Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXXII)

Methodist Bible scholar Adam Clarke also comments on the idea that every Jew alive will be saved. This will only happen after they openly acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. We should not misunderstand the term “saved” as meaning that every Jew alive at the time will be taken up to the kingdom of glory. The term “saved,” as applied to the Israelites in different parts of the Scripture, signifies no more than their being gathered out of the nations of the world, separated to God, and possessed of the high privilege of being His peculiar people. When used in the prophetic sense, it implies that during the Tribulation period, after much persecution the Jews will turn to Jesus who will then protect them from being destroyed during that terrible time.¹

Robert Haldane has this to say about what Paul terms a “mystery.” When we look at the two previous verses (23-24), we see the restoration of the Jews exhibited first as a possibility, and next as a probability, according to the providence of God. Now the Apostle Paul, in this and the following verses down to verse 28, goes on to prove the certainty of the future conversion and restoration of Israel. Here he addresses the Gentiles as his brethren, thus expressing his affection for them, and gets their attention by declaring that he was about to reveal to them a mystery – something that up until then had been hidden by God.

The restoration of the Jews is called a mystery, for although it was declared in the Scriptures, it was not understood. And in this mystery, there were two parts, both of which are here unfolded. First, that blindness happened to Israel only in part. Secondly, that this blindness should continue until the fullness of the Gentiles comes to an end. This mystery was opened to prevent the Gentiles from being wise in their own conceit, that is, from being puffed up on account of the preference they now enjoyed. Ignorance of the Scriptures is the cause of high-mindedness in Christians. They are often arrogant and contemptuous through want of knowledge. In the absence of real knowledge, they often suppose that they have a true understanding of things with which they are still unacquainted. While this may be due to a lack of time, or a lack of teachers, or even a lack of interest, the worst reason for not being better acquainted with God’s Word is out of pride and conceit.

Haldane then goes on to comment on how, in verse 26, the Apostle Paul further unfolds the mystery he does not want his Jewish brethren to be ignorant of. In the previous verse, Paul declared that blindness had fallen upon Israel – the blindness which he spoke of in verses 8-10. This blindness, or being in a daze, would continue until a certain period in God’s plan to redeem the Gentiles was accomplished. Once that is over, Paul declares that at that time all Israel will be offered salvation. Haldane feels that we must understand that God’s rejection of Israel was meant for some but not for all.

Furthermore, it was also intended to cover a certain period of time and would not be unending. Initially, God’s time for sowing the seed of the Gospel among the Gentiles would come to an end and then the harvest would take place. After this harvest of the Gentiles, then God would turn His attention again back to Israel. They now would be evangelized with the Gospel. And when they also accepted Jesus as the Messiah and received Him as their Lord and Savior, then they too will be joined together with the Gentiles in the presence of God.²

Albert Barnes also points out that among the Jews was a maxim that every Israelite would have their portion in the World-to-Come.³ The Apostle Paul applies that same maxim to serve his purpose here, by declaring that in a sense that was true. He does not mean to say that every Jew of every age would be saved; he had proven that a large portion of them would be, in his time, rejected and lost. But the time would come when, as a people, they would be recovered; the nation would turn to God and accept His Son Jesus as the Messiah. That’s when it would be said of them that, as a nation, they were restored to God’s divine favor.

So, it is apparent that Paul does not mean that every individual Jew would be saved, but a large contingent of them. Neither does Paul go into detail and tell the Jews when this would take place. This is one of the things which the Father has kept to Himself.⁴ God has given us the assurance that it will be done to encourage us in our efforts to reach the Jews even during our time. Furthermore, the Father has concealed the time when it will take place so that we should not relax our efforts or feel that no exertion is needed to accomplish what must take place at a fixed time.⁵ Not all Bible scholars accept Barnes’ inference that Jews will be saved through the efforts of the Church. They believe Paul is telling the Gentiles not to count the Jews as lost because God has His own plan on how and when they will be saved. Prophecy scholars believe this will happen during the Tribulation period.

Henry Alford makes a point that should be a caution to all prophecy experts on the meaning of the word “mystery” used here by Paul. First and foremost, it is a prophetic event, unattainable by human knowledge, but revealed from the secrets of God. Alford’s reasoning is that this was meant to keep the Gentiles from becoming wise in their own conceit. In other words, that they would not take credit for some superior, divinely inspired wisdom. Just because they had received Jesus as their Lord and Savior did not give them unattended access to the secrets of God. These He must release under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit.⁶ Alford then goes on with a long dissertation on how many of the early church scholars came to their conclusions on this matter. Some of them think it will be all Jews, others that it will be a remnant of Jews living at the time, and others that Paul is speaking of the spiritual Israel to which the Gentiles have already been grafted.

H. A. Ironside also offers his opinion on what Paul is saying here about Israel’s spiritual future. He begins with noting that their term “fullness” is used by Paul a second time.⁷ This is a reference to the completion of God’s offer of grace and salvation to the Gentiles. It all started when the Jews rejected Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. The term “fullness” is used some 17 times throughout the Gospels and the Epistles of Paul. The Apostle used it to describe a period in time, such as when God decided it was time to send His Son to earth as Savior⁸.⁹

From the creation of the heavens and the earth, to the creation of mankind, Noah’s flood, the calling of Abraham, the choice of Jacob as the father of Israel, the freeing of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage through God’s calling of Moses; David, son of Jesse being picked as king of Israel, birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, were all points in eternity that God chose to make them happen. They could not have come a day early or a day late. Therefore, we should not have any doubts that everything that has happened since then is also part of God’s eternal plan. This includes the calling of Paul the Apostle, Christianity being chosen as the religion for the Roman Empire, the Reformation, the Wesleyan Revivals, the resurgence of Pentecost

Charles Hodge also gives us his insights on this discussion. He notes that there have been numerous interpretations by various commentators on verses 25-27. They are not of a great variety, however, they are all modifications of one or the other of the following two general views of the passage. First, many understand that the Apostle is not predicting any remarkable future conversion of the entire Jewish nation. Rather, it was simply declaring that the hardening of so many Jewish hearts toward the Gospel would still not prevent many Jews from entering the Christian church nor would it keep Gentiles from continuing to be accepted. Thus, all those Jews, as well as Gentiles who embraced the Gospel should ultimately be saved. The second general view supposes the Apostle Paul, on the contrary, was predicting that a great and general conversion of the Jewish people would take place once the dispensation of grace was completed for Gentile converts. Then, and only then, would those prophecies be accomplished which speak of the salvation of Israel.¹⁰

Hodge then explains that the first of these views were presented, in different forms, by the great body of the authors who lived about the time of the Reformation. This was due to the extravagances of many prophecy writers and speakers concerning the second coming of Christ. The Reformist wanted to explain away much of the prophetic character found in the verses on the salvation of Israel.¹¹ During the 1800s, German theologian Hermann Olshausen wanted to show the hostile feelings entertained by the Reformers towards the Jews. So he quoted a passage from Luther’s writings which said: “A Jewish heart is so stony-iron-devil-hard, that it cannot be moved by any means. It’s young devils condemned to hell who try to convert these devil’s children, which is impossible, as certain who are delusional invent from the Epistle to the Romans.”

Hodge goes on to explain that most scholars since the Reformation have interpreted Paul’s prophecy with the second view in mind. Namely, it seems obvious that Paul intended here to predict that the time would come when the Jews, as a body, should be converted unto the Lord.¹² The prediction contained in this verse is to be explained by the context. The rejection of the Jews at the time of Christ, did not involve the perdition of every individual of that nation. Thousands, and even myriads, believed and were saved. So the restoration here foretold is not to be understood as including every individual of the Jewish people, but simply that there will be enough to declare it a national restoration.¹³

Jewish theologian David Stern makes mention of the stony heart that Luther was referring to. We see it better in the Jewish Bible translation of verse 25: “It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra’el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness.” Stern notes that the literal sense could yield this rendering: “Stoniness has come upon Israel, but stemming only from part of it.” Though close to Paul’s point, grammatical considerations exclude it because in the four other places where the phrase is found in the New Testament, it has descriptive force. Therefore, it should be understood here as modifying “stoniness,” so that translations should read, “Hardness has come upon part of Israel” (the part that rejects Yeshua).

