Chapter 11
11:1- Chapter 11 continues the flow of thought from chapter 9 and 10. Again, the central theme of ch. 9-11 is explaining Jewish rejection of Jesus, illustrating from Scripture that it was prophesied (as well as Gentile inclusion) as well as showing God’s faithfulness and sovereignty in His redemptive plan. To further anchor the context of this chapter, I’ll quote Everett Harrison’s introduction to his commentary on ch. 11: “In chapter 9 he has emphasized the sovereignty of God in choosing this people for himself in a special sense. In chapter 10 he has dealt with Israel’s failure to respond to God’s righteousness, ending with the verdict that she is ‘a disobedient and obstinate people.’ (10:21). These two presentations involve a serious tension. Will Israel’s sin and stubbornness defeat the purpose of God, or will God find a way to deal effectively with the situation so as to safeguard his purpose? To this question Paul now turns. His answer will dip into Israel’s past, encompass her present, and reveal her future.”
Verse 1 starts off by yet another question. The answer to this seems obvious coming off the heels of the last verse in ch. 10. It is not as if God wasn’t reaching out to His people, but rather His people are refusing to grab on to His hand of salvation! As Paul mentioned in 9:27, there is still a remnant being saved and Paul is himself a part of this remnant! What’s fascinating is when you consider the kind of Jew Paul was before his conversion. That is, he was a lot like the “disobedient and obstinate” people he made reference to in 10:21. He was a zealous persecutor of Christ as a Pharisee. Paul’s complete change from persecutor of Christ to apostle and bond-servant of Christ was proof that God had not rejected His people.
11:2-5- Paul uses the narrative of Elijah from 1 Kings 19 to illustrate his point. Elijah felt as though he were the only person left in Israel who had not forsaken God (there was such rampant idolatry and wickedness in his day). The wicked queen Jezebel was seeking to kill him for opposing the false gods and executing those who prophesied in the name of those false gods (as was the instruction of God’s law). With Paul’s quote of 1 Kings 19:18, we see that God had in fact 7,000 Israelites who had not “bowed the knee to Baal” and were faithful to God. So it was in Paul’s day. God was still preserving a remnant among the Jews who were faithful to Him by way of their “believing on the one whom He sent.” (John 6:29).
11:6-7- Paul emphasizes the grace of God as the means of preserving a remnant. There should be great comfort in knowing that we will never be perfect enough to attain God’s holy standard. That, in fact, Christ Jesus has done that for us and it is simply by God’s grace through faith that we are saved (Eph. 2:8-9). If we could possibly work our way to earn eternal salvation, grace would have nothing to do with it, for it would simply be the “wages” we work to earn. However, in reality, the only “wages” we receive is death for our sin (6:23). God’s grace is the only way we won’t receive the “wages” we deserve. In terms of the nation of Israel and what Paul is saying in these two verses, Douglas Moo notes: “It is this preoccupation with works that has proved to be the downfall of so many of Paul’s fellow Jews and has resulted in their not obtaining the righteousness that they so diligently sought.” While Harrison writes, “The elect obtained righteousness because they did not go about it the wrong way, but depended on divine grace.” Paul then returns to the theme of 9:17-21. That is, divine, judicial hardening (see notes there for comments).
11:8-10- Paul, once again relies on the authority of Scripture to make his point. This divine hardening of God’s people is not some concept he’s making up, but has precedence in the Old Testament. Interestingly, Paul includes a passage from each of the three main divisions that comprise the Old Testament. Deut. 29:4 (the ‘law’), Isa. 29:10 (the ‘prophets’), and Ps. 69:22-23 (the ‘writings’).
Verse 8 is a combination of the Deut. 29:4 and Isa. 29:10 to show that God was the source of judicial hardening to the Israelites. As previously discussed, judicial hardening by God is never arbitrary, but as a result of "disobedience and obstinance” (10:21). Paul is right in alignment with the four gospels on this subject. We find a similar sentiment in Matt. 13:14, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10 and John 12:40 in which Isa. 6:9 is used as a testimony against Israel for their failure to receive Jesus as their Messiah.
Verses 9-10 contains Ps. 69:22-23. Mark A. Seifrid explains: “The context in Romans already makes clear that it is the proclamation of the crucified and risen Christ that brings the present moment of judgment and hardening upon Israel (cf. 9:30-33; 10:3, 19-21). In appealing to the Davidic psalm, Paul makes the christological moment central. Just as David once pronounced a curse on his enemies, so now the Son of God, of the seed of David (1:3), who, according to Paul’s later citation of this very psalm, bore the reproaches of God’s own enemies, pronounces a curse on unbelieving Israel.”
