# 49: 2-8-13

Romans 11:11-15
Lets begin our thoughts today with the concept of election. In the election of grace, God has already
chosen beforehand all men who will receive His salvation. Gods choosing is based upon His
foreknowledge of those who will believe into the One whom He sent to save men Jesus (1 Pet 1:2, Rm
11:2).
For those who will believe, God has created beforehand a destiny to be conformed to the image of His Son
to be a son of God, in a body of glory (Rm 8:29). And this is true regardless of when men lived
whether before, or after God sent Jesus.
Anyone who believes into Christ becomes part of Gods elect, or chosen. The elect therefore include the
OT saints of the past, who believed into the Coming One. The elect also include the church, in the present
age, which came out of Christs death.
In the future, the elect will include the Tribulation saints, who will put their faith in Christ during that great
hour of trial that is coming on the whole earth. And the elect will also eventually include the remnant of
the nation Israel, and the regenerate Gentile nations, when they receive Jesus as their Messiah and King.
When the word elect or chosen is used in the NT, it can refer to any of these groups, or of all of them,
collectively.
In Romans chapter 11, verse 5, Paul wrote of the election of grace speaking of all who believe, who
have been elected to salvation, by the grace of God. Paul is bringing out that there is a future remnant of
the nation of Israel that will be part of that election in that day, the entire nation will be regenerate.
As Paul continued in verse 7, he again speaks of the elect; but this time, we can see by the context that Paul
is referring not to the elect of a future day, but to the elect of his own day. This would refer to the Body of
Christ, the true church. Lets just refresh our memories as to what Paul was saying, in that verse.
[Read Romans 11:7]
Pauls point here is that from the time of Israels beginning, as a nation, they have never obtained what
theyve sought. What have they been seeking? Theyve been seeking righteousness, so that they can be
accepted by God. But Israel has never attained righteousness, because they tried to make themselves
righteous, through works.
Meanwhile, in Pauls day, the elect the Body of Christ has obtained righteousness; theyve become the
righteousness of God, through faith in Christ the only way for a man to be made righteous.
While the church has obtained righteousness, and therefore has been accepted by God, the rest the nation
of Israel, in Pauls day were blinded. They blinded themselves, through their religious system of works,
to the fact that they were sinners. And because of this, they blinded themselves to their Messiah, Jesus the
One sent to save them because they thought they could save themselves.
Paul showed through the OT Scriptures that because Israel chose to be blind, God gave them over to a spirit
of stupor. That spirit became manifest when Jesus came to the earth; Jesus brought out what was in the
heart of the nation: unbelief.

# 49: 2-8-13

And unbelief lies as a veil over the heart of Israel, to this very day (2 Cor 3:15); like a dark shroud, over an
unseeing corpse; a kind of confirmation of what lies beneath. And having confirmed what was in the heart
of His nation, God then had to judge them; as Paul brought out, through Davids psalm.
But Paul wanted to make it clear that this judgment on Israel did not mean that God was forever finished
with His nation. This is what Paul addresses in the next section of his letter. Lets read that, in verses 1115.
[Romans 11:11-15]
So Paul is introducing another question, to clarify what Gods intentions are concerning the nation Israel,
and how the Gentiles fit into His plan. Not only does God continue to have a plan for Israel; when that plan
is realized, it will bring great blessings upon all.
Lets go back to Pauls question.
v. 11 In the typical style of Romans, Paul raises a question, in order to refute it. We need to first clarify
certain words that Paul uses in his question.
Paul writes of Israel stumbling. This word certainly came to Pauls mind because of the psalm he had
just quoted in verse 9, which contained the phrase stumbling block. Now, earlier in his letter, in chapter
9, Paul spoke of Israel stumbling at a stumbling stone. Lets go back and look at that passage.
[Romans 9:30-33]
So what was the stumbling stone that Israel stumbled at? Christ. Israel was seeking to attain right standing
before God through doing the Law. But God had laid before Israel their Cornerstone the One upon whom
they must build their house, by faith the Rock of Israels salvation, Christ. But did Israel build on Him?
No; they continued to pursue their own way, trying to establish their own righteousness, through works.
And so Israel stumbled.
[Return to Romans 11]
When you stumble, you lose your footing, and your balance. You are no longer able to make progress.
Thats the idea Paul wants to communicate, here. Israel has lost her standing before God, as His favored
nation; their rejection of Jesus has taken them outside of His protective custody, where they are exposed to
judgment; and their progress in Gods plan for them, to become His sons, has been arrested.
It is in this way that Israel has stumbled. Pauls question is, does this stumble indicate that God is planning
to allow Israel to perish? The word that Paul chooses for fall in his question has the meaning here of
falling into condemnation; perishing. Paul is asking if this stumble indicates that God is finished with His
nation; is God now rejecting them, and allowing them to be destroyed?
Now, you might be thinking that Paul has already asked this question, back at the beginning of the chapter.
And its true that Paul asked a very similar question: Has God cast away His people? But there, Paul
answered that God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. The idea was that part of Israel
had not been cast away; and as Paul developed this idea, we saw that there will be a remnant, that will be
saved.

