Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (December 2013)
Romans 8 concludes with an exalted description of God’s love which was poured out upon lost humanity through Jesus Christ, with a view to regenerating us from being enemies of God to people who are favoured by Him. The biggest sacrifice to establish this relationship was brought by God the Father: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all [Jews and Gentiles], how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). The Saviour did not only die to justify us before God but also lives to intercede for us at the Father’s throne (Rom. 8:34). He has conquered sin and death, and because of that there are no powers in life or death that can separate us from His love. A continued relationship with God is only possible through Him.
In the light of God’s life-changing love through His Son, it is in the interest of all of us to gain clarity on the following questions: What happens to people who try to live their lives outside the love and atonement of Christ? What would happen to Israel who, as a nation, rejected the Messiah after God had used them to prepare the way for the coming of His Son, and from whom Christ was born as the Son of Man? How would the spiritual blindness of the Chosen People affect their relationship with the Lord, and what influence would it have on the covenants between them and God? Paul said it would give rise to the partial hardening of Israel, and that is the subject of one of the mysteries which was revealed to us in the New Testament.
In Romans 9 to 11, Paul describes the calling of Israel as God’s people, the reasons for their spiritual failure, as well as their end-time restoration when the entire nation will be reconciled to the Messiah. He points to the fact that the hardening of the covenant people would not be permanent, that God’s covenants with Israel were not abrogated, and that there always was a small remnant of believing Israelites who pleased God. He also explains that, due to their unbelief, Israel have lost their core position in God’s plan of salvation for the world, but that this broken relationship will be fully restored at the second coming of the Messiah.
The role of the church in world evangelism does not suggest a situation in which Israel was replaced by a predominantly non-Jewish church (the so-called Covenant Theology). Therefore, the church should not become arrogant and conceited by ignoring Israel’s historic and prophetic role in the revelation and further expansion of God’s kingdom on earth. The Lord emphasises the fact that even in their fallen and hardened state, Israel is a blessing to the world, and that they will even be a much bigger blessing after they have received the Messiah as Saviour and King. There is no room in the Christian church for anti-Jewish sentiments and the denial of Israel’s national rights to their land when the Lord restores them in the end-time.
All these profound truths are part of a mystery which was not previously known, but was proclaimed to the Christian church through Paul’s ministry. He says to the congregation in Rome: “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Rom. 11:25-26). In these two verses, various important statements are made which should be fully recognised in New Testament theology:
· Israel would become spiritually hardened. However, that would only be in part, in the sense that this condition would not continue indefinitely but be terminated at a certain point in time. The conjunction until means “up to the time of ...” and indicates a definite turning-point in a particular situation or condition. The period of Israel’s national hardening would continue right through the church dispensation when the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in by way of world evangelisation.
· Another implication of the concept “in part” is that not the entire nation of Israel would be spiritually blind and hardened. There will always be a relatively small remnant of the people who will continuously validate the spiritual survival of Israel.
· Believers among the Gentiles should not overreact on Israel’s unbelief and then, contrary to biblical pronouncements, declare that Israel’s role in God’s plan for the nations is obsolete and that they have been replaced by the church. That is not the case.
· The national salvation of Israel will only take place when the Messiah comes and sets foot on the Mount of Olives. Then, “all Israel will be saved”, and more than ever before be used in the establishment and expansion of God’s kingdom on earth.
The prophetic turning-point which will be reached according to the term “until” in Romans 11:25, ties up with two other pronouncements of the Lord Jesus. In His Olivet Discourse He said: “And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). At the end of the church dispensation, when the fullness of the Gentiles has been gathered into the kingdom of God, Israel and their capital city will be restored – also spiritually as the people of God and the city of the Great King (cf. Ps. 48:1-2).
On another occasion, Christ also said to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “You shall see Me no more till you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” (Matt. 23:39). That will be the key to Israel’s national spiritual awakening, and the culmination of their complete end-time restoration at the second coming of the Messiah. Subsequently, the entire Israel will serve the Lord with all their heart: “No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:34).
