EPISODE 102 ROMANS CHAPTERS 9,10 & 11part 1 "Is God Done With Israel?

Welcome to Share the Word. Today's podcast covers important and controversial topics that go beyond simply the argument, Is God done with Israel? Paul brings chapter 9 through 11 together for a two-part series covering information from those who believe in the replacement theory to the rebirth of the nation of Israel, and also talks about God's promise to the Jewish people. Let's get started. Romans chapter 9 through 11, part 1: Is God done with Israel? My four, soon-to-be five-year-old grandson Theo gets easily frustrated, especially if things aren't going his way, say in a game or in a race.

His big exit line as he stomps away is, I'm done with this. In the mornings, I take our dogs out to get some exercise. They love to run and retrieve a lacrosse ball. That makes sense because one of them is a retriever, golden retriever, but the other little bulldog keeps up with him. I use one of those throw sticks which can launch a ball pretty far. When Theo's at my house, he's always excited to go out and race the puppies, as he says.

While they are running to see which one of them gets the ball, he tries to make a lap around a tree in the middle of our yard and beat the dogs back to me. He usually does because I throw the ball so far they're running three times as far as him. But occasionally, I get off a bad throw and the ball doesn't go very far, and he can't round that tree and beat the dogs back. And as they pass him, you can see his instant disappointment and frustration, and he sometimes mutters as he passes me and stomps back to the house, I'm done with this. I know he's got a lot to learn about losing gracefully, but hey, he's four years old, and we're working on that. Romans 9 through 11 formed their own kind of subdivision right in the middle of this important letter, and the main focus of these chapters is the question of God's relationship to his ancient people Israel.

As I may have mentioned briefly before, many in the early church, as Paul himself, were ethnic Jews. For more than 2,000 years since the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Jewish people had been at the center of what God was doing in the world, the center of his attention. But now, Jewish Christians realized Jesus the Messiah had come, had not been received by the religious and political leaders in Israel. In fact, they were the prime instigators in his crucifixion. He came to his own, but his own did not receive him, remember the Gospel of John put it. Or in Luke we read about Jesus, the cornerstone that the builders rejected.

Since 33 A.D., after Jesus' death and resurrection, when the church was born, God seemed to have moved his attention away from the Jewish people onto this new thing we call the church. The further we get into the first century, in fact, the church becomes less and less Jewish and more and more Gentile. The Apostle Paul begins chapter 9 like this: With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and Holy Spirit would bear it out. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my own people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I'd be willing to be forever cursed, cut off from Christ, if that would save them.

They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God's children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them, gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ Himself was an Israelite, far as His human nature is concerned. And He is God, the One who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise.

So, has God failed to fulfill His promises to Israel? Man, you can hear Paul's anguish in those lines. Most of us understand what patriotism is. It's something we feel deep down inside. Paul was very proud of his Jewish heritage, and he was obviously in anguish inside, realizing his own kinsmen, for the most part, had rejected Jesus. You might remember, as you've been listening for a while, that we saw Paul and his missionary partner Silas, Barnabas, Timothy.

After they went into any town, the first place they went was looking for a Jewish synagogue. They wanted to share the gospel there first. That was always Paul's intention. But how many times we saw, although some listened and a few received their message, more often than not, they ended up being run out of town, or worse, by the influential Jews in those cities who rejected their claims about Jesus being the Messiah and who wanted no part of their message about salvation through faith in Him. This clearly, clearly tore Paul up inside. He said, If I could trade my own salvation so that those people could be saved, I would do it.

They are the chosen people. As we know from history, in the year 70 A.D., a political rebellion happened in Israel, and it was ruthlessly put down by the Roman army. Jerusalem was decimated, and after that, Israel literally ceased to exist as a nation. You might remember from our chapter-by-chapter study through Luke that Jesus foretold that destruction. That happened about 20 years after Paul wrote this letter we call Romans. So at this point when he wrote this, there would even be more reason to ask, to think, is God now finished with Israel?

Has he finally said of the Jewish people, I'm done with you? Roman Catholic theologians in the Middle Ages decided the answer to that question was yes. Surprisingly, some evangelical theologians, even in our time, have agreed with them. That take is referred to as replacement theology, and the theory is that God has now replaced his special relationship with Israel for one with the church, that the church is, they would say, now spiritual Israel. So they either ignore or spiritualize all the prophecies about the nation of Israel that haven't been fulfilled in history and imagine that somehow they will be fulfilled in some way, usually a non-literal way, by the church instead.

I know that may sound confusing, but I'm just saying that as far as these interpreters who've embraced replacement theory are concerned, God has washed his hands of Israel as a special nation, and they imagine the church has now replaced them in God's plans. I don't think this was or is these theologians' intention, but that kind of thinking really is what fed into anti-Semitism through the centuries by the pogroms in the Middle Ages to the awful Holocaust in the middle of the 20th century to the sporadic but growing outbreaks of violence against Jews in our time. Christ killers, the Jews have been called and viewed as less than human, as if Jews living centuries later have any personal responsibility for the actions of a small cadre of temple leaders who opposed and connived to rid themselves of Jesus.

