Romans: Verse-By-Verse
By William R. Newell
Chapter 11
Verse 1: Here Paul rejects with horror--Far be the thought! that God had finally abandoned, "cast off" His people Israel. [218] Let every Christian reject the suggestion with equal horror, First, Paul says, I myself am proof: an Israelite; not a Jewish proselyte either, but of the seed of Abraham, and a Benjamite,--not one of the ten tribes which separated from Judah! Verse 2: Then Paul defines the Israel that is not rejected: God's people whom He foreknew. In "You only have I known," He is not speaking of knowing about them or their affairs, but of the fact that to them only had He made Himself known; because they were foreknown of Him; that is, acquainted with beforehand,--before their earthly history began! (See note on Rom 8:29.) In Amo 3:1-2 we read: Now in the preceding chapter of Amos, there is a remarkable series of messages of judgment concerning the various nations surrounding Israel. In each case the exact reasons for the judgment are detailed by God, beginning with Damascus (Amo 1:3), then Gaza (Amo 1:6), Tyre (Amo 1:9), Edom (Amo 1:11), Ammon (Amo 1:13), Moab (Amo 2:1), then Judah (Amo 2:4); and finally, the northern kingdom, (to which Amos spoke), Israel (Amo 2:6): showing that God knew the exact conduct of each nation. Therefore, when God says concerning Israel, "You only have I known," He is not speaking of knowing about them or their affairs, but of the fact that to them only had He made Himself known; [219] (as Paul says to the Galatians: "Now ye have come to know God,--or rather, to be known by God"). But here we have a fore-acquaintanceship with Israel. This foreknowledge is described in Rom 8:29 (which see), where the term is used in a wider sense, and therefore must include the foreknowledge of the Remnant "according to the election of grace"--of the nation of Israel, spoken of here. Verses 3, 4: Again Paul lets the Scripture "speak," and here we find Israel's greatest prophet pleading against Israel! Because they had killed Jehovah's prophets and destroyed Jehovah's altars, Elijah believed himself left alone, and believed they were seeking his life. [220] But how utterly outside and beyond Elijah's conception of things was God's reply that He had left for Himself a "Remnant" (even 7000!) who had utterly refused Baal-worship. Here is Divine sovereignty marvelously illustrated! The nation is apostate, under Ahab and Jezebel; Baal's prophets number hundreds; and Elijah had fled the land,--back to Horeb, where the Law was given! Now comes the revelation that Divine sovereign intervention has been timely, ample, definite and perfect. God has preserved seven thousand. This reminds us immediately of the sealing of 144,000 of Israel in Revelation Seven. Unbelief or shallow interpretation would say this merely indicates some indefinite number. Well, then, go on to say, the 7000 of Elijah's day were an "indefinite number,"--and see where your false wisdom (which is really unbelief) will bring you!
Verse 5: Even so, says Paul, at this
present time also there is a Remnant (of Israelites) being
preserved by God, although the nation has crucified their Messiah,
and rejected the testimony concerning Him by the Spirit through the
apostles--an infinitely worse condition of things than Ahab's Baal
worship! Only sovereign grace will do here; so it is a Remnant
according to the election of grace. This "Remnant" are
put now into the Body of Christ: they become "partakers of a
heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1). Every saved Israelite has abandoned his
Israelitish hopes, and believed on Christ as a common sinner!
Of course only a few Israelites--a "remnant," do this. Verse 6: Paul insists, (as he does continuously
throughout his Epistles): If it is by grace, it is no more of
works: otherwise grace is no more grace--Here is perhaps the
most direct and absolute contrast in Scripture of two principles:
for grace is God acting sovereignly according to Himself;
works is man seeking to present to God a human ground for
blessing. The two principles are utterly opposed. As Paul, in his
conflict with Peter in Gal 2:15-16; Gal 2:21, says: "Even we, Jews
by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles' believed on Christ
Jesus. I do not make void the grace of God, for if righteousness is
through law, Christ died for nothing!" And as Peter said at the
first Church council, "We [Jews] believe that we shall be saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as they"
(Gentiles) (Act 15:11).
7 What then? That which Israel is in
search of [righteousness], that he [the nation] obtained not; but the election
obtained it, and the rest were hardened: 8 according as it is written, God
gave them a spirit of drowsiness, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they
should not hear, unto this very day. 9 And David saith, Let their table
be made a snare, and a trap, And a stumblingbiock, and a recompense unto
them, Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, And bow Thou down
their back always. But remember Chapter Nine and do not "reply against"
God,--and hear a "Thou--who art thou?" from Him; but note carefully,
how and why they were thus "hardened." Verse 8: Paul now says (quoting Isa 29:10):
According as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto
this very day.
The process of that awful thing, spiritual
hardening, is thus depicted in Israel as nowhere else, for hearts
harden most quickly when men are trusting in their place of special
privilege, without fellowship with the God who gives it. (Thus, we
fear, it is with thousands in Christendom, and even among those who
have the Lord's table most frequently before them. What but a deadly
snare to the soul is the table of the Lord, without real communion
with the Lord of the table!) Verse 9: So it is written of Israel's "table":
Let their table be made a snare. This is quoted from David, in
Psa 69:22, and evidently refers to the "table" at which the
Israelites were privileged to eat with Jehovah. This was indeed a
high and special privilege which Israel had: they ate with God. In
Exo 24:11, we read: "They saw God and did eat and drink"; and from
the Passover of Exodus 12 onward, they ate in their sacred feasts.
We know the priests "ate before God": Lev 6:16; Lev 7:18; Lev 7:20.
But not only was this true of the priests, but of the people in
their peace offerings (Lev 7:18-19; Lev 23:6); and in their feasts,
as in Lev 23:6 and Num 15:17-21; Num 18:26; Num 18:30-31; Deu 12:7;
Deu 12:18; Deu 14:23; Deu 27:7. For the "table" of the Israelite was connected by
Jehovah with Himself. Certain things the Israelite might eat, others
not; because he was one of a holy nation unto Jehovah. But the
Israelite quickly began to trust not in Jehovah, but in his manner
of eating, as did Peter: "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten
anything that is common and unclean." Without true faith, therefore,
their very table of privilege became a snare.
[221]
It is to be noted carefully that each time the
solemn Sixth of Isaiah is quoted, the sovereignty of God in
hardening whom He will is increasingly emphasized. We see in Mat
13:15, that it is the people's heart that had "waxed gross": their
ears were "dull of hearing" because of lack of interest; their eyes
they had closed,--not desiring to turn and understand, lest
they should perceive, and hear, understand, turn, and be healed of
God! Then, in the fourth Gospel, at the end of our Lord's public
testimony, (Joh 12:39): "They could not believe, for that Isaiah
said,
"He hath
blinded their eyes, and He
hardened their heart; Lest they
should see with their eyes,
and perceive with their
heart; And should
turn, And I should
heal them." In the third occurrence of the words of Isaiah Six
(in Acts 28), Paul officially shuts the door to national
Israel: "Well spake the Holy Spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto
your fathers," --quoting this Isaiah Six, and declaring: "Be it
known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto
the Gentiles: they also will hear."
[222]
Verse 10: As to Israel, nationally, it is written.
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. And bow Thou
down their back always. It will be so until that future day,
described in Zec 12:10, when God "pours upon them the Spirit of
grace and of supplication, and they look unto Him whom they have
pierced." We dare not believe in any of the modern reports of
national Jewish "turning to the Lord." They will go into yet greater
darkness (after the Rapture of the Church). There will be the former
evil spirit of idolatry "taking with itself seven other spirits more
wicked than itself," entering in and dwelling in this present evil
generation of Israel! (Mat 12:45). Do not be deceived. At our Lord's
coming, and not until that beleagured nation sees "the sign of the
Son of Man in Heaven" (Mat 24:30),--which will be that "looking upon
Him whom they pierced" of Zechariah 12, will they have faith.
Thomas, in John 20, who "would not believe except he see in Christ's
hands the print of the nails," is an exact type of the coming
conversion of Israel. Until then, let us "provoke to jealousy" all
of them we can, by boasting in Christ and His Salvation; and so we
may save a few of them,--as sinners, the "Remnant according
to the election of Grace."