# 49: 2-8-13

But Paul is bringing out a different aspect, here. Instead of the partial aspect of the salvation, Paul is
pointing to the temporary delay of it. Israel has stumbled, but only temporarily; Israel will recover her
standing; Israel can, and will, be restored to God. And the continuing plan of God is designed to ensure
that. So the emphasis here is not on the partial aspect of Israels salvation, but on it s future aspect.
The same idea is brought out in the passage that Paul had quoted in Isaiah chapter 29 (back in verse 8).
Well take a quick look at that. Turn to Isaiah chapter 29.
Remember from last week that Paul had quoted this passage to show Israels blindness: Blind yourselves,
and be blind (v. 9). The LORD had poured out on Israel the spirit of stupor of deep sleep; He had
closed their eyes (v. 10). But after speaking of Israels judgment for their blindness, Isaiah goes on to
prophesy of their eyes being opened.
[Isaiah 29:17-19] The LORD will open the eyes of His nation, through Great Tribulation; then they will see
that Jesus is the Holy One of Israel their Messiah. And from the LORDs perspective, this will take place
in just a very little while, from the time of their judgment (v. 17). Yes, its been two thousand years but it
is only temporary. In the future, they will be saved.
[Return to Romans 11]
Now, in the NKJV, the second time the word fall is used in verse 11 and again, the word fall in verse
12 this is a different word than the word for fall in Pauls question. This word means to fall by the
wayside. It is the idea not of destruction, but of a misstep; of going out of the right way. Paul is using the
word in a metaphorical sense here, for Israels sin, in rejecting Jesus; that was Israels trespass, their
misstep, which took them out of the way of salvation.
In the Greek, the order in this sentence is different than in the NKJV. It would read, But through their fall
[Israels trespass], salvation has come to the Gentiles to provoke them [Israel] to jealousy. What Paul is
saying is that, in a sense, Israels misstep resulted in salvation coming to the Gentiles.
It was not Gods plan to destroy Israel because of their misstep; instead, He planned to use their misstep, in
order to extend salvation to the Gentiles. You can see Pauls imagery here, with the idea of Israel stepping
out of the way of salvation, which cleared the way for the Gentiles to come in. And we know historically
that it was when Israel rejected Jesus that the gospel began to be proclaimed to the uttermost parts of the
earth to the Gentile nations.
But in what way did Israels misstep result in salvation coming to the Gentiles? Why did it come to them,
at this time, as if based on Israels rejection of Jesus? How does this further the plans of God?
Remember that the Gentiles had rejected the LORD and His Christ long ago, on the plain of Shinar. It was
then that the LORD had set aside the nations for a time, while He made a nation for Himself Israel.
Israel was called out by the LORD to shine the light of truth to the other nations, to turn them back to the
LORD. They were to be the LORDs witness, to the other nations. But what has happened now? Israel has
categorically rejected the truth, in rejecting their Messiah. They have refused the light; they are blind, and
in the dark.
But the Lord still intends for His light to go out to the other nations. So the Lord called out a new people to
Himself the church to bear the light of truth to the rest of the world.