Right now, even in America, an undercurrent of anti-Semitism is running strong, on the left as well as on the far right. Jewish kids in colleges and universities are afraid to walk to their classes. Synagogues have been bombed. In the Middle East, things are at the highest tension levels I've seen in decades as terror groups are threatening to attack Israel from all sides. I want to say this unequivocally, that anti-Semitism in all its forms throughout history has been satanic, and what's going on today still is. Satan hates the Jews precisely because he knows they are still God's people in a unique way.

The Apostle Paul asks later in this section, in chapter 11, Did God's people stumble and fall beyond recovery? And he answers himself, Of course not. They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. I want you to understand this mystery, he says. Note that word mystery.

I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will only last until the full number of Gentiles comes in. And then all Israel will be saved, as the Scripture says, and then he quotes from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, speaking of Jesus, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them: I will take away their sins. Then Paul continues, Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet, listen to this, they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, unfathomable His ways! That sounds pretty clear to me. The Jews are still the people He loves because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. A time is coming when Jesus will rescue the Jewish people because God has not forgotten His covenants with them. I actually kind of feel bad for those interpreters who've accepted replacement theory because, well, really on two counts.

First, because they apparently have a view of God that He is someone who will reverse His call and abrogate His covenant promises. How could we fully trust the promises of a God who is that changeable? And second, because they are apparently ignoring, for me anyway, the most exciting part of what's going on in our world these days. What do I mean by that? Well, somehow, out of the ashes of World War II, that ancient nation of Israel that had ceased to exist didn't exist independently since the 6th century BC, actually, or even exist at all since 70 AD, that nation has been reborn. From a human vantage point, it happened as a result of the Zionist movement and a growing international consensus, which culminated in a United Nations declaration in May of 1948.

That declaration ended the British protectorate over Palestine and recreated a Jewish state. On the same day, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, announced the reestablishment of the State of Israel as an act of God. Harry S. Truman, the American president, recognized the Jewish state. A nation was literally born in one day. Amazingly, there is an ancient biblical prophecy that says as much.

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Isaiah wrote, Who has ever seen such a thing? Yet no sooner was Zion in labor than she gave birth to her children. That's from Isaiah chapter 66. What's been happening in and around the nation of Israel since then is biblical prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes. Nothing like the rebirth of a Jewish nation has ever happened before in all history.

People that are driven from their homeland or even emigrate freely, within two or three generations assimilate into their new culture and society. That's always the case. That's the story of America, pretty much, isn't it? People have come here from everywhere, but within two or three generations, their grandchildren have intermarried and become part of American society. My ancestors came here from Nordic countries on one side and Germany on the other. But you know what?

I didn't even know that until I did a DNA analysis, because as far as I was concerned, I'm an American. Yet somehow, the Jewish people never lost their national and ethnic identity, even after more than 50 generations out of their land. And given the opportunity, millions of Jews from all around the world have left their homes in other places, left their businesses in other places, and returned to resettle in the Promised Land. That is beyond extraordinary. That is a God thing for sure. Jeremiah was a Jewish prophet who lived and wrote when the nation of Israel was being driven from their land back in the 6th century BC.

Yet he wrote even then. The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love, and I will build you up again. The farmers will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria again and enjoy their fruit. The watchmen will cry out from the hills of Ephraim, Come, let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. The Lord will bring us back from the lands of the north and gather us from the ends of the earth. There is hope for your future, declares the Lord.

Your children will come back to their own country. He who scattered Israel will gather them again. This is what the Lord says, the one who appoints the sun to shine on the day and the moon and stars to shine at night, only if the heavens can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out, would I cast away all the descendants of Israel because of what they have done, declares the Lord. Another Old Testament prophet, writing near the same time, after Israel had ceased to exist as an independent nation, had a remarkable vision. The vision is described by Ezekiel in his 37th chapter. You can read it for yourself, especially the first 14 verses.

In Ezekiel's vision, he saw a large valley, the floor of which was just covered with old, dry bones. God asked him if there was any chance that those deteriorated skeletons could somehow come back to life. The prophet said, God, only you know that. Then God told Ezekiel, Speak to the bones and tell them that the Lord is going to make them come back to life by His own creative breath. So the prophet did that, and God says all the old bones began to come together, reform bodies, sinew and muscle growing on them, skin growing over them, and they were resurrected as living people. Then to be sure there was no question what Ezekiel was being shown, God told him, and I'm quoting here, These bones represent the people of Israel.

They are saying, 'We have become old, dry bones. All hope has been gone. Our nation is finished.' But prophesy to them and say, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile, and I will cause you to rise again. And then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And when this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord.'

Isn't that wild? That's exactly, exactly what has been happening in the land of Israel since 1948. Another Old Testament prophet, writing near the same time, added—this is Amos chapter 9—'I will bring back my exiled people Israel. They will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them. I will plant Israel again in their own land, and they will never be uprooted from it.' Hmm.