11:11-12- As the NIV translates verse 11, “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!” The natural conclusion of the reader might be that this rebellion and subsequent hardening of Israel was irreconcilable and permanent. Paul addresses this with a direct question and then gives the answer. Of course not! In fact, God is using their disobedience to accomplish something rather incredible and good. That is, salvation to the Gentiles on a grand scale! Origen said it well of these verses: “Consider the wisdom of God in this. For with him not even sins and lapses are wasted, but whenever someone rejects freedom of his own accord, the dispensation of divine wisdom makes others rich by using the very failing by which they have become poor.”
Grant Osborne notes different “stages” that can be deduced from this section in ch. 11. That is:
1) Israel has been rejected, but this rejection isn’t permanent (v. 11a)
2) The immediate purpose of this rejection is to bring salvation to the Gentiles (Vv. 11b, 12)
3) The more distant purpose is to make Israel jealous though the Gentiles (Vv. 11c, 14)
4) This will eventually bring Israel back to God (Vv. 14-16)
Verse 12 contains a “lesser to the greater” argument. That is, if Israel’s rejection of Christ results in “riches” for the Gentile world (that is, adoption into God’s family) how much more glorious will it be when the day comes that the nation of Israel will turn back to God through Christ!
11:13-15- Even though Paul’s ministry was to the Gentiles primarily, he also hoped that it would be a catalyst in which his fellow countrymen would continuously see Gentiles who were once not God’s people, turn from their idols and false gods to worship the One True God though their own Messiah! Or, as Osborne simply puts it, Paul’s desire was to “arouse or ‘provoke’ Israel, to force them to envy as they saw God pour out upon the Gentiles the blessings that used to be theirs.” This is the reason behind what Paul says in verse 13, “I magnify my ministry” or as some translations put it, “I take pride in my ministry.” This was not a sense of vanity, but it was to convey the zealousness and seriousness with which Paul took his calling. This was his service to Christ. This was what Jesus specifically called and appointed him to do and given that fact, given that Paul viewed himself as a “bond-servant” of Christ, his ministry for the gospel was what drove his life. It was his purpose in being on earth apart from Christ (Phil. 1:22-26). Paul would love nothing more than for at least “some” of his fellow Jews to come to Christ and be saved because of his ministry to the Gentiles. If the time of Israel’s redemption was not to come to fruition in Paul’s lifetime, he at least hoped to add to the very remnant he was a part of.
Verse 15 is interesting and is debated among scholars. The first half is reminiscent of the point Paul made in v. 12. Israel’s rejection meant reconciliation to the Gentile world. That being the case, some interpret the latter half of the verse to mean that the acceptance of the Jews (that is, unprecedented numbers coming to Christ) will signal the end of the age and bring about the final resurrection (Schreiner, Bruce, Moo). Still, others interpret it to mean that Paul is referring to a spiritual resurrection from the dead, reflecting the same idea as in 6:13 (Osborne, Mounce, Harrison).
I see valid points from both camps, and Paul does have in mind all of Israel turning to Christ eschatologically, but I’m inclined to take the position that Paul means a spiritual passing from death to life in this specific verse. There may very well be a double meaning here (spiritual life now, resurrected body later), but to quote Grant Osborne, “However, the figurative most likely predominates, for the return of Israel to salvation in Christ is seen as a return of ‘life from the dead.’ Paul’s thrust throughout this section is on rejection versus belief, and that better fits a figurative use of ‘life from the dead’ similar to that in 6:13.”
11:16- Verse 16 has Paul continuing his thought from verse 15 about the future time where Israel would be returning to God. Paul probably has in mind Num. 15:18-21 with his metaphor of the dough. Interpretations of the first part of this verse can vary, but a commonly held view is that the “dough” represents the remnant of Israel who were believers and that the “whole batch” would be those who turn to Christ en masse in the future. The second metaphor of the root and branches are consistently interpreted as representing the patriarchs (probably especially Abraham in Paul’s mind) as the “root.” As the root is holy (set apart, specifically for God’s use), so will the branches be also. This makes more sense when we consider the following verses. The branches that stem from the established “root” of Abraham are meant to be holy and set apart for God’s use (this is the people of Israel). However, as we will see, some of the natural branches that flow from this root have been broken off by God for rejecting the Messiah in favor for grafting in unnatural ones (that is, the Gentiles who make Jesus their Lord). In light of this, I would submit that Paul’s first metaphor of the lump of dough represents the same. That is, both are metaphors speaking of the patriarchs and those that come from the patriarchs. As Paul mentions in 4:10-12, those who believe in God and are being counted as righteous through faith are following in Abraham’s steps; springing forth from the same “root,” whether Jew or Gentile (see also Gal. 3:6-9).
