God’s Purpose in the Stumbling of Israel, Part 1 (Romans Sermon 84)

I. Review: Israel’s Stumbling Over Christ

We continue to look in Romans 9-11, at one of the deepest and most perplexing problems connected with the gospel and that is the problem of the Jewish rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. We have seen that the Jews do not see in the prophecies of the Old Testament, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the way that we do, led by the Spirit. And we have seen that this spiritual blindness over the last two weeks that we’ve been studying was actually a judgment by God, it was given by God. God gave them a spirit of stupor, God gave them eyes that do not see. God gave them ears that do not hear to this very day. That’s Romans 11:8-10. But what we haven’t answered is why, why would he do such a thing? And that’s what verse 11 till the end of the chapter, deals with. What are God’s purposes in the hardening of the Jewish nation? Now, we’ve seen already that this blindness, this hardening, is not universal, that there are some Jews and that there will be in every generation, some Jews that believe in Jesus as their personal savior, the Apostle Paul was one. He said, “I am an Israelite myself, I am a believer in Jesus and I’m Jewish, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews,” he called himself.

And so the hardening, the blindness is not universal. There are some Jews in every generation, who are chosen by God to believe in Jesus. But it says very plainly in 11:7 that what the Israelites sought to establish through their own righteousness, they did not establish. The elect did, but the others were hardened. And so therefore, we have two categories of the Jews, those that are elect the chosen ones, who have come to faith in Christ. The rest are hardened. But what we haven’t answered is, why that hardening has come. In verse 11:11, up through the end of the chapter is the answer. And what we’re going to see is that this spiritual blindness that’s come on the Jews is part of an incredible and complex plan of God, which will culminate at the end of the world in something glorious and majestic. All of it done to the glory of God. And we’re going to see that something so devastating as the rejection of the Jews, of their own Messiah, is actually part of a glorious plan of God, that God has a plan for the Gentiles, God has a plan for the Jews, and overall God has a plan to display his own glory in all of it. And that’s what Romans 11:11 is all about.

Now, it’s not easy, as some of you have told me. And we’ve been discussing how deep and complex Romans 9 through 11 is. Well, that means we’re right where we need to be. Because the one who wrote it said that. “Oh, the depths of the rich is the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to him be glory forever and ever, amen.” That’s how we end in Romans 11. So we should not imagine as we travel through those verses that Paul was referring to when he talks about that that we’re going to be sipping on milk. That we’re going to be just tasting the light things of God, we are not. And here, as we go from 11, verse 11 on, we’re trying to find out what God’s purpose is concerning the nation of Israel.

II. Paul’s Question: Have They Stumbled In Order to Fall?

And the question that Paul asks here is what does the future hold, what does the future hold for the nation of Israel? Where are we going with the Jews, what does the future hold? Has Israel stumbled so as to fall beyond recovery the NIV gives it.

New American Standard translates verse 11. “I say, then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they?” expecting the answer? No, and Paul answers it immediately. May it never be. We should not imagine that this stumbling, this blindness, this deafness, this stupor that’s come over the Jews, their inability to see in Jesus, the fulfillment of all of their prophecies, we shouldn’t imagine that this is going to go on forever, God is not through with the nation of Israel yet, he has yet more glorious plans. And so that’s what we’re looking at. Look at verse 28 and 29 at the end of the chapter toward the end, Israel is still special. Israel’s still set apart in God’s mind, Israel’s still foremost in God’s plans, as you look in verse 28 and 29, it says, “as far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account. But as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the Patriarchs. For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.” In other words, God has called the Jews to be His own nation, and in a mysterious way, is going to continue working in and through this nation to the end. Now, some of you have told me that your favorite verse in the Old Testament is Jeremiah 29:11, and you see Jeremiah 29-11, in many different places, put up on posters, little magnets on stationary all those kinds, not every verse in the Bible gets that kind of treatment, I’ve noticed, but there are some that are just cherished and they’re special. And Jeremiah 29:11 says this. “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Well, that is coming true here in Romans 11. God has great plans for the Jews. He’s not finished with them, yet.

And what is in the future? Well, it’s a mystery. That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul calls it. Look at verse 25-27 of chapter 11. “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceded. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved.” That does not mean every individual Jew that has ever lived for 2000 years will end up in Heaven. That’s not what he’s saying, but I believe what he’s saying is, at the end, at the end of the world, God will work a miracle of revival among the Jews, so that they will come to recognize Christ as their savior.

III. God Has a Purpose in Israel’s Stumbling

So therefore, the main idea we have here is that God has a purpose in Israel’s stumbling. And that purpose is glorious.