# 49: 2-8-13

The church is a new kingdom of priests (1 Pet 2:9), that will mediate Gods message of reconciliation to
ends of the earth. And as the church grew, it became more and more Gentile. So now, it was the Gentiles
who were bearing witness for the Lord, and no longer Israel.
So Israels misstep resulted in salvation coming to the Gentiles. And of course, this was to the great benefit
of the Gentiles. But God designed even this to work for the good of His nation, Israel. He designed the
salvation of the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy.
In chapter 10, Paul had quoted OT Scripture which spoke of the LORD provoking Israel to jealousy, to anger,
through the Gentiles; provoking His nation with those who were not a nation (Rm 10:19). And in this
passage, Paul brings in the idea of provoking Israel to jealousy twice more (verse 11, 14). So we must
come to the conclusion that this is an important part of Gods plan. But what exactly does it mean?
When we think of jealousy, we attach a negative connotation to it. One who is jealous is all stirred up; he
is overly focused on the object of his love; on his fear of losing his loved one; on his resentment against a
rival for his affections.
And Paul means the word in exactly that sense. It is the Lords intent to provoke Israel; to get their
attention; to cause them to focus upon Him, and what they are missing, in rejecting their Messiah; to see the
gain of the Gentiles in their place, and to resent it.
So the Lord intends this resentful jealousy, on the part of His nation? Yes, for His good purpose in order
to stir them up out of that spirit of stupor, and truly desire Him; to cause them to turn to the Lord, and be
saved.
Paul knew that the Lord was doing this, because it had been foretold in prophecy, as Paul has previously
shown. But Paul also knew it because he experienced it firsthand, in his ministry as had others, who
preached the gospel.
Were going to do a little retrospective of the book of Acts to see this. Turn first to Acts chapter 4. Peter
and John had just healed a man who was lame from birth, and then shared the gospel with those at the
temple.
[Acts 4:1-4] So the rulers were greatly disturbed; why? Because Peter and John were teaching the people
about Jesus. The rulers considered those people to be their people; they got stirred up over the apostles
ability to persuade them to believe in Jesus.
In chapter 5, we read of the apostles doing many signs and wonders, among the people (Acts 5:12). This
was the reaction of the rulers.
[Acts 5:17-18] They were stirred up over the power of God, that was being manifest through the apostles,
and causing more and more of their people to believe into Jesus.
Then the apostles began to teach the people again. Here is the response of the rulers.
[Acts 5:27-33] They were certainly provoked. In the end, they decided to just beat the apostles. Do you
remember what the apostles did, after the beating which was severe? They went on their way, rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame in the name of Jesus.

