The Epistle to the Romans
Lesson 18
Israel’s Temporary Blindness

Reading Assignment: Romans 11

Introduction
Remember to keep the large, overall outline in view. This lesson covers Romans 11 and concludes the section of our outline under “DISPENSATION” which involves chapters 9-11.

What we want you to see in this lesson is God’s faithfulness in the restoration of Israel. God has not cast away the nation of Israel or His chosen people forever. His promises are sure to be fulfilled and His purposes completed. All Israel is yet to be saved.

Importance of this Lesson

• It is important to understand that God never changes His mind. He has a plan and purpose for Israel. That plan and purpose will be realized.
• It is important to see that in Israel a godly “remnant according to the election of grace” which has never “bowed the knee to Baal,” has always existed and still exists.
• It is important to observe that believing Gentiles are grafted into the olive tree with believing Jews.
• It is important to remember that the blindness from which Israel now suffers is partial and temporary and that all Israel is yet to be saved.
• The Deliverer will “come out of Sion” and “take away their sins.” “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

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The Lesson

Outline:

1. God has always had a remnant saved by grace – verses 1-6
2. Israel was temporarily set aside – verses 7-12
3. The two olive trees – verses 13-24
4. All Israel shall be saved – verses 25-32
5. The matchless wisdom of God – verses 33-36

I. GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD A REMNANT SAVED BY GRACE – Romans 11:1-6

1. Verse 1 – Paul referred here to Israel as a nation. Has God cast His people away? God forbid. (Or away with such an idea) said Paul, who referred to himself as an illustration. He, too, was an Israelite and saved by grace.
2. Verse 2 – God foreknew Israel and brought them into existence through Abraham, Genesis 12.
3. Verse 3 – Elijah the prophet complained that Israel had killed the prophets and destroyed the altars and that he alone remained as the only one who believed God.
4. Verse 4 – God rebuked Elijah by informing him that there were seven thousand Israelites “who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal,” in idolatrous worship. This was the godly remnant for Elijah’s day. See 1 Kings 19:10-18.
5. Verse 5 – Here Paul stated that even in his day …at this present time… there was a remnant of believing Jews saved …according to the election of grace.
6. Verse 6 – This is one of the greatest texts in the Bible regarding the doctrine of grace. Here it is clearly stated that salvation cannot be a mixture of grace and works. To mix works with grace as essential for salvation destroys the very meaning of grace – for then grace is no more grace. If salvation is by works, grace cannot be part of it, …otherwise work is no more work. Read Ephesians 2:8-10 and Galatians 5:4-6.

II. ISRAEL WAS TEMPORARILY SET ASIDE – Romans 11:7-12

1. Verse 7 – As a nation Israel did not obtain salvation, but the elect who did believe obtained it. Those who sought salvation by their works were judicially blinded.
2. Verse 8 – This is a quotation from Isaiah 29:10 that Paul used to show that the blindness to which he just referred is in harmony with Old Testament revelation. Paul quoted Isaiah, …God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day.
3. Verses 9-10 – These verses are a continuation of the argument, quoting David. Paul quoted David in Psalm 69:22-23, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. These horrible invocations were fulfilled when the leaders of Israel cried “His blood be on us, and upon our children.” When they rejected Christ, God rejected them.
4. Verses 11-12 – Some Christians have assumed that God rejected Israel forever, but these two verses assure us that this is not so. Is their fall to be permanent? God forbid… or by no means. God triumphed over their rejection and blindness by offering His great salvation to the Gentiles. This in turn will provoke Israel to jealousy and turn them back eventually to the God of their fathers. And since their fall and diminishing resulted in enriching the world and the Gentiles, Paul asked, …how much more their fullness? Note verse 25, the word fullness is used again and we realize that here Paul was writing of the time when …all Israel shall be saved… (verse 26), and God’s glorious purposes for them will be fulfilled.