Now, this may be a troublesome thought to you, it may bother you as a matter of fact, that God has a good purpose in something so dreadful. Just to consider the good purpose of Israel stumbling out of fellowship with God, stumbling through not believing in Christ, means we must be talking about God. Does the devil, who does harden hearts and who does blind eyes, does the devil have any good purpose in doing that? He does not, for Jesus said in John 10, “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” And so the devil can have no good purpose in the hardening of the Jews and the blinding of their eyes against Christ though he does that work. 2 Corinthians 4 says He’s the God of this age and He’s blinded their eyes. They themselves have no good purpose in turning away from Christ, they just don’t believe in Him, they’re not convinced. They’re not persuaded, and so they harden their own hearts, and they blind their own eyes, but to no good purpose. But Romans 11 is talking about good purpose, glorious purpose in all of this, that must be God. For God alone can turn something glorious and bring something glorious out of this sin.

Now, look at the layers of purpose in verse 11, He says this. “I ask them, did they, the Jews stumble in order that they might fall beyond recovery? Not at all. Rather because of their transgression. Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” Do you see the purpose? We’ve got levels of purpose. First of all, he says… Did they stumble, in order that… That’s purpose? What is the purpose in their stumble? They stumble, so that they might fall beyond recovery may it never be. Well what is the purpose?

Well, he gives us in verse 11 the initial purpose. They stumbled so that salvation could come to the Gentiles, they stumbled out of fellowship with God, they stumbled on the stumbling stone of Christ so that we Gentiles could receive the gospel. That’s what Paul says. There’s a second purpose, and you get it again with this language in verse 12. “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?” And then he says, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. This is what we call an infinitive of purpose. Like I went to the store to buy some milk and some eggs. I came to Durham to study at Duke University. I came to Haiti, to work with Dr. Philippe. These are statements of purpose.

Well, it says that salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. So there’s a layer of purpose. First Israel stumbles so that the gentiles can believe the gospel, then the Gentiles believe in the Gospel makes Israel jealous so that they’ll come back to Christ. Those are the levels and the layers of purpose. We also see it in the how much more language, in verse 12. Verse 12 says, “If their transgression means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring.” In other words, look at what I’ve done with Israel’s transgression. Look what I’ve done through Israel’s sin, I’ve brought riches to the Gentiles, I’ve brought riches to the ends of the earth. But if I bring riches through their transgression, think what will happen when I bring their fullness. What will it be, but life from the dead.

What a glorious thing that is. And so there is this complex level of purpose. We get these statements again and again. Look at verse 19. In verse 19-20, it says, “You will say ‘branches were broken off, so that, that’s purpose I might be grafted in.’ That is true.” In other words, unbelieving Jews who did not trust in Christ, were in some sense broken off from the continuing people of God, the olive tree, they were broken off so that the Gentiles could be grafted in, and Paul says that is true, that is exactly what has happened. Again you get it in verse 25.

“Lest you be wise in your own conceits. I want you to understand this mystery brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Again, there’s a measuring out a purpose behind the Jews rejecting of Christ. And again, in verse 30-32, “just as you were at one time disobedient to God, have now received mercy because of their disobedience.” That’s purpose. Verse 31, “So they, too, have now become disobedient, in order that, that’s purpose, by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. Verse 32, “For God has consigned all to disobedience, in order that, that’s purpose, He may have mercy on them all.” Layer upon layer of purpose in the Jews rejecting Christ, and that purpose is God’s. This leads us to a deep and a difficult concept and it is this: The God who hates evil, and who cannot even look upon sin for his pure and holy eyes, yet in a mysterious way ordains evil for His own glory, and for the joy of His people. That is the doctrine here, The God who hates evil, who cannot be tempted by evil. He actually ordains it for his own purposes.

Now, there are two clear examples of this in the Bible, you may stumble over this, you may say, “This is difficult.” How could God ordain something evil, how could God establish something evil? Well, clear example of this is Joseph and his brothers, in the old testament. You remember the story, Joseph was one of Jacob’s 12 sons, seemed to have gotten Jacob’s heart. Jacob loved him because I think he was Rachel’s son. Rachel had difficulty having children. Jacob loved Rachel and so, when Joseph was born Jacob chose him, it seems and gave him this coat of many colors, and his brothers hated him, they were jealous of him, they wanted to kill him. And they intended to kill him, but instead in the sovereignty of God, they decided to sell him as a slave to Egypt. And so he was sold as a slave into Egypt. Now, after Jacob had died, by this time Joseph was the second most powerful man of all of Egypt. He’s in charge of everything, the lives of his brothers are in his hand, and they know it, they come groveling in front of Joseph and beg him.

Oh, please don’t kill us for what we did. Just before your father died, Jacob, he said, please be generous to your brothers. I don’t know if he ever said that. The brothers were given to lying, but at any rate, they came and they were very worried about what Joseph would do now that Jacob was dead. But Joseph made this incredible statement, reverberates through time. In Genesis 50:20, he said this, “As for you, you meant it for evil, against me, but as for God, he meant it for good to bring it about, that many people should be kept alive as it is today.” Now, that is profound and deep.