The mystery of Israel’s calling, spiritual blindness, and ultimate salvation as a people has been fully revealed to us. The Lord expects us to take notice of these facts and to refrain from acting in an ungrateful and uncharitable way towards Israel. We should learn from Israel’s mistakes (1 Cor. 10:1-12) while, at the same time, be supporters of Israel who pray for the full restoration of this nation and their capital city, Jerusalem (Isa. 62:6-7; Ps. 122:6).
In Romans 9, Paul refers to all the privileges which Israel enjoyed by virtue of their calling as the Lord’s special people – the promises to the patriarchs, their adoption as children of God, the guaranteed blessings through all the covenants that were concluded with them, the laws of the Lord in which the principles of holy living are determined, as well as the religious ceremonies in the tabernacle and later in the temple, including preaching, prayers, the sacrificial system, as well as the inquiring of the Lord (Rom. 9:4-5).
However, all these religious activities and revelations of the Lord through Israel were only in preparation of the incarnation of God’s Son, to whom all authority on earth has been given. Israel is a very special people, “from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God” (Rom. 9:5). In Isaiah He is described as the “Mighty God” who will reign from the throne of David in Jerusalem (Isa. 9:6-7).
Paul was extremely grieved because Israel did not realise their divine calling to be a Messianic people in the full sense of the word (Rom. 9:1-3). They did not walk in the Lord’s ways and failed to serve Him with all their heart, thereby rendering themselves unworthy to recognise, accept, and follow the Messiah. Only a small group of Jews were spiritually awakened and correctly inclined towards God, and that is why Paul said: “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6). Only those who truly had a relationship of faith with the Lord were, spiritually speaking, Israelites (“Contenders for God”). The other were unbelieving, nominal Israelites who were spiritually dead.
In Romans 9 to 11, a subject is discussed which is controversial in many circles, namely who bears the final responsibility for people’s faith or unbelief – is it God or the people themselves? God determines the consequences of the situation in which all people find themselves: either as recipients of His grace or as the objects of His wrath. He wishes to reveal great and wonderful things on earth through the establishing of His kingdom, and to that end He elects believers and appoints them as servants to promote His kingdom through them. The unbelievers who harden their hearts against Him are primarily responsible for the fact that God hardens their hearts even further. In this way they are subjected to the judgements of God in order that His supremacy will be confirmed in this way.
Because of the Lord’s foreknowledge of how people will react to His demands on faith and holiness He can, from the beginning, describe them as pardoned or condemned people. However, this is not part of a rigid doctrine of election in which people have no choice with regard to their final destination. Even Pharaoh made a choice to oppose God and His people. The Lord knew about this and then hardened Pharaoh’s heart further so that He could demonstrate His supremacy over the apostate Egyptians.
As far as Israel is concerned, He has elected the entire nation to be His favoured people, servants and witnesses. This election placed a responsibility on every member of the Chosen People to enter into a relationship of faith with God and to maintain this relationship. Most of them did not make the right choice, and to them election has been turned into rejection.
Shortly after Israel’s exodus from Egypt and experiencing His mighty deeds of salvation, the nation lapsed into idolatry. What has become of their election? “But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (1 Cor. 10:5; cf. Ps. 95:10-11). Even after they had inherited the Promised Land their inclination towards apostatising continued. Joshua was much troubled because of this, but respected their freedom of choice: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Jos. 24:15).
The same situation prevailed during the first coming of Jesus. He wanted to gather the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Himself as followers of their long-awaited Messiah, but they were spiritually dull and refused to receive Him. He said to them: “How often I wanted to gather your children ... but you were not willing. See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:37-38). Through the actions of the Israelites the election of Israel has, for a very long time, changed into rejection. When Paul says that God has given His people a spirit of stupor so that they should not see or hear (Rom. 11:8), they were the guilty party for the setting in of this condition. As the favoured ones of God and members of the Chosen People, they had every reason and also the full opportunity to receive the Messiah, but they didn’t. God did not one-sidedly exclude them, since the gospel of Christ is “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
The Lord is not willing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance (Acts 17:30; 1 Tim. 2:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:9). As far as salvation is concerned, it makes no difference whatsoever whether a person is a member of the Chosen People (Israel) or any of the Gentile nations. The only thing that matters is whether he accepts God’s grace which is offered to him through Jesus Christ: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:12-13). He will only judge those who wilfully rejected His offer of grace, regardless of which nation they belong to.