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXXI)

It is clear that the Apostle Paul knew that he might experience a strong push-back from the orthodox Jewish converts in Rome because they had been taught from their youth: “The fire of Gehenna (Hell) has no power over sinners in Israel.”¹ This resulted from the argument that while all mankind passes through the valley of transgression, for the wicked heathen the road leads to Gehenna while for the righteous Jew it leads to Paradise. This same teaching was repeated by Rabbi Resh² Lakish and used the golden altar as an example. He was talking about the altar in the Temple that was covered with gold.³ He stated, “Even though the gold on that altar is only as thick as a dinar,⁴ it will not wear off after years and years of enduring the fire. So, the same is true of the transgressors of Israel who are as full of good deeds and acts of devotion as a pomegranate is full of seeds.”⁵

And in reference to Paul’s choice here of the words in Isaiah⁶ related to Jesus being the Redeemer and Messiah, one Jewish writer observed that the prophet truly did not indicate that the Messiah will turn Jacob’s descendants away from ungodly living, but as a Redeemer will come to Zion and receive those who turn themselves away from their transgressions.⁷ In other words, the idea that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost did not mean that the children of Abraham would then be saved with no decision on their part because they were already righteous. Rather, that they must be willing to turn to Him and accept Him as their Lord and Savior. This should help us understand why the Jewish leaders were so opposed to both John the Baptizer and Jesus of Nazareth’s message of repentance for salvation sake.

When it comes to understanding the mystery concerning God’s estrangement from the Jews and His engagement to the Gentiles that Paul speaks of here, one early church scholar envisions that as the number of Gentiles that God is courting comes to Him through faith in Christ, the rest of the Jewish people will be stirred by jealousy and a desire to follow suit so that by believing in Christ they too will be saved. But in the meantime, the Apostle ranks the Gentiles ahead of the Jews in faith for the reason that even if some of the Jews believed in Christ, they still followed the precepts of the Law of Moses. But afterward, they also followed the example of the Gentiles and began to maintain the Christian faith in its fullness.⁸ While this was Paul’s hope and dream, yet it is said with a look to the future when Israel as a nation will finally declare Jesus Christ is Lord.

As it relates to the Deliverer coming from Zion, early church Bishop Diodore asks: “What does it mean to say that all Israel will be saved?” If it is said, “the whole world will see,” it doesn’t mean that every single person on earth will see, or, “all nations will hear,” doesn’t imply that every individual in the world will be able to hear. What it really means is that no matter where people live on this planet or in what nation they abide, there will be at least one person from their area who will see, or some inhabitant of every nation on earth will hear about those who are turning to the Lord and believing in Yeshua as the Messiah. So when Paul says that all Israel will be saved, he only means that every tribe of Israel will be represented in the number who finally turn to Jesus as the Lord and King.⁹

Early church scholar Pelagius sees it the same way. He notes that some interpreters of Scripture, that he has read, regard all these events as in the future. So this means that this prophecy must still take place, and Christ will still need to come again to set them free.¹⁰ And Bishop Cyril adds that although the Jews have momentarily fallen out of God’s favor, they will one day be brought back into the fold as believers in Christ. Paul confirms this by quoting Isaiah.¹¹ Israel will be saved in its own time and will finally be elected after the calling of the Gentiles comes to an end.¹²

The eventual salvation of Israel is seen as the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham. So it does not depend on the Jews to orchestrate this, it is God’s to complete. Ambrosiaster is sure that the covenant God made with Abraham will be valid no matter how long it takes for them to believe. This is God’s promise to keep. It is not for us to determine if and when it will happen, all we must do is be ready for Christ’s return. In the meantime, every day the call goes out to whosoever will may come to the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Although God condemns unbelievers as soon as they sin, He still waits before punishing them knowing that one day they might come to the knowledge salvation.¹³

Then Chrysostom tells us that God will stand by His covenant and promises to the end. We cannot postpone it nor expedite it. It will happen in God’s appointed time. But there is one thing of which we can be sure and that is our sins must be forgiven and we must be living with Christ in us as our Lord and Savior. God is faithful in fulfilling His promises. And since we can be sure Christ’s second coming has not yet happened, we can nevertheless be certain that it will one day come to pass.¹⁴

Martin Luther says that while the general consensus is that the Jews will be converted to Christ in the end, it is still too obscure a passage to convince everyone, even with the endorsement of Augustine, Chrysostom, and Theodoret. Luther is certain that the Jews who are still unbelievers will be converted and saved once the fullness of the Gentile elect is completed. They will not remain outside forever, but in their own time they will be converted.¹⁵ We are told that although Luther seemed unsure at first whether all Jews would be saved rather than an elect few, he did finally accept the opinion of early church scholars that just as those among the Gentiles will be the chosen so the same among the Jews.

John Calvin believes that Paul is making a point for the Gentile believers not to become so high-minded that they are blinded to the mystery of God’s plan for Israel. It was necessary for Paul to do so in order to prevent the Jewish believers among them to the despair, thinking all was lost. Calvin sees the same thing as useful for us in our day, so that we may know that the salvation of the remnant, whom the Lord will at length gather to Himself, is signed, and irrevocable, as it were, by the Almighty God’s seal. It has also been hidden away so the enemy cannot break in and steal it.

And whenever there is a long delay and we are tempted to become despondent, let us remember this is still a mystery to us since God has given no one to know the exact time it will take place until He gives His approval for it to happen. And then it will take place in a moment, faster than we can blink an eye. It is also called a mystery because it will be incomprehensible until the time of its revelation. It is, however, made known to us, as it was to the Romans, that our faith may be content with the Word, and support us with hope, until the event itself come to light.¹⁶

John Locke takes the phrase, “shall be saved,” and renders it, “shall be converted.” Locke is aware that among English speaking believers the word, “saved” is a synonym for conversion. So if we are saved, we must be saved from something. In the first stage of our salvation, we are saved from the bondage of sin. But there is another stage, that’s at the end when we are saved from this world to live in the world-to-come with our Lord. So Locke believes that Paul is talking about the first stage here on earth. That’s why Paul cannot talk about the eternal destiny of the Jews unless he shows that they were converted to Christ and made ready for eternal life.¹⁷

Daniel Whitby sees this verse as another part of Paul’s argument for the general conversion of the Jews. This is not to those who were hardened and unresponsive to the Gospel, but to those who had been blinded by doubt and uncertainty about the Gospel and Yeshua the Messiah. So it must not be understood as encompassing all Jews regardless of their unbelief. God plans to take away their blindness by sending a Deliverer out of Zion to procure the pardon for them, and since this pardon can only be given through faith in Christ, this deliverer must Yeshua who wants to save His own people from their sins. So just as such blindness was removed for many Jews when Jesus came the first time, so will the blindness be removed in the last days just before His coming the second time to set up the Kingdom here on earth they were looking for.¹⁸

John Bengel also warns against trying to understand this mystery, that Paul speaks of here, out of curiosity or with limited interest. It must be done with humility. After all, since it is a mystery, then Paul had to treat the Jews with patience for not recognizing quicker. The same should be said of us who are hoping that in time all will recognize it. Although many Jews were converted in Paul’s day, and there are some even in this day that are becoming Christians, the mystery that Paul was talking about would come when the right time arrived for it to occur and the remnant will be chosen and saved.¹⁹

Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards believes that Paul is talking here about what will take place during the Great Tribulation in the end times. He feels that this is what the prophet Jeremiah was referring to.²⁰ This will include not only the literal Jewish nation but the spiritual nation of Israel as well.²¹ Edwards notes that it is so out of the ordinary that the Jewish people have continued in their denial of the Messiah for so many centuries and yet their ultimate salvation is spoken of here with great certainty. The Apostle Paul illustrates this so beautifully in his letter to the Corinthians: “Today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. ‘But,’ says the Torah, ‘whenever someone turns to Adonai, the veil is taken away.’ Now, ‘Adonai’ in this text means the ‘Spirit.’ And where the Spirit of Adonai is there is freedom. So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into His very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by Adonai the Spirit.”²²

Several months after graduating from High School and still living at home, I had my eureka moment! I realized who I was, where I was, and why I was there. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it. I had no career path, I couldn’t see any chance of promotion in emptying out railroad boxcars full of grain into a grain elevator out in New Mexico, and breathing in dust all day. Every job I applied for they would ask me what my military draft status was. When I told them 1-A (Available for Military Service), they said it would be a waste of time for them to train me because I could be called into the military any day. So I decided to immediately do something about it. I went down to the recruiting station and joined the US Army. That decision changed the whole course of my life and ended up making me what I am today.

But along the way, I learned a very valuable truth. It was much like what Oklahoma born cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist, and social commentator Will Rogers (1879-1935) once said: “If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple: Know what you’re doing. Love what you’re doing. And believe in what you’re doing.” For me, that same principle developed into my personal motto that went like this: To serve God to the fullest, I must understand what I am doing. Know why I am doing it. And love what I am doing.

There are several things that I kept track of to help me go forward and swim against the tide of what was considered ordinary and common. I had to find a way to stay focused instead of always struggling to keep my mind on what I was doing. I tried to learn from what successful people had done instead of just talking about it. If I didn’t enjoy what I had to do, I tried to find a way to make it more enjoyable. I never let myself begin to think of what I was doing as a way of surviving, but of growing and getting stronger. This, in turn, made me excited about what I was doing. I seldom watched the clock, I was more interested in my progress. I threw away the idea of attempting to be a success. Instead, I begin striving to be significant. Instead of using the phrase “that’s a problem,” I started saying, “that’s a challenge.” And finally, I kept my eye on the big picture and how what I was doing now fit into the future plans God had for my life.

In one of his Proverbs, King Solomon noted that the person who is satisfied with what they already know is being foolish, but the person who is always seeking to know more will be delivered from such dull thinking.¹ And the Apostle Paul told his young convert, Timothy, that when God called him to be his messenger, He didn’t fill him with the fear of not being up to the task, but filled him with confidence to do what he was being sent out to do, to love what he had been called to do, and take control of what he needed to do in order to be faithful to is calling.²

The prophet Isaiah certainly was faced with difficulties in the mission he had received from God. But this is what the Lord told him, “Don’t be afraid, I will always be with you; don’t be reluctant, I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will assist you, and I will help you with My own hand to always do the right thing.”³ One of the greatest compliments I ever received from a fellow minister after a sermon he heard me preach was this: “You really seemed to know what you were talking about, and you were convinced that it was right.” My response to him was that I could never feel that way unless I knew the One who sent me, understood why He sent me, and believed in what He inspired me to say. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

The following article was submitted to newspaper columnist Ann Landers by a lady named Kay from California. It involved Pastor Roger William Thomas. I hope it speaks to you in a special way about what it means when your time here on earth is over.

A lady member of the Pastor’s congregation was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She was placed on hospice care and asked her Pastor to come to her home to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, and what scriptures she wanted read, and which outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Then she said, “One more thing… I want to be buried with a fork in my hand.”

The pastor was surprised.

The woman explained, “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably say to everyone, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite time of the meal because I knew something good was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie with ice cream – something delicious.”

“So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, ‘What’s with the fork?’ Then, I want you to tell them, ‘ Keep your fork, because the best is yet to come.’ ”

The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of appreciation as he left the woman’s home. He realized she had a better grasp of heaven than he did, and knew something wonderful was coming. Every time he dropped by for a visit, she reminded him of the “fork.”

Sure enough, at the funeral people kept wondering why she was holding a fork. When he rose to speak, the pastor told them of the conversation he had with the woman before she died. He said he could not stop thinking about the fork either, and knew lady wanted them to have the same question, and she was right. So when he finished his remarks at the church, and again at the interment, he told all those gathered there, “Keep your fork. The best is yet to come.”

The thing that stuck in my mind after reading this story is that having a fork in her hand would have had little meaning had she not been invited to the meals at the church she attended. The dessert only comes after the meal. So it is with our Christian hope for what is to come.

First, we must be called, and then we must be among the chosen. The meals that the Holy Spirit provides for us through the messages we receive are what make us long for the sweet dessert. So if you have that same longing for what’s yet to come it’s probably because you have heartily partaken of what’s already been served. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXX)

Verses 25-27: Dear Brothers, I want you to understand the secret truth that God kept hidden but has now revealed. This truth will help you understand that you don’t know everything. The truth is, that Israel will continue to be stubborn until the time for reaching non-Jewish people comes to an end; and that is how all Israel will be saved. The Scriptures say: “The Savior will come from Zion; He will take away all evil from the family of Jacob. And I will make this agreement with those people when I take away their sins.”¹

Here we find some of Paul’s doctrine of prophesy with regard to the salvation of his own people, the Jews. He stipulates that only after the time of the Gentiles is finished will this happen. This coincides with Peter’s statement concerning the end of the Gentile dispensation upon which our Lord will return to gather the church.² So it is permissible to believe that in the period immediately following the rapture, which the book of Revelation declares will start the tribulation, the Jews will then turn to Jesus and finally believe in Him as the Messiah.³

Although this may be clouded in mystery for some, Paul wants the believers in Rome to know that God’s rejection of Israel in favor of the Gentiles has a positive purpose. However, he also knew that what the Psalmist said in his day, had every reason to be true in Paul’s day: “When those who live in obedience see this, they will rejoice; while those who live in disobedience will be reduced to silence. So, let those who are wise make note of these things and contemplate the lovingkindness of the Lord.”⁴ And the prophet Hosea echoes these words coming from the LORD: “It is I who answer and take care of you. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit comes from Me. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things and know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and those who are right and good will follow them, but sinners will not follow them.”⁵

We might say that Paul was calling for the same thing that Solomon announced: “Trust in Adonai with all your heart; do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him; then He will level your paths. Don’t be conceited about your own wisdom; but fear Adonai, and turn from evil. This will bring health to your body and give strength to your bones.”⁶ But alas, Paul had to confess to the Corinthians that the Jews, from the time of Moses, did not want to see the light that God’s Word brings: “Their minds were not able to understand. Even to this day when the Law is read, there is a covering over their minds. They do not see that Christ is the only One who can take the covering away.”⁷ And, unfortunately, it will remain that way until God is finished with calling and saving the Gentiles who believe.

