Read Romans 11:7-16
In this chapter we have two very important questions. The first is, “Hath God cast away his people?” (v1).1 Paul deals with this question in verses 1-10. In this section we see Israel’s present situation.
Verses 1-6 teach that God has not totally abandoned Israel as a nation. God has always had a remnant, and Paul is an example of the fact that God still has a remnant of those who are loyal to Him. Even in our day there are many Jews who are genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The NASB most closely follows the Greek text of verse 7: “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened.” Paul suggests that Israel was still seeking God’s favour (present tense of the verb “to seek”), but had failed to find it (because they sought to obtain it by law observance). However, there were individuals, whom Paul describes as “the election” (JND), who found acceptance with God through Christ. As for the nation as a whole, Paul informs us that they have been judicially blinded or hardened. The verb poroo appears five times in the New Testament, three times of which it is translated “to harden.” In verse 7, it is probably translated “to blind” because the quotation in verse 8 brings together truth taught in several Old Testament verses: “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear.” This is also seen in the quotation from the words of David in verses 9-10, quoted from Psalm 69:22-23. Paul is stressing that as a result of Israel’s rejection of their Messiah, the nation as a whole has been judicially blinded.
In verse 11 we have the second important question, “Have they stumbled that they should fall?” From verses 11-32, Paul gives us teaching relative to Israel’s future restoration, and what God is doing in the meanwhile. The tense used for both verbs in verse 11 gives the sense, “Have they stumbled that they should fall [irretrievably]?” In other words, “Is there no future for Israel in God’s program?” As Darby translated it in verse 1, Paul’s immediate answer is, “Far be the thought.”
A different word is translated “fall” in the second part of this verse, the meaning being “transgression.” Israel’s transgression was the rejection of their Messiah. The result of this transgression was their fall. However, the effect of their fall was that salvation has been made available to the Gentiles. God also intended that the salvation of Gentiles would stir up jealousy on the part of the Jews (see Acts 22:18-22). One thing stands out in the Book of the Acts, and that is that most of the persecution came from the Jews. In Romans 11:12 Paul writes, “Now if the fall [transgression] of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” While most translations change the word “diminishing” to “failure,” I feel that the KJV has the correct idea. There is a contrast between “diminishing” and “fulness” in this verse. Paul is stating that if, out of the nation, only a remnant is saved, how much greater will be the result when Israel, nationally, is saved?
In the next paragraph (vv13-24), Paul is writing particularly to the Gentile readers (v13), and states that, although his responsibility as an apostle was toward the Gentile nations (Gal 2:7), he still had a burden for his own nation. The word translated “I magnify” literally means “to glorify.” However, I suspect that Paul is saying that he “extended the bounds” of his responsibility because of his zeal for the salvation of the Jews.
There are two main responses to the preaching of the gospel. We either reject it or receive it. Paul’s hope was that, although the Jews, generally speaking, were violently opposed to the gospel, some, in seeing the effect of the gospel on the lives of Gentiles, would receive it for themselves (v14). Paul is not claiming that he can save people, but he longed to play a part in his Jewish brethren trusting Christ.
In verse 15, Paul emphasizes what he taught in verse 12. If the temporary “casting away” of Israel, nationally, has resulted in the availability of salvation to the world as a whole, surely the restoration of Israel to God’s favour will be like a resurrection in which both Jews and Gentiles will participate. Resurrection is used in a figurative sense in this verse. Paul proceeds, “If the part of the dough offered as firstfruit[s] is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches” (v16 NIV). The word “firstfruits” appears eight times in the NT. However, this is the only time in which it appears in the singular form. The reason for this is that Paul is referring to one person, namely, Abraham, as being the firstfruit.
Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation. In Genesis 15:5, God said to Abraham, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” In verse 6 we read, “He [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (ESV). Since Abraham was justified by faith, all his seed, through Isaac, were counted “holy” before God. Paul illustrates this, likewise, with the figure of the root and the branches. Don’t read into this statement that all of Abraham’s seed were saved people. All that Paul is indicating is that they were brought into a position of favour with God (Rom 9:3-5). Israel, nationally, had been brought into a position of advantage over the Gentile nations, because God had entrusted them with the Law of Moses, as well as the other favours of Romans 9:3-5. In our next chapter we will see that they could only benefit from these advantages if they trod the same path of faith as Abraham. All I will draw to your attention at this point is that in 11:17 some of the branches would be broken off, and that because of unbelief (v20; see also 9:6-8).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