Israel’s wrong view on the purpose and role of the law is responsible for their decision to reject the Messiah, while the law was actually meant to prepare the way towards the acceptance of the Messiah. The Gentiles who did not have the law, found it easier to repent and enter into a relationship of faith with Christ. To the Gentiles who believed the gospel, rejection has turned into election, while Israelites who resisted the gospel through their unbelief, had caused their own rejection.
“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Rom. 9:30-33).
Why did the law become a stumbling-stone to the Jews? Because law-observance was not an act of faith but a form of justification by works, which was based on their own efforts to honour the law. If law-observance was united with faith, they would have recognised the inadequacy of their own efforts to live by the law, and trusted the Lord for the forgiveness of their sins. In that case the law would have been their tutor to the Messiah (Gal. 3:24), as He came to save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21; Acts 4:12).
Believing Jews indeed made the transition from the law to grace. Paul said the purpose of his life was to be found in Christ, “not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Phil. 3:9).
To legalistic Jews, observing the law was their ultimate purpose towards attaining righteousness, and for that reason they did not pursue righteousness through faith in the Messiah. On the contrary, He was a stumbling-block to them because He rejected their legalistic justification through the works of the law, and revealed their hypocrisy. These Jews did not comply with the spiritual standard demanded by the calling of God and therefore did not become Messianic Jews: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:3-4).
The majority of Jews alienated themselves from God because of their erroneous concept of the law. Those who were not deceived, and who pleased God by faith, were always a small minority: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved” (Rom. 9:27 NIV).
It is a universal rule that people can only be justified before God by faith. “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3). Prayer plays a major role in a relationship of faith, and such people always become conscious of their sin when they draw near to God in prayer. In Old Testament times, God gave His law to Israel to demonstrate His principles of righteousness to them, and also to convict them of their sins. He forgave their sins (Rom. 4:7-8), despite the fact that the shadowy sin-offerings of the Old Covenant were not yet fulfilled in the once for all sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
If the law and the sacrificial service were correctly understood, it would have driven believers to the Lord to strengthen their faith as they could not comply with the demands of the law in their own strength. However, most Israelites made the mistake of exalting the works of the law and only observing them, rather than pursuing an active relationship of faith with the Lord. They became the slaves of a religious system, in which they primarily boasted in their own works. In the absence of a serious quest for the forgiveness of sins, they were not prepared for the coming of the suffering Messiah who would take the iniquities of the nation upon Himself (cf. Isa. 53:5). When Jesus came as the Lamb of God precisely to fulfil this role these people rejected Him.
During New Testament times, many people make exactly the same mistake. They look for salvation in a religious system with all its rituals and ceremonies but they cannot testify about a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, and often have a very feeble prayer life. They also glory in their religious works, rather than in their faith. This problem should urgently be corrected, and that demands honest soul-searching: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” (2 Cor. 13:5). Preaching of the gospel is the only solution to this problem: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
Among the majority of Israelites who rejected Jesus as Messiah, unbelief and a form of godliness got the upper hand. Their lack of faith disqualified Israel to be the Messiah’s witnesses on earth under the New Covenant, and for that reason the responsibility for the evangelisation of the world was soon in the hands of non-Jewish witnesses of Christ.
It is of the greatest importance that we are not only mindful of Israel’s role as a chosen vessel for the revelation of God’s kingdom but that we also give full recognition to it. Their divine history started 4 000 years ago with the calling of Abraham, and will shortly enter a new phase when the Messiah-King returns. By God’s grace, Israel will exist forever: “For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you; though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished” (Jer. 30:11; cf. Lev. 26:44-45). During the coming tribulation period, a remnant of Israel will be saved to inherit the Messianic kingdom (Jer. 30:7).
In which way is Israel a blessing to us during the church dispensation while they are still spiritually blinded? Paul earlier reminded the church in Rome that Israel are the people through whom the Word of God has come to humanity, and that not all of them have apostatised and became spiritually hardened: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all!” (Rom. 3:1-4 NIV).