# 49: 2-8-13

The stirred-up rulers learned that if they stirred up the people against the Christ Ones, they could then take
more punitive action against them. This resulted in the martyrdom of Steven.
And the rulers began to recruit from their ranks those with a special zeal for God, to persecute the Christ
Ones such as Saul. But instead of crushing the faith, the enemies of the gospel simply served to spread it,
as those fleeing the persecution departed from Jerusalem, for Judea and Samaria, and beyond.
Saul, breathing threats and murder, pursued the disciples of Jesus only to find that he was being pursued
by Jesus Himself. Saul was won over by the love of Jesus, and became His apostle to the Gentiles. It was
in pursuit of that very ministry that Paul experienced the very anger and resentment that he himself had
once had, against the Christ Ones and against Jesus.
Turn to Acts chapter 13. Paul and Barnabas had embarked on their first missionary journey to Asia Minor.
They came to Pisidian Antioch, and as was his custom, Paul preached the gospel first to the Jews, in the
synagogue there. This was the response.
[Acts 13:42-52]
v. 42 These were the God-fearers and proselytes, Gentiles who attended synagogue; they wanted to hear
more.
v. 43-44 Almost the whole city; it would have been predominantly Gentile.
v. 45 Envy is another word for jealousy. What is this anger and jealousy against? Its not really against
Paul and Barnabas its against the things spoken by them. Its against the power of their message the
gospel of Christ. Why? Because the Jews could see that the people were really drawn to the gospel; that
they were being won over, to Jesus.
The Jews considered the Gentiles to be their mission field, for their religion of Judaism; the Gentiles must
work, to become righteous; to be accepted by God like the Jews did. But the message of the gospel is that
God will accept any man by simple faith in Jesus, and that alone.
The Jews were witnessing the power of God unto salvation, before their very eyes. They would have never
experienced such power, in their religion. It would have stirred them up; brought out their own insecurities,
concerning God for the religious are full of them. Nonetheless, these Jews rejected that Light; they shut it
out. And they resented those who were taking it in and those who had brought this Light.
v. 46-52 As usual, the disciples were filled with joy Paul and Barnabas, and those residents of Antioch
who had become disciples.
The account goes on to another city, and another. The pattern is the same. And Luke often points out the
envy of the unbelieving Jews, wherever the gospel is preached. We can see that the Jews were indeed
provoked to jealousy. They resented the intrusion into what they considered to be their mission field. Their
religious insecurities were brought to the surface. They were certainly stirred up, and Jesus had their
attention.

But was there more to it than that? There had to be, or Paul would not have indicated that this provoking
could turn the Jews to God. It was not Lukes main purpose to record that here. The book of Acts does not

# 49: 2-8-13

contain that kind of detail. But consider what you know of all of the blessings that the Lord showered upon
the church.
There were the powerful signs and wonders, that the Lord worked through the members of His Body. The
spiritual graces, the charismata, that He bestowed upon them, to assist them in their ministry of
reconciliation. The success of that ministry, with churches being planted wherever the message of the
gospel was taken. The personal blessings upon each individual believer their peace, their joy, their love
for one another, and for their fellow man even their enemies.
These blessings were the loving caress of the Lord, upon His beloveds; they were the evidence of those
who had a real love relationship with Him; and it would certainly have stirred up some in Israel to desire
the Lord and His blessings for themselves; something which the nation of Israel had now forfeited, in their
unbelief.
[Return to Romans 11]
So the salvation of the Gentiles was intended in part to stir up those in Israel to desire God for themselves.
This was not just true in Pauls day, but pertains to the entire church age.
Paul continues to consider the effect of Israels trespass.
v. 12 This word for fall is the same as the second one in the previous verse, meaning trespass, or misstep.
Paul also characterizes it as Israels failure; the idea is diminishing, or degradation. Israels misstep has
resulted in their being set aside as Gods witness nation; they have temporarily forfeited their privileges,
their blessings.
But Israels loss is the worlds gain particularly the Gentile world. Salvation has come to the Gentiles;
the Body of Christ is carrying the gospel message out to the ends of the earth. Christ Jesus has become for
them wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption from death (1 Cor 1:30)
the riches of Gods blessings.
But what Paul is bringing out at the end of verse 12 is that these riches, which have come through Israels
loss, will not remotely compare to how the Gentiles will be blessed when Israel comes into their fullness
that is, when Israel is restored to divine favor. And when will that be? Well discuss that in verse 15.
Paul continues.
v. 13-14 Paul is making this point to the Gentiles; why? Because the Gentiles were in the vast majority in
the assemblies in Rome, by this point in time. Their tendency would be to think that God must be finished
with Israel, particularly in that Paul had just said that Israel was coming into judgment, for rejecting Jesus.
The Gentiles must not think more highly of themselves than they ought. In receiving Gods salvation
blessings, the Gentiles were not taking Israels place. In time, God will bless His nation once again, and
then the Gentiles will receive even greater blessings than they were currently experiencing as well see in
the next verse.

