T Y P O L O G Y of T H E IN THIS ISSUE:“ The ... - Moriel Ministries

communion does. salvation is always by
grace and not works (Rom. 11:5-6). Grace
and works cancel each other out. Paul had
shown that Israel tried to please God by
works (Rom. 9:30-10:4) and thus they reject
and refuse to submit to His righteousness
as most “religious” people today. The
saved remnant of Elijah’s day as well as
the saved remnant of believing Jews of
Paul’s day and those today prove that God
was not through with His people. But the
question on the juror mind might well
be, “What had happened to the rest of the
nation?” They had been hardened (a better
translation than “blinded” in the KJV
(Rom. 11:7). When people resist the Truth,
like Pharaoh did, their hearts harden. Quoting
Isaiah 29:10 to support his evidence
referring to Deuteronomy 20:4 statement,
and also referred to Deuteronomy 29:4.
As the evidence piles up Paul uses one
of the most important of the messianic
psalms, Psalms 69:22-23 to show that Israel’s
privileges and blessings turn into burdens
and judgments. These religious practices
(sacrifices, festivals, etc) should have
shown and pointed them to Christ, instead
they became a snare that kept them from
Christ. The same thing happens today, God
has set before us a banquet table, and instead
most people turn it into a snare. People
depend on, or trust in traditions, baptisms,
communions, going to church instead of
trusting in the One who can save them.
Paul closes Elijah’s testimony be stating
that “Hardness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has
come in” (Rom. 11:25) There is believing
Jewish remnant today, just as there was in
Elijah’s day, this is evidence that God still
has a plan for His people.
Now Paul brings The Gentiles to the
stand (earlier Paul had used the Gentiles to
prove the Jews were guilty of sin (Rom.
2:1-3). so on redirect he now uses the same
witness to assure Israel of a future restoration.
Follow the legal deduction here, first
the Jews reject the Gospel, so He sends it to
the Gentiles, they believe it and are saved.
Then three things happen to Israel, they
fall, are diminished and cast away (consecutively
in Romans 11:11,12, 15). Yet, none
of these suggest a final judgment for Israel.
Since God had promised the Gentiles
would be saved, we see that because of Israel’s
fall this becomes true. It is important
to understand that the Old Testament promises
to the Gentiles were linked to Israel’s
“rise”—her entering into her kingdom
together (See Isaiah 11 and 60). So, how
shall they “rise” Paul explains this “mystery.”
In Ephesians 3, this scared secret, not
revealed in the Old Testament, is that God
introduces The Church were both Jew and
Gentile can be one in Christ (Eph. 2:11-
David Lister
22). so, is the Kingdom program for Israel
out? No. It is merely set aside for a time.
Paul shows that the Gentiles have a vital
ministry to Israel, to help her rise again,
for we are to provoke Israel “to jealousy”
because of our spiritual riches we have in
Christ. As Christians we have “all spiritual
blessings” in Christ (Eph. 1:3) and we use
these blessings, to again, provoke Israel. As
we provoke them to jealousy, we will see
“their fullness or fulfillment” (Rom. 11:12)
and their “receiving or acceptance” (v.15).
Today, Israel is fallen spiritually, but when
Christ returns, the nation will rise again.
God links His promises to Israel to the sun,
moon and stars, as His promises never to
fail, (Jer. 31:35-37). Israel while cast away
today, one day will be received again!
Now Paul brings the Patriarchs to the
stand, using imagery from the sacrifices to
help us to understand Israel’s future. Paul
helps us to see Israel’s future by drawing
on her past.
In Numbers 15:17-21 the first part of
the dough was to be offered up to God as
a symbol that the entire lump belonged to
Him. We see this same idea in the Feast of
First Fruits, with the sheaf offering symbolized
the whole harvest (Lev. 23:9-14).
The idea is simple, when God accepts the
part, He sanctifies the whole.
We understand Paul’s argument like
this: Since God accepted the founder of the
nation, Abraham, He set apart his descendants
as well. God also accepted the other
patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob, in spite of their
sins or failings. This means that God must
accept the “rest of the lump”—the nation
of Israel. Please keep in mind that Paul was
not discussing the relationship of individual
believers to God, but the place of Israel
in the plan of God.
Paul next uses the imagery of the Olive
tree, a symbol of the nation of Israel (Jer.
11:16-17) to understand the future of Israel.
We all know a tree is supported by its root
system. Paul uses the patriarchs who founded
the nation of Israel as the root. Since
God made His covenants with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and He cannot deny them
or change them. Thus, it is God’s promise
to Abraham that sustains Israel even today.
Paul pictured non-believing Jews as
branches broken off the tree. Then he explains
that other branches (Gentiles) were
grafted into the tree to share in the life of
the tree. This “grafting in” was “contrary
to nature as usually a cultivated branch is
grafted into a wild tree and shares its life
without producing its poor fruit. But in this
case, it was the “wild branch” (the Gentiles)
that was grafted into the good tree!
We cannot say that the olive tree, with
its natural and grafted branches, is a picture
of the church In the church, “there is
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no difference”; believers are “all one in
Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Today we are
not seen by God as Jews or Gentiles. The
olive tree illustrates the relationship between
Jew and Gentile in the program of
God. The “breaking off of the branches”
is the equivalent of “the fall or stumble”
(Rom. 11:11), “the diminishing or failure”
(Rom. 11:12), and “the casting away or
rejection” (Rom. 11:15).. To read into this
illustration the matter of the eternal destiny
of the individual believer is to abuse the
truth Paul was seeking to communicate.
The Gentiles entered into God’s plan
because of faith, and not because of anything
good they had done. Paul was discussing
the Gentiles collectively, and not
the individual experience of one believer
or another.
Paul warned the Gentiles that they
were obligated to Israel, and therefore
they dared not boast of their new spiritual
position (Rom. 11:18-21). It is worth noting
that, according to Bible prophecy, the
professing Gentile church will be “cut off”
because of apostasy (See 1 Tim. 4; 2 Tim.
3 and 2 Thes. 2). While there is no hope
for the apostate church, there is hope for
apostate Israel! Why? Because of the root
of the olive tree. God will keep His promises
to the patriarchs, but God will break
off the Gentiles because of their unbelief.
The root is still good. God is still the “God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob”. His promises never fail.
The last witness is God Himself. In
verse 25 we see God’s timing. The blinding
(or hardening) (Rom. 11:7) of Israel
as a nation is neither total nor final: it is
partial and temporary! So, how long will it
last? “Until the fullness of the Gentiles be
come in” (Rom. 11:12). While God is taking
out a people for His name, individual
Jews are being saved. But when the time of
the Gentiles is up, God will once more deal
with the nation of Israel. It is important to
note the little word “until”, as it assures us
God knows what time it is!
In Isaiah 59 and 60 God has promised
to save His people. The statement that,
“All Israel shall be saved” does not mean
that every Jew who has ever lived will be
converted, but that the Jews living when
the Redeemer returns will see Him, receive
Him, and be saved (Zech 12-13). We cannot
spiritualize these prophecies of national
restoration for Israel and apply them to
the church today.
Paul next reminds us of God’s covenant.
We know Israel was chosen by His
grace. God chose Israel in His grace and not
because of any merit in her (Deut. 7:6-11;
9:1-6). If Israel wasn’t chosen because of it
merit, then how can it be rejected because
of its sin “Election” means grace, not merit.
June 2010 • Moriel Quarterly 27