As a Jew, Paul knew he was not advocating something new when it came to the break in the salvation plan for the Jews and the insertion of the Gentiles for a period of time. This was already hinted by Isaiah’s prophecy: “On that day Adonai will raise His hand again, a second time, to reclaim the remnant of His people who remain… He will hoist a banner for the Goyim [Gentiles], assemble the dispersed of Isra’el, and gather the scattered of Y’hudah from the four corners of the earth. ”⁸ Later on, Isaiah gave the children of Israel the assurance that all was not lost: “‘A wife married in her youth cannot be rejected,’ says your God. ‘Briefly I abandoned you, but with great compassion, I am taking you back.’”⁹

One Jewish writer notes that the Greek word for “blindness” here is porosis, reflecting “hardness” (of their hearts). Also, the term “fullness of the Gentiles,” is a specific Hebrew idiom that goes back to Jacob’s blessing over Joseph’s children. At this event, Jacob deliberately switches what would be their normal order of blessing. He gives the younger son, Ephraim, the “higher” blessing of the older son. In Genesis 48:19, Jacob prophecies that Ephraim’s descendants would be among the nations. The term he uses is m’loh ha goyim, or “fullness of the Gentiles.” It would thus seem that Paul is referring to the return of the exiled ten tribes in the Millennium, when all Israel will “look upon Him who they pierced,”¹⁰ and their blindness will end. This would support what he said here in verse 15 regarding “life from the dead.”¹¹

But to Jeremiah, the Lord made it clear that the reason He left for a brief season was because of Israel’s unfaithfulness. We read: “‘You prostituted yourself to many lovers, yet you want to return to me?’ says Adonai.”¹² So even though they may be estranged, God knows that the Jews want to get back into a close, personal relationship with Him. Later, we find even more compassionate words from the Lord: “‘The days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will make a New Way of Worship for the Jews and those of the family of Judah. The New Way of Worship will not be like the Old Way of Worship I gave to their early fathers. That was when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. But they did not follow the Old Way of Worship, even when I was a husband to them,’ says the Lord. ‘This is the New Way of Worship that I will give to the Jews. When that day comes,’ says the Lord, ‘I will put My Law into their minds. And I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.’”¹³

It was unfortunate that when the Lord did reach out to them by sending His Son, they rejected Him. But for Paul, the promise of an ultimate reconciliation was still part of God’s eternal plan. That’s because God’s message was intended to show them the truth: “I will raise up one Shepherd to be in charge of them, and He will let them feed – my servant David. He will pasture them and be their shepherd.”¹⁴ And now that Jesus of Nazareth has been identified as that Shepherd, it was incumbent upon Paul to get them the message so that they could not say no one told them.

God goes on to tell Ezekiel His plan to bring Jews back from all over the world so they could be a nation again.¹⁵ And we know that on May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was founded again on the same land that was given to Abraham. And as if by God’s plan, the name of the head of the Jewish Agency who proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel was named David, who also became their first Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the new State of Israel.¹⁶ Prophesy experts tell us that the final gathering of the Jews will take place after the Gentile dispensation is over and will occur subsequent to the Rapture of the church.

The prophet Hosea also speaks of this day when the sons of Israel will return and look for the Lord their God and for David their king. And they will come trembling before the Lord in the last days and be received graciously by the Lord.¹⁷ And the prophet Micah had some encouraging words: “Is there any other God like You, one who forgives sin and the wrong-doing of Your chosen people who are left? He does not stay angry forever because He is happy to show loving-kindness. He will again have loving-pity on us. He will crush our sins underfoot. Yes, You will throw all our sins into the deep sea. You will be true to Jacob and show loving-kindness to Abraham, as You promised our fathers in days long ago.”¹⁸ And Zechariah is given this prophecy: “I will give strength to the family of Judah. I will save the family of Joseph, and I will bring them back, because I have loving-pity on them. They will be as if I had not turned away from them. For I am the Lord their God, and I will answer their prayers.”¹⁹

And all of this will happen, says Paul, because Isaiah prophesied that God’s anointed Deliverer will come out of Zion to be their Savior.²⁰ This appears to be the answer to David’s prayer who prayed: “How I wish Isra’el’s salvation would come out of Tziyon! When Adonai restores His people’s fortunes, Ya‘akov will rejoice, Isra’el will be glad!”²¹ When in Zechariah God said he would answer their prayer, we find such a prayer in the Psalms: “Save us, Adonai our God! Gather us from among the nations, so that we can thank your Holy Name and glory in praising you.”²²

No doubt Paul felt heartsick when so many Jews rejected his message of salvation, the message that the angel gave to Joseph: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She is to become a mother by the Holy Spirit. A Son will be born to her. You will give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from the punishment of their sins.”²³ It was the same message that Peter preached in the Temple after the Jews had coerced the Romans to crucify Jesus but God raised Him from the dead: “God has raised up His Son Jesus and has sent Him to you first to give God’s favor to each of you who will turn away from his sinful ways.”²⁴ And to one of his own disciples, Paul passed on this same message: “We are to be looking for the great hope and the coming of our great God and the One who saves, Christ Jesus. He gave Himself for us. He did this by buying us with His blood and making us free from all sin. He gave Himself so His people could be sanctified and eager to do good.”²⁵

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXIX)

H. A. Ironside tells a personal story connected to one critic’s assessment of Paul’s illustration about a wild olive branch being grafted into a cultured olive tree. He talks about reading an article by a well-known “higher critic,” some years ago. In this article, the critic was ridiculing the idea of the Apostle Paul’s inspiration because of his apparent ignorance of one of the first principles of horticulture. The critic seemed amused that Paul was so ignorant of the art of grafting that he actually suggested that one could graft wild branches into a good tree and have them bear fruit. Evidently, Paul was not aware of the fact that it is customary to graft good branches into a wild tree.

Ironside counters by noting that it is clear that the Reverend critic had never carefully read the Apostle’s own words, as given in the next verse, or he would not have been caught in such a trap. Paul clearly indicates that his illustration is one which he knew very well to be opposed to that which was ordinarily done by orchard keepers. Paul is clear that if you were to cut off a branch from a wild olive tree and attempt to graft it into a good olive tree, it wouldn’t work. Paul used this to show how natural it would be for God to have taken natural branches – the Jews, of the good olive tree which had fallen off and graft them back into their own natural olive tree¹.² In other words, the Jews needed to see how God did the impossible by assimilating the Gentiles into the covenant with Abraham. This should show them how earnestly God wanted them to join in by their accepting Jesus as the Messiah.

Charles Hodge put this whole concept into easy terms to understand. For him, according to the Scriptures, there is no difference, so far as their relation to God is concerned, between the different races of mankind since all came from Adam and all have sinned. They, therefore, are all unfit for the kingdom of God and are alike in that they are unable to save themselves. But on the other hand, they are all covered in God’s plan of salvation as presented in the Gospel. It was designed to meet the spiritual needs of all classes of people.

So the words used by Paul was to preserve the figure of a good tree and its branches. He was trying to get the Jews of his day to understand that restoration of the Jews back into fellowship with God was a more probable event than the introduction of the Gentiles into the family of God. Didn’t the Jews realize that God already regarded them as His children? Weren’t they aware that in their relationship with Him they were more favored because they were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Certainly, they knew that just as He loved their forefathers, He loved them the same. Therefore, the restoration of His people to the blessings of the family of God had always been a more possible and plausible event than the seemingly impossible idea of the Gentiles being chosen to take their place.³

So what went wrong? Why did God have to go pick branches off of non-fruit producing wild olive trees and graft them into the family of God tree? It was a miracle that only God had the power to perform. It was not something God secretly decided to do after they rejected His Son, so He deliberately went out of His way to mistreat the Jews so they would turn against Him, thereby, giving Him the opportunity to break the contract with Abraham and start all over with the Gentiles. Just the opposite. He sent His Son, His only Son to them first because He had promised Him to them from the very beginning.

When His Son paid the price for their redemption and calling, God arranged for the reinvigorated spiritual family of Abraham to be the first among those chosen. But what did they do? They rejected and killed His Son, then they went out of their way to persecute and martyr the first members of the Body of Christ which were fellow Jews. So what option did they leave for God to do in order to make sure that the death and resurrection of His Son were not wasted? Therefore, God had to reach out to the wild olive tree of Gentiles and get some branches from them because the natural Jewish branches had fallen off and were deteriorating and decaying on the ground.

