and rebuilding of the capital city. Israel’s existence could be classified as miraculous, but in truth only God does miracles.

God and his relationship to and plan for Israel, prophet Jeremiah says its best in (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

God Has a People, Chosen by Grace
Paul’s question: “Has God cast away His people?” (Romans 11:1). After all, they have stumbled over the stumbling stone (Romans 9:32). Is it over? Is hope gone? Answer: “Absolutely not!” God will never reject Israel totally. The point is that although God has cast off His people, as is distinctly stated in Romans 11:15, this does not mean that He has rejected all of them.

Elijah’s Day
Has not Israel rejected her God? (1 Kgs. 18:22; 19:10, 14)

No, I have reserved a remnant that has been faithful (1 Kgs. 19:18)

Paul’s Day
Has God rejected his people Israel? (Rom. 11:1)

No, there is a remnant chosen by grace (Rom. 11:5)

Israel’s Rejection Not Total
Paul himself is a proof that the casting away has not been complete. After all, he was an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, and of the tribe of Benjamin. His credentials as a Jew were impeccable.

So, we must understand the first part of this verse as saying, “God has not completely cast away His people whom He foreknew,” The time of Elijah, the nation had turned away from God to idols. Conditions were so bad that Elijah prayed against Israel instead of for it. But the picture wasn’t as dark and hopeless as Elijah feared. God reminded the prophet that He had reserved for Himself seven thousand men who had steadfastly refused to follow the nation in worshiping Baal.

God has not rejected his people Romans 11:2. God did not reject his people in the days of Moses, nor in the days of the prophets. And he is not rejecting them now. Regardless of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God always keeps his promises.

Samuel told Israel, “For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own” (1 Samuel 12:22).

Psalmist wrote, “For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance” (Psalm 94:14).

Prophet Jeremiah prophesied, “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’ declares the LORD, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:36-37).

God chose Israel to be the people through whom all other nations of the world could know him. He made this promise to Abraham, their Father (Genesis 12:1-3). Israel didn’t have to do anything to be chosen. God had given them this privilege because he wanted to, not because they deserved special treatment (Deuteronomy 9:4-6). God knew beforehand that Israel would be unfaithful; if God’s faithfulness to Israel was going to be dependent on their faithfulness, God would never have chosen them in the first place. God will remain faithful to his promises to Israel, despite Israel’s failure and unfaithfulness (Romans 11:2).

What was true then is true now: God never leaves Himself without a witness. He always has a faithful remnant chosen by Himself as special objects of His grace. God doesn’t choose this remnant on the basis of their works, but by His sovereign, electing grace.

Grace and works
These two principles—grace and works—are mutually exclusive. A gift cannot be earned. What is free cannot be bought. What is unmerited cannot be deserved. Fortunately, God’s choice was based on grace, not on works; otherwise no one could ever have been chosen.

Even Paul the Pharisee had placed great confidence in his heritage and merit before God (Phil. 3:4-6). But as God chose in Israel in the Old Testament, so he chooses today—by his “mercy” (Rom. 9:14-16) and grace. In other words, it is God’s plan that is being worked out in the nation of Israel. He is the one who is ordaining, working out, and ensuring the completion of his plan (Rom. 8:28-30). While there was an election of the nation of Israel as a whole (Amos 3:2), there has constantly been at work a separation, another election, within the nation, by which believers were being separated from unbelievers. In the Old Testament, it did not “depend on man’s desire or effort [whether good or bad], but on God’s mercy” (Rom. 9:16). In the New Testament, God is continuing his acts of separation/preservation by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works.

Grace in salvation in Romans is to easily understand Paul’s mention of it in Romans 11:5-6:

• Romans 1:5: Paul, a Jew, has received grace from God personally
• Romans 4:16: The promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring (Jew and Gentile).
• Romans 5:2: Those who have received salvation stand in grace.
• Romans 5:15,17: It was God’s grace that overcame the sin of Adam and provided redemption for the human race through Christ.
• Romans 5:20: No human sin is so grievous that it has not been overcome by God’s grace.
• Romans 5:21: God’s grace is the controlling element in salvation history.

