God does not reject Israel

“I ask now: Surely God does not cast off His people? May this not be inferred! For I too am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, the tribe of Benjamin. God does not cast off His people that He knew beforehand.”
Rom 11:1-2

Here it is clear: God does not reject his people. Paul is also an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham, even the tribe of Benjamin. God does not cast off his people – Paul testifies with a reference to himself. He himself is an Israelite. Nothing else should be projected into it.

In the following verses Paul explains this starting point with some examples from the Old Testament. With this, he explains that the entire nation is not always in focus. Sometimes there are situations that need ways out and detours to keep things moving.

“Do you not know what the Scripture says in the case of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? – Lord, your prophets kill them, your altars shovel them down; now I alone am left, and they seek my soul (1 Kings 19:14).
Consequently, there is also a remnant in the present period according to the election of grace.
But if in grace, it is no longer of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.But if of works, then it is no longer grace; otherwise the work is no longer work.”
Rom 11:1-6

Already in the Old Testament, the Jewish Tenach, we find stories in which individual people were carried through difficult times by God. Likewise, Paul says, there is a “remnant” even in modern times. This small selection did not “deserve” this, but it is a selection according to God’s grace. So it is not due to our own efforts, but to the work of God.

Paul directs the view to God’s action in history.

Going your own way

If we look at the course of biblical history, there are always remarkable incisions and changes. Something new is also happening in the New Testament. Paul reveals things that were hidden until then. It reveals secrets that are specifically named. This specifically concerns his task to the nations. The change was so stunningly new that many thought Paul was abandoning Old Testament prophecy. He regularly had to defend his message. For in the Old Testament thought Israel was central. Those who had a living expectation based on Old Testament promises might have had little use for Paul’s proclamation. Even Peter, who was traveling with the rest of the Twelve Apostles for Israel, found Paul’s message quite specific and difficult to understand (2Pet 3:15-16).

Many cherished the assumption that it took Israel and the Torah for the nations to know God’s ways. This assumption was under pressure for two reasons. First, the people of Israel, with few exceptions, did not recognize Jesus as Messiah as a whole. This had turned out quite differently than the first believers in this message had imagined (cf. Acts 1:6). Second, the nations themselves, on the other hand, became believers because of the gospel of grace that Paul preached – entirely without mediation from Israel. It was all mind-blowingly new and confusing at the same time. Logically, many questions arose about this.

However, if Israel as a whole does not want to have anything to do with this Jesus as the Messiah, if only a few believe, but many from the nations come to faith, previous ideas will be in trouble. Everything is pushing for a more in-depth discussion. Was this not promised by the prophets in another way? What just happened? One can imagine the consternation from these first decades like this or similar.

It seems that the people of Israel as a whole are going their own way at the moment. Those who go their own way do not fall out of this world. For hundreds of years, Israel was the subject, while the rest of the nations went their own ways (cf. Acts 14:16). Therefore, it is not a matter of condemning others – Israel or the Jews, for example – as has been done all too often in the course of church history. Rather, in the history of the New Testament, the focus has changed. In church history, the focus did not change, but Israel was virtually denied the right to exist, as if they had incurred a debt for eternity. However, when viewed soberly, this is all that is happening: Once the nations stood outside God’s action. Currently, it is Israel’s turn, if we understand Paul correctly here. The situation has turned 180°. There is a reason for this, of course, but it can be thought about.

It is important to note here that this is not a decision about “eternal salvation,” nor is it intended to be an anti-Semitic message. This is not the case. Paul is a Jew himself, Jesus was a Jew, as were the other apostles. Here we describe the ways that God is walking with humankind. Obedience and disobedience are all part of it. Paul had already stated in Romans 3 that no man is righteous and no man seeks God. All of our reputations have been ruined for a long time. Therefore, the Gospel does not speak of us, but of God’s solution. This solution is a story that presents itself gradually. Paul is about to explain something from God’s point of view.

The goal of God before your eyes

The focus was once on Israel. Today, the focus is on the community. This will achieve something new. However, today’s time is again replaced by something else. The apostle will talk about this in the course of the chapter. It’s not that Israel did it wrong and now we’re perfect. We are a long way from that. It is more versatile, more differentiated, better. When Paul writes this letter, a lot is changing right now. Let’s put ourselves back in the time of the New Testament and try to guess what is going on right now. Perhaps we can frame this realignment as follows:

God wants to be all in all one day (1 Cor. 15:28). That is His goal. That is where everything leads (Rom 11:36). There are various developments along the way to ensure that everyone is reached in the end. Israel was called. The task of the people was promised for the future. So far, it has not. On the way to this future, we come to the New Testament period. A lot happens here in a short time. Notable was the calling of a new apostle, Paul, who alone is known as the “apostle to the nations” (Rom 11:13). Through his gospel of uncircumcision (Gal 2:7-9), he calls people from all nations. This is the point where the focus changes.