11:17-21- Paul here moves to remind his Gentile audience that they have been graciously “grafted in” to this tree and get to share in the promises made to the patriarchs. This should not be cause for arrogance, but rather extreme humility. I think it’s important to emphasize that Gentiles were not grafted in “in place of” but “among” the Jews as verse 17 makes clear. He reminds them in verse 18 that it is they who are benefiting from the blessing of the “root.” Walter Kaiser Jr. notes that the church gets its nourishment and sustenance “from the promise roots embedded in the words given to the patriarchs and to the nation of Israel.” As Grant Osborne puts it: “So the Gentiles are reminded that they are not the source of blessing to the Jews; rather, they have received the blessing that has come down to them because of what Abraham has accomplished (see chap. 4). The direction of the privilege is obvious, from Abraham to the Jews to the Gentiles. In fact, the Gentiles are Abraham’s offspring (4:11-13, 16-18, 9:7-8) and depend entirely on what they have received from him.”
In verses 19-20, Paul affirms the truth that some branches were broken off so that Gentiles might be grafted in. These branches were broken off for their unbelief, not for any arbitrary reason or because God decided He no longer wanted anything to do with the Jews; the people whom He foreknew (11:2). No, it was due to their unbelief. However, the truth stated in v.19 by the hypothetical Gentile doesn’t go far enough because just as God broke off the “natural branches” for unbelief and unfaithfulness, He can certainly do so for the “unnatural branches” (verse 21). F.F. Bruce writes: “The Gentile believers must not yield to the temptation to look down upon the Jews. But for the grace of God which ingrafted them among His people and made them ‘fellow citizens with the saints’ (Eph. 2:19) they would have remained forever lifeless and fruitless… to forget its reliance on divine grace and exchange faith in God for self-confidence, it will suffer the same fate as the old branches; it, too will be cut off.” At this point, it’s worth distinguishing between what Paul is saying versus what he isn’t saying in this passage. Keeping in mind the national/corporate context of chapters 9-11 and the entire context around these chapters (as mentioned before). Paul is not speaking to a hypothetical apostasy of individual Christian Gentiles in these verses.
Rather, the point Paul is making here is as Everett Harrison states: “the current Gentile prominence in the church made possible by the rejection of the gospel on the part of the nation of Israel as a whole. Let Gentile Christians beware. Their predominance in the Christian community may not last!” This principle can be seen throughout history. How many nations or churches were once bastions of the gospel and influential in the world, but have had their lamp stand removed (see. Rev. 2:1-5)? Most of the main-line protestant denominations in America have seen this fall from grace as they’ve progressively allowed sin and wickedness to corrupt both their churches and the gospel to such an extent that they could no more be considered a church of saints than a synagogue of Satan.
11:22- Paul speaks on two attributes of God here and proves these attributes by pointing to His dealings with both Jews and Gentiles. Many today want to either proclaim God’s kindness at the exclusion of His severity and harshness, or emphasize God’s severity without acknowledging His kindness. Either extreme sells God’s character short and does not do justice to His holiness. Paul, in fact, has already spoken of this kindness/severity dynamic in this very letter (2:4-5). First, Paul speaks of His kindness in v. 4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Then Paul shows the severity in v. 5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”
This precedent is set early on in Scripture as we can see in Exodus 34:6-7. First, the kindness in Vv. 6-7a, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;” Then the severity in v. 7b, “yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
We simply can’t deny either of these qualities of God and therefore must hold these in balance with each other. As Paul points out, God’s severity has been shown in how He has cut off faithless and unbelieving Israel. Those who reject Christ will not receive the promises and blessings that come with Christ. On the other hand, God has shown His kindness in the inclusion of a people who were “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” -Eph. 2:12 (ESV). However, this is certainly contingent on faith. Just as the Jews have been broken off for their unbelief, so too can the Gentiles. A rejection of the goodness and kindness of God comes with it the severity of God as Paul makes clear in 2:5. The fate that follows will not be due to a lack of God’s grace or kindness, but rather as a result of rejecting the only sacrifice that covers sins. The unrepentant, therefore, have only themselves to blame for the judgment they will incur.
11:23-24- Paul shows that in both directions the “breaking off” and “grafting in” is not permanent. God is more than able and willing to graft back in the natural branches that were cut off if they do not continue in their unbelief. So we see that if Gentiles don’t continue in faith, they can be broken off and if the Jews don’t continue in unbelief, they can be grafted back in. Paul concludes his metaphor in verse 24 by simply stating that if Gentiles, as a branch from a wild olive tree, could be grafted into a cultivated olive tree (something that he admits is “contrary to nature”), then it makes even more sense to say that a natural branch that was broken off from the cultivated tree can be grafted back in to the tree from which it came.