11 I say then. Did they stumble that
they might fall? God forbid: but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to
provoke them to jealousy. 12 Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and
their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
13 But I
speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am
an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my
ministry: 14 if by any means I may provoke to
jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save some of
them. 15 For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the
world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
16 And if
the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root
is holy, so are the branches. 17
But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted
in among them, and didst become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of
the olive tree: 18 glory not over the branches:
but if thou gloriest, it is not thou
that bearest the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou
wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that
I might be grafted in. 20 Well: by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou
standest by thy faith. Be not high-minded, but fear:
21 for if God spared
not the natural branches, neither will He spare thee.
22 Behold then the goodness and
severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's goodness, if thou
continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
23 And
they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall
be grafted in: for God is able to graft
them in again. 24 For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive
tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall
these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
Verse 12: Their fall is the riches of the world;
their loss the riches of the Gentiles. Before they fell, if a
Gentile wanted to know the true God, he must become a "proselyte."
He must journey up to Jerusalem three times a year; and even then he
could not worship directly. He must have Levitical priests and
forms. Contrast with this the day of Pentecost. Every man heard
in his own tongue in which he was born, the wonderful works of
God! And by and by Paul goes freely forth, apart from the Law, and
"religion," to all the Gentiles: "Christ the
Son of God hath sent me Through the
midnight lands: Mine the
mighty ordination Of the
pierced hands!" Alas, how much Israel lost in refusing Christ's "day
of visitation" to them. How He wept over that! (Luk 19:41-44). We
cannot blame God for Israel's rejection of their Messiah, and their
"fall." He foretold it, indeed: but Christ said, "Ye will not
come to Me, that ye may have life!" But rather, let us see in the blessing that has
resulted to us, "the heart of mercy" of God! (Luk 1:78, margin.) He
will show "kindness" somewhere. And, if the invited guests
have had themselves "excused," let us who belong in "the highways
and hedges" run quickly to the feast when we are bidden!
If their fall is the riches of the world, and
their loss has been "riches to the world" and to the
Gentiles, how much more their fulness?
In the days of David and Solomon, there were
prodigal riches,--both of God's glorious presence (2Ch 5:11-14) and
of worldly wealth and honor (1 Kings 10, entire). But this presence,
and this blessing, was for Israel. Now, as our Lord told the
Samaritan woman, the hour has come, when "neither in this mountain
nor at Jerusalem" do men go to worship the Father: but salvation has
come out as "riches" to the whole world and to Gentiles, who had the
place of "dogs" before (as compared with Israel). Now if this blessing be so great for the world, with
Israel "fallen," how much more, when the time of restoration, and of
fulness for Israel, be come! Verses 13, 14: I speak to you that are Gentiles
[224] --There were many Jewish saints at Rome. But these three
chapters of Romans (9, 10 and 11), are peculiarly fitted to our
Gentile instruction. And particularly so is this word: In as much
as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry: if by any
means I may provoke to jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save
some of them. I boast, before the Jews, of how God works among
the Gentiles, of His saving them, filling them with His Spirit, and
with peace; using them in saving others, establishing them in
heavenly joy. And why do I thus magnify my Gentile ministry? To
provoke my fellow-Jews to jealousy--of an inward peace they have
not, that they may desire it: and, perhaps, choose it!
Verse 15: The casting away of them . . . the
reconciling of the world--As long as God held fellowship with
Israel on the ground of the old legal covenant, Gentiles were out of
His direct favor, unless they became Jewish proselytes. Upon
Israel's rejection of their Messiah and not until then (for Christ
came first to Israel,--as see Mat 10:5) could God "reconcile" the
world to Himself. See 2Co 5:19 : "God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto Himself."
The casting away of them--reconciling the world;
receiving of them--life from the dead!--Paul speaks God's words;
and God never exaggerates! Therefore, in understanding (so far as we
may) these great words, we have only to compare our wretched Gentile
state before the blessed reconciliation news, with our present
Gentile blessing under the gospel,--as the fruit of the "casting
away" of the Israelites; and then judge what blessing will come when
God "receives" them! It will indeed be "life from the dead"! For
this world has never seen what shall then be seen: "The earth shall
be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea"
(Isa 11:9). Not even in Eden, before man's sin, was that seen! And
all this waits the "receiving" of God's earthly people, elect
Israel! God must have them back in their land, to become "a joy to
the whole earth." When Jehovah finally speaks ever lasting comfort
to His people Israel and to Jerusalem, it is written, "And the glory
of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together"
[225] (Isa 40:1-5).
Verse 16: And if the firstfruit is holy, so is
the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches--The
firstfruit here seems to me to be the believing Israel of the
old days, as in Jer 2:2-3 "Thou wentest after Me in the wilderness,
. . . Israel was holiness unto Jehovah, the firstfruits of his
increase"; and the lump to be the whole "Israel of God," of
Galatians Six; that is, Israel, in God's sight as an always beloved
nation; though now the saved "Remnant according to the election of
grace" comes out of that nation into a risen, heavenly Christ, into
a higher calling, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile. And, as
has been said, the Gentile "is placed upon the root," not
upon the trunk nor upon the branches. He became neither a Jew,
nor of Israel. Blessing, however, had been promised
through Abraham to "all the families of the earth." Now it is important to see that the root is
Abraham, the depositary of the promises. The tree of Divine blessing
grows up by these promises to Abraham, and His Seed, which is
Christ. The natural branches, that is, those who first partook of
the tree's root and fatness, were Jews. You cannot say that the tree
is the Jewish nation, but rather that it is those partaking of the
Divine blessing from Abraham through Christ. The most of the Jews
were thus, because of unbelief, broken off. Those Jews who believed,
as we know (the election of grace), came to partake of the heavenly
calling in the Church "the assembly of God." Again, when that
assembly is taken away to heaven, and God grafts back the remnant of
the Jewish people, into their former ("their own") olive tree,
Divine blessing on earth will have the earthly character it had
before Church days: Israel will be the land, Jerusalem the city, and
the temple- worship the form (see Ezekiel 40-48). Verse 17: Some of the branches were broken off,
and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted in. This simply means
that we, as Gentiles, have been set in the place of blessing from
Abraham. It does not mean that all Gentiles are in the Body of
Christ,--for it is not of that Body as such that Paul is here
speaking: but of Gentiles as having been put into that place of
Divine blessing where Israel once stood. Nor do the words some of
the branches mean that any whole tribe of Israel will be wholly
lost; for all twelve tribes appear in Ezekiel, in the millennial
kingdom. The word thou is generic, of Gentiles: but of course is
addressed to individuals--those of the Gentiles who would hear. The
warnings here are addressed not to brethren in Christ, but as being
of the Gentiles." Verse 18: It is not thou that bearest the root,
but the root thee--How few of us Gentile believers understand
and bear in mind that we are beneficiaries of those promises which
God lodged in Abraham as a root of promise,--all the promises
we inherit in Christ! This is illustrated by Gal 3:7 : "They that
are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham"; and even the gift of
the Holy Spirit is "the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus"
coming upon the Gentiles (Gal 3:14). There is a very great danger, as Paul shows in Rom
11:18, that we Gentiles glory over the Jewish branches, and
forget it is not thou that bearest the root, but the root thee.
Abraham was the root, the vessel of promise, and we (if we are in
Christ) are his children. Verse 19, alas to say, voices the general
consciousness and the consequent conduct of Christendom through the
so-called "Christian centuries": Branches were broken off, that I
might be grafted in! The despising of the Jews, and the horrid
persecuting of them by Christendom, is one of the three great
scandals of history.
