Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel

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March 6, 2016 We’re starting a new chapter in Romans tonight but not a new topic. Romans 11 continues to work through the same issue that served as the focal point of Romans 9-10: What does Israel’s large-scale rejection of Jesus mean? Paul has already answered this question from several angles in Romans 9-10, but he continues to develop his answers in some new ways in Romans 11. I’ve wrestled with how to approach Romans 11 on this first night, because there’s a lot I want us to see, and it’s been hard to know what to do this first week and what to save for later. I ask that, as always, you take each week of teaching in the larger context of what we’re seeing in the whole chapter, and the whole book. For tonight, I believe it will be helpful for us to get an overall feel for Romans 11 and for how it fits with Romans 9-10. (In working on this, I benefited a lot from John Piper. But I’ve also built on his approach with my own thoughts. As usual, if something is really helpful, it’s probably his. If something is less clear, you can probably blame me!) Romans 9 starts with Paul’s anguish over the fact that most Israelites in his day are rejecting Jesus. It is a problem that has continued for 2000 years to this very day. There are some Jews who trust Jesus as the Messiah, but the majority of Jews for the past 2000 years have rejected Him. And their rejection of Jesus means they are perishing in unbelief. This problem with the Jews raises an even deeper problem for Paul: What does Israel’s unbelief mean about God’s promised faithfulness to His people? Has God’s word failed? We know this is Paul’s focus, because it’s where he turns his attention immediately after describing Israel’s unbelief: “But it is not as though the word of God has failed” (9:6). In one way or another, everything else in Romans 9-11 can be seen as explanation of that claim: Even though many Israelites are rejecting Jesus, the word of God has not failed. We can break Paul’s explanation up into three major pieces: 1. God’s promise is for True Israel, whom God has chosen, not ethnic Israel, who is physically descended from Abraham.

“Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring… This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (9:6-8). God’s promise is for God’s true people, “the children of the promise,” whom God has chosen “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue” (9:11). Therefore, when ethnic Israelites reject Jesus, it does not mean God’s promise has fallen, because many ethnic Israelites are not God’s true people, and therefore, the promises were not given to them. 2. Many Gentiles are included in God’s people and receive God’s promise of grace to save them. Paul first introduces the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s people in 9:24, “Even us whom (God) has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles.” God promised through Hosea, “Those who are not my people I will call ’my people’” (9:25), and God is keeping that promise through the Gentiles. The reason Gentiles are able to be included in God’s people is because justification before God is through faith in Jesus, not works of the law. Therefore, anyone who trusts Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, is saved by faith and God graciously includes them in His people. “Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith” (9:30). “For the end goal of the law is Christ for righteousness to everyone who believes” (10:4). “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all,

bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (10:12-13). Therefore, God’s word stands—it has not failed—because God’s promise is being fulfilled

for all who trust Jesus. 3. All Israel will be saved.

As Paul nears the end of his teaching in chapter 11, he offers this conclusion, “And in this way all Israel will be saved” (11:26). God will keep His promised faithfulness to Israel. God’s word will not fail. All Israel will be saved. That third point does a great job of vaulting straight into the thick of the interpretive issues of Romans 11. What does Paul mean when he says, “All Israel will be saved” ? There are at least three possibilities, each of them having some contextual support from various places in Romans 9-11 (next page).

1.

He could mean that all of God’s true people will be saved. Starting in 9:6, Paul has established for us that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” In that verse, “Israel” has two different meanings. “Descended from Israel” refers to ethnic Israel. “Belong to Israel” refers to spiritual Israel, the true people of God, who we know does not include every ethnic Israelite, and who we also know includes many Gentiles. So it’s possible that “Israel” in 11:26 refers to “spiritual Israel.” If so, Paul’s point is that God will save every person who’s part of His true spiritual people. When it’s all said and done, God will be faithful to all His people, and God will keep His promises to all His people.