You meant, God meant. You intended, God intended. You purposed, God purposed. Your intention, your meaning, your purpose is different than God’s, but God had an intention, a meaning, a purpose in this wicked action. Now, it will not do to say, what you intended for evil, God turned and worked out for good. That’s not what it says, it’s the same word, both before and after. The same intention, the same meaning word. Now, some of you have heard the saying when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. I’ve seen it up on those inspirational posters. They never inspire me. I think of them as a little bit cliché. I look at them and say, “What am I getting out of this, when life hands you lemons… ” What do we mean by that saying?

Well it… Ultimately it’s an admission that we don’t control our own world, we don’t get to choose the stuff that comes toward us. And so we have to have a basic optimism so that when life hands you something sour, and it seems useless that you actually know how to turn it around and do something good and make lemonade with it. Can I tell you something? Life doesn’t hand God anything. Our God is a king, our God is a sovereign, He is an emperor, it doesn’t hand him anything. He chooses, He decides, He is the king. And so, that’s saying they work for us and you can get something good out of it, but it does not work for God because what they meant for evil, God meant for good. Now the highest example of this, we’re going to find is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is, in my opinion, the most purely wicked act that there has ever been in history. Why? Because Jesus was the only truly innocent man that there has ever been. He committed no sin, no deceit was found in His mouth, and yet they crucified him wickedly. It was a wicked act. It was a sin. It was a transgression and there were all kinds of people involved. Have you noticed?

There was Judas. What did he mean? What did he intend? 30 pieces of silver, he was motivated by greed. What about Annas and Caiaphas the high priest? What did they mean what do they intend? Greed, Jesus was cutting in on their business by cleansing the temple, over turning the tables of the money changers. That bothered them. They were like mafioso and he was cutting in on their business and so they were motivated by greed, and by power and revenge. Annas and Caiaphas. What about king Herod who wanted to see a miracle, he was motivated by boredom and a desire for entertainment and then when he could get nothing out of Jesus, he sends him back to Pilate for political motivation. And the two of them from that day on, were friends. And what about Pilate, what did he intend? What did he mean in the death of Jesus? I believe he wanted nothing to do with Jesus. He would have loved nothing better than just send Jesus on his way because his wife had suffered a great deal in a dream, and he was afraid of Jesus, and he had heard about Jesus’ Miracles and I think he thought Jesus was in some sense a God incarnate. Not “the” God, he didn’t have the Jewish way of looking at things, but he thought that Jesus was deity when he asked him, “Where did you come from?” He’s afraid of Jesus, but he’s even more afraid of the Jews, because they were going to tell Caesar, so he’s motivated by fear, he’s motivated by convenience and he washes his hands of Jesus and out he goes. Those are their purposes and they have to stand accountable each one for their own intentions and purposes.

But God had a higher purpose. And you know what God’s purpose was? To save me from my sins and you too if you trust in Him. That our salvation might be worked there by the greatest wickedness and sin there has ever been in history, and God intended it. He meant it, he planned it for our salvation, before the foundation of the world. And so it is that God actually can ordain and establish sin and evil while himself not tempting or dragging anyone to do sin, and wickedness, and evil. But intending it for a glorious purpose.

IV. God’s Purpose for Gentiles

Now, what is God’s good purpose in the hardening of the Jews? What good thing could come from it? Well, I’ve already mentioned one. And the first that Paul mentions is salvation for the Gentiles. Next week, God willing. I’ll talk about the last two which is salvation for the Jews, and glory for God’s name. We’ll get to that next week. But God had a purpose for the Gentiles. Look at verse 12. “If their transgression means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring?” The transgression of the Jews and rejecting Christ has meant riches for Gentile believers around the world. We’ve gotten rich on it, friends.

We’ve gotten rich on mercy, we’ve gotten rich on Grace, we’ve gotten rich on the wisdom of God’s plan. And friends, we are standing to inherit an infinitely greater amount of wealth and riches than we have even at this present time for the Holy Spirit is merely a deposit guaranteeing our full inheritance. We’re going to get still richer yet. The riches of glory in Christ Jesus are ours because of the transgression of the Jews, that’s what Paul says, “We got rich on it.” We got riches on reconciliation. Verse 15, “if the rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from the dead.”

Now you may ask at this point a deep question. Why did the Jews have to disbelieve so that the Gentiles could believe? I don’t see the connection. Why couldn’t God have worked out a plan so that both Jews and Gentiles together could believe? My answer is I don’t know. I don’t know. All I know is the purpose is given there and it says there’s a connection, but I will speculate, I have two levels of speculation. First of all, Jesus would never have been crucified, and second of all, even if he had, the Gospel would never been preached to Gentiles. That’s my guess.

So, bear with a minute or two of speculation. First of all, Jesus would never have been crucified. Let me bring you to the moment where he is convicted by the Jewish authorities. Jesus stands in front of the high priest, the high priest represents the Jewish nation, the high priest says, “Enough of these false witnesses this isn’t working. They can’t get their stories together. Let’s cut to the chase.”

He asked Jesus… Jesus directly. “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One.” Remember what Jesus said in Mark’s gospel, “I am.” That’s God’s name, that’s the name that the angel of the Lord spoke to Moses out of the flames of the burning bush. “I am.” But Jesus didn’t just leave it to that, He said in the future, “you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” He quoted Daniel 7, to help the high priest see, how someone could be both son of man and son of God at the same time. I am.