If a remnant is going to be preserved in Israel, it is going to be by God’s grace—because he has a divine and appointed purpose for Israel to play in the salvation history of the world. Neither in Abraham’s day, nor Isaac’s, nor Jacob’s, nor Elijah’s, nor Paul’s, nor in ours, was there any reason for God to choose to continue saving some in Israel—except for his grace.

Israel Blinded through rebellion and unbelief
The nation suffered what might be called judicial blindness (Romans 11:25). Refusal to receive the Messiah resulted in a decreased capacity and inclination to receive Him. God abandoned them to a state of shock in which they became insensitive to spiritual realities. Because they refused to see the Lord Jesus as Messiah, now they lost the power to see Him. Because they would not hear the pleading voice of God, now they were smitten with spiritual blindness. That judgment continues to this very day.

God’s Plan
What has happened to Israel is all a part of God’s plan, and He knows what He is doing. The hardening (Rom. 11:7) of Israel as a nation is not final. It is partial and temporary. How long will it last? “Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25). Today, God in His grace is visiting the Gentiles and taking out a people for His name (Acts 15:12-14). Individual Jews are being saved, of course, but this present age is primarily a time when God is visiting the Gentiles and building His church. When this present age has run its course, and the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then God will once more deal with the nation of Israel.

God is Fair
In the Old Testament he showed kindness to Israel but sternness to Gentiles, while in the present he is showing kindness to Gentiles but sternness to Israel. God’s response depends on belief. The present unbelief of Israel relative to the gospel has become the occasion for the Gentiles to accept Christ.

As a result of Israel’s rejection of the gospel, the nation was set aside and the gospel went out to the Gentiles. In this sense the fall of the Jews has meant riches for the world, and Israel’s loss has been the Gentiles’ gain (Romans 11:12). But if that is true, how much more will Israel’s restoration result in rich blessing for all the world! When Israel turns to the Lord at the close of the Tribulation, she will become the channel of blessing to the nations.

Mystery
Apostle Paul reveals that the future restoration of Israel is not only a possibility but is an assured reality. What Paul now reveals is a mystery—a truth hitherto unknown, a truth that could not be known by man’s unaided intellect, but a truth that has now been made known (Romans 11:25). This mystery is as follows: Blindness in part has happened to Israel. It has not affected all the nation, but only the unbelieving segment. That blindness is temporary. It will continue only until the fullness of the Gentiles. The fullness of the Gentiles refers to the time when the last member will be added to the church, and when the completed Body of Christ will be raptured home to heaven (Romans 11:25).

The fullness of the Gentiles must be distinguished from the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24). The fullness of the Gentiles coincides with the Rapture. The phrase “times of the Gentiles” refers to the entire period of Gentile domination over the Jews, beginning with the Babylonian captivity (2 Chron. 36:1-21) and ending with Christ’s return to earth to reign.

The Gentiles were once an untamed, disobedient people, but when Israel spurned the Messiah and the gospel of salvation, God turned to the Gentiles in mercy (Romans 11:30).

While Israel’s judicial blindness is removed at the time of the Rapture, that does not mean that all Israel will be saved right away. Jews will be converted throughout the Tribulation Period, but the entire elect remnant will not be saved until Christ returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.

All Israel will be saved
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27).

When Paul says that all Israel will be saved, he is not giving them a blank check, he means all believing Israel. The unbelieving portion of the nation will be destroyed at the Second Advent of Christ (Zech. 13:8-9). Only those who say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” will be spared to enter the kingdom. The final pardon and restitution of the house of Israel, is through the Redeemer who was to come (Galatians 6:16, Acts 2:47, Isaiah 59:20, 21).

“All” Israel, then, must refer to the forgiveness of the whole people or nation, the whole ethnic group in contrast to the saved remnant of Jews in Paul’s day and ours and the future believing Jews. It is the whole people, rather than a small part, that will be converted to the Messiah.

This is what Isaiah referred to when he spoke of the Redeemer coming to Zion and turning transgression away from Jacob (Isa. 59:20). Notice that it is not Christ’s coming to Bethlehem, but His coming to Zion—that is, His Second Coming (Romans 11:26).