Based on all that we’ve read so far, John Stott says that in this we can see a “chain of blessings.” It comes in the form of the allegory of an olive tree, where the rejection of the Jews (cultivated branches) were broken off, and the Gentiles (uncultivated branches) were grafted in. This was to ensure the Jews that if God could take wild branches and make them fruitful, why can He not take the natural branches and graft them back in again. What the allegory does not permit is any suggestion that through Israel’s restoration the Gentiles will be more richly blessed. The warning and the promise are paramount, however. First the warning: since the natural branches were broken off, the wild ones could be too. The Gentiles could be rejected like the Jews. There is no room for complacency. Secondly, the promise: since the wild branches were grafted in, the natural ones could be too. The Jews could be accepted like the Gentiles. So there is no reason for despair.⁴

Jewish scholar David Stern questions how some Christian groups reject what Paul is saying here about the olive tree analogy because it raises a critical theological question, “Who are the real people of God?” If you were to ask any orthodox or reformed Jew the same question, they would answer this way: “The Jews.” But if you offered the same question to any reformed or evangelical Christian, they would not doubt exclaim: “The Church.” But from the example of the olive tree, we learn that there are actually three distinct groups present who are all, in some sense, part of God’s people.

Stern goes on to say that this is something that no proper theology can ignore. First, there are the Messianic Jews (converted Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah), who are the natural branches that are part of the cultivated olive tree. Then there are the Gentile Christians, the wild olive branches which have been grafted into the cultivated olive tree. And finally, there are the Non-Messianic Jews (Jews who do not accept Jesus as the Messiah and still practice their religion as it has been for thousands of years). They are the natural branches which have fallen off the cultivated olive tree but can easily be grafted back in again. This is what Stern calls “olive tree theology,” and must be understood as including all three groups and all three kinds of “branches,” in defining and describing the past, present, and future of God’s people.

Stern continues with the examination of some modern interpretations. He notes that theologians, like other people, want a simple life. The most widespread Christian oversimplification is found in some forms of Covenant theology,⁵ which is more correctly called Replacement theology.⁶ This erroneous theology says that the Jews used to be God’s chosen people; but when they spurned Jesus, God spurned them and chose a new people, the Church, to replace them – so that now the Church receives all of God’s promises and blessings, while the Jews get only the curses. Were this thinly disguised antisemitism true, Paul would have to picture a cultivated olive tree with its root, trunk and branches all dead, and the wild olive branches living by themselves, grafted into nothing alive.⁷

In one article written on the question of whether the church has replaced Israel, we are told that if you have ever seen the Broadway show or film, “Fiddler on the Roof,” you might remember a character named Tevye saying to God, “I know, I know. We are the chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?” This line expresses a general frustration that at least some Jews feel regarding the challenges, trials, and tribulations that seem to go along with being God’s chosen people – everything from misunderstandings to dispersions and even persecution. Today, the Jewish people and the role of Israel itself are often misunderstood, even in the evangelical church. While some scholars say the church has replaced Israel, others say that God will continue to have a place for Israel in His program.⁸

And in another article on the subject we are asked if God has a separate purpose and redemptive program for Israel and the church? Or, does the Gospel of Jesus Christ fulfill God’s purpose to gather a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, Jews and Gentiles alike, into one worldwide family? When the Apostle Paul declares in the first chapter of Romans that the Gospel is the “power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile,”⁹ he declares that there is one way of salvation for all who believe in Jesus Christ. Yet he simultaneously affirms that this salvation does not displace or supersede God’s redemptive purpose for the Jews, but, rather, fulfills it. The ongoing debate about Israel and the church needs to maintain the Apostle’s balance, neither separating Israel and the church nor displacing Israel with the church.¹⁰

Also, in a debate on whether the Church has replaced Israel, Dr. Michael Brown, and Gary DeMar share their theories. The topic of their debate is simply a springboard for discussion of the dispute between two general modern positions: one which sees important First Covenant promises as pertaining specifically and only to ethnic Israelites, and another in which those promises are to all believers – the Church.¹¹

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXVIII)

On the subject of the restoration of the Jews, Karl Barth adds that the hope of the Body of Christ should not be extinguished or destroyed. The One who scattered Israel will gather them again.¹ Rejection and election are of God. Both are wonderful, mysterious, and incomprehensible. In fact, there is nothing more wonderful, more mysterious, and more incomprehensible than the election of those who sought God, than the election of those who never sought Him. They indeed have good reason to set their hope on grace alone, to hope with the Body of Christ for it.² In other words, the same hope that believers have that Christ will return to gather them to Himself for eternity, is the same hope that Jews can have that before He returns to set up His kingdom He will restore them to their rightful place.

Jewish scholar David Stern has something to say from his perspective. Wouldn’t it be much easier to bring an understanding of spiritual truth to those who belong to God as His people and with whom He has been dealing with for thousands of years than to those who did not? The analogy does not apply to every single Jew over against every single Gentile – especially today, when some Jews are raised without any Jewish identification, while many Gentiles, particularly those raised in Christian homes, have been exposed to spiritual truth as much as or more than many Jews.

But, putting modern exceptions aside, it ought to be easier for a Jew to believe in Yeshua as the Messiah than for a Gentile – this certainly was true when Paul wrote this letter, since “Messiah” is a concept which is part of Jewish culture, whereas Gentiles had to be introduced to an idea alien to their idolatrous upbringing.³ Furthermore, a Jew, as a member of the Jewish people, has the advantages enumerated in Romans 9:4–5. This is why a current “Jews for Jesus” slogan says, in a lighthearted vein, ”You don’t have to be Jewish to believe in Jesus — but it helps!”⁴

Verse 24: For if it is not natural for wild olive branches to become part of cultivated olive trees, how much more will the natural branches be grafted back into their own tree again?

What Paul is talking about here was a well-known subject among Jewish scholars. For instance, it was taught by Jewish teachers that they were not to graft the branch of a palm tree onto an olive tree because this constitutes introducing one species into a different species and creating a mixed species. However, Rabbi Yudan wondered if this did not conflict with what was taught by Rabbi Levi in his illustration from Psalm 128:3. There it says: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the inner parts of your house. Your children around the table will be like shoots from an olive tree.”

In other words, a man takes a wife from another family tree and by marriage, she is grafted into his family tree. Then their children will come forth like branches bearing characteristics from both family trees. So by saying that branches from olive trees should not be grafted into other trees would be the same as not wanting your children to be different from other children if you marry outside the immediate family. In that case, they wouldn’t be unique to you.⁵ So we see that for the Jews to be told that Gentiles like the branch from a palm tree would be grafted into Israel, the olive tree, it would cause them great consternation. But it wasn’t to discourage them only to motivate them. That is why whether the branch comes from the Jewish tree or the Gentile tree, they will all be a new breed of trees called Christians.

This idea of Israel being an olive tree was spoken of many times in Jewish documents. For instance, we read in their Talmud that a voice spoke from heaven one day and said that the name the Lord gave to Israel was that of a healthy olive tree, abundant with good fruit, and just as the olive tree produces its best fruit the longer it lives,⁶ so Israel will flourish at the end of time.⁷ And further on we read where Rabbi Joshua ben Levi asked, “Why is Israel compared to an olive tree?” That’s because just as the olive tree does not lose its leaves either in summer or in winter, so Israel will never be unrecognizable either in this world or in the world to come.⁸ Then Rabbi Johanan asked the same question: “Why is Israel compared to an olive tree?” That’s because just as the olive produces its oil only after pounding, so Israel will return to the right way only after suffering.⁹

Several church scholars weigh in on their understanding of this verse. When speaking about what faith can accomplish, Chrysostom believes that if faith could do what was contrary to nature, how much more will it be able to accomplish that which is according to nature. Therefore, if Gentiles, who were cut off from their natural family tree, and came, contrary to nature, to be grafted into Abraham’s spiritual tree, how much more will God be able to reattach the original branches which fell off!¹⁰

Then Pelagius points out how this grafting was unnatural. The forefathers of the Gentiles had ceased to follow the laws of nature because they stopped learning and teaching these laws to their children. So when their sinful traits became a natural part of the human race, they ceased to be of any value as inhabitants of the earth. In other words, as Adam was the father of a perfect olive tree, once he sinned he passed on the virus of evil to his children who passed it on to their children. In a sense, they became wild olive trees who do not bear any fruit. So they existed for no reason other than to steal the natural nutrients from the ground which perpetuated their useless existence.