Now the high priest has been brought to a pass hasn’t he? He’s been brought to a fork in the road, he has one of two options. You know what they are? He can either fall down and worship Jesus at that moment, or he can kill him for blasphemy. There’s no other option. Jesus left him none. If he, representing the Jewish nation, had embraced Jesus as the Messiah as the king, he would never have been crucified. You say Why? The Romans wanted nothing to do with him? Pilate said, “Am I a Jew? It was your own people who handed you over to me. What is it you’ve done?” He didn’t want anything to do with Jesus.

And yes, we gentiles through Pilate’s washing of His hands and His cowardice, we are culpable in the death of Christ. God ordained it that both Jew and Gentile worked together that Jesus be crucified. But I’m just saying the scripture says in John 18, Jesus would never have been crucified because Pilate would have dismissed him. So speculation one, we would not have even had to crucified Christ. Therefore we have atonement. But second of all, even if we had a gospel, would the Jews have preached it to Gentiles?

Would they have gone out and sacrificed? And we’ve learned all you have to do is simply believe this gospel that Jesus dead on the cross is your salvation, Jesus risen from the grave is your eternal life. All you have to do is believe this, you don’t have to do any great religious works, you just have to hear and believe this gospel. It’s a Jewish message. Salvation is from the Jews. And so therefore it was going to be carried by Jews, and we learned in Romans 10 that beautiful feet were going to take it across mountain ridges, and across oceans and proclaim this message. Because faith comes from hearing. Would they have done it? I don’t think so.

I think there was so much hatred built up. A wall of division between Jew and Gentile. So much hostility that the Jews would have either been apathetic to gentile salvation or they would have desired like Jonah frankly, that the Gentiles go ahead and be destroyed. Why was Jonah so angry, why was he so upset? He didn’t want Nineveh saved. So would the Jews have taken the gospel to the Gentiles? We were studying the book of Acts in Sunday school, and we’re talking about how the Jewish apostles and the early church super saturated Jerusalem with the gospel.

I mean they went house to house. Everybody heard many times, many times they heard, then they heard, and they heard they’re not going anywhere, They’re staying in Jerusalem until Stephen got martyred, and the Sanhedrin persecuted them because of they… The Sanhedrin, did not believe in Jesus, and they’re scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, and began preaching like Philip did in various other places.

Peter himself did, not want to go to Cornelius and preach them the gospel, remember? The Lord had to show him three times a vision of a sheet, let down with all kinds of filthy animals that represented the Gentiles, in my opinion. Get up Peter. Kill and eat. Three times, Peter says “No way.” Well, he says, “No Lord I’ve never even anything impure and unclean.” And then the Lord says to him three times, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” When he goes to Cornelius’s house, and breaks Jewish law by entering that Gentile home, to preach in the Gospel, he says, “Now I know how clear it is, that God does not show favoritism but accept people from any nation who believe him and do what is, right.” That’s what it took to get Peter to go to a gentile. Chapter 11. A whole recounting of Chapter 10 is there for only one purpose, Acts 11, to teach us how hard it was for Jewish Christians to accept the idea of Gentile believers. Very tough. And then along come the Judaizers party, that said… No, no, this is too easy. The Gentiles have to become Jews, they got to be circumcised in order to be saved. Do you not see how difficult it would have been for the Jews to evangelize?

Now, I told you that was just speculation. The Bible doesn’t tell me, but it does say branches were broken off so that you, a wild olive shoot could be grafted in. That’s what it says. And so God’s initial level of purpose in all of this is so that the Gentiles might get rich on the Gospel. Now next Week, God willing, we’re gonna see what his purpose is for the Jews and ultimately what his purpose is for the glory of His own name.

V. Application

What application can we take from this? Well, I want to bring you to Hurricane Katrina. Our church has voted to embrace an adoption relationship. Kind of a partnership will be a better word with Bayview Baptist Church in Gulfport. But after Hurricane Katrina left its track of devastation there was all kinds of theological speculation in its wake. Have you read any of it? Really fascinating. All the theology that’s done on the wake of a hurricane. Most of it bad, I have to be honest with you. How could a good and loving God really be in charge of everything when this wreckage is left behind? How can it be? As a Matter of fact, John Piper writing an article talks about Daniel Shore, who is a National Public Radio senior news analyst. He linked the devastation of hurricane Katrina with the concept of intelligent design, which he disagrees with. He would like evolution and only evolution taught in schools. This is what Daniel Shore said, “If this, [the hurricane] was the result of intelligent design, then the designer has something to answer for.”

Oh, was that striking. It’s like a cold slap in my face to read that. Can you imagine the designer God answering to Daniel Shore? Can you imagine the scene at the end of the book of Job, reversed? Where Job is answering the… Asking the questions, and God’s got to answer Job. Oh no, God answers out of a whirlwind and we keep our mouth shut and we listen to what he has to say for He is mighty, and He is sovereign, and He is exalted.