That tells me once Israel has been regathered as a nation, as they have been, they will never be driven out of it again. God promises them that. Not that the surrounding nations of Arabs haven't tried; they have tried several times. But if you're old as me, you know that each time Israel has soundly defeated them. Why has Israel been regathered by God? Well, for one thing, because God always keeps His promises.

They are, the big word, irrevocable, remember? In a covenant made with Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, more than 4,000 years ago, God said that is their land. But even more importantly, for our purposes, the Jewish people must be in their ancient land for their Messiah to return and for the rest of the Old Testament prophecies regarding Israel to be fulfilled. So, here's a big question I have for those who have, for some reason, accepted replacement theory and believe that Israel doesn't matter to God anymore, that Israel is done in God's plans and have been replaced by the church. Didn't God literally fulfill the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah's first coming? You know, that Jesus would be a direct descendant of King David, that he would be born in Bethlehem, that he would appear on the scene in Israel at a particular time, Daniel said that.

Then he would do astounding things, miracles that had never been done before, that he would be betrayed by someone close to him, and then that he would be killed by crucifixion. Those prophecies were literally fulfilled, weren't they? So, why should we not expect that God will also literally fulfill the promises he made to the people of Israel, especially about their coming Messiah? So, why deny that what we've been seeing going on since 1948 is also not a literal fulfillment of prophecy when it so obviously seems like it is? It's extraordinary. Think about this.

The best Bible scholars in Israel in the first century, when Jesus was among them, expected God to fulfill the countless prophecies about the coming Messiah and his work literally. In fact, one reason they rejected Jesus as Messiah was that there were many promises in the Old Testament about the Messiah that Jesus was not interested in fulfilling, namely the political ones. Jesus was very clear when he was here the first time. He was not about claiming David's throne or freeing Israel from Roman oppression and leading some kind of rebellion and becoming its king, things the prophets said the Messiah would do. There are scores of messianic prophecies in Isaiah alone that Jesus did not fulfill. But does that mean he won't fulfill them?

The earliest Christians, who were all Jews, by the way, came to realize, thinking through Jesus' teaching in parables, that he had every intention to fulfill them, but that it would happen when he returns sometime at a second coming. They came to realize the Messiah's first coming was all about making a way of salvation for all people, but that there would have to be another coming in the future when Jesus would finish fulfilling all the messianic prophecies, including those specifically to the people of Israel. God's future plan. Remember what I quoted from Romans 11? Paul called it a mystery, a word he used over and over in his writings for things that God planned to do but kept hidden until he was ready to reveal them.

He says part of God's previously hidden plan was that after the leaders of Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah, his focus would turn to the Gentiles for a time until, he wrote, the full number of Gentiles comes in. He meant into the family of God through faith in Christ. Then, he said, all Israel will be saved. So, after this age that we are now in, called the Church Age, when Gentile believers from all nations are hearing and responding in faith to the gospel message, we learn this in Thessalonians, the rapture will occur that will take the church up out of the world. And following that, a brief time of terrible judgment called the Tribulation will fall on the world for seven years. But that intense time will dramatically end with the second coming of Jesus to the earth.

And the prophet Zechariah says that when he comes that second time, the Jewish people alive at that time will recognize him as Messiah and turn to him in faith en masse. Then they, and all the others who have turned to Christ during the tribulation years, will enter into a literal kingdom of Christ on earth. Those who take the Bible that literally know this future era as the millennium. There will be a time of peace on the earth in the future when Israel will be the center of everything. Jesus will literally rule as King from Jerusalem. The apostle John tells us in Revelation 20 that that era of blessing lasts for a thousand years.

This, that thousand years, is when all the remaining promises that Jesus did not fulfill the first time will be fulfilled for the Jewish people, because God always keeps His promises. The big takeaway from today's lesson, I'm done with you, might be understandable coming from a four-year-old, maybe even sometimes from the rest of us because we are weak and human. But it's not for God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a God of loyal love. He is not done with His chosen people. You know what came to my mind as I thought about that this week, as I was thinking about what to do with this section of Scripture?

The 136th Psalm. It has 26 verses, and each one of them is about God's faithfulness to Israel. Each one of them ends with the refrain, For His love endures forever. Forever. The God whose love endures forever is still working out His plan regarding the Jewish people. When Jesus the Messiah comes back, he will keep all the covenant promises he's made to them, and he will fulfill all the as yet unfulfilled prophecies affecting them.

You may be wondering, hearing all this, well, since the Jewish people have now been back in their land for several decades, what is the delay in Jesus' return? Good question. You know what the delay is? The delay has been for us, for you and me, as Paul put it, to allow the full number of Gentiles to come in. I hope you're already among that number that has come in. You are if you have sincerely put your faith in Christ as your Savior and your leader.

But if you haven't, what are you waiting for? This is Paul for Share the Word. Paul, another great episode, both insightful and thought-provoking. As you can see, there's no shying away from topics that so many others don't care to address. These are topics that are timely, important, and deserve all of our attention. And if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info at sharetheword.org.

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