To emphasize Gods continued regard for Israel, Paul points out that even though he had been appointed by
the Lord as the apostle to the Gentiles, the Lord was using Pauls ministry to stir up his Jewish brethren to

# 49: 2-8-13

desire a true relationship with God for themselves. Those Jews who were willing to turn to the Lord were
being saved; they were being added to the church.
Notice that Paul writes of saving some of them. Paul understands that the nation as a whole would not be
stirred to desire God, in his day; they would not, at this time, come into their fullness; but some individual
Jews might believe and to the extent that they did, it represented a magnification of Pauls ministry.
Paul concludes his thoughts.
v. 15 This thought runs parallel to what Paul said in verse 12. The Greek word for cast away is not the
same as the word we find at the beginning of this chapter, about God casting away His people (v. 1-2).
That word is stronger, and means rejection; but this word has more the sense of something that is laid aside,
with the idea of loss.
Because of their unbelief, Israel was laid aside by God. But their loss resulted in great gain for the world,
as the ambassadors for Christ bore His message of reconciliation into the nations.
Paul wants his Gentile audience to know that even though they have gained so much, it will pale in
comparison to what the nations gain when Israel is once again accepted by the Lord. And when will that
be? After the Tribulation, when Israel as a nation repents of their unbelief, and receives Jesus as their
Messiah, and King.
Just as the rejection by Israel precipitated the church age, so the acceptance of Israel will precipitate the
Kingdom Age. Jesus will return to the earth, to set up His kingdom. His repentant nation will welcome
Him. And those of the Gentile nations that are willing to submit to Jesus as their King will be invited into
His Kingdom.
Why will that be better than the blessings the Gentiles have right now? The heavens and the earth will be
made new (2 Pet 3:13). The Kingdom will be one of perfect righteousness and peace (Is 32:17). The
Deceiver of men will be bound (Rev 20:2,3), and only the truth will be taught (Is 11:9). And finally, the
last enemy will be destroyed and what is that? Death (1 Cor 15:26).
All who have died believing the OT saints, and the Tribulation saints they will hear the voice of Jesus
calling them, and they will come forth in the resurrection of Life (Jn 5:29). Thereafter, the bodies of men
will no longer be consigned to Death. Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor 15:54).
This is what Paul is referring to when he says the acceptance of Israel by God will be life from the dead, for
the world. When Israel is willing to submit to Jesus as Lord, Jesus will return, and restore Life to the
righteous dead, for they too are sons of the Kingdom.
Peter spoke of this time times of refreshing when he was preaching to the Jews in Jerusalem. Turn once
more to Acts, chapter 3. Remember that this was after Peter and John healed the man who was lame from
birth. Peter told the crowd of Jews that the man was healed by Jesus, and then shared the gospel with them,
calling for them to repent.
[Acts 3:19-26]
v. 19-21 Notice how Peter ties the repentance of the nation of Israel collectively with the coming of
times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the return of Jesus.

# 49: 2-8-13

Refreshing refers to being revived; it is the recovery of breath. When Jesus returns, breath will return to
the dead bodies of the righteous, and they will live the resurrection of Life. That will be the time of
restoration, also; Israel will be restored as the head nation, and the kingdom on earth will be restored to
God. All will be in its right place and order.
v. 22-23 This Prophet was known to be the Messiah like unto Moses, the Redeemer-Deliverer. The
nation was to hearken to this Prophet; to believe into their Messiah or they would come into judgment.
v. 24-25 The Jews were the sons of the prophets and of the covenant; Peter is saying, that was their
heritage, which God had given them. All of the families of the earth all of the nations would be blessed
in the Seed, Christ, in the Kingdom Age which would be ushered in when Israel was willing to receive
their Messiah.
v. 26 The nation had spurned their Messiah when He came, and had put Him to death. But after God
raised Jesus from the dead, God sent Him back to the nation through the message of the gospel, shared
with them.
Nonetheless, the nation continued to reject Jesus, and God turned His blessing to the Gentiles, instead. But
the greatest blessing for all the world is still ahead the unprecedented blessings of the Kingdom age.
Reading: chapter 11.