But you know what struck me? How prone I am to do the same thing that Daniel Shore does. I do it almost knee jerk reflexively. As soon as something happens that I don’t like in my life, I begin to look upward and say why?  As though he needs to tell me why. As though he needs to give me an answer of why this or that or the other happened, whether financially or in a medical situation, or an unanswered prayer or some disappointment in this disappointing life, we immediately look up to God. Big issue or small. And we say why. Give me an answer. You have something to answer for God. I think Romans 9 through 11 is a good corrective to that problem. Wouldn’t it be better for us, who know so little about life in the world just to put ourselves humbly at the feet of God? Just humbly say, “Whatever you’re doing, even if it’s the deepest and the most complex plan and I can’t figure it out, even if I can’t trace out your hand through all of what you’re doing in my life, I trust you, Lord. I trust what you’re doing, I trust what you’re doing in this medical situation, I love when you’re not answering prayer. They may die, they do die. I still trust you, Lord, I trust what you’re doing in my financial life, I trust what you’re doing with my job, I trust what you’re doing with my children, I trust what you’re doing in the things that pertain to me. I’m not going to murmur against you, I’m not going to complain. I can’t trace out your ways. They’re too high for me, they’re too complex for me. I just trust you.” To me. I think that’s a comprehensive application of Romans 11.

Secondly, simply this, you’ve seen today, the testimony of four individuals who trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have testified by baptism. Where are you with God? Someday, opposite from Daniel Shore, someday you will have to answer to the almighty, Someday you will have to give an account of your life to him. Are you ready? Are you ready, for that searching penetrating questioning where you’ll have to give an account for every careless word? Are you ready? Have you trusted in Christ, do you believe in him? Is he your savior? Close with me, if you would, in prayer.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Introduction: Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand”

Illus. Gustav Mahler’s Eighth symphony, first performed in Munich on September 12, 1910, was the greatest triumph of Mahler’s life. It was a complex work in two movements, the first lasted 30 minutes, the second 60 minutes. It’s complexities have kept musical scholars debating for decades. It was scored for piccolo, 4 flutes, 4 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons, contra-bassoon, 8 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, bass tuba, 3 timpani, bass drum, cymbals, gong, triangle, bells, glockenspiel, celesta, piano, harmonium, organ, 2 harps, mandolin, strings, plus double chorus, boys’ choir and 8 vocal soloists… The combined musical forces on stage did in fact number over 1000, which inspired the publisher of the score to entitle it “Symphony of A Thousand”…

And Mahler both WROTE the work AND conducted it on September 12, 1910… when it was finished, the crowd was overawed, and surged to engulf the stage

Such was the first performance of a complex and deep piece of music by a human composer How much more God’s symphony of salvation history

I.   Review:   Israel’s Stumbling Over Christ

A.  Paul’s Anguish: “My Kinsmen Are Accursed”

B.  Paul’s Deepest Concern: Has God’s Word Failed?

C.  Paul’s First Answer: Not All Israel Are Israel

D.  Paul’s Second Answer: Israel Stumbled Over the Stumbling Stone

E.  Paul’s Third Answer: Salvation Is by Grace for All… But Israel Rejected

F.  Paul’s Fourth Answer: God’s Sovereign Plan in Election and Rejection

1.  Israel as a whole has experienced a hardening and blinding in part, resulting in their rejection of Christ

2.  This spiritual blindness comes from God Himself

3.  This spiritual blindness is not universal: some individual Jews are trusting in Christ

4.  This spiritual blindness is part of a complex and glorious plan

5.  This spiritual blindness is temporary as far as the nation of Israel is concerned [though individual Jews die in unbelief and stand personally accountable]

II.   Paul’s Question: Have They Stumbled In Order to Fall?

A.  What Does the Future Hold for the Nation?

1.  Paul is enquiring about the future of NATIONAL ISRAEL

2.  Important to make the distinction between Israelites as individuals and the nation as a whole

3.  Romans 9-10 deals with individual salvation; Romans 11 with the question of Israel as a nation

a.  Individual Jews are either elect or non-elect

b.  Individual Jews will either accept the gospel of Christ or reject it

c.  BUT the physical descendents of Israel as a nation… have they stumbled irrevocably?

4.  Only God finally knows the future… for God alone rules the Universe

a.  Paul’s whole point in emphasizing election and rejection centered on the will of God is this: God’s will will stand, and is the basis of ultimate confidence

b.  If God were not sovereign or were merely passive, the magnificent statements Paul is about to make could never be made

5.  God proclaims the future for Israel here

B.  Did Israel Stumble In Order to Fall?

1.  Question phrased in the negative, expecting the answer “No!!”

NASB Romans 11:11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they?
2.  Individual Jews were stumbling over the stumbling stone of Christ

3.  BUT “Did they stumble SO THAT they would fall???”

4.  The question probes God’s purpose in Israel’s stumbling

5.  What is God’s intent in giving Israel a spirit of stupor, blind eyes and deaf ears?

6.  What is God’s intent in Israel stumbling over Christ?

7.  Did God intend that the nation as a whole fall out of His grace? Out of His commitment to them? Did Israel stumble so as to fall as a whole into eternal condemnation, permanently rejected by God?