[226]
Verses 20, 21: The only wise attitude for Gentiles
is now prescribed by our apostle--Well, by their unbelief they
were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not high-minded,
but fear; [227] --In other words, it was not the Gentiles'
importance over that of the Jews, but the Jews' unbelief, that
caused some--for the present all but a "remnant"--to be broken off:
and the Gentile "stands" by his faith,--not by his superiority to
the Jews! "High-mindedness" is the contrary of the "fear" here
enjoined (the root of which is humility,--consciousness of
unworthiness). And why fear? Verse 21 tells plainly: God
spared not the natural branches [the Jews], neither will He
spare thee [Gentiledom]; if Gentiledom walks in forgetfulness of
its sinnerhood, and of God's "goodness,"--in self-importance, pride,
and high-mindedness.
Verse 22: Behold then the goodness and severity
of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's
goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also
shalt be cut off--This is a most solemn word, indeed! It calls
the Gentile world to behold the goodness and [its opposite]
severity of God! Toward them that fell, severity: in spite of
what had been the privileges of having Jehovah's temple among them;
and the former faithfulness of the nation, and afterwards of
individuals, Israel fell into self-righteousness, pride, and
rejection of their Messiah. Toward such, "severity." Christ beheld
Jerusalem and wept over it, for judgment is God's "strange work."
But, we beg you, get Josephus, or any history, and read what befell
the Jews when Titus took Jerusalem; and see Matthew Twenty-three,
and our Lord's anguished words: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that
killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!" Now it is the common talk through Christendom that
the Jews were God's "ancient" people; and that now the Gentiles are
God's favored ones. People love to hear sermons on the "goodness" of
God, but resent talk of Divine severity toward the Gentiles! But
have the Gentiles proven themselves different from the Jews in their
conduct toward God? Christendom is today sinning against greater
light than ever Israel had! God says to the Gentile: Toward thee, God's
goodness, if thou continue in His goodness--Now what is "the
goodness" referred to here? We remember our Lord's saying to the twelve
apostles, when He first sent them out to the "lost sheep of the
house of Israel," "Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter
not into any city of the Samaritans" (Mat 10:5). He had come as "a
minister of the circumcision" to His own. But when they had rejected
and crucified Him, the Risen Lord said: "Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mar 16:15) ;
"Ye shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Saniaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Act
1:8). So, the Holy Spirit having been given at Pentecost,
Peter is shortly sent to the house of the Gentile, Cornelius: who
believes the simple gospel of Christ, and, on "all them that heard
the Word the Holy Spirit fell." Then Barnabas and Saul, Silas and
Timothy, and the rest, go on to the Gentiles, turning the world
"upside down" with the gospel of grace. No need for a
"religion" now; they had Christ. No need for a temple,--they,
the assembly, were "the temple of God"; for, as Stephen
witnessed--and was stoned for it--"The Most High is not [now]
dwelling in temples made by hands." No need for a ritual: they had
the Holy Spirit, and worshipped by Him instead of forms! No need of
a special priesthood,--all believers were alike priests, and drew
near unto God by the shed blood, Christ Himself, over the house of
God, leading their worship, as the Great High Priest in heaven. No
need of seeking "merit,"--they were in Christ, already
accepted in Him,--yea, made the very righteousness of God in Him!
Now this was God's goodness toward Gentile
believers.
And, as for the Gentiles all: they were no
longer called "dogs," as contrasted with the favored race of Israel
(Mat 15:26). There was a complete change in the relationship of
Gentiles as such toward God. They were put into the place of
privilege and opportunity of Divine blessing: an "acceptable time,"
a "day of salvation," in God's "goodness" was extended to them. If
one had sought to instruct a Gentile in the Old Testament days, he
must have said, "God is the God of Israel: become a proselyte; go up
to Jerusalem; keep the feasts according to the Law." If one should
go to a Gentile in the coming Millennium, the like instruction would
be necessary, for all the nations must then go up to Jerusalem by
their representatives "to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts" (Zec
14:16-18). But now? No! An ambassador for God says
anywhere, to the worst heathen, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved." This is the Divine goodness. Now, have the Gentiles continued in that goodness?
For if the Gentiles have not so continued, God's
severity must be shown to them, as before to Israel: thou SHALT
BE CUT OFF. What then is the record? It is ghastly! First, as to sending out the gospel: After nearly
2000 years, much of the human race knows nothing of Christ. Then, as to salvation by grace preached to lost men,
apart from law and from ordinances, we see, instead, "good
character" preached up as the way of acceptance; the simple supper
of the Lord called "these holy mysteries," and baptism, instead of a
glad confession of a known Savior, relied on as a "means of
regeneration." Instead of simple gatherings (as at the first), of
believers unto the Name of Christ their Lord, relying on the
presence of the Holy Spirit solely, (as at the first), we see great
Judao-pagan temples, and an elaborate "service." And would this were
in Rome only! Instead of the free, general common priesthood of
believers, in the fellowship of prayer and faith (as in apostolic
days) we see thousands upon thousands of professing Christians that
have never prayed nor praised openly in the assembly of His saints;
myriads who do not have even the assurance of salvation (though
Christ, who bore sin for them, has been received up on high).
Contrast with this Act 2:42 : "They continued steadfastly in the
apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the
prayers." We see open, general, horrible idolatry, in
both the Greek and Roman cathedrals; and a growing tendency to put
up "crosses" instead of preaching "the word of the cross," in
so-called "Protestant" places! We see great State Churches, a thing unknown and
impossible in Scripture; and we see professing Christians divided
into "denominations," each with its own "program,"--ignoring wholly
Paul's words in 1Co 1:12-13; 1Co 3:2-4; and not at all walking in
the consciousness of the One Body. Indeed, instead of the
unity of the Spirit, they are ready to establish horrible
outward earthly union, of all "professing Christians,"
"modernists," and Jews--in short, all "religionists."
[228]
So that the Gentiles will be "cut off" from that
place of Divine privilege which they now have (and which Israel
nationally has lost), and Israel will be restored to the privileged
place, as before. Of course this "cutting off" does not mean that
individual Gentiles cannot be saved! But, as in the Old Testament,
and in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Israel will be honored as the center
and spring of Divine blessing on earth; the Gentiles becoming again
subordinate to Israel,--as to spiritual things; and having again to
"go up to Jerusalem" to worship Jehovah. The Church, the Body of
Christ, will of course have been translated to heaven before this
order of things comes in. The Church is "the fulness of the
Gentiles," of Rom 11:25. Thus, instead of continuing in God's goodness.
Gentile "Christendom" has set up the "Christian religion"; and has
settled down upon earth as if the Church belonged here; and as if
Christ might not come at any moment! If you dream Christendom has
continued in the humble gospel of grace, and the goodness
of God in giving His Son to shed His blood for lost sinners,
just examine the "religious" pronouncements in the press! Verse 23: They also, if they continue not in
their unbelief, shall be grafted in again--We know from a
multitude of prophecies that Israel will not continue in unbelief!
Thank God for this! They must, of course, see to believe. But
Zec 12:10 declares that in a future day they shall "look on Him whom
they pierced"; while the eighth and ninth verses of Zechariah's very
next chapter say, that, while "two parts of the nation shall be cut
off and die," the third part shall be left,--"refined as silver" and
"tried as gold is tried. They shall call on My name, and I will hear
them: I will say. It is My people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my
God." "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the
Lord!"--and not the false dreams of men that tell you "God is
through with Israel forever." They make God a liar when they say
that! For read Jer 31:23-40 : What does God mean otherwise than
what He plainly says in that passage?
[229] Thank God, that
while the Gentiles are going into darker unbelief every day, there
will be a spared Remnant of Israel!