11:25- Paul’s use of the word “mystery” in this context is to describe something previously hidden by God, but is now being revealed. Usually, Paul’s use of “mystery” is in reference to Jesus, His work of salvation, and the inclusion of the Gentiles (Eph. 1:9, 3:3-6, 6:19; Col. 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3; 1 Tim. 3:16). The “mystery” here is still very much gospel centered. That is, the partial hardening of Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come. The fact is, God’s hardening of Israel is limited in both scope (a remnant remained) and time (until the fullness of the Gentiles). Very simply put, “fullness of the Gentiles” most likely means “The number of Gentiles that will be saved during the church age” (so Wiersbe) or as Grant Osborne puts it: “the full number of Gentiles God has destined.” Osborne goes on to say that this meaning “best fits the parallel of the ‘fullness’ of Israel in 11:12. This concept was well known in Israel, as evidenced in Revelation 6:11, which discusses the completion of the number of martyrs before God will vindicate the saints (cf. 4 Ezra 4:35-37, 2 Baruch 23:4).”
11:26-27- There are a few ways of interpreting verse 26, but scholars are quick to note that in the context of ch. 11 (and indeed, in the previous verse), Paul is distinguishing between two ethnic groups (Jews/Gentiles). Therefore, when he speaks of “all Israel” in this verse, he is not speaking of The Church (‘spiritual’ Israel made up of Jew and Gentile alike), but he is speaking of ethnic Israel as he has been throughout chapters 9-11. So this naturally begs the question, does “all Israel will be saved” mean every single individual within Israel is going to be saved when this time comes? Ben Witherington III references multiple Old Testament passages to include 2 Chron. 12:1 and Dan. 9:11 in which “all Israel” turning from God excluded the faithful remnant God always preserved (see notes on 11:2-5). Thus, the context of those passages is a figure of speech to mean “the majority.” Scholars like Witherington, along with Keener and Bruce also cite the “Mishnah tractate Sanhedrin 10:1”, which was written around the late 2nd/early 3rd century and is a section of the Talmud, the central text around Rabbinic Judaism. The point in doing so is to show how the term “all Israel” is understood. In that section of the Talmud, it is stated that “all Israel has a portion in the age to come”, but as Witherington points out, it goes on to list those individuals who will be excluded (those who commit certain egregious sins).
Thus Craig Keener remarks: “Jewish teachers commonly believed that ‘all Israel will be saved,’ but at the same time could list which Israelites would not be saved (e.g., Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1): the phrase thus means ‘Israel as a whole (but not necessarily including every individual) will be saved.”
So it seems best to understand the expression “all Israel” by Paul here to mean the nation as a corporate entity as expressed in Jewish literature as well as in the Old Testament, not an all encompassing term to mean every individual without exception. In the second part of verse 26 and then in verse 27, Paul grounds this “mystery” in Scripture by citing Isa. 59:20-21 and 27:9. Paul is applying these texts to the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus is the Deliverer who will come and “remove ungodliness from Jacob” and “take away their sins.” And Osborne writes, “The new covenant was inaugurated in Christ’s first coming (especially in his death and resurrection; see Rom. 4:25), and it is seen now in the Gentile mission. But it will be consummated in the restoration and conversion of Israel at the second coming.” How exactly this will take place is impossible to know as Paul only tells us ‘what’ will happen, not the details on ‘how.’ Indeed, most of the passages that deal with the return of Christ speak more to the resurrection of the saints (1 Thess. 4:13-20, 1 Cor. 15:51-57) and the destruction of God’s enemies (1 Thess. 5:1-10, 2 Thess. 2:8-12, Rev. 19:17-21) as opposed to the conversion of Israel during this time.
11:28-29- Not dissimilar to Isa. 63:10, in which Israel “rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.” Israel has made themselves "enemies” of the gospel. Whereas in Isa. 63:10, God has set himself against Israel, here in verse 28, Israel has set themselves against God by becoming enemies of the gospel. However, as Paul has made clear, enemies of the gospel as they were, this was beneficial for the Gentiles. The latter half of verse 28, Paul states that for the sake of the fathers (or patriarchs) they are still beloved. This simply means that due to God’s choice of making a covenant with the nation through the patriarchs, God will never not love them.