C.  May It Never Be!

1.  Paul’s answer is unequivocal and clear: MAY IT NEVER BE!!

2.  The same answer he’s given again and again in Romans

3.  A Sense of Moral Outrage in the Answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! IT IS UNTHINKABLE!!!

4.  Israel is still special and set apart in God’s mind and in His plans

Romans 11:28-29 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

“It is unthinkable that Israel stumbled for the purpose of falling out of God’s purpose in election. God still has plans and a purpose for Israel.”

5.  Jeremiah’s Famous Prophecy

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God still has plans the nation of Israel as whole. That’s what Romans 11 is about

D.  Romans 11’s Mystery: Israel Has a Glorious Future

Romans 11:25-27 do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

III.   God Has a Purpose in Israel’s Stumbling

A.  Astonishing Thought: God Has a Purpose in Israel’s Transgression

1.  The issue is… the Jews are rejecting Christ; they don’t love Him, they don’t trust Him; many still look on Him as a deceiver of the people and a disturber of the peace

2.  Throughout Romans 11, Paul speaks of the PURPOSE for all this

3.  This question cannot be raised except in reference to God Himself

4.  The devil blinded eyes so they could not see Christ… but we cannot speak of any GOOD purpose the devil may have had in this; His purpose was made clear in John 10

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy

5.  The Jews themselves hardened their own hearts and blinded their own eyes… but their purpose was nothing positive… they just refused to believe

6.  When it comes to A GOOD PURPOSE FOR ISRAEL’S BLINDNESS, only God can speak like that!!

7.  For people who emphasize human will too much, this question is ludicrous… “God HAS NO PURPOSE in the Jews’ rejection of Christ! He desires ALL MEN to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.”

8.  Well, as attractive as that may be, it does NOT line up with Romans 11

9.  Evidently, there IS a good purpose in the hardening and blinding of Jews resulting in their rejection of Christ

B.  Purpose Language in Romans 11

1.  Layers of Purpose in verse 11

Romans 11:11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.

a.  Did they stumble IN ORDER THAT…? Negatively, NOT SO THEY WOULD FALL (as a nation… fall out of God’s purposes and plans)

b.  The initial purpose: salvation for the Gentiles

i)  “because of their transgression”: note Paul’s language… it WAS and IS a transgression, a sin, for Israel to reject Christ

ii)  “salvation has come to the Gentiles”

c.  Second purpose: jealousy for the Jews

i)  Because of salvation coming to the Gentiles

ii)  Israel has become envious or jealous

iii)  PURPOSE: “to” (infinitive of purpose)

■   “I went to the store to buy some milk and eggs”

■   “I moved to Durham to study at Duke”

■   “I called you on the phone to invite you to my house for dinner” So, here, there is the infinitive of purpose: salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.

Later: we will see that that envy, that jealousy of the Jews can have a saving purpose:

Romans 11:13-14 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

Bottom line: verse 11 contains PURPOSE UPON PURPOSE

God has a GOOD PURPOSE in the hardening, blindness and transgression of Israel in rejecting Christ as their Messiah, Savior, and King

2.  “How Much More” in verse 12

a.  Paul’s use of the “how much more” language in verse 12 is MORE EVIDENCE of God’s amazingly deep and wonderfully good purpose in Israel’s transgression

Romans 11:12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!

b.  Their transgression means the RICHES of salvation for Gentiles as we shall see

c.  BUT GREATER RICHES will come with Israel’s fullness

d.  In other words, if God can accomplish so much good out of Israel’s hardness and wickedness, think what God will do through Israel’s fullness

e.  What is “Israel’s fullness”? More in a moment

f.  Right now, just see the PURPOSE in all of this

g.  God has written a magnificently complex and deep symphony, with many levels and many instruments and many themes and is in total control of its development

3.  Purpose Throughout Romans 11

a.  There are repeated purpose statements in Romans 11

Romans 11:19-20 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true.

Romans 11:25 Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Romans 11:30-32 Just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

Purpose after purpose after purpose!!! God has planned all this out for His own glory and the eternal joy of a countless multitude from both Jew and Gentile peoples!