This change from focus is marked by the gospel of grace. It applies to all nations. This message of God’s grace in Christ Jesus changes people’s lives. They are touched by it and respond with their lives. Who does it shows the vocation. They are the called ones who make up today’s church. This is not a goal in itself, but they have been called to this new task force from all nations. Just as Israel was called out as a people from among all nations, the church today is also a called out multitude of people. That is why there are now two task forces, each with its own mission, on the way toward God’s goal.

Paul lived in a time of transition. He had to describe it adequately. How to do it? How does he explain what happens next? Paul describes the condition for Israel as a snapshot.

“What follows from this?
What Israel seeks, it has not obtained; but the choice it has obtained.
The rest, however, were hardened, as it is written:
God gives them a spirit of stupefaction, eyes that do not behold and ears that do not hear, to this day (Isa 29:10, Deut 29:4).
And David says: Let their table become a snare and a hunting net for them, a snare and a retribution. Their eyes shall be darkened, that they may not behold. And bend their backs at all times! (Ps 69:23-24).”
Rom 11:7-10

Paul impressively describes here that God Himself caused the turning away from the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus. This seems perplexing, but is nothing more than what is contained in more stories. The statement is: God works. This message is not gladly heard especially there, where one emphasizes the own achievement of humans. Paul does not want to know anything about it. He is not concerned here with “the condemnation of the rest”, but with recognizing the work of God in everything. Only from this can confidence grow.

Rejection and reacceptance

Paul continues with his argument. Is it all over for Israel now?

I now ask:
Surely they do not stumble so that they should fall?
May this not be inferred!
But to provoke them to jealousy (Rom 10:19), salvation was granted to the nations through their mortification.
But if already their mortification is the wealth of the world, and their downfall the wealth of nations, how much more will their completion be!”
Rom 11:11-12

God’s goal is not for Israel to stumble so that it will fall. Rather, this very situation serves a purpose. It was through their mortification that salvation came to the nations. This concerns the church from all nations that Paul addresses. It does not end there for Israel, but Paul points out in the same breath that Israel’s completion will also come. This is what he now has to suggest specifically to the believers from the nations:

“But to you nations I say:
Inasmuch as I am now the apostle to the nations, I glorify my ministry,
Whether I could provoke those of my flesh to jealousy and save some from them.
For, if their present rejection of the world is reconciliation,
what will their reacceptance be, if not life from the dead?”
Rom 11:13-15

Paul wants the good for His people. He already mentioned this at the beginning of chapters 9-11 (Rom 9:1-5). Paul speaks about the remnant of Israel that their present rejection (as a people) has a counterpart. This is positive. The word “condemnation” sounds dramatic, but means that Israel is currently taking a different course and has not jumped on the Jesus bandwagon. For all of us who are on this Jesus train, this is staggering. But it is not the end.

One can speak of a direct connection: Only through the rejection of Israel could the Gospel reach all nations directly. For the prophets, salvation was meant only via Israel as the mediating people. That is not the case right now. Today, reconciliation has come directly to the nations, without mediation from Israel. It was grandiose, it was different from what the prophets called it, it was disturbing, it was new. Therefore, there are many questions about it, many are upset and wish to know what will happen to Israel.

What happens next with Israel

Paul outlines the context in which we can speak of rejection of Israel. However, it does not stop there with a warp. In a moment he continues: What will Israel’s reacceptance mean if not “life from the dead”? Paul therefore expects a re-acceptance from all the people and this will figuratively resemble a resurrection from the dead. It’s going to be terrific.

Essential here is the understanding that neither God nor Paul condemned Israel. Nor is it about individuals, but Paul speaks in the context of the prophetic expectation that one day the whole people will be full of God’s Spirit:

“I will put my law within them and will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then shall no more any man teach his neighbor, or any man teach his brother, saying, Know the LORD. For they shall all know me from their least to their greatest, saith the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more.”
Jer 31:33-34

“Therefore say, Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they will come there and remove from it all its abominations and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and I will remove the stony heart from their flesh, and give them one heart of flesh, that they may live in my ordinances, and keep my judgments, and observe them. And they will become my people, and I will be their God.”
Ezek 11,17-20

“And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezek 36:26

Paul writes to the church in Rome

In interpreting these chapters, we should always keep the context in mind so that wild theories, such as the “lost tribes of Israel,” do not arise. Paul is writing here to the church in Rome. In this church there are both Jews and people from the other nations, all of whom make their faith in God known through Jesus. We must imagine this situation in Rome, which received an image in the church. Paul sorts out the thoughts in terms of Israel’s future, the same Israel from which some of the church members come.

The apostle clarifies for everyone that God’s work with Israel is still not over.