Verse 29 affirms this. When God makes a covenant (that comes with promises), it is irrevocable. Is Paul saying that God will never reject individuals who reject Him? This isn’t the message Paul is communicating nor is it what we find in the gospel message (Matt. 10:32-33, John 3:36, Acts 3:22-23, Acts 4:12, Heb. 5:9, etc). However, as Osborne says, “He will be faithful to the nation even though He will have to condemn many within it.” And Douglas Moo clarifies that the choice of Israel “does not mean salvation for every single member of the nation, but blessings for the nation as a whole.” The context of what Paul is saying in these verses is in light of what he said in the verses that came before it (26-27). That is, as discussed there, the consummation of the new covenant in the nation of Israel turning to Christ en masse when the time comes. God’s plan does not involve the permanent removal of the people whom He foreknew (11:2).
11:30-32- While it seems Paul belabors the point with these verses, he still moves to show God’s mercy before ending the chapter with a doxology of praise! Thomas Schreiner writes: “God saved the Gentiles when one would expect only the Jews to be saved, but in the future He will amaze all by His grace again by saving the Jews, so that it will be clear that everyone’s salvation is by mercy alone.” Verse 32 highlights what Paul made clear in the first 2 chapters. Disobedience and failure to attain God’s standard is not only a Gentile problem, but a Jewish problem. The Law condemns everyone. Everyone is infected with sin and will die unless God, in His infinite wisdom, mercy and grace moves to save those who can’t save themselves (see Eph. 2:1-8). God would have been completely justified to give humanity the justice we all deserve (to be thrown into hell with the devil and his angels), but being rich in mercy and love, provided a way of reconciliation!
11:33-36- These closing verses of this section of Romans ends with what can be viewed as a striking contrast to what Paul describes in 1:18-23. That is, idolatrous humanity exchanging the truth of God for a lie and robbing Him of the praise and glory due Him. The theology of God and His wise plan moves Paul to praise! Understanding the wisdom, knowledge, mercy and judgements of God can only move one to worship Him. This is why learning God’s attributes (especially in light of human sinfulness) is so important to us as Christians. The more we understand who God is; His attributes and character, the more we can worship Him in Spirit and in truth! This necessarily means daily reading and meditating on His word. Our noses should be buried in the Scriptures so that we can learn God’s ways and know His character better so that we can worship and serve Him better! In Verse 33 Paul points out that God’s infinite wisdom and knowledge cannot be measured! Mark A. Seifrid writes, “To ascribe the depth of riches, wisdom, and knowledge to God is a reversal of human rebellion, the surrender of the claim that we ourselves are wise. (Rom. 1:21-23).” The second part of verse 33 brings to mind Isa. 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.” We, with our finite minds will never be able to plumb the depths of God; His thoughts, His power, His wisdom, His eternality, His righteousness or His holiness.
In verses 34-35, Paul first quotes Isaiah 40:13. These rhetorical questions drive a forceful point home. As the created ones, who can give advice or instruct the Creator on what to do or how to do it? I may not always understand ‘why’ God does things a certain way, but far from our lips should be the accusation that He’s doing it wrong or we know better (9:19-21)! Then in v. 35, he quotes Job 41:11. Simply put, God owes no one anything. Robert L. Alden, in his commentary on the book of Job writes, “...God owns everything, including Job. He has the whole wide world in his hand, a biblical truth that reverberates from Sinai (Exod. 19:5), through the Psalms (24:1; 50:12), and into the centers of Greek civilization (1 Cor. 10:26).”
In light of this understanding of God, verse 36 ends with Paul giving glory to God and God alone. This should always be our conclusion when we study and understand what God has revealed for us in Scripture. When we consider His holiness, His sovereignty, His justice, His grace, His love and His plan of redemption and salvation; our response should always be that of worship and adoration. Meditate on His character, His love, His word and let that result in praise through the phrase “To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Bibliography (Works Cited):
-Everett F. Harrison: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 10, Romans, 1976
-Douglas J. Moo: New Bible Commentary, Romans
-Mark A. Seifrid: Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Beale and Carson), Romans
-Origen: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament Vol. 6 (Romans)
-Grant R. Osborne: Romans, IVPNTC, 2004
-Thomas Schreiner: ESV Study Bible, Romans
-F.F. Bruce: The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, TNTC, 1983
-Robert H. Mounce: Romans, NAC, 1995
-Walter C. Kaiser Jr.: The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testament, p. 283
-Warren Wiersbe: Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on The New Testament, Romans
-Ben Witherington III: Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
-Craig Keener: The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament (Romans)
-Douglas J. Moo: The Epistle to the Romans, NICNT
-Robert L. Alden: Job, NAC, 1993