This leads to a deep and difficult concept:

The God who hates all evil and cannot even look upon it yet ordains evil for His own glory and the joy of his chosen people

C.  God Ordains Sin for Good Purposes: Two Clear Examples

1.  Joseph and His Sinful Brothers

ESV Genesis 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

a.  They meant it for evil

i)  They hated Joseph and wanted deeply to hurt him

ii)  Their motives were filthy and God could hold them accountable for them

iii)  Their desires were impure, evil, hurtful

iv)  “Meant” means “intended, purposed, planned”

b.  God meant it for good

i)  God loved Joseph and his family

ii)  God wanted to spare them from the devastating famine

iii)  More than that, God wanted to give a beautiful picture of His sovereign power over sin

iv)  GOD MEANT IT… He intended all the suffering Joseph’s brother’s did to him

v)  GOD MEANT IT… He intended all the details of Joseph’s trials

vi)  GOD MEANT IT… not GOD TURNED IT, GOD USED IT, GOD ADJUSTED IT, GOD ACCEPTED IT

vii) NO, NO, NO, NO… every bit as much as Joseph’s brothers MEANT, God also MEANT… and the same thing was in each of their minds:

Joseph’s suffering

viii)  BUT God’s motives were good

ix)  God can MEAN, INTEND, PLAN sin and evil for good purposes

Some say, “When life gives you lemons, you need to make lemonade.” That is based on a truth: we are passive and cannot choose what life gives us. So, we have to make the best of what life gives us. Lemons are sour and impossible to eat. But if you know what to do, you can turn something sour and inedible into something wonderfully sweet.

YES… that’s what we try to do. But God doesn’t. God didn’t turn Joseph’s situation for God. No, God MEANT it, just the way it happened.

2.  Jesus and His Sinful Countrymen

a.  The clearest example of all: Jesus’ crucifixion

b.  The most purely wicked act in history, because Jesus was the only perfectly pure and holy man who ever lived

c.  The motives of all the wicked people involved are filthy

i)  Judas’s motive: greed

ii)  Annas’s motives: revenge and greed

iii)  Herod’s motives: entertainment and politics

iv)  Pilate’s motives: fear and selfish ease

d.  For all of these sins, each of the sinners is held TOTALLY ACCOUNTABLE

e.  YET God ordained this death, the death of His only Begotten Son before the foundation of the world for the salvation of souls

Acts 2:23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Acts 4:27-28 Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

God’s is the loving plan, God’s is the good purpose, God’s is the eternal glory… BUT theirs is the sin, the wickedness, the responsibility

So also in the case of Israel’s national rejection of Christ… it is a sin, it is called a TRANSGRESSION twice in this section

BUT God’s is the loving plan, God’s is the good purpose, God’s is the eternal glory

3.  Clear conclusion:

The God who hates all evil and cannot even look upon it yet ordains evil for His own glory and the joy of His chosen people

God ordained the hardening of the Jews against Christ to accomplish His good purposes

Now, what were those good purposes?

IV.   God’s Purpose for Gentiles

A.  Salvation Through Israel’s Transgression

1.  Riches for the Gentiles

Romans 11:12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!

a.  Their transgression means the RICHES of God’s glory and the gospel for Gentiles all around the world

Romans 9:23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory

This is the riches of the glory of God in their own salvation… the riches of the New Heavens and New Earth; the riches of total forgiveness in God’s sight; the riches of a right relationship with God, the riches of a resurrection body and of life eternal

b.  The riches of salvation for every tribe and language and people and nation

Romans 10:12-13 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile– the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

c.  The riches of God’s display of wisdom in such a marvelous salvation plan

Romans 11:33-34 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”

d.  Note the irony: the spiritual poverty and loss of the Jews means immeasurable riches for Gentile believers

2.  Reconciliation

Romans 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

a.  Through the rejection of the unbelieving Jews, the world of Gentile believers in Christ has been reconciled to God

b.  Reconciliation means being in a right relationship with God… being at peace with God… and having God at peace with you

c.  Note the irony: Because the Jews are NOT reconciled to God through Christ, the Gentiles ARE reconciled to God through Christ

3.  Grafted Into God’s People

a.  The third statement of purpose is one of horticulture

b.  The Jews and their heritage from Abraham are pictured as cultivated olive tree

c.  Paul says that unbelieving Jews are like dead, fruitless branches that God strips off the living and growing tree

d.  BUT he says they were rejected, stripped off, evicted SO THAT Gentiles COULD BE grafted in

Romans 11:17-20 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted.

e.  YES, Paul says… IT IS TRUE that the Jews who rejected Christ were broken off from their heritage, in some sense stripped off SO THAT Gentiles COULD BE grafted in

4.  Summary: Thus we see the purpose of God in hardening the Jews, in giving them a spiritual stupor, in giving them a spiritual blindness, in giving them a spiritual deafness… verses 7-10 say that is what God did… verses 11-32 explain why

5.  The first reason Paul gives is: SO THAT GENTILES COULD BE SAVED

B.  Deep Question: Why Did Israel Have to Sin for Gentiles to be Saved?

1.  God has chosen for His own purposes to go through 2000 years of almost universal Jewish rejection of Christ to achieve almost 2000 years of Gentile salvation through Christ

2.  Why the connection?

3.  Ultimately, we don’t know… but a reasonable explanation is two-fold

1)      No crucifixion: If the Jews had believed in Christ, He would never have been crucified in the first place

2)     No evangelism: Even if Christ had been crucified, the Jews would never have carried the gospel to the Gentiles

4.  First, no crucifixion:

When Jesus stood before high priest, He stood before the representative of the nation of Israel

Mark 14:61-64 The high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. 64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death.