Verse 24: Thou, a wild olive, grafted contrary to
nature into a good olive tree--In the process of grafting we
select a shoot of a fruit-bearing limb of a desirable tree, and
opening the bark of an inferior tree of the same species, we insert
the shoot, tying it in well. Then, behold, this inferior tree
supplies sap to this good shoot, but the engrafted shoot goes on to
bear its own good variety and class of fruit, and not that of the
inferior tree. This is nature. Now, the exact contrary has been wrought by God in
taking us Gentiles (who, God says, are "by nature a wild olive
tree"), and grafting us into the good olive tree to "partake of the
root and of the fatness" of the tree of Divine blessing,--of the
promises given to Abraham and to his Seed. Thus, behold instead of
the natural process of the shoot's producing its own quality of
fruit, we produce that "fruit unto God," which belongs to the good
olive tree, and not to the wild olive Gentile tree! Now if this contrary to nature process has
been wrought by God, how much rather, how much more, shall the
natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree? Of
course, as Paul emphasizes in verse 13: "I am speaking to you that
are Gentiles,"--that is, to you as Gentiles. Now in Christ,
as Paul has plainly taught us elsewhere (Col 3:11), "there cannot be
Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bondman, freeman; but Christ is all and in all." Unless we clearly
see that Paul in this chapter is not discussing Church truth, we
shall become hopelessly mired. The apostle is not declaring here
either the character, calling, destiny, or present privileges and
walk of the Church, the assembly of God, the Body of Christ, the
present house of God, the Bride for which the heavenly Bridegroom is
coming,--none of these things. The whole question in Romans Nine, Ten and Eleven is
one of reconciling God's special calling and promises of Israel, the
earthly people, with a gospel which sets aside that distinction,
sets aside Israel's distinctive place for the present dispensation;
and places the Gentiles in the place of direct Divine blessing, once
enjoyed by Israel. While not speaking here of our heavenly calling in
Christ, Paul yet must tell us plainly that Israel were the natural,
earthly branches of the tree of promise, some of which, through
their unbelief, were broken off. It is the matter of sharing Divine
mercy, and not of the Christian calling, which is being discussed.
Let us ask ourselves, and frankly answer, these
questions: Did God once have a house on earth? The answer must be. Yes. Where? At Jerusalem, certainly. Our Lord at the
beginning of His ministry called that temple "My Father's house";
and at the end of His ministry "My house"; and finally said to the
blind leaders of Israel: "Your house is left unto you
desolate." Will God restore to Israel His earthly House? He will, as we know, at Christ's coming back to
earth. And we are told it will be upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem. See
James' prophecy in Acts 15, quoted from Amo 9:11-12. But meanwhile, between our Lord's absence in Heaven
and His second coming, does God have a house? We know that He does. What is that house? Paul says that the Church (ekklesia( This House was formed first on the day of Pentecost,
when the Holy Spirit came down to dwell in those believers. And from
thence: "From Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth"--"where two or three are gathered" in
the name of Christ. Will this Church or Assembly ever be connected with
Israel? In no wise! Christ has built His Assembly, the
Church, and is building it. But He first broke down the
middle wall of partition, "the Law of commandments, in
ordinances"--the thing which differentiated Israel from Gentiles:
and in which Israel gloried. From both Jewish and Gentile believers
Christ is now creating ONE NEW MAN! But whence do these blessings come? From the promises made to Abraham! Abraham was the
root, and from the promises to him comes the fatness. But after the Church has been taken to Heaven, God
will again bless Israel.
25 For I would not, brethren, have
you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a
hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be Come in;
26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come
out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodlinesses from Jacob:
27 And this is the covenant from Me unto them, When I shall take away their
sins. 28 As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as
touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake.
29 For the
gifts and the calling of God are not repented of.
30 For as ye in time past
were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
31
even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also
may now obtain mercy. 32 For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that
He might have mercy upon all. 1. There is a definite fulness of
Gentiles--the very number of which God knoweth--to "come in," that
is, to be saved: for this word "fulness" is not spoken as to
privilege, but as to election. 2. In order for these Gentiles to come in, a
"hardening," judicial and sovereign, hath befallen national Israel.
3. All talk, therefore, of Israel's national turning
to the Lord, until this Gentile fulness be come in, is vain.
The fearful days of Armageddon will have to come, ere Israel,
nationally turns to God. Read Zec_12-14:4. Israel's hardening is in
part,--for some, "the Remnant according to the election of grace,"
are now being saved. National hardening is in view here. 4. Israel's hardening is in part,--for
some, "the Remnant according to the election of grace," are
now being saved. National hardening is in view here. And so--after this Divinely revealed order, we read,
Verse 26: And so all Israel shall be saved--This
is the real, elect, spared nation of the future,--"those written
unto life" (Dan 12:1; Isa 4:3, margin). The mystery
comprehends this fact (as we have said above, and as the apostle
amplifies in verse 31) for the salvation of national Israel was
impossible, except on purely grace lines. God had given
them the Law: that was necessary to reveal sin. But they utterly
failed. Now comes in the fulness of the Gentiles--by grace:
and so, after that, and on the same grace line as were the Gentiles,
all Israel shall be saved! Most of that earthly nation will
perish under Divine judgments, and the Antichrist: but the
Remnant will be "accounted as a generation." Our Lord told His
disciples that this present unbelieving generation of Israel would
not pass away till all the terrible judgments He foretold would be
fulfilled. But that that generation--"Israel after the flesh"
will pass away we know; and a believing generation take their place.
See Psa 22:30; Psa 102:18. Jehovah at last "arises, and has pity on
her,--for the set time has come!" So we read the Psalmist's words:
"This shall
be written for the
generation to come; And a people
which shall be created shall
praise Jehovah." Verses 26, 27: And now, as is usual with Paul, the
Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah throng into his mind, by the
Spirit:
There shall come out of Zion the
Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from
Jacob: And this is the covenant from Me, When I shall take away their sins.
The second of these aspects, Christ's coming to
judge the nations, has been recognized through the centuries, almost
to the exclusion of the first and third aspects of our Lord's
coming. Christ has been regarded as the Judge; and this of course He
will be, as Revelation Nineteen shows Him,--"King of kings, and Lord
of lords--in righteousness judging and making war," "treading the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty." But
the creeds of Christendom have taught one "general judgment," and
thus they have overlooked two most essential things: first, The
special relationship of Christ's coming to His real Church; and
second, The relationship of His coming to the nation of Israel, and
to the elect spared Remnant of that nation--to the real Israel.
Concerning the first, the Rapture of the Church, we
have only to read 1Th 4:13-17 :
The third stage of our Lord's return is for the
restoration of Israel to that Divine favor connected with the "New
Covenant" and the national "taking away their sins." This
presupposes the absence from earth of the Church: for God cannot
have the two testimonies on earth at the same time! In the Church
there is no distinction of Jew or Greek, neither has the Church
outward religious ceremonial service (latreia( Then what about Israel's hope? All through
the prophets, we find their hope is to be gathered back to their
own land, and established there with their Messiah in their
midst--Jehovah "dwelling with them in majesty"; their eyes "seeing
the King in His beauty"; and complete and eternal deliverance there
from all their enemies and from all their own iniquities. So verse
26 reads: There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer. Hear
what James tells us in Acts 15 in giving the dispensational program
of God (which no denominational "standards" nor "a millennial"
sophistry can change!): "Brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath
rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a
people for His name." (The present dispensation). "And to this agree
the words of the prophets; as it is written:
"After these
things I will return, And I will
build again the tabernacle
of David, which is fallen;
And I will
build again the ruins
thereof, And I will
set it up: That the
residue of men may seek
after the Lord, And all the
Gentiles upon whom My name
is called, Saith the
Lord, Who maketh these
things known from of old."
(From
the
First
Church
Council
Records:
Act
15:13-18.)
We have just listened to the coronation ceremonies
of the King of England (1937), and have been deeply moved, and
filled with thanksgiving that God has preserved to this day an
Empire that publicly acknowledges the Name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. We pray for the continuance of that Empire as long as it
be God's will, for the British flag wherever flown has protected the
gospel of Christ. Nevertheless, dark days are coming, when all
nations, under the direct influence of demonic powers, will be
"gathered together unto the war of the great day of God the
Almighty," "into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon"--
gathered "to cut off Israel from being a nation" (Rev 16:12-16; Psa
83:4; Zechariah 14; Joe 3:9-15). But while we read: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision! The sun
and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And
Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and
the heavens and the earth shall shake" (Joe 3:14-16)-- We also read these words of comfort from God to
Israel: "But Jehovah will be a refuge unto His people,
and a stronghold to the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I
am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain."