III. THE TWO OLIVE TREES – Romans 11:13-24

1. Verses 13-24 – Here Paul stated that he had a divine call to be an apostle to the Gentiles. By magnifying his office, he hoped to provoke some of his own race to follow his example and be saved.
2. Verse 15 – Somewhat of a repetition of verse 12. If the casting away of Israel has resulted in the reconciliation of innumerable Gentiles, the …receiving of them… when Israel returns to the Lord and indeed becomes a holy nation will be like a resurrection from the dead.
3. Verse 16 – In verse 16, Paul began to write about fruit and branches and olive trees. The first fruit and the root refer to Abraham and the other patriarchs. The “lump” and “branches” are the people of Israel who are linked to Abraham by faith. …If the root be holy, so are the branches.
4. Verse 17 – Paul stated that some of the branches (the people of Israel) were broken off and that a …wild olive tree… (the Gentiles) were … graffed in among them… These are Gentiles who believe and are saved by grace. By being graffed in, believing Gentiles become partakers of the root and fatness of the olive tree. In other words the promise to Abraham “in thee shall all the families (nations) of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3), is fulfilled in the salvation of multitudes of Gentiles.
5. Verses 18-21 – Verses 18 and 21 warn Gentile believers not to boast that they are better than or have supplanted the Jews. Paul tells the Gentiles they did not bear the root. The root bore them. We are blessed because of God’s promises to Abraham and not the other way around. Keep in mind that the “natural branches” were broken off “because of unbelief” (verse 20). Gentile believers are grafted in by the grace of God on the basis of faith alone, verse 20, and have no reason to be arrogant or proud. For if God spared not the natural branches… (verse 21), He can deal in the same manner with the Gentiles. Note the apostasy of the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
6. Verses 22-24 – God severely punished Israel for their unbelief. This resulted in God showing His goodness to the Gentiles as long as they continued in that goodness. Otherwise, they too shall be cut off.
7. Verse 23 – God promises to graft Israel back into the olive tree when they turn from their unbelief, …for God is able to graff them in again.
8. Verse 24 – The normal grafting procedure is to graft a good branch into a wild tree. Paul teaches here that the grafting of the Gentiles, wild by nature into the good olive tree is “contrary to nature.” And, if so, how much easier it will be to graft the “natural branches” back into the good olive tree when Israel is saved and restored.

IV. ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED – Romans 11:25-32

1. Verse 25 – The mystery is that the blindness of Israel is partial and temporary and that God’s purposes for the nation of Israel are yet to be fully realized. So, don’t be conceited. Remember that the blindness from which Israel is suffering is neither total nor permanent. It is in part until the fulness of the Gentiles comes in; that is, when the church is complete, when God’s purpose to call out a people for His name is fulfilled and we are caught up to be with Christ.
2. Verse 26 – All Israel is to be saved. When? When the Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ shall come out of Sion, turn away their ungodliness and take away their sins (verses 26-27). Read Isaiah 59:20 and Deuteronomy 30:3-6.
3. Verse 28 – God has an eternal covenant with Israel (verse 27) and though they are now enemies of the Gospel for the sake (or benefit) of the Gentiles, they are still the elect of God and …beloved for the fathers’ sake (Abraham and the patriarchs).
4. Verse 29 – The gifts and calling of God …are without repentance. In other words, God and His works are immutable. He never changes His mind or alters His purpose.
5. Verses 30-31 – Gentiles, who for centuries were idol-worshiping heathen, have obtained mercy because of Israel’s unbelief. Is it not natural to expect that the Jews who once knew and served the true God will also obtain mercy?
6. Verse 32 – Here is the blessed conclusion. God would “have all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). All, both Jews and Gentiles, are guilty, unworthy sinners in God’s eyes (Romans 3:19), and His wonderful mercy extends to all.

V. THE MATCHLESS WISDOM OF GOD – Romans 11:33-36

1. Verse 33 – Here Paul, unquestionably moved by the wonder of the truth he had been writing, breaks forth in an anthem of praise, a glorious doxology! Who can probe and understand the scope and depth of God’s infinite wisdom and knowledge? Who can grasp the meaning of His judgments and His ways? He is the omniscient, all wise God who created all things and upholds them by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:2-3; 11:3).
2. Verse 34 – No man can comprehend the mind of God and certainly no one can advise or counsel Him. How humble we should be as we stand before Him and how grateful for His grace and mercy!
3. Verse 35 – No one can give God anything or do anything for God so that God is forced to recompense or payback an obligation. God owes us nothing. We owe Him everything.
4. Verse 36 – This is a fitting climax to a remarkable chapter. Speaking of Christ, Paul said, For OF Him…, (referring to all creation)… and THROUGH Him…, (for by Him all things consist, Colossians 1:16-17)… and TO Him…, (God’s ultimate purpose) …are all things: (all created things were made for His glory) …to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Examination

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