Basically, Jesus put this man at the fork in the road… the high priest either had to fall down and worship Jesus or condemn him of blasphemy. If the high priest had fallen down and worshiped Jesus, He would never have been crucified. How then would the Scripture be fulfilled? And how would our sins have been paid for?

a.  Isaiah says

Isaiah 53:3-4 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

b.  Jesus’ rejection by His own people was the driving force that led to His death

c.  Without it, Pilate would NEVER have crucified Jesus

John 18:33-35 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me.

5.  Secondly, no evangelism

a.  Paul has already told us in so many words that salvation is from the Jews

b.  Theirs are the prophets, theirs is the temple worship, theirs is the whole setting for the message of the gospel, AND theirs is the human ancestry of Christ

c.  Paul has also told us that both Jews and Gentiles alike get saved in the same way, by hearing the message of the Gospel of Christ by messengers sent out who have beautiful feet and who carry the message to the ends of the earth

d.  Thus the only way the Gentiles could be saved is if JEWISH messengers,

JEWISH feet carry this JEWISH message to the ends of the earth

e.  BUT the Jews have shown a consistent reluctance to do precisely this… they have wanted to avoid Gentiles altogether or to crush them militarily

f.  There have built up by the time of Christ hundreds of years of hatred and hostility between Jews and Gentiles

g.  It stands to reason at the human level that the Jews would NEVER have taken the gospel message across the next hill to save Gentiles

h.  This is proved out by the behavior of the early church even after Christ had commanded them to go to the ends of the earth

i.  They stayed put in Jerusalem and probably would have stayed there forever if the Jewish authorities had not persecuted and scattered them to the four winds

Acts 8:1-4 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

j.  Peter had to be shown a special vision of a large sheet with unclean animals THREE TIMES in order to be convinced to go preach the gospel to a Roman Centurion named Cornelius… and when he entered Cornelius’s home, he made it clear he would never have come if God hadn’t shown him the vision

Acts 10:28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.

k.  AND Jewish Christians opposed Peter when Peter preached to Cornelius

Acts 11:1-3 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

The whole purpose of Acts 11, which is almost a word for word repetition of the account of Cornelius’s salvation in Acts 10… the whole purpose is to show how Jewish believers accepted the concept of Gentiles coming into the church

l.  The Judaizers among the church were highly suspicious of the Gentile converts and wanted to force them to become Jews… that’s what the circumcision controversy was all about!!

The behavior of Jewish Christians in the beginning of Acts shows how unwilling they were even to associate with Gentiles… and apparently it was only when their own people rejected and persecuted them that they began to turn to Gentiles

Summary: God ordained Jewish rejection of Christ because without it, we would never have been saved… we would never have been grafted in

It seems that is true for two reasons: 1) Without Jewish rejection of Christ, He would never have been crucified to begin with; 2) Without Jewish rejection and violent persecution of the early church, the Jewish church would never have preached the gospel to Gentiles

C.  Examples from Paul’s Ministry

1.  Again and again we see Paul preaching first to Jews, then, when they reject, turning to Gentiles

2.  The rejection of the Jews was frequently the impetus to great conversions among the Gentiles

Acts 13:44-49 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

D.  Strange Fulfillment of Israel’s Original Purpose

1.  Abraham was called from Ur of the Chaldeans for one ultimate purpose: the blessing of all the peoples and tribes and nations on earth

Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

2.  Jacob was told the same thing

Genesis 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

3.  BUT the Jews had shown no initiative whatsoever toward the Gentiles for the glory of God

4.  Jonah is a prime example of Jewish hatred for Gentiles and revulsion that God would ever save them

5.  In the end, however, God gets His way… the Gentile elect will be saved through the Jews, but only by a partial hardening of the Jewish nation until the full number of Gentiles comes in

6.  God’s salvation plan is so deep, so rich, so complex… that is why Paul concluded this chapter this way

Romans 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

V.   God’s Purpose for Jews

VI.   God’s Purpose for His Own Glory

VII.   Application

A.  Don’t Murmur Against God When Trials Come

1.  God ordains hard things, even disasters (like Hurricane Katrina) for His own ultimate purposes

2.  God’s ultimate purposes are always good, but His ways of getting there are impossible to trace out

3.  We would never have thought of the double purpose in verse 11: God ordains that Israel’s heart would be hard SO THAT Israel would sin in rejecting Christ SO THAT salvation could come to the Gentiles SO THAT Israel would be jealous and in the end saved

4.  Remember the example of Joseph: what they MEANT for evil, God MEANT for good… He planned it and executed it without in any way compelling sin SO THAT Joseph’s family would be saved from famine AND THAT thousands of years of Bible readers would understand God’s sovereignty in all trials and times of suffering

5.  Never question the goodness of God or His power or His plan… everything is on schedule and will end in His glory

God willing to prevent evil, but not able?

Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing?

Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?

Then why call him God?

— Epicurus