God is able to do what He wants to do

Whether God will cast off His people? This question moved the first communities, in which both Jews and non-Jews found a place. The way in which this happened was unlike anything the prophets of Israel had ever spoken about. This created confusion and uncertainty with regard to the rest of the people. The clarification of this confusion is the theme of these three chapters(Rom 9-11).

Paul himself had written: “Truth I speak in Christ (I do not lie, my conscience testifies to me in the Holy Spirit): Great sorrow is in me and unceasing pain in my heart – for I wish to be banished even from Christ – for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites…” (Rom 9:1-4). He feels himself affected. He himself is a Jew and the others are his brothers and tribal relatives. He writes as if he himself would also like to understand how it happens. The questions are legitimate.

In response, the apostle made it clear that God does not set aside or forget His people Israel. Paul started from an election whom God clearly did not reject. A selection of Israel (Paul included) recognized in Jesus the Son of God through whom God carries out His plan. Through Him comes salvation, but a salvation that Israel as a whole people rejected. As a result, the messianic expectation, as predicted by the prophets, has not been fulfilled. The following question remained: How does the selection relate to the rest of the people? Is it all about choice now, or is there some hope for the rest of the people after all? Then he reverses the argument. If at first it was only a selection from Israel that remains, it is precisely this selection that already speaks of the whole. God’s goal in everything is the whole. This is what the apostle is aiming at now. Everything leads there and there is no reason for us to think that this is our merit:

“But if the firstfruits bread is holy, so is the dough, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Now, if some of the branches have been broken out and you have been grafted in among them as a wild olive branch and have become a co-participant in the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the other branches! But when you boast, remember, you do not carry the root, but the root carries you!
You will now reply: The branches were broken out so that I would be grafted in. Beautiful; as a result of their unbelief they were broken out, but you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear! For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either.
Keep therefore the goodness and the severity of God: in them that fall indeed the severity, but in thee the goodness of God, if thou persevere in goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”
Rom 11:16-22

The imagery here is a dough, root and branches, and then an olive tree. The olive tree symbolizes Israel, or perhaps more generally, the family of faith that has existed since Abraham and before. From this tree, some branches were broken out (as a picture of Israel being set aside for a moment), while other “wild” branches were grafted in (as a picture of the nations believers). Everything is clear in this picture. It is a question of who is now part of the tree of faith, how and when. Paul mentions this image to answer the questions in the church.

We do well to note here, too, that God does not transgress – this was the starting position. Paul’s concern with the goodness and severity of God is not about condemnation of people, but about the arrogance and boasting of some who want to exalt themselves above Israel.

“But even those, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in again; for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the natural wild olive tree and grafted against nature into the noble olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into your own olive tree!”
Rom 11:23-24

Whether God will cast off His people? Don’t! God can. He is capable. He will put right what He decides to do. We do not have to and cannot think for God. He is able to re-graft those who still persist in unbelief today, just as He has given us – those from the nations – an undeserved place. Undeserved! When God goes a new way with Israel, it is not comparable to the situation today. When this happens, it means nothing less for Israel than a “life from the dead”(Rom 11:15).

Who are the branches?

Occasionally I come across interpretations that are very adventurous in trying to assign the branches to a particular group. Paul is not concerned here with an assignment of branches, but with something else. In a visual language, the visual language itself is never the subject. It is not helpful to get lost in details. It is easy to miss the central point Paul is trying to make. This is what it is all about: Everything culminates in the statement that God includes all together in rebelliousness so that He may have mercy on all(Rom 11:32). That is the goal. All the arguments are aimed at this. This is the statement against which the previous verses must be measured, because they all lead there.

With the olive tree and the branches it is quite simple: Paul speaks of an olive tree. Israel is the olive tree or forms some branches in this olive tree. God is the gardener who cuts out some branches and grafts in others. Now, when other branches are grafted in, it should be clear to those grafted in that they are carried from the root and not vice versa(Rom 11:16-18). This part speaks of the Gentile believers who were newly included in the tree (of faith) through Paul’s preaching. This is a privilege.

We should not infer from this privilege that this happened, for example, out of our power or wisdom. It’s nothing to boast about. Paul corrects a wrong view by stating “God is able to graft them (Israel) back in”(Rom 11:23). The point is this: God is powerful to leave us, you, Israel standing or to give us a new start again. This is the confidence of the apostle. He is not concerned with a hyperspecific interpretation, but with God being trusted with everything. The church in Rome should understand how comprehensively God will establish His salvation. He does this because He can – He is God. He is able to do what we lack strength and wisdom to do.

So it’s not finished with Israel. Paul sees Israel in God’s hands. This is exactly how we, who are from the nations, are also in God’s hands. There are no privileges for this or that group for anyone to boast about. Self-righteousness leads nowhere. Paul says again and again that everything is of God. He continues.

When thoughts are summarized at the conclusion of this chapter, it is the realization that Israel, like the church from all nations, are both dependent on God’s grace and work.