So why take a branch from such a wild olive tree and graft it into a cultivated olive tree? Wouldn’t the wild branch alter the effectiveness of the root of the cultivated tree to produce good fruit? No! The root is not inhibited from producing fruit on the grafted branches to conform to its character but conform the branch and its fruit to the character of the root.¹¹ It appears that Pelagius may have had some experience with grafting. What he is really saying here is that there is such a thing as “root grafting,” which in a way changes the root. But the grafting of a different species into a root will not prevent that grafted bud from producing its fruit with traits it did not have before which makes it better in quality.

Reformer Martin Luther recognizes that Paul is aware that you cannot graft a wild olive branch into a cultivated olive tree and get good results, so what is happening here is that the seed that took root and sprouted into the cultivated Jewish olive tree was unable to produce the fruit God was looking for on its current branches. So God took branches from the Gentile wild olive tree and grafted them in. So how did it happen that the fruit then produced was what God was wanting? Because the bad fruit produced by the Jewish Olive tree resulted from the corrupt human factor which infected the original branches, while the good fruit produced by the grafted branches in the same tree resulted from the sanctified spiritual factor involved. Luther concludes that the Gentile wild olive branch became a fruitful branch, not by nature, nor by their natural righteousness, or virtue, but by the divine grace that flowed through them from the root of the Abrahamic olive tree whose spiritual branch is the Promised Son, Jesus.¹²

For Adam Clarke, Paul wants the Romans to concentrate more on the result more than the effort in the grafting of the wild olive branch into the cultivated olive tree. It is contrary to all horticultural custom for a gardener to take a branch from a tree that bears no fruit and graft it into a healthy, fruit-yielding tree. But here we have the Gentiles, a fruitless race, in the sense of God’s righteousness, who were grafted into the ancient patriarchal stock of Abraham. Now, if it was possible to effect such a drastic change in the attitude and disposition of the Gentiles, who were without the Yahweh as their God,¹³ how much more possible would it be, using common human logic, to bring about a similar change in the Jews, who already acknowledge the One and Only True God, and who accepted the Law and the prophets as an accurate revelation of Him and from Him.¹⁴

Albert Barnes shares his understanding of the grafting phenomenon. It begins by acknowledging that the Gentiles had no inclination or tendency toward Yahweh. This does not mean that they were physically depraved, or that their disposition was literally like the wild olive. But it is used, for the sake of illustration, to show that their moral character and habits as enemies of Yahweh were unlike those of the friends of God. This should give light and understanding to Christians today on how it is possible for a sinner who has no relationship with God to be grafted into the Holy Body of Christ and began immediately to display the characteristics of Christ in their words, deeds, and identity. The sinful source that fed their hearts and minds and bodies has been radically changed. Now they are being nurtured by a spiritual source based on God’s Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The meaning of this whole verse may be understood this way: If Yahweh had mercy on the Gentiles, who were outcasts from His favor, would He not much rather have mercy on those who were so long His people? The people to whom had been given the promises, and the covenants, and the Law, whose many ancestors had been His friends, and from whom the Messiah was born? In some respects, it certainly would be easier to talk with the Jews than the Gentiles. They worshiped one God; they admit that His promises are the authority upon which their revelation of Him; they have the Scriptures of the First Covenant; they expected a Messiah; and they have a habit of professed reverence for the will of God. The Gentiles, however, were like nomads living in the desert who were totally unaware that there was such a God. In fact, they had already created all the gods they would ever need.¹⁵

This is what puzzled Paul who himself had been in that state. But when he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus and saw the light of His glory, it changed him drastically. So why can’t his fellow Jews be affected by that same light that was now brought to them in the Gospel of Christ? This is the same dilemma that Christian parents often experience with their children who after leaving home become engrossed in worldly living. If anything, it is to show that such decisions are not based on our human will but on the sovereign will of God.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXVII) – 05/29/18

Verse 23: Now, if the Jews stop doubting, they will be grafted back into the good olive tree because God is able to restore them to their rightful place.

Paul did not want to leave his fellow Jews forsaken without having any hope. After all, if God would be willing to graft in the believing Gentile branches of the wild olive trees, how much more would He be willing to graft back in the believing branches of the Jews. After all, did not God tell Zechariah that when the right time came He would pour out His spirit of grace on those who saw the One who was pierced so they would be overcome with guilt?¹ And this guilt would not cause them to turn away from God but turn toward Him and asking forgiveness. Even though His crucifixion took place a long time ago, in Paul’s mind turning away from Christ after the truth is revealed was the same as crucifying Him all over again in their hearts.²

On this subject, early church scholar Pelagius warns that if any believers go back on their commitment to Christ, they too will experience God’s severity even as the Jews will one day receive kindness.³ Humanly speaking, it is impossible to restore branches that have been cut off and already withered, but with God all things are possible⁴.⁵ It cannot be clearer: believers who become lackadaisical and unproductive are in danger of withering and dropping off the vine. This is substantiated both by what happened to the children of Israel who turned away from a saving God to a gold covered calf and were denied entering the Promised Land, and what Jesus warned of when He spoke of being the true vine and those who believe in Him being branches. He stated clearly: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one abiding in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from Me you are able to do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown out like the branch and is dried up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and it is burned.”⁶

John Calvin believes that Paul appreciated the fact that everyone understood that God’s punishment for the unbelief of His people was done so they would not forget His mercy. Many times we see where God brought punishment upon His people before He restored them to His good graces. Now Paul shows how much easier it would be to reverse that process for the Jews in their present state of unbelief in the Messiah. It would be much easier to graft the natural branches back in so they could take their place from which they had been cut off, to draw substance from their own root, than for the wild and the unfruitful branches, from a foreign stock to be grafted in.⁷

In other words, God’s plans for the children of Israel are not finished, they are only on hiatus until the fullness of time comes when they will be permanently restored to their rightful place. Not as Jews or Israelites, but as “Messianic Christians.” Daniel Whitby joins Calvin by saying that God would not have promised such restoration if He did not have the power and will to make it happen.⁸

John Bengel then asks, how will the Jews be converted, who for so many ages have eagerly withdrawn themselves from the faith, distorted the First Covenant revelations from the true Messiah, and caused some of their fellow Jews to recant their faith in Christ Jesus? Bengel believes it will be done as Paul says, when God demonstrates the glory of His power which no Jew can resist.⁹ It will be seen as a miracle, because it will not involve a small number of Jews, but a great number, equal to the time when they as a nation were known as God’s people.¹⁰ All Paul has to do now is offer evidence for what he is proposing.

Adam Clarke expresses hope that God will follow through with His desire to bring the children of Israel back into His loving arms. The way Clarke expressed it, as fallen and as far away from being what God wants them to be, in His time and by His good will and mercy He will restore all their forfeited privileges back to them. And this will surely happen if they no longer live in unbelief. This would imply that God will have furnished them with all the power and means necessary for faith and that they may believe on the Lord Jesus. Even though a veil continues to blind them, it is not a veil which God has placed over their eyes, but a veil brought on by their own voluntary and obstinate unbelief. Once they turn to the Lord Jesus, He will remove that veil for them to see that He is truly their Messiah.¹¹ But this will not be done by force or against someone’s will. It will be offered as a gift in the last days just as it was when Jesus came the first time. It will still require that whosoever believes in Him will be saved.

