In his argument in Romans 11, Paul addresses these issues. He speaks at length about Israel’s expectation and about the relationship between Israel and the nations. Earlier, he had explained that not everyone in Israel believed the message of Jesus. The apostle acknowledged that not all in Israel followed the proclamation of the Kingdom that had come near. Not everyone saw Jesus as the expected Messiah. That was the reality. This reality was not easy, for the messianic time that was expected (Acts 1:6) was clearly to resonate throughout the people (Acts 2:36). But it didn’t. Only gradually did it become clear that something new was emerging.

Paul describes how this situation is not unique, but has occurred several times in the history of Israel. Few believed, but that should not worry. After all, there was a selection that believed the message and followed. The question remains what will happen to the rest of Israel. Furthermore, there was a new development in the New Testament. There was this great mass of believers from the other peoples, the nations, who came to faith. What is the relationship of this new group to the believers from Israel?

There was consternation, on the one hand, that not all of Israel followed the message, and on the other hand, there was this new group that also caused confusion, namely the Nation Believers. Understandably, many questions arose about this. Paul tries to settle the matter with different groups:

“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

Israel in theology

Before we get into the text, I want to think a little bit about “Israel.” Israel is a stumbling block in theology. Opinions differ on the understanding of Israel. How one sees the position of Israel today, how one interprets the relationship between Israel and Christians today, says a lot about one’s theology. Today’s church is a community of faith from all nations. Paul describes this as “the body of Christ.” It is a corporation. In the Bible, however, one finds little about it – only in a part of the New Testament. Much, on the other hand, is said about Israel. That is why today’s church is often confused with the nation of Israel. What can this look like?

Regularly I have heard people in churches speak of the congregation as the “people of God.” The biblical rationale for this is hard to follow, because Volk in the biblical sense has to do with nation and direct human kinship. Often this is just a reference to passages of Scripture that talk about Israel. In other words, the church today is seen as a continuation of Israel, perhaps even the “true Israel,” but must reinterpret the word. This is how you get expressions like “spiritual Israel.” Some people begin to apply instructions of the Bible for Israel to themselves, keeping the Sabbath and many other commandments and prohibitions given specifically to Israel. The reasons for these interpretations are many and varied. Strange they are in any case. With regard to this, I repeatedly hear from the Jewish side how one reacts disconcertingly: “These people are even more Jewish than I am myself”.

You could almost say “tell me how you see Israel and I’ll tell you what theology you adhere to”.

In Paul’s time, there was confusion about how it was with Israel and the nations. This confusion still exists today. Paul, however, clarifies these things in his letter to the Romans. What he describes in chapters 9 to 11 is an interpretation of this situation, a description from the perspective of God’s action. It’s worth listening carefully. Not only was Paul himself a Jew, but new things were actually happening and people needed to be enlightened.

The church is not the continuation of Israel

The starting point that Paul described in the first verses of the chapter is clear: God does not reject Israel. It follows, of course, that the present church is not the continuation of Israel, for Israel has its own continuation. For if Israel is not cast out, it means nothing other than that this people is still there in God’s eyes. It is this point that Paul illuminates in the eleventh chapter.

Here are some views that talk about Israel but mean something completely different:

• A “replacement theology” has long been attached, according to which the Church was the “replacement” for Israel. The opinion was that Israel was set aside, and then replaced by today’s church. One comes to this view from a false assumption. This false assumption is: everything in the New Testament speaks of the present church and there is only one church present everywhere. One sees the New Testament as a one-size-fits-all mush, in which everything revolves around Jesus only (right), and therefore everything speaks of today’s church (wrong). The idea that Israel was set aside altogether to be replaced by today’s church is widespread thought. It is also a lens through which one sees and interprets the New Testament. These glasses, however, prevent us from perceiving a development within the New Testament.
• Anglo-Israelism is an ideology and other way of denying Israel’s future (More information on> Wikipedia). Here Israel is seen as being set aside by teaching the continuation of Israel in other peoples. The reason given is that these would be the “10 lost tribes” (More information on> Wikipedia). In principle, this is the same as replacement theology. Not the old real Israel is still valid, but this new realization (!) justifies why the old Israel (the two tribes) has no more right to exist and God has looked for another way. It is not alienating to see oneself as part of a new Israel.
• Black Hebrews are a group of African Americans who refer to themselves as Israelites (“Black Israelites”). Just like the ideas of Anglo-Israelism, projections are made here on the concept of Israel, in which one then finds oneself. The reasons for this vary, but here too, a piece of identity is hijacked by Israel and misappropriated by the> Black Hebrews for their own ends.

Stick to the word

If we want to understand what the Bible is about, we must stay with the text. No reinterpretation, no complex thought constructs, no pseudo-religious ideologies or pseudo-scientific theories should cloud the view here. The Bible is sober, does not try to disguise things, but downright makes them clear. Accordingly, when Israel is spoken of, Israel is also meant. This is the principle that is more important than quibbling. Sobriety should start from clear Bible passages and we should not reason beyond what is written (1 Cor. 4:6).

The reacceptance of Israel

In Romans 11, Paul has just spoken before about how all is not over for Israel:

“For if their present rejection of the world is reconciliation, what will their reacceptance be but life from the dead?”
Rom 11:15

This concerns the future of the entire nation. It did not concern the selection of Jewish believers, about whom he also spoke, but his point in these verses (Rom 11:12-15) was that there is still a future prepared for Israel, even if it is not visible today.

Opposite the whole people is the “remnant according to the election of grace” (Rom 11:5). This is a part of Israel. God does not cast off His people (Rom 11:1), but currently has a minority, a “remnant according to the election of grace,” as believers in the church. This remnant and all the people are now both mentioned beginning in verse 16:

“But if the firstfruits bread is holy, so is the dough.”
Rom 11:16

The dough is a visual language for Israel as a whole. The first bread is the first bread baked from this dough. It is imagery for the current “remnant after grace selection”. So the Jewish believers in the church in Paul’s day were not simply a small group, but it was a firstfruits of the harvest, an early fruit, and with it the promise of the whole harvest. If all the dough can be made into a good first bread, then all the dough is good.

Paul is not saying this in terms of the current status, but is talking about the relationship of a small group of Christ-believing Jews in the church in contrast to the entire nation in the future.

The olive tree and branches

“And if the root is sacred, so are the branches.”
Rom 11:16

Here, with another example, the same thing is said again: if the root of a tree is good and healthy, so are the branches. If the root is “sacred”, then so are the branches. With the word “holy” comes a religious recognition. “Holy” means as much as “set apart for something”. It is a positive expression. It indicates a special task. If Israel is the root in this comparison, then you can see from the first branch that something good is happening here. Do we recognize from the “remnant according to the choice of grace” that this very grace applies equally to the whole tree?

“Now if some of the branches were broken out …”
Rom 11:17

The branches that were broken out are the Israelites who did not believe. They were removed from the faith tribe.

“You, as a wild olive branch, have been grafted in among them and have become co-participants in the roots and fatness of the olive tree, so do not boast against the other branches! But if you boast, remember, you do not carry the root, but the root carries you.”
Rom 11:17-18

Some were broken out, but others were newly grafted into the tree. These others are those who did not belong to the olive tree. If Israel is the olive tree, new “wild” branches were grafted in. This seems to speak of the nations-believers who have now been involved in this history of faith. This is a special situation.

Those who were added did not do so by their own works, but by God’s grace (Rom 11:5-6). Should anyone think they are “better” than the branches removed, Paul counters that grafted branches never support themselves, but are supported by the root. It is not our place to brag to Israel. Rather, we are called by God’s grace and stand in the faith that is founded in the history of Israel and its faith.