[233]
We make no excuse for spending time here, for the
Holy Spirit devotes very many pages to this exact subject of
Jehovah's Deliverance of His people Israel by the coming back to
earth to them of their Messiah in great power and glory. Let us then study these three phases or aspects of
our Lord's return with balanced time and care: the Rapture of the
Church; the Judgment of the Nations; and the Deliverance of Israel.
Verse 27: This is the covenant from Me when I
shall take away their sins-- give the literal rendering. It will
be no longer a conditional covenant, as at Sinai; but one of
grace--"from ME!" See Jeremiah 31;
[234] Ezekiel 36 and 37; and
Dan 9:24,--in which we see six distinct blessings come to Israel at
the end of the Divine "indignation" against His nation; Isa 32:1;
Isa 32:8; Isa 32:16; Isa 32:20; all of Isaiah 35. This is the "New
Covenant" of Jeremiah 31, quoted in Heb 8:8-12. It will not be
"according to the covenant that God made with their fathers."
Blessing will not depend then on man's obedience; but it will; be
sovereign mercy, at last extended to a whole spared nation (Jer
31:33-34; Rom 11:28-29).
Verse 28: We should remember two things,, always,
when we see an Israelite: first, As touching the gospel, they are
enemies for your sake; and second: As touching the election, they
are beloved for the fathers' sake (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).
Gentile believers are so prone to forget both these things,
especially if they behold a poor wretched son of Israel, or a proud
and self-vaunting one, or even a wealthy one! Anti-Semitism, or
Jew-hatred, arises, first, from Gentile rebellion against the Divine
national election of Israel; and second, from envy toward them
because of their wealth and power. Let no Christian give way to
anti-Semitism. Of course, we must "judge righteous judgment," form
unbiased opinions, of their beliefs; for many of them, like Spinoza
in rationalism, and Marx and Engels in Communism, have been
peculiarly used of the devil. Nevertheless, we dare not yield to
Gentile hatred of Israelites. For our Lord is, after the flesh, of
Israel; and God has vast gracious blessing for them shortly! Verse 29: For the gifts and the calling of God
are not repented of (by Him). These words are a source of
endless joy. We may trust a God who refuses to allow the utter
failure of Israel--nay, the idolatrous wickedness and apostasy of
Israel--to alter His determination of blessing. The "gifts" are such
as were recited in Chapter 9:4, 5(Rom 9:4-5); and the "calling" is,
that Israel is a holy nation unto God Himself. And He will see that
it is so, not only in the coming kingdom, the Millennium; but in the
new creation: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I
will make,.shall remain before Me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed
and your name Israel remain" (Isa 66:22). Verses 30-32: For as ye in time past were
disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their
[Israel's] disobedience, even so have these also now been
disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you [Gentiles] they
also may now obtain mercy. For God hath shut up all unto
disobedience that He might have mercy upon all--God brings in
the principle upon which He will bless Israel when He makes His New
Covenant with them at Christ's second coming. It seems that we
Gentiles are to be to Israel an example of Divine mercy, by
which at last they will understandingly see the "heart of mercy" of
their God! (Luk 1:78, margin). Our Gentile history is summed up in the words
"disobedient to God"; our present position in the words: "have
obtained mercy by their [Israel's] disobedience"; and now Israel
nationally have been more disobedient even than the Gentiles:
disobedient to God's Law, to His warning prophets, to His own dear
Son, their Messiah, whom they crucified; to the witness of the
Spirit through Stephen and the apostles of the resurrection of the
Messiah. But at last they will "obtain mercy,"
[235] a new principle
for them!
Having proved utterly disobedient, having lost all
claim on God, they will at last be met by God on the same great
principle of mercy, and mercy alone. So that in the
future age, the Millennium, and on forever,
[236] this nation will
carry in its heart the two great principles that give God all the
glory: first, that they were beloved of Jehovah, who had set His
love upon them, the only reason being in Himself. "Because Jehovah loveth you, and because He would keep the oath which He sware unto
your fathers" (Deu 7:7-8). Second, the consciousness of their own
complete failure: of a history of ingratitude, rebellion,
wickedness, idolatry, refusal of instruction and correction, and
finally, of despising and rejecting their own Messiah (2Ch 36:14-16;
Psalms 106). They will be brokenly conscious forever of being the
objects of the absolute uncaused mercy of Jehovah their God!
Thus they will be able to trust and rejoice in Jehovah, as the true
Church-saint now trusts and rejoices and glories in God as the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who associated us with His own Son
in the same sovereign mercy!
It must be carefully marked and deeply pondered,
this great account of sovereign mercy,--mercy first to us, and by
and by to Israel,--"the MERCIES of God," by means of which God will
win our hearts, "beseeching us" by His apostle, to present our
bodies a living sacrifice to Him (Rom 12:1). It is not only that God
has dealt with us in grace,--unearned favor; but that He has
shown mercy when all was hopeless! We may venture to say that
it is only in those who learn to regard themselves as the objects of
the Divine mercy, of uncaused Divine compassion, that the deepest
foundations for godliness of life will be, or can be, laid. Now the apostle bursts forth into most rapturous
utterance concerning the ways of God--in view of His mercies;--as
shown to us as traced in Chapters One to Eight; and yet to be shown
to Israel, as told in Chapters Nine to Eleven:
33 O the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and
His ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
who hath been His counsellor? 35 or who hath first given to Him, and it
shall be recompensed unto Him again? 36 For of Him, and through Him, and
unto Him, are all things. To Him be the glory unto the ages! Amen.
Verse 33: Paul is overwhelmed at the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God;--and here is
where we all join Paul: in adoring contemplation of God's
counsels,--the wisdom with which He brings them forth, and the
knowledge of man and of his heart and his history, past, present,
and future, that He displays in it all. Verse 34: For who hath known the mind of the
Lord? None, till He choose to unfold it! We are, as we see in
verse 25, ignorant of God's secrets; and we have no means, except He
please to tell us, of discovering His mind. Bless God that He has
"made known unto us the secret ["the mystery"] of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Christ" (Eph
1:9). Men today come from Italy and boast loudly if they have had a
talk with the "dictator" there; or from Germany, and say, The great
"leader" of Germany let me in to his plans; or from Washington, and
boast that they have had "inside information" concerning those that
are prominent there. But what are these rulers all? Bits of dust!
God declares that in His sight the nations are "accounted as the
small dust of the balance," and that "the rulers of this age are
coming to nothing" (Isa 40:15; 1Co 2:6). Now may God give us grace to realize at least a
little of our mighty privilege in having revealed to us the mind of
the Lord, the God of hosts.
"Thus saith
Jehovah, Let not the
wise man glory in his
wisdom, Neither let
the mighty man glory in his
might, Let not the
rich man glory in his
riches; But let him
that glorieth glory in this,
That he hath
understanding, and knoweth
Me, That I am
Jehovah who exerciseth
loving kindness, Justice, and
righteousness, in the earth:
For in these
things I delight, Saith
Jehovah" (Jer 9:23-24).
Verse 35: Or who hath first given to Him and it
shall be recompensed unto Him again? How beautifully this puts us in
our place! "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? And if thou
hast received it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received
it?" (1Co 4:7). Men love to think of themselves as "creators" of
this and of that. But man has created nothing. He is the user, for a
few days, of this present creation of God. He may even "discover"
some substance or force that God long since created. Man must needs
boast of his "inventions," his "creations," his greatness, and
especially his "progress." But alack, the undertaker comes along and
hauls him away! Yes, says Paul, if somebody has actually supplied
something to God, God will quickly recompense him! He will be in no
creature's debt! Verse 36: For of Him (God)--as the one great
Cause and Source; and through Him as the mighty Worker who
without creature-assistance brings into effect, into realization,
one by one. His counsels; and unto Him as the right and
proper, and necessary object and end--(for how could a creature
be a final object?--it would ruin the creature--make a Satan of
him; and it would be unrighteous for the creature to be made the end
or object of the glory of the Creator!)--are all things--note,
all things! In this the saints exult! Against this, the
serpent and his seed constantly fight and war. If Satan cannot get
himself worshipped, he will beget in man's wicked mind a philosophy
of "evolution"--a theory that all things came about by blind
uncaused "development." But men, professing themselves to be wise,
always become "fools."
