Romans 11.11-Paul Argues That Israel's Fall As A Nation Is Not Final But Was To Save The Gentiles So As To Make Israel Jealous
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday July 2, 2009
Romans: Romans 11:11-Paul Argues That Israel’s Fall As A Nation Is Not Final But Was To Save The Gentiles So As To Make Israel Jealous
Lesson # 362
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 11:1.
This evening we will study Romans 11:11, which begins a new paragraph and in this passage Paul argues that Israel’s fall as a nation is by no means final but was to save the Gentiles so as to make them jealous.
Romans 11:1, “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”
Romans 11:2, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?”
Romans 11:3, “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.”
Romans 11:4, “But what is the divine response to him? ‘I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.’”
Romans 11:5, “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice.”
Romans 11:6, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.”
Romans 11:7, “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened.”
Romans 11:8, “Just as it is written, ‘GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.’”
Romans 11:9, “And David says, ‘LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.’”
Romans 11:10, “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.’”
Romans 11:11, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”
The rhetorical question in Romans 11:11 is the result of an inference that could be implied from Paul’s teaching in Romans 11:8-10, namely that Israel’s rejection of Christ as a nation is the end of her as a national entity.
When Paul refers to Israel in Romans 11:11, he is not speaking of the unsaved but rather to Israel as a national entity.
He is saying in Romans 11:11 that even though the majority in Israel had rejected Christ as Savior and only a remnant has believed, this does not imply that God is through with Israel as a national entity.
We must remember that in Romans chapter 11 when he speaks of Israel, he is speaking of her as a national entity and when he speaks of the Gentiles he is referring to them not as individuals but as a corporate entity.
Paul is teaching in Romans 11:11 among other things that God is not through with Israel as a nation even though the majority of Israelites have rejected their Messiah and only a remnant has believed in the Savior.
So in this verse he is making clear in emphatic terms that Israel as a nation has a future despite the fact that the majority have rejected Christ and only a remnant has believed.
The unsaved Israelites are lost forever but God still has a plan for the nation as a whole despite the fact that the majority of Israelites will suffer eternal condemnation for their rejection of Christ.
The Scriptures teach that during the millennial reign of Christ, Israel will be composed of a nation of born-again believers.
Israel will be converted as a nation (Dt. 30:4-8; cf. Rm. 11:26-27).
Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.’”
Through regeneration, Israel will possess the capacity for obedience because of the indwelling of the Spirit (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:25-31).
On the day of atonement, at the Second Advent of Christ, Israel will as a nation trust in Jesus Christ as Savior (Ezekiel 37; Zechariah 12:10; 14:9-21).
Israel will become the subjects of the King’s reign (Isaiah 9:6-7; 33:17, 22; 44:6; Jeremiah 23:5; Micah 2:13; 4:7; Daniel 4:3; 7:14, 22, 27).
In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will have been converted and restored to the land (Ezek. 37).
In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will be made righteous (Isaiah 1:25; 2:4; 44:22-24; 45:17-25; 48:17; 55:7; 57:18-19; 63:16; Jeremiah 31:11; 33:8 50:20; 34; Ezekiel 36:25-26 Hosea 14:4; Joel 3:21; Micah 7:18-19; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3).
Therefore, in Romans 11, Paul is addressing God’s national purpose for Israel.
During the church age, Israel is not a godly nation but she will be during the millennium.
Romans 11:11, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”
“They did not stumble” is composed of the negative particle me (mhv) (may), “not,” which is followed the third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb ptaio (ptaivw) (ptah-yo), “they did stumble.”
In Romans 11:11, the verb ptaio is used in an intransitive and figurative sense meaning “to stumble” in the sense of committing a sin and is used to describe the nation of Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ as Messiah.
In Romans 9:32, Paul used the verb proskopto, which meant “stumbling” and was used in a metaphorical sense of the “spiritual stumbling” of the nation of Israel.
The difference between ptaio and proskopto is that the latter is of a violent nature of striking against an object whereas the former does not have that sense.
Proskopto was used in the Septuagint of military defeat and striking a foot against a stone and of a defeated nation.
It is used in Romans 9:32 to convey the violent nature of Israel’s spiritual stumbling in that they not only rejected Christ but were violent towards Him in that they crucified Him.
The verb ptaio does not have a violent connotation attached to it at all but simply presents the image of a person stumbling over an obstacle much like when walking into a dark room and tripping over a child’s toy.
In Romans 11:11, ptaio is used in a figurative sense of Israel stumbling in the sense of committing the sin or failing to believe in Christ as Savior.
Therefore, proskopto in Romans 9:32 describes the violent nature of Israel’s rejection of Christ whereas ptaio in Romans 11:11 views Israel’s rejection of Christ from the perspective of it being a moral failure or sin on their part.
“So as to fall, did they?” is composed of the conjunction hina (i%na) (hin-ah), “so as to” and the third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb pipto (pivptw) (pip-to), “fall, did they.”
In Romans 11:11, the verb pipto is used in a figurative sense of the nation of Israel and means “to fall down in complete ruin.”
Romans 11:11, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”
“May it never be!” is the strongest negative Greek expression emphatically denying any possibility or thought of the nation of Israel being in complete ruin as a result of rejecting Christ.
The statement “But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous” stands in direct contrast with the idea that Israel stumbled by rejecting Christ so as to fall in complete ruin as a nation.
“By their transgression” indicates that salvation is experienced by the Gentiles because of Israel’s transgression in rejecting Christ.
“Salvation” is the articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun soteria (swtheriva) (so-tay-ree-ah), which is used in relation to the Gentile and refers to “deliverance” from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation, the moment one exercises faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior (John 3:17; 5:34; Acts 2:21; 16:30-31).
“To the Gentiles” is used in contrast to the Jews and thus refers to all those individuals who are “not” of Jewish racial descent and thus “not” members of the covenant people of God, Israel.
“To make them jealous” indicates that the Father’s intention for saving those Gentiles who trusted in His Son as Savior was so that Israel might respond in faith as well to the gospel.