“You will now reply: The branches were broken out, that I might be grafted in. Fine; as a result of their unbelief they were broken out, but you stand by faith. Do not be haughty-minded, but fear! For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either.”
Rom 11:19-21

No one can boast about the former Israel. No one should think that he is something better, for example, than the “true Israel”, than “the lost tribes of Israel” or by a special infatuation with pious projections. Paul calls this attitude “haughty.” Just as God did not spare even His own people, but (temporarily) broke out some branches, the same can happen to each of us.

On a positive note, however, we can see that Israel, like the church today, draws its strength from the same roots. But all this is God’s work. Paul is not talking here about Israel and the church being the same. The image speaks rather of the fact that we all spring from the same source, which is represented here as an olive tree. So here it is neither said that the church is the continuation of the old Israel, nor that it is about the church.

Elsewhere Paul speaks of the “family of faith” (Eph 2:19). Faith is the unifying element across the various bodies of faith. In other words: Israel is led by faith, as is the church today. Together we stand in the same grace. The family of God is greater than the task of any one group. The family of faith includes all believers. I guess that the olive tree shows exactly this alignment. What unites is emphasized, not what divides.

The goodness and severity of God

“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 11:22

In context, Paul is concerned to explain how Israel is to be understood. Earlier he said, “What Israel seeks, it has not obtained; but the election it has obtained. The rest, however, were hardened” (Rom 11:7-8). This was undoubtedly Paul’s experience. The “obdurate remnant” were “broken out” as branches. This is the interpretation and emphasis on God’s action. Paul does not direct to “right or wrong” human actions. He tries to explain how to interpret the developments, how God acts.

Now here he writes that from this action we should read both the goodness and the severity of God. Kindness to us, that is, in context to the believers in Rome. Austerity is also highlighted from this story, namely by God breaking off some branches. This is precisely what the apostle says could happen to us. Therefore, we should persevere in goodness, lest we too be cut off.

This is not about “eternal salvation” or things like that. The chapter leads to the fact that God Himself includes all in unruliness so that He may have mercy on all (Rom 11:32). Accordingly, condemnation is not an issue. Paul describes here how things are currently going. It does not give us any privileges, except that today we stand in faith and trust in God.

Is this attitude anti-Semitism in disguise?

No. Sobriety dictates that Israel and the nations be seen as equal. Throughout biblical history, God dealt with Israel while He let the nations go their own way (Acts 14:16). Such a statement does not condemn nations. Nor is it arrogance. The situation has merely reversed temporarily. Paul notes that there are some branches that have been broken out of the olive tree. This was Israel’s reaction with concrete consequences. With this, he outlines the situation today. This is what Paul sees as reality. What happened is this: It is no longer Israel but the nations that are in the foreground today. This is not an evaluation, nor a devaluation, but a reversal of the previous situation. It’s not definitive, but it’s still today’s reality. Let’s also keep in mind here that it’s not about individuals. No one is condemned here. However, there was a change in the development. Previously unknown secrets were revealed. The story continues, but the current focus is different.

If we follow Paul’s words, then the church from all nations is central today. This church is not about peoples, not about nations. It is not about Israel, nor about any other nation specifically. While the Tenach, the Old Testament, always speaks of whole peoples, just as it speaks of Israel as a people, today individuals are central in a common body called the “body of Christ.” This is not a people in the traditional sense. But it is a defined group, not on the basis of lineage, but on the basis of calling from Christ.

Paul does not cast Israel off the world stage, nor out of God’s saving action. He merely emphasizes that we are in a different time, that things have changed. It is as if a time was interposed. At first, Israel was central. Today, the community is central. This community time will also be completed. Then Israel will step on the stage again. But all this is to lead to God’s goal of having mercy on all people (Rom 11:32-36). So it’s not about these individual things, as if it’s about right and wrong of certain details, but it’s about a total package, the flow of the whole story. Everything is in God’s hands. That’s where this chapter is going.