[237]
All things--The sun, the moon, the stars of
light, the earth, the atmosphere, the trees, the animals, our
bodies,--for those who study the human frame agree with David, "I am
fearfully and wonderfully made!" Our minds,--with powers, as Locke
says "capable of almost anything."
"Who hath
put wisdom in the inward
parts? Or who hath
given understanding to the
mind?"
(Job 38:36).
And now the ascription of His proper honor
forevermore: To Him be the glory unto the ages! What a
prospect for a redeemed sinner! In the ages to come--ages of worship
without end, in which glory will be ascribed to God,--and that with
ever-increasing delight! And the word of eager, glad heart-consent
ends it all: Amen. We find, then, in Romans Eleven: 1. That God has not cast off Israel, a Remnant being
always preserved--this Remnant now, "the election of grace." 2. That all but the election were hardened,--to let
the fulness of the Gentiles come in: for the purpose of provoking
Israel to "jealousy,"--that they might discover Jehovah's mercy. 3. That although broken off from the stalk of
blessing, they will be grafted back into "their own olive tree." 4. That this will be at the coming to Zion in
Jerusalem of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that then a New Covenant
will be made with Israel. 5. That the Gentile will be cut off from the present
privilege-place, for not continuing in God's "goodness" (His grace
to sinners); and the place of direct Divine blessing again be taken
by Israel, who will return from their unbelief. 6. That this most solemn fact should warn Gentiles
against individual self-confidence, and especially against the
fearful delusion that Israel has been "cast away" forever, and that
the Gentiles have taken their place! God has made no covenants with
any nation but Israel; and that nation He will restore, the Gentiles
becoming then dependent on blessing, through Israel, throughout the
future. 7. That instead of being unfaithful to His promises
to Israel, God has simply exercised His sovereignty (1) in cutting
off Israel for the present; (2) in calling in the fulness of the
Gentiles on the principle of mercy only; (3) in taking away from
Israel, whom He exalted and to whom He gave His law, all claims upon
Him either by national descent, personal righteousness, or any
covenant commitments (for they rejected their promises and crucified
their Messiah) : thus shutting them up to the one great principle of
mercy. It cannot be too much emphasized that Chapters Nine,
Ten, and Eleven do not teach that the Church as such has
succeeded the Jews in the place of blessing; but do show that
Gentiledom has received the place of privilege and opportunity, and
consequently of responsibility, that Israel once had. Through not
continuing in the Divine "goodness," Gentiledom will be cut off as
directly blessed of God, and will be blessed through restored Israel
only, in the future, after Christ's return, the Rapture of the
Church, and the setting up of the Millennial Kingdom. This blessing of Gentiles will be much wider and
greater when Israel is restored. But the blessing will be of
another order,--and not so high an order as that enjoyed
by believers today, who are members of Christ's Body! Now, "there is
no difference between Jew and Greek." But, when the Lord returns to
Zion: "In those days ten men shall take hold, out of all the
languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of him
that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that
God is with you!" (Zec 8:23). To gather, as we now may do, in the name of the Lord
Jesus and with the conscious presence of the Holy Spirit, and with
direct communion with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, as the
Assembly of God, the Church, is indescribably a greater privilege
than going as part of a national delegation up to Jerusalem to
"worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts"; although at that time the
glory will be openly manifest at Jerusalem. Then it will be walking
by sight, which is ever a lower path than walking by faith. No
Gentile--nor Israelite either, for that matter,--will say in the
Millennium, "For me to live is Christ!" God has today "made us alive
together with Christ, and raised us up with Him, and made us sit in
the heavenlies in Christ Jesus." We are in Christ, and Christ is in
us, "the hope of glory!" Alas, alas, how little do we appreciate our place as
Church saints!
|
[218] The Eleventh of Romans should at once and forever turn us away from the presumptuous assertions of those who teach that God is "through with national Israel,"--that it has "no future as an elect nation" in Palestine. Mr. Philip Mauro makes the astounding statements: "The last word of prophecy concerning this people Israel as a nation was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies," and "the all Israel' of Rom 11:26 is the whole body of God's redeemed people." . . . "Zion is where the Lord Jesus is." While in utter blindness to the prophetic message he claims, "Paul quotes the words, Behold, I lay in Zion' as being fulfilled in this present era (Rom 9:33)"! "Those who insist upon what they call literal fulfilment' of the promised blessings that were to come to Israel through Christ, have completely missed the mark!" Yet even Augustine, back in the fourth century, said, "Distinguish the dispensations, and all is easy." That there is a future for the nation of Israel in their land upon this earth, all faithful believers know very well. Let the saints steadily go forward into the increasing light, of these last days, no matter who turns about and takes the back track into the darkness of ignorance of medievalism or even the relatively faint dispensational light of the Reformation. I would earnestly commend those who desire a full discussion of Mauro's attack on "Dispensationalism" (for it is a typical one!) to read Dr. I. M. Haldeman's review of Mauro's book, "The Kingdom of God." It is able and unanswerable. [219] God calls the Church His "saints," not a "people"; see Rom 1:6-7; 1Co 1:2; Eph 1:1. He never refers to the Church, as a "people," or nation. 1Pe 2:9 is not an exception, but rather a proof of this fact, for Peter is writing to the elect of the Diaspora, (the individual Jewish believers of the Jewish Dispersion), in Asia Minor, just as James also wrote, "To the twelve tribes which are of the Diaspora." In both James and Peter, there is still the sufference by God of Jewish things; as in Acts they are allowed to keep the feasts, and are in the temple: although these were all past, in God's sight, and the temple left "desolate." God was acting in great patience, with Jewish believers. But Paul brought a new message, that the Church was not earthly, nor national, nor Jewish, in any sense; but a "new body," and altogether heavenly. So the Jewish saints now are called "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1). [220] There is always the tendency, in a faithful man of God in dark days, (a tendency diligently cultivated by the devil!) to imagine himself alone. So he hunts the solitude befitting his imagined solitariness. But the voice of God came to Elijah, "What doest thou here?" Embarrassing question, that! It should bring out every Christian monk from his monastery! [221] An ominous comment on this--this "table made a snare,"--is the story of the Last Supper: Judas was, it appears, sitting so near to Jesus, that "the sop," which should mark the betrayer, was handed to him without attracting the attention of the rest. (It has been my own belief that, while John was sitting on one side of our Lord, Judas was on the other side! It was the hideous presumption of callous sin.) "And after the sop, then entered Satan into him." And, "having received the sop, he went out . . . and it was night" (Joh 13:21-30). Judas typifies Israel. Indeed, he so became the spiritual representative of apostate Israel that rejected Christ, that we need only turn to that 69th Psalm, (Christ's great "reproach" Psalm) from which Paul is quoting here in Rom 11:9-10, to see this. The 21st verse of this Psalm says, "In My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink." Evidently it is Christ speaking. Then verse 22, and following: "Let their table become a snare,"--and through verse 28(Psa 69:21-28), that wicked generation, symbolized in Judas, is shown. And just as Satan entered into Judas at the table,--when he presumed most on his place as a chosen apostle, so it was Israel's very relationship to, knowledge of, and communion with, Jehovah, at their feasts and temples, that they presumed upon! Read Jer 7:1-11. [222] Since this awful use of Isaiah 6, the gospel has no Jewish bounds or bonds whatever! And it is presumption and danger, now, to give the Jews any other place than that of common sinners! "No distinction between Jew and Greek," says God. Those that preach thus, have God's blessing. Those that would give any special place whatever to Jews, since that day, do so contrary to the gospel; and, we fear, for private advantage. Tell Jews the truth! Their Messiah was offered to their nation, and rejected. And God is not offering a Messiah to Israel now, but has Himself rejected them: all except a "remnant," who leave Jewish earthly hopes, break down into sinners only, and receive a sinner's Savior,--not a "Jewish" one! Then they become "partakers of a heavenly calling." [223] How amazingly different Paul's method of "provoking the Jews to jealousy," from that pursued by many Jewish mission workers today! The Jew must have a "special" place as a Jew! In some quarters they are even organizing "Jewish assemblies" and in other quarters advocating "the literary method of approaching Israel"! All this, we cannot but feel, is abominable kow-towing to Jewish flesh, and hinders their salvation. Jews now are common sinners, who have for the present