In Romans 11 Paul says that even the apostasy of the Jews is to the advantage of the Gentile world, in the sense that after Israel had rejected the salvation which was offered to them by the Messiah, the command was given to go out and proclaim salvation to the Gentile nations. We have now also become heirs of God’s kingdom, and in future we will benefit in a new way from Israel after they too will have received the Messiah and will serve Him: “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! ... For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:11-12, 15).
We should not reject or demean Israel because of their spiritual hardening, but rather make them envious of the way in which we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. They must come to realise their own spiritual poverty when they behold our spiritual riches in the Lord. We will only be able to do that if we fully understand the mysteries surrounding the past, present, and future of Israel.
In Romans 11, the Messiah’s spiritual kingdom on earth is likened to an olive tree. This tree is a creation of God, and its root which works in the hidden and unseen spiritual sphere, is the Saviour of humanity, Jesus Christ, who Himself is also God. The tree growing out of this root is a generation of people who have been called by God to establish His kingdom on earth. They are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and after Jacob a people descended from the twelve tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah in the royal lineage of David, the Messiah was incarnated as the Son of David and heir to his royal throne.
According to Revelation 22:16, Jesus is “the Root and the Offspring of David.” As the Root of David (and of the live tree) He is the origin, or Lord, of David. As the Offspring of David He is the Son of David who became man to sacrifice Himself for our sins and also to rule on the throne of David during the Millennium. Paul also refers to a scripture in Isaiah in which Jesus is described as the root of Jesse, David’s father: “And again, Isaiah says: There shall be a root of Jesse; and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope” (Rom. 15:12; cf. Luke 1:32). The expression “the root of Jesse” refers to Jesus’ nature as God because He already existed before Jesse. He is the origin of all blessings, and all people should hope in Him. During the Millennium He will to a greater extent be the epitome of their hope and desire.
To the first patriarch, Abraham, it was clearly said that the Messiah who would be born from his descendants, would establish God’s kingdom among all nations (Gen. 12:3). “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law [through which we cannot be saved] ... that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:13-14; cf. Isa. 49:5-6). However, the command to evangelise the world could only have been issued after the coming of the Messiah. During Old Testament times, God expanded His kingdom in and through Israel, and in that sense they became the branches of the olive tree.
Through their refusal to receive the Messiah, Israel filled up the measure of their fathers’ unbelief and guilt (Matt. 23:29-39). The rejection of the Messiah, who is the root of the olive tree, explains why Israel as a nation (the natural branches) were cut off and withered. Branches from wild olive trees (the heathen nations) were then grafted into the olive tree because they have received the Messiah as their Saviour (Rom. 11:17-24).
It is important to note that the Gentile believers become partakers of the fatness of the root and trunk of the tree – not of its branches, which represent the people of Israel. The olive tree is, therefore, something more than merely the Jewish nation. We are grafted into the Messiah, as we are also taught in the parable of the vine (John 15:1-7), and not into the Jewish people. In our life of faith we have Christian roots and not Hebrew roots.
We should not revert to the shadowy practices of the law, which was the major error in the church in Galatia, but progress towards a completely new life in Jesus Christ. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to become conformed to Israel (the withered branches of the olive tree) and to join them in observing orthodox feasts and Sabbaths in which the Lord Jesus is not recognised or honoured. We celebrate religious feasts as fulfilled Messianic feasts, which calls for a clear New Testament orientation, lest we deny Christ.
To be grafted into the olive tree refers to spiritual quickening and the acquiring of a Christian identity. An unsaved Greek who comes to faith, becomes part of the olive tree because he is now a saved Greek. He does not become a Jew (one of the natural branches). Likewise, only Messianic Jews are part of the tree because they are joined together with the root and trunk (the Messiah). When they are cut off because of unbelief, they continue to be Jews – only unbelieving Jews. The olive tree therefore does not change a person’s ethnic identity. Believers from every people and tribe and nation will one day stand before the Lord (Rev. 5:9-10; 7:9).