2. He could mean that a day is coming when every ethnic Israelite on earth trusts Jesus as Messiah and is saved. The reason this is a possible interpretation is because throughout Romans 11, when Paul mentions Israel, he is usually referring to national, ethnic Israel. For example, start in the very first verse of the chapter, “I ask, then, has God rejected his people?” Does “his people” refer to ethnic Israel or spiritual Israel here? Because this verse comes immediately after Romans 10, we know it’s ethnic Israel. Romans 10 has just established that many Gentiles are being saved, while many Israelites are perishing. If Paul were referring to God’s spiritual people, there would be no reason to ask the question, because clearly God is saving His spiritual people. But the question Paul is concerned with here is, “Does the fact that so many Israelites are perishing while so many Gentiles are being saved mean God has rejected His national people, the nation of Israel that He established in the Old Testament?” Paul confirms this interpretation with the way he answers the question in 11:1, “By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.” Notice that Paul doesn’t just call himself an Israelite or a descendant of Abraham, but specifies “a member of the tribe of Benjamin.” This is probably because, unlike in Romans 9 when his point was that true Israel is not all ethnic Israelites and true descendants of Abraham are not all physical descendants of Abraham, now, in chapter 11, he is referring to his ethnicity. He doesn’t want us to interpret “Israelite” and “descendant of Abraham” as spiritual references in 11:1 but as physical references, so he includes “of the tribe of Benjamin” to make it clear that he’s referring to ethnicity here. So the first verse of chapter 11 sets the tone for “His people” and “Israel” referring to national, ethnic people in this chapter. 11:7 continues in that direction, “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.” We know from chapter 9 that the “elect” are God’s true people—spiritual Israel. But in 11:7 “the elect” are contrasted with “Israel,” so Israel must be referring to national Israel in that verse. Again in 11:11, “Salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” Israel is contrasted with Gentiles, so the most natural reading is national Israel. The same is true for 11:13-14. “My fellow Jews” is contrasted with “Gentiles.” Finally, when we get to the verse immediately before 11:26, 11:25 says, “A partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Israel clearly refers to national Israel in 11:25, so 11:26 may refer to national Israel, as well. With that said, while “Israel” may refer to national Israel in 11:26, the context does not guarantee Paul means a day is coming when every ethnic Israelite on earth trusts Jesus as Messiah and is saved. That leads to... 3. He could mean a day is coming when many national Israelites trust Jesus and are saved. Their turning to Jesus will happen on a large-scale in a way that is very similar to their current large-scale rejection of Jesus. All the reasons for taking “Israel” as national Israel are the same as in 2. But the reason for interpreting “all” to mean “the majority of the nation” or “a large-scale turning” is because in Romans 9-11 Paul has made broad, sweeping statements about Israel without meaning “every single person.” For example, when he says, “Israel,

who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works” (9:31-32), he doesn’t mean every single Israelite. In Romans 4, he mentioned Abraham and David as two Israelites who were justified by faith. In 11:1, he mentions himself. You also have the other apostles and the earliest believers in Jerusalem. So “Israel” in 9:31 doesn’t refer to every single Israelite, but the vast majority of ethnic Israelites.

Something similar can be seen in 11:7, “Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.” Think carefully here: Some of the elect are national Israelites (9:24 makes that clear). Therefore, when Paul contrasts “Israel” with “the elect,” he does not intend for “Israel” to indicate every single Israelite, but the vast majority.

Perhaps also helpful here is 11:13-15, “I magnify my ministry (to the Gentiles), in order somehow to

make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” 11:15 sounds

like Paul has the mass-turning of Jews to Jesus at the end of time in mind, but in 11:14, he speaks of some Jews being saved, not all. Granted, 11:14 may only be talking about Paul’s ministry, which turned out not to be the fulfillment of 11:26, but the connection between 11:14-15 also has to be considered. So it’s possible that just as Israel’s hardening and Israel’s rejection of Jesus in Romans 9-11 does not mean every single Israelite has rejected Jesus but rather a large-scale rejection of Jesus by the majority of Israelites, so also “all Israel will be saved” may not mean every single Israelite will trust Jesus but rather a large-scale turning to Jesus by the majority of Israelites. So which is it? I don’t know. I have said 2. isn’t guaranteed by the context. However, I don’t see anything in the text that automatically rules it out, either, and if a day comes when every living Jew trusts Jesus as Messiah, praise God! As far as I can tell, that doesn’t violate any biblical teaching about Israel, and it would be an awesome moment, so pray for the Jews to trust Jesus (and the Gentiles, too!). I also don’t believe we can rule out twin meanings and twin fulfillments. We often see this with prophecy in the Bible. Many Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled during Old Testament times, and then again in a fuller way by Jesus. Certainly, for Paul to say “all Israel will be saved,” it is accurate for us to know God is going to save all His people. God is going to keep His word to His true spiritual people. The flow from 11:25 to 11:26 could suggest “all Israel” in 11:26 is referring to all God’s people. 11:25 says the partial hardening of national Israel is so the fullness of the Gentiles come in, and 11:26 could be read as saying the fullness of the Gentiles coming in is why “all Israel will be saved.” In that case, Paul is shifting from national Israel in 11:25 to spiritual Israel in 11:26. At the same time, 11:28-32 suggests that Paul is more focused on national Israel at the end of this chapter, so “all Israel will be saved” could be read as meaning a large-scale majority of Israelites, or perhaps even every living Israelite, at some point will turn to Jesus and be saved. If that happens, that will still fit with 1. In turning to Jesus, they are part of God’s true spiritual people, so as ethnic Israelites are saved, they are being saved along with all God’s true people. So, we certainly know God will save all His people, Jew and Gentile alike. That may include a much larger number of ethnic Jews near the end of time than at any point previously in history. Beyond that, I don’t have any more clarity to offer on the details. If you do, let me know! Hopefully, that helps us get familiar with the main focus of Romans 11. We’ll dig into more of the details in the coming weeks. But the last thing I want us to do tonight is I want to take a few minutes to ask: Why does this matter? Maybe you’re thinking, “This teaching about Israel is wildly unpractical for me. We’d be better off talking about how to manage our money and how to raise our kids and how to improve our marriages and how to have our best life now.” Maybe you aren’t thinking that, but it’s a very common thought in the religious world of our day. A lot of times it’s described as, “People need practical application, not theology.” There’s so much to say in response to that, but let’s start here: When you focus exclusively on “practical application,” that doesn’t mean you aren’t doing theology. That just means you’re doing poor theology. You see, theology is literally “the study of God.” It’s “knowing God.” Knowing God affects everything. Knowing God is the most important thing in your life. And if you say, “Just give me practical application, not theology,” you’re saying at least two things (hopefully unintentionally): (1) “All the little details of my life are more important than knowing God,” and (2) “God isn’t relevant to my practical, everyday life.” Let me tell you: That’s terrible theology. That’s also going to lead to terrible practical application! Knowing God has everything to do with managing your money and raising your kids and improving your marriage and knowing what your “best” life even is! There is nothing more important than God, and nothing more important to your life than knowing the truth about God.