been set aside nationally, and must come to rely, as individual sinners, hopelessly guilty and helpless, upon the shed blood of Christ, and upon Him risen from the dead. It is an awful thing to make present day "Jewish" claims, when God says Jews are for the present, no different from Gentiles, before God: but are just--sinners! [224] The moment Paul says this, we know he is not addressing either Jewish believers or Gentile Christians as such--those "in Christ," for in Christ is neither Jew nor Greek. So he must be speaking to us Gentiles as having at present (not as the Church, but the Gentiles as over against the Jews) come into God's general favor--which the Jews had, but of which they are at present deprived. Gentiles, not Jews, at present are the field of God's operations on earth. They are favored, as Israel once was. And they have, therefore, like responsibilities. If Israel was "cut off" through unbelief, Gentiledom must beware lest not abiding in that "goodness" in which God has set the Gentiles (that is, in that direct Divine favor,--without law, or religion, in which Cod has put Gentiledom), it also shall be cut off! For God did not give Gentiledom a Law, with its "10,000 things," as He gave Israel. He gave Gentiledom the gospel only. He gave them Paul; and the message of GRACE. Now, if they go back to "religion," or if they forget or neglect God's great salvation, it is to desert God's "goodness"; and thus to be shortly "cut off." And they have done just that,--as we know too well! If Gentiledom has "continued" in God's uncaused grace and goodness, what meaneth then this bleating in our ears--of liturgies, masses, holy days, even prayers for the dead? What meaneth all this buzz of "administering sacraments," of "vestments," of "holy orders," of priestcraft? Why these vast cathedrals? This lavish outpouring for great "religious" establishments? The apostles had none of this! God commanded none of it. Nay, He forbade it! "The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands"! The Jews stoned Stephen, who dared to say so! And see the Popes burning like witnesses! And "Modern" Denominations turning faithful preachers out of churches! No; Gentiledom has deserted the "goodness" of God, for a Judao-pagan system With "Christian" names. And Gentiledom will be cut off. [225] It must ever be remembered that the calling of the Church, the Body of Christ, is a heavenly one; as Israel's is not. Though by God's grace partaken of an ineffably higher place--members of Christ Himself, yet we, more than any, should regard Israel's coming blessing; for we have, as they will have, mercy: the sweetest conferment of God on sinners! [226] "The first scandal was the persecution of their own prophets by the Jews, God's own nation; the second was the hatred unto death against the witnesses and truth of the gospel by papal Rome (the professed church of God!) with its Inquisition tortures and stake; the third I have named above, the hatred of the Jews by professing Christians,--by those who professed faith in a Savior who is Himself "an Israelite after the flesh." I do not here mention pagan persecutions, either of Jews or of Christians, for such were to be expected. Dean Milman, in his History of the Jews, (and such a book could be read with great profit in these days of rising anti-Semitism), calls the persecution of the Jews during the middle ages "A most hideous chronicle of human cruelty (as far as my researches have gone,--fearfully true). Perhaps it is the most hideous," he goes on, "because the most continuous to be found among nations above the state of savages. Alas! that it should be among nations called Christian, though occasionally the Mohammedan persecutor vied with the Christian in barbarity . . . Kingdom after kingdom, and people after people, followed the dreadful example, [of hatred and persecution of the Israelites], and strove to peal the knell of the descendants of Israel; till at length, what we blush to call Christianity, with the Inquisition in its train, cleared the fair and smiling provinces of Spain of this industrious part of its population, and self-inflicted a curse of barrenness upon the benighted land." We may remark that the present fratricidal slaughter in Spain is simply a fulfillment of God's words to Abraham and his seed: "Him that curseth thee will I curse." In its persecutions both of Jews and of Christians, Spain sowed the wind: it is now reaping the whirlwind! [227] Some, who deny the eternal safety of the saints, apply the warning of verses 20, 21, as if it were a personal, instead of a generic one,--a warning to individual believers, instead of to Gentiledom as such. But this is not only bad theology, but a missing of Paul's whole point here. It is bad theology, for our Lord says of His sheep, that they "shall never perish" and when Paul warns believers of being "high-minded" (compare 1Ti 6:17 with Rom 11:20) it is not to threaten doom to them, but to counsel them how to walk. Then, it is bad interpretation: for the whole passage in Rom 11:19-24, deals not with the Church, (where there is no) distinction between Jew and Greek!) but with Jew-position and Gentile-position in God's affairs on earth. Israel, unbelieving, was cut off for awhile from his place of Divine favor and blessing. Gentiledom comes into favor instead of Israel, for a while; and "the Church came into the administration of the promises in the character of Gentiles, in contrast with Jews." It is to a characteristic Gentile, that Paul speaks in Rom 11:19 : "Thou wilt say, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in." He speaks generically, to this characteristic Gentile, when he warns, in verse 22: "Toward thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in His goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be [as was Israel before Gentiledom] cut off." Now we know, from God's prophetic Word, that Gentiledom will, indeed, be cut off, as was Israel, and Israel be restored to his former place, as the sphere and channel of God's blessing to earth. So that, when Paul says, "I speak to you that are Gentiles," he is talking, not to God's saints as such, much less to the Church which is the Body of Christ; but to Gentiledom, which has been given to be, in God's "goodness," the place of His blessing, while Israel is for the time set aside. Another proof of this is in the very admonition itself: "Be not highminded, but fear." If this (as some claim) is merely a warning to individual saints to avoid pride, why should it be addressed to Gentile saints only? Had Jewish believers no danger of pride? No; it is not of the Church at all, nor of His real saints, that God speaks here: but of Gentiledom. [228] "That God is withdrawing from "denominational" Christianity is very evident "Modernists" control some denominations completely and the hideous unbelief of "modernism" is infiltrating slowly every denomination. Honest souls familiar with the facts all know this and are perplexed what to do. But God will take care of His testimony,--indeed is doing so, by means of Bible conferences, Bible classes, and gatherings for prayer in private homes--more and more after the early Church pattern. As for Laodicean "property," the great churches, schools, libraries, and what not, the devil is falling heir to them fast,--which need not alarm the saints, for the early Church had none of these things, but Christ and the Holy Ghost and God's Word only! [229] It is a blessed fact that God's real saints, the true Church, are coming more and more, daily into the light, and back to the simple faith of the beginning. This is most especially evident in the attitude of true believers in their expectancy of the coming of the Lord--a spirit that characterized the early Church for 300 years! Nevertheless, what we say is true, as reads Isaiah: "Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples." [230] In discussing the heavenly calling of the church in Eph 2:11-15 Paul refers to us thus: "Remember that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision' by that which is called Circumcision,' in the flesh, made by hands; that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the Blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall . . . having abolished in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments . . . that He might create in Himself of the two ONE NEW MAN, so making peace." In the first part of Ephesians 2, we are seen "dead through our trespasses and sins," and are "made alive together with Christ, and raised up with Him and made to sit with Him in the heavenlies, in Christ Jesus"; but in the second part of the same chapter, our Gentile place as "far off," "aliens," is contrasted with the place of Israel, who were "nigh." But mark: God does not Himself recognize in Ephesians the distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision: He merely says that the Gentiles are called "Uncircumcision" by that which is called "Circumcision." For the circumcision had become in God's sight uncircumcision. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly"; so that it is merely a distinction circumcised sinners made with regard to uncircumcised sinners. In the real fact, "There is no distinction (between Jew and Gentile), for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." [231] "We find in Scripture (Ezekiel 38 and 39) a horrid confederation of evil headed by the "prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal," which Bible students commonly accept as Russia, Moscow and Tobolsk; with which is allied Persia, Cush, Put, Corner, and the house of Togarmah--"even many peoples with thee." They go to cut off re-established Israel, just before the Millennial days described in Ezekiel 40 to 48, Now we know from the Second Psalm and many other Scriptures, that the nations of earth will all finally rebel, and that intelligently, against Jehovah, and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds asunder, and cast away Their cords from us." We do not wonder, then, that these North-European nations are first to come out into open God-defying: Russia with its atheism, and then Hitler, with his arrogant anti-Scripture conceit concerning Aryans, willing to go back to the pagan deities of Northern Europe. The word of prophecy connects these northern nations--including Germany--in a great confederacy: however far apart they may seem to be at present. [232] God came from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full ot His praise. * * * * He stood, and measured the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; * * * * Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers? Was Thine anger against the rivers, Or Thy wrath against the sea, That Thou didst ride upon Thy horses, Upon Thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow was made quite bare; The oaths to the tribes were a sure word. Thou didst march through the land of Israel in indignation; Thou didst thresh the nations in anger. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people [Israel], For victory with Thine Anointed [Christ]. And then (Verse 13) there is the smiting of "the wicked man" (Antichrist), and the piercing of "the head of his warriors." This is exactly what we find, of course, in Rev 19:19-21! And see the faith even in those terrible days preceding Christ's return. "I heard, and my body trembled, . . . Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble [the Great Tribulation]. For the coming up of the people that invadeth us [all nations: see Zec 14:1-2; Joe 3:9-17]. For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, The vines . . . the olive, . . . the fields . . . the flock [be] cut off, Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation"* [233] The words "out of Zion shall come forth a Deliverer" have puzzled many, and indeed there are real difficulties here. The quotation is from Isa 59:20, "a Redeemer will come to Zion." But let us look at certain facts: There are two mountains in Jerusalem, one Mount Moriah, where the former temple was built; and the other, the higher, Mount Zion. Here, when David became king, the Jebusites had a stronghold. David's first desire when made king over all the people was to take this stronghold of the enemy (2Sa 5:7; 1Ch 11:5). It was thereafter called "the city of David, which is Zion" (1Ki 8:1). Now in the quotation from James in Acts 15, we find that the Lord upon His return "will build again the tabernacle of David," meaning on Mount Zion, not Moriah (for typical things shall have passed away). And concerning Zion we read in Isa 4:3-4 : "And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem; when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the Spirit of justice, and by the Spirit of burning." The expression of Rom 11:26-27 : "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodlinesses from Jacob" becomes clearer, verse 26 showing Christ delivering Israel from their ungodlinesses, and verse 27 showing Christ establishing His earthly Temple and Throne on Mount Zion, and "uttering His Voice" from thence. See Amo 1:2. [234] There is a beautiful view of God's mercy to His people in the time of the Tribulation, in Jer 31:2 : "Thus saith Jehovah, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when he went to find him. rest" (margin). In Rev 12:14 we see the woman, Israel, fleeing into the wilderness and nourished for three years and a half in a marvelous way, as during the 40 years in the wilderness in Sinai after Egypt. Note that Jeremiah says, "The people that were left of the sword." This cannot refer to Israel as coming up from Egypt, but must look toward that "Remnant" left after the terrible cutting off of the most of fleshly Israel, as seen in Eze 20:32-38, R.V.; Isa 10:22-23. This Remnant flees when Antichrist is revealed, and escapes death at his hands. Isa 16:3-4, the Moabites are commanded by God to protect these fleeing ones of Israel; "Make thy shade as the night in the midst, of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive. Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee; as for Moab, be thou a convert to him from the face of the destroyer." The words immediately following, "For the extortioner is brought to nought, destruction ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And a throne shall be established in lovingkindness; and One shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness"-- these words (Isa 16:4-5) reveal the Deliverance that is about to come at that time. [235] To render verse 31 (as the Latin Vulgate, Luther, Darby, and others, insist on doing), "been disobedient to our [Gentile] mercy," not only is a straining of the text, but also wholly defeats understanding of the passage. The Gentile world in verse 30 is seen as disobedient to God, that is, living in sin and idolatry. But the disobedience of the Jews, (verse 31), was the rejection of their Messiah and particularly of the apostolic testimony of His resurrection. When the Jews believed, it was called "being obedient to the faith" (Act 6:7); and, "God hath given the Holy Spirit to them that obey Him" in believing (Act 5:32). Notice that the question of Gentile salvation had not at that time come up at all! In the synagogue at Ephesus some of the Jews were "hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way" (Act 19:9). It was rejecting the way of salvation by faith apart from works, and faith in God's message concerning the Christ whom their nation had rejected and crucified--this constituted Jewish disobedience. Rom 11:32 must be connected with Gal 3:22 : "The Scripture shut up all things under sin, that the promise of faith in Christ Jesus might be given to them that believe," with "God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all." This does not make God the author of disobedience;--man, whether Gentile or Jew, is responsible for that. As for the Gentiles, God, since Babel, "suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways" (Act 14:16). Then He met them in the way of sovereign mercy, which they were not seeking. As for the Jews, God brought them unto Himself, gave them His Law, sent His prophets and His Son, and they despised all, even the offer of national pardon. Thus, the Jews were "disobedient" to God's way with them. But, by the example of Gentile mercy, they also will obtain mercy. [236] But there is another deep truth also; Christ was made to become sin, and died unto sin, and unto all connection with man in sin. When our Lord was raised as the First-born from among the dead, it was in the "power of an endless life." He showed Himself alive, indeed, to His disciples, saying, "Handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having" (Luk 24:39), and He even ate with them. Nevertheless, His body was on resurrection ground, as heavenly as His spirit. And we shall have bodies like unto His glorious body, but it will be only when we shall be "changed," at our Lord's coming; when "this corruptible puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on immortality." Even as regards God's counsels toward the spared Remnant of Israel during the Millennium, as well as toward all the earth,--while the eyes of the Remnant shall "see the King in His beauty," and His glory shall be seen over the millennial temple by all nations; yet, as it seems to me, not until after the Millennium, will even Israel share that new creation place that the Church now, and the saints of Rev 20:4, enter on before and during the Millennium. See Isa 65:17-18; Isa 66:22. Of course, both the Remnant and those of the nations who bow in real worship during the Millennium, will share spiritual life in Christ, for then will be completely fulfilled Pentecost, which Isaiah describes as the time when "the Spirit is poured out on us from on high" (Isa 32:15); but it is not until "the new heaven and the new earth" wherein the seed and name of Israel shall remain (Isa 66:22), that even that nation will be fully on new creation ground, such as the Church, members of Christ, are now as to their spirits, and will be shortly, as to their bodies, at the Rapture. When today poor blinded Jewish rabbis and elders claim "Jesus of Nazareth" as belonging to them, as "one of their prophets," "perhaps the greatest one," it causes in the heart of the instructed Christian, only a lament. Christ was indeed, as to His flesh, born of them; but they rejected and crucified Him; and He is passed into a new creation, and is the last Adam, a Second Man, with whom the Jewish nation as such has as yet no connection, any more than have unbelieving Gentiles. "Except a man be born from above he CANNOT SEE the kingdom of God!" [237] Hear Voltaire, the brilliant French infidel in the eighteenth century, speak of Sir Isaac Newton (one of the greatest minds and godliest men of history): "Look at the mighty mind of Newton. When he got into his dotage he began to study the book called the Bible; and it seems, in order to credit its fabulous nonsense, we must believe (says Newton) that the knowledge of mankind will be so increased that we shall be able to travel at fifty miles per hour. The poor dotard!" (Newton had been studying and writing upon Dan 12:4 : "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased," when he made this prediction.) At Daytona Beach, in Florida, a few miles from my home, a man recently traveled nearly six times fifty miles per hour! So it seems Voltaire was the fool, the "dotard," and not Newton! And the very room in which Voltaire asserted, "A hundred years after I am dead the Bible will be an unknown book"--is now a wareroom of the British and Foreign Bible Society!
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