Some of the severed natural branches of the olive tree (unsaved Jews) will be grafted back into the olive tree in the end-time, and because of that we know that a remnant of Israel will be saved when the Messiah comes (Rom. 11:25-26). Gentile Christians should accept this promise, pray for its fulfilment, and evangelise unsaved Jews by proclaiming to them the good news about the Messiah. Humanitarian assistance to Israel without Christian evangelisation is of little value.
Have you taken to heart the full revelation of the mystery on Israel’s partial and temporary hardening, and do you exert yourself for their full restoration so that times of refreshing may come to them from the presence of the Lord? More knowledge of God’s Word also brings more responsibilities to walk in its light and honour all its commands.
We should have a good knowledge of the Bible and also, through the Holy Spirit, the ability to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). The Amplified Bible says that we should correctly analyse the Word of Truth by rightly handling and skilfully teaching it. We must therefore ensure that we know and honour the basic meaning of any scripture, and that we explain it in its biblical context, as that would guide us in correctly applying it to our situation. To be able to do that, calls for a thorough knowledge of the progressive unfolding of God’s plan for humanity since Old Testament times, but particularly also of the new revelations which the Lord gives to us in the New Testament through the exposition of the mysteries.
The many diverging and often conflicting theological views about biblical pronouncements in a large number of churches throughout the world, is ample proof that the Word is not thoroughly analysed most of the time. Nor is the Word properly proclaimed or dispensationally applied in its correct context. From the interpretation of the mysteries it is particularly evident to what extent a particular exegete is acquainted with core biblical truths, and understands the harmony in Scripture. The less a person is able to understand a mystery the more he turns to spiritualising, allegorical explanations, replacement theology, mythologising, or critical thinking of a humanistic nature, in order to avoid statements which cannot be reconciled with his own theological frame of reference. In the process they are moving further away from Scriptural truths.
If the mystery on the hardening and end-time salvation of Israel is not correctly understood and proclaimed, it may give rise to one or more of the following forms of deception, which can all be refuted from Scripture:
· Israel’s spiritual hardening is viewed as a permanent condition, which leads to the denial of this nation’s spiritual awakening in the end-time. However, there is ample proof in Scripture of Israel’s physical and spiritual restoration (Ezek. 36:22-28).
· The role of the faithful remnant in Israel is disregarded. Jesus and His disciples were part of the despised minority group, and it is obvious that the golden thread of Israel’s history of salvation runs through them.
· Israel is permanently replaced by the church as “the people of God” through whom He reaches His goal on earth. However, Israel’s covenants cannot be transferred to the church as they, among others, confirm Israel’s right to occupy the Promised Land (Gen. 13:14-15; Ezek. 11:17).
· Some of the Christians view the olive tree of Romans 11 as the people of Israel and see it as their calling to become Jews themselves by learning Hebrew and living under the law (particularly observing the Sabbath), thereby establishing a new Israel. However, they associate with a people who were spiritually dead and physically dispersed across the earth during the entire New Testament dispensation. They have Hebrew roots instead of Christian roots.
· The Messianic kingdom which was promised to Israel after they have been reconciled with the Messiah at His second coming is dispensationally moved backwards by amillennialists and applied to the church dispensation. Transformations and ecumenical rallies are used to try and promote a kingdom situation. But they do not succeed with their efforts because the Bible has predicted a great falling away in the last days, leading up to the global government of the Antichrist (Rev. 13:7).
· It is sometimes arrogantly alleged that the church is better than unbelieving Israel, and in this way the warning is shunned that the church can also be removed from the olive tree should it backslide into unbelief (Rom. 11:22). Large-scale apostatising is indeed a characteristic of the end-time church (1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 3:15-17).
· The spiritual revival of Israel when the Messiah comes (Zech. 12:10), is interpreted as the glorification of the church. However, the glorification of the true church occurs seven years earlier at the rapture, shortly before the tribulation period.
All these errors are the direct consequence of wrong applications of biblical doctrines. No wonder that the Church, save for relatively small evangelical churches, have wandered very far away from the truth of God’s Word. They are the victims of deception, and if they are not delivered from this in time, they are not heading for the kingdom of Christ but for the global empire of the Antichrist (Rev. 134:3-4, 7).