How does Israel get saved?
Some says through the years that Israel will be saved without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This must be rejected (Rom 1:16-17; 4:1-25; 9:30,33; 10:4-17; 11:20). How will this great number of Israelites be saved? By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To summarize, then, when the gospel has reached to the ends of the earth—the Gentile world—and the fullness of the Gentiles has come into the family of God through faith in Christ, then in God’s mysterious saving grace he will lift the veil on his people the people of Israel, and multitudes of them will trust Jesus as their Savior, sometime around the return of Christ.

So, we might summarize Israel’s present status by saying first that concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake. They are enemies in the sense of being cast off, set aside, alienated from God’s favor so that the gospel might go forth to the Gentiles. But that is only half the picture. Concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers—that is, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Romans 11:28).

The reason Israel are still beloved is that God’s gifts and calling are never rescinded. God does not take back His gifts. Once He has made an unconditional promise, He never goes back on it. He gave Israel the special privileges listed in Romans 9:4-5. He called Israel to be His earthly people (Isa. 48:12), separate from the rest of the nations. Nothing can change His purposes.

God’s promise
The olive tree (Romans 11:16-24). This is a symbol of the nation of Israel (Jer. 11:16-17; Hos. 14:4-6).

No matter how far Israel may stray from the truth of God, the roots are still good. God is still the “God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6; Matt. 22:32). He will keep His promises to these patriarchs. This means that the olive tree will flourish again (Romans 11:16-21).

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! The riches of God! He is rich in mercy, love, grace, faithfulness, power, and goodness. The wisdom of God! His wisdom is infinite, unsearchable, incomparable, and invincible. He knows everything: everything possible, everything actual; all events, all creatures, of the past, the present, and the future.”

His decisions are unsearchable: they are too deep for mortal minds to fully understand. The ways in which He arranges creation, history, redemption, and providence are beyond our limited comprehension (Romans 11:33).

There is a lesson about grace. God’s relationship to Israel is a tremendous illustration of his grace. Chosen, yet frightfully disobedient, even to the point of rejecting and actually killing the very Son of God sent to them, Israel nevertheless has been loved by God, continues to be loved by him, and will one day be brought back to God—because God is gracious. This is our God, too. The New Testament calls today the day of God’s grace. But this day of grace will not last forever, and the regathering of Israel in her own land may indicate that God’s days of grace are fast drawing to a close.

The Bible says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Heb. 2:1-3).

Pastor Donald M. Williams writes about the present state of Jerusalem and her glorious future:

“Today Solomon’s temple lies in ruins, buried under the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim mosque, which dominates the Old City. Today the Jews weep over their sins at the Wailing Wall, the last remaining remnant of the Second Temple. Today Jerusalem knows little peace as Christian sects haggle over the shrines there, and Arab and Jew are at each other’s throats….When this age is complete, the New Jerusalem will be revealed as the restored center of the presence and worship of God (Rev 21:2). This city is the church made glorious by His unfailing presence in the perfection of the new creation. As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem today, we pray for the peace of God’s church and we pray for the prosperity which is to come when Jesus returns and establishes His reign on this planet. The redeemed will then stand before Him with shining faces reflecting His very glory.”

Application
The fate of rejected Israel is a solemn warning to the careless and indifferent (Romans 11:7-10). If we do not use our privileges, they will one day be taken from us. The neglect of talents or opportunities is as much a sin as the abuse of them. Men very soon become gospel-hardened. Hence the “more convenient season” to which they look forward never comes. “Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either” (Romans 11:20-21). Christian profession and Christian privileges will not save us, unless we have a personal and living union with Jesus Christ the Saviour.

Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah is the occasion for God to show mercy to the Gentiles. Their conversion, Paul says, will stir Jews to jealousy (Romans 11:11) and thus to accept their Messiah. God is showing kindness to Gentiles but sternness to Jews who have not accepted the Messiah. In the future, however, God will show kindness to Israel but sternness to Gentiles who fall into unbelief.

If God’s promises to Israel are forever, should you not also take heart concerning your future in Christ? You may have had ups and downs in your life, but God has given you “his very great and precious promises” (2 Pet. 1:4) to give you hope for your future. The existence and longevity of Israel as a nation is a sign to every believer to trust in the Lord. Where do you stand in your relationship to Jesus, who came into this world and died on the cross to save you? He is coming again! Will you be ready for him when he comes?

©Alexander Thomas – No distribution beyond personal use without permission
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.