Robert Haldane comments on Paul’s insistence that if any Jews turn toward the Messiah and accept Him, they too will be grafted back into the true olive tree. That’s why the Apostle has from the beginning of the 17th verse, pressed upon the believing Gentiles the necessity of humility. But now he goes back to the subject of the future conversion of the Jews. In order to furnish a new proof of this great event, he introduces a fourth argument taken from the restoration power of God. According to the figure which the Apostle Paul had employed respecting the casting off and the restoration of that part of the Jewish nation that was blinded, comparing them to branches broken off, there might seem to be no probability that they could be restored.

When branches are pruned from a tree, they wither and cannot be replaced. But through the restoration power of God, what is not done in nature, and cannot be effected by the power of mankind, will be done by God, with whom all things are possible. He is able to make the dry bones live,¹² and to restore the severed branches of the Jewish nation. Some argue that, because the grafting of the Jews into the good olive tree spoken of here is conditional, it is not a declaration. But the Apostle’s design is evidently, even in this verse, to excite hopes by showing its possibility. There is nothing else keeping them away from such a miracle but unbelief. If that sin were to be subdued, they would be received. God is able to graft them back in if they believe, and He is able also to give them faith.¹³

Albert Barnes echoes the same theme. He points out that the only condition that needs to be met on the part of the Jews for this restoration to happen is to stop doubting that Jesus was the Messiah. Once they are willing to take that step of faith then there is nothing preventing God from restoring them to their rightful place. Clarke says that Paul was able to forecast such a miracle because God alone has the power to restore them, to bring them back and reinstitute them to His favor. Also, God has not sworn that He will never accept them because they are forever excluded from His favor. In this way the Apostle reaches his goal which was to show them that God is not through with them as His people. That God has this power, and in the next verse Paul will explain why this is possible and even probable.¹⁴

Henry Alford believes there are two ways to understand what Paul says here about the return of the Jews to the holy olive tree by way of grafting. First, that God’s power to graft them in again has always been the same, but has waited for their change of mind to act. Secondly, that the Apostle uses the term “grafting” with the hidden meaning that it refers to the removal of their unbelief and the awakening of faith. Bengel believes that this second understanding is preferable because Paul is looking at this from God’s point of view in that He would not use His power to restore if their unbelief had not been removed.¹⁵ This certainly gives us something to think about because if God reinstated the Jews into His Kingdom with no change of heart, it would accomplish little in assuring them of their salvation and everlasting life.

Charles Hodge believes that this same concept can be applied both ways. The principle which the Apostle uses is applicable to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Neither one nor the other, simply because Jew or Gentile, is either retained in the church or excluded from it. As the one continues in this relationship with God on condition of belief in Christ, the other is estranged from God because of unbelief in Christ. Nothing but unbelief prevents the Jews from being brought back. That is, not only does God have the power to accomplish this result, but anything that might keep it from happening is not due to Him, but solely to the Jews. There is no impossible promise in the Divine mind, nor any insurmountable obstacle in the circumstances of the case which forbids their restoration. On the contrary, the event is, in itself, considered far more probable than the calling of the Gentiles was.¹⁶ It is noteworthy that Paul does not spend any time guaranteeing the Gentiles that they to would be restored if they fell away in unbelief. Instead, they were encouraged to hold on until the end.

Frédéric Godet sees another principle in what Paul is saying here. God’s being strict with the Jews was also a warning to the Gentiles. At the same time, God’s goodness displayed to the Gentiles as a pledge could also be taken as a sign of mercy to the Jews. However, they must give up persisting in their unbelief. When they observe their persistent doubting contrasted with the non-persistence faith of the Gentiles, they can see that on this one condition the power of God will restore them to their place in His kingdom. It will graft them into Christ, who will become their life-giving stem, as well as to the Gentiles. And this transplantation can be done more effectively and easily in their case than it was in the case of the Gentiles.¹⁷

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXVI)

Adam Clarke notes that the Apostle Paul, having adopted this metaphor of the root and branches as best he could to express God’s act of justice and mercy by which the Jews were rejected, and the Gentiles elected in their stead, was meant to show that although some Jewish branches were cut off, yet the tree was not uprooted. He informs the Gentile believers that it is customary for a good family tree to list some good children in order to strengthen their genealogy. But in the case of the Gentiles, the opposite happened. They were already part of a wild family tree whose branches were drafted into a good tree. So it was the Gentiles who benefited, not the Jews. The Gentiles got to enjoy the fruitfulness, excellence, and vitality of life that was part of the good tree’s root and stock. This was an act of mercy and goodness on the part of the divine gardener. So they have nothing to brag about what they did on their own.¹

Robert Haldane sums up his commentary on why the Gentiles should be appreciative of how God dealt with the Jews as He arranged their salvation. The Apostle Paul enforces his warning to the Gentile believers by four concluding arguments: First, he calls on them to behold the severity of God’s strict justice in cutting off and casting out the unbelieving Jews. Secondly, to consider His goodness in conferring unmerited favor on the Gentiles who had attained a level of righteousness they were not even looking for. Thirdly, the necessity of continuing in that goodness, by abiding in the faith of the Gospel. And fourthly, to observe the assurance that if they did not continue abiding in the faith they would themselves be cut off.²

Haldane then goes on to point out that people generally form the character of God in their imagination according to their own preferences. But it is the duty of the Christian to take God’s character as it is revealed by Him in His Word. His goodness must not be misconstrued as evidence that He will not punish the guilty, and the most dreadful punishment of the guilty is consistent with the existence of supreme goodness in His Divine character. However, the fact that God did not demand righteousness by always following a straight line, nor did He insist on His judgment be strictly implemented, can be seen in His treatment of Israel, whom He had so long spared after they had sinned against Him.

Let no one imagine, then, that He will spare them if found guilty, just because they have the name of being His people. Rather let them be aware that the punishment will always be equal to the crime. The evidence that we are the true objects of the goodness of God, as Paul mentions here, is that we continue in it by remaining true in faith to the Gospel. Continuing in goodness is not to be understood as simply keeping our dignity and integrity, but maintaining our confidence and trust in God’s kindness. For by continuing in God’s goodness we proceed in our faith in His ability to keep us as His own and that will take care of our dignity and integrity.³

Albert Barnes focuses on the interpretation of the word “severe” (KJV), “strict” in our text above. He notes that the word “severity” sometimes suggests the idea of harshness, or even of cruelty. But nothing of this kind is conveyed in the Greek noun apotomia. It literally means to “cut off, abruptly come to an end.” Thayer in his Lexicon adds that when used figuratively, it suggests “decisiveness.” It is commonly associated with the work of a gardener or vine-dresser in trimming trees or vines, and cutting off the decayed or useless branches. Here it refers to the act of God in cutting off or rejecting the Jews as useless branches. It conveys no idea of injustice, cruelty, or harshness. It was a just and decisive act, and consistent with all the perfections of God. It indicated a purpose to do what was right, though the discipline might seem to be severe, they are often used to avoid extended suffering.⁴

Charles Hodge has an interesting treatment of what Paul says here to the Messianic believers about continuing in the faith so that they would not be cut off like the unbelieving Jews. For Hodge, the foundation of all such statements is the simple truth that anyone who proposes the end results, also offers the means to accomplish it. In other words, they achieve the proper end by using the proper means. When a rational approach is used in selecting the goal, then the means of reaching that goal must also be secured based on rational considerations.