With that said, let me give you four specific reasons why Romans 9-11 matters for us: 1.

It’s always important to remember that the entire Bible is about God, not us, not the people in the Bible. The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself, and more specifically, God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus. So Romans 9-11 is not just teaching about Israel. Romans 9-11 is teaching about God. It shows us who God is, how God deals with His people, the faithfulness of God, the mercy of God, the sovereignty of God, the wisdom of God, the eternal purposes of God, and the historical outworking of God’s purposes. It shows us how to be right with God. There are no words for how much all of that matters! So make sure you’re coming to these chapters to see God and know God and trust God and love God and worship God.

2. God reveals in other parts of the Bible that He intends for the history of Israel to serve as an example for us (1 Corinthians 10:6, 10). Hebrews 8:5, 9:9, and 10:1 refer to Israel’s temple, priesthood, covenants with God, and sacrificial system as a “copy,” “shadow,” and “symbol” of greater spiritual realities in Jesus. In other words, God did something very unique with Israel. Of all the nations on earth, God chose Israel to be a historical illustration for the whole world. When we learn about God’s dealings with her, we learn about God’s dealings with us. When we learn about her responses to God, we learn about our responses to God. We’ve seen this same thought in Romans before. In 3:19-20, Paul tells us that Israel’s failure to be righteous through the law stops every mouth in the whole world and shows that we are all accountable to God and that none of us will be justified by works. So it’s good for us to study these chapters about Israel because God uses Israel to teach us about our relationship with Him. 3. If God’s word to Israel has failed, then God’s word to us may fail, as well. I’ve said it a ton by now: That’s why Romans 9-11 follows the promises of Romans 8. If God didn’t keep His promises to Israel, God may not keep His promises to us. So just like I just said in 1., this isn’t nearly as much about Israel as it is about God. Is God trustworthy? Can we believe God? Can we rest in God’s promises? Our entire lives, not to mention all eternity, hang on those questions. They are massively important. They are certainly worth three chapters of consideration! And the beautiful and glorious answer is Yes! Yes, God is faithful to His people. Yes, God keeps His promises. Yes, God’s word will stand. Yes, you can trust God. Yes, you can believe that God is working all things for your good and that God will love you forever in Jesus. 4. As important as 3. is to us, there is something even bigger at stake in Romans 9-11. If God’s word to Israel failed, then God is either not truthful enough to keep His promises or not strong enough to keep His promises, or both. And if God is anything less than perfectly truthful and perfectly powerful, then God is not perfectly glorious. And if God is not perfectly glorious, then God is not God. If God is not God, then all reality loses its meaning and significance. The standard of beauty and truth and love and righteousness and pleasure and holiness and goodness and justice and mercy is gone, because God is gone. Your life is pointless, meaningless, and hopeless. All reality is a sham. But if God has kept His word… if God has shown Himself to be faithful and true and strong and sovereign as God (and He has!)… then God is all-glorious. God is the rightful center all of things. God is the standard of all things. God will receive all the glory He deserves for all time, and we have the hope of enjoying His glory for all time. That’s exactly where Paul ends this section, “Oh, the

depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” God is God. May we glorify Him forever.