" I say then, hath God cast away His people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin: God hath not cast away His people, which He foreknew." Romans 11v1-2.
Paul now focuses on the future plans of God, concerning Israel. In chapter 9 he outlined the sovereignty of God, in blessing Israel to bring Christ, the Messiah to the world. In chapter 10 he declared Israel's rejection of Christ. Now in chapter 11, he shows that this defection of Israel, as he calls it, resulted in God's rejection of them, but that this was only a temporary measure, and it was providential, so far as the Gentile nations were concerned: however the overriding message is of the complete salvation of all TRUE ISRAEL, when God's programme for the nations is complete.
In order to understand this difficult, but, delightful, portion of God's word, there are two things that we must take on board; firstly, that God will never forsake His people. This much is clear from the following scriptures; 1st Samuel 12v22 "For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake: because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people." Again in Jeremiah 31v37 "Thus saith the Lord' If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord." In other words it is an impossibility, it will never happen, God will never abandon His people, and so Paul says "God forbid." The second thing we have to take on board, however, is the fact that not all who are born to ethnic Israel, are God's people. Paul makes this very clear throughout this chapter and particularly in the verses 1-2 quoted above. There he declared his own ethnic origin as an Israelite, truly born of Abraham through Jacob of the tribe of Benjamin. Thus Paul establishes his true ethnic origin. However in verse 2 he says something quite different " God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew." The addition of these last three words bring us to the fact that only a select group of Israel, that is people of faith, are truly God's people. In supreme Divine omniscience, God knows exactly who they are This fact he has already established in this epistle. In Romans 2v28 - 29, he defines a Jew like this " he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." In chapter 9 verses 6-8 he says a similar thing " For they are not all Israel which are of Israel; neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children; but, IN ISAAC SHALL THY SEED BE CALLED, that is they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed."
The Old Testament scriptures spoke of a remnant, a small proportion of ethnic Israel as being the true people of God. In Isaiah chapter 6v13, it describes this remnant as one tenth. We know not whether this is literal, what we do know is that it refers to a very small proportion of their total population. In the same chapter the prophet describes this remnant as the holy seed. Paul moves in Romans chapter 11 from speaking of ethnic Israel to focusing almost entirely on the holy seed, the true Israel, and throughout the chapter this is what he is discussing; true Israel, the true remnant of faith just as the patriarchs and all the prophets and many of the people. In verse 5 he says "even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Again in verse 7 he says "Israel (ethnic Israel) hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election obtained it and the rest were blinded.
However this situation will not continue forever, and, whereas today, only a small proportion of Israelites are saved, in a day to come this will change and Israel in mass will turn to God and the story is summed up in verse 25 "that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles will be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, THERE SHALL COME OUT OF ZION THE DELIVERER, AND SHALL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB; FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT UNTO THEM WHEN I SHALL TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."
This is the summary of Romans chapter 11, which if we keep in mind these basic principles, we will enjoy the chapter and rejoice with the apostle Paul at the end, at the glorious wisdom of God who planned it so.
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