Guesswork has no place in this process. The mind must be clear and determined in order to make the process effective. That’s why there was no covenant made by God with the Gentiles that promised their salvation despite their unbelief. By the same token, there was no such promise by God to protect the Jews from the consequences of their unbelief. Anything freely given by God to the Gentiles or the Jews required that such favors would only continue based on the conduct of each successive generation. Paul, therefore, says to the Gentiles that they must continue in the divine favor, otherwise they also will be cut off.⁵

Charles Spurgeon makes this point about the future of the Jews. He believes that the Jews will never ceased to be a nation, although they have been scattered and delivered over into the hand of their adversaries because of their sins. They may enjoy various rights and privileges in the different countries where they settle for a while, but they cannot be absorbed into the nationalities by which they are surrounded. They must always be a separate and distinct people; and the day will still come when the branches of the olive tree, which have been so long cut off, will be grafted back in again. Then they will, as a nation, again behold the Messiah, the true and only King of the Jews, and their fullness will be the fullness of the Gentiles also.⁶

Frédéric Godet offers his analysis of what Paul says here. The readers of the letter in Rome have contemplated two examples of God’s dealings with the Gentiles and the Jews. One of kindness, the other of strictness. The first, directed toward the Gentiles; the second, toward the Jews. These are two lessons that the Apostle Paul did not want the believers in Rome to forget. In contrast to “kindness,” the Apostle Paul uses the forcible term “strictness.” This suggests an attitude in which there is no compromise or bending of the will. In describing these two modes God used in carrying out His will, Paul begins with kindness and strictness. But then, he switches by pointing out that God’s strictness came in the form of removing some Jewish branches from the Olive Tree of Israel. Then he connects God’s kindness to the grafted Gentile branches with the provision that they continue trusting in Him.

Godet also notes that God’s continuing kindness was made effective by His Grace from the start. It was made available to those with humble faith. Unhappy is the believer for whom Grace is no longer useful after they have served and trusted in God for a month or a year. They don’t appreciate it the same way they did to begin with. Paul warned the Gentiles that when believers begin to feel self-confident in their ability to maintain their salvation by good works and charitable giving and a positive attitude, it paralyzes the function and effectiveness of Grace. There is nothing more for them to expect by staying in this condition than to be cut off from the stem, just as it happened to the Jews. When that happens, both proud Jew and Gentile branches will end up laying side by side waiting to be used as firewood.⁷

F. F. Bruce makes the case that throughout the New Testament the theme of continuance is the test of reality. He sees the perseverance of the saints as a doctrine firmly grounded in New Testament, especially in the writings and teachings of Paul. But its consequence is that it is the saints who persevere. Since you stand fast only through faith it is a healthy exercise to heed Paul’s injunction to the Corinthian Christians: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith.⁸”⁹

John Stott also sees the traces of antisemitism among some of the Gentile believers in Rome, that was mentioned before by Luther and Calvin. Paul’s admonition to the Gentiles not to boast, together with the arguments with which it was supported, was undoubtedly much needed in Rome. For, although the Jews were tolerated and protected by law from Gentile mistreatment, they still suffered a great deal of popular Gentile ill will and sometimes from outbreaks of violence. Resisting assimilation into Gentile culture, and refusing to abandon or modify their own practices, their “exclusiveness” bred the unpopularity out of which antisemitism was born. The Jew was a figure of amusement, contempt or hatred to the Gentiles among whom they lived.¹⁰ Paul was determined that Gentile believers in Rome would have no share in such antisemitic prejudice.¹¹

Jewish scholar David Stern comments about this continuance in the faith as a guard against being cut off. Some people think that if they have given mental assent to the proposition that Yeshua is the Messiah, they have “eternal security” with God, no matter how they live their lives. This parody of genuine trust is rightly called “cheap grace.”¹² The truth of the matter is that “faith” without actions to match is dead.¹³ In other words, salvation is conditional: provided you maintain yourself in that kindness! Otherwise you too will be cut off! This involves making sure that one’s faith “keeps itself alive through works of love.”¹⁴

German scholar Friedrich Tholuck touches on a thought that can give us some clarity here of what Paul was trying to say. It involves “wholeness” and “holiness.” Let me explain: We know that wholeness is a reference to good health and in this case the believer’s spiritual health. This involves unity and integrity being maintain with the source of one’s salvation. Living the Christian life is not acting. It is reality and relativism. That means being what we are supposed to be in Christ and applying it to our every day life. Holiness is gauged by commitment and discipline. Believers do not live the way they want to live, but the way God wants them to live. It means adopting God’s standards for one’s behavior. Not only in relationship to the world, but in kinship with each other. If the Jews were punished because they failed to live up to God’s expectations for them, then why should Gentiles fool themselves into thinking God will go easier on them?¹⁵

Most people that I know do not recognize the name, David Berlinski. If you happen to know who he is, you certainly are a broad thinker. Dr. Berlinski has a Ph.D., from Princeton University and has taught mathematics and philosophy at universities in the United States and France. He is the bestselling author of such books as A Tour of the Calculus, The Advent of the Algorithm, and Newton’s Gift. A senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle and a former fellow at the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France. Dr. Berlinski writes frequently for Commentary, among other journals. He lives in Paris.

But let Dr. Berlinski introduce himself as he wants the reader to know him. He writes: “I am a secular Jew. My religious education did not take. I can barely remember a word of Hebrew. I cannot pray. I have spent more years than I care to remember in studying mathematics and writing about sciences. Yet the book that follows is in some sense a defense of religious thought and sentiment. Biblical verses are the least of it.”

Dr. Berlinski goes on to say, “A defense is needed because none has been forthcoming. The discussion has been ceded to men who regard religious belief with frivolous contempt. Their books have in recent years poured from every press, and although differing widely in their style, they are identical in their message: Because scientific theories are true, religious beliefs must be false. One such writer conveyed the point by entitling an essay, ‘Science Must Destroy Religion.’ His call to jihad cannot be long delayed.”

Berlinski continues: “No scientific theory touches on the mysteries that the religious tradition addresses. A person asking why their days are short and full of suffering is not disposed to turn to algebraic quantum field theory for the answer. The answers that prominent scientific scholars have offered are remarkable in their shallowness. The hypothesis that we are nothing more than cosmic accidents has been widely accepted by the scientific community.” Many such scientists think that in their articles of scientific faith it declares that individuals with such advanced confidence in their scientific theories have been chosen and equipped by nature to face realities the rest of us cannot bear to contemplate. Says Berlinski, there is not the slightest reason to think this is true.

Berlinski then concludes that science has nothing of value to offer on the great and arching questions of life, death, love, and meaning, what the religious traditions of mankind have said forms a more coherent body of thought than anything they have published. The yearnings of the human soul are not in vain. There is a system of belief adequate to handle the complexity of experience. There is recompense for suffering. A principle beyond selfishness is at work in the cosmos. In the end, all will turn out well.

Through his experience in the underbelly of science Berlinski has discovered that a great many men and women have a dull, hurt, angry sense of being oppressed by the sciences. They are frustrated by endless scientific boasting in the absence of evidence for what they claim to be real. These champions of faith suspect that as an institution, the scientific community holds them in contempt. They feel no little distaste for those speaking in its name. They have every right to feel this way. It is for this very reason that Dr. Berlinski wrote his book.

While recalling listening to Dr. Berlinski share his personal testimony about his recognition that science has no right to tell religion it has no place among intelligent human beings. But let’s make a simple comparison. In all the centuries of scientific experimentation and the formation of various theories they still have not come up with any acceptable explanation of how did we got here; why are we here; and where are we headed? When you humbly offer what the Scriptures have to say, they laugh in derision and ask how could you believe such myths and fables? What they don’t realize is that their myths and fables are a lot less believable.

So the next time you meet a die-hard evolutionist, simply ask the same question no matter what explanation they may give you for their theory. And that question is, “Where did that come from?” In other words, if they answer your question of where did the universe and solar system come from, and they say it resulted in an accidental collision of atoms, neutrons, electrons, and protons. Your question should be, “Where did that come from?” If they say that there was some unseen quantum force in deep space that gave birth to these particles, then ask again, “Where did that come from?” So no matter how many such suppositions and conjectures they may come up with, eventually they will say they don’t know. But much to their surprise, the answer to all of these questions was answered by the Bible thousands of years ago. For in the very first verse it says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” – Dr. Robert R Seyda