Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXXVII)

John Locke points out that God’s actions as stated here by Paul in verse 32, was not due to His putting the Jews out of His kingdom, but it was in response to their putting themselves out of His kingdom. In other words, they were acting like the prodigal son.¹ So God lumped them together will all those who still didn’t believe in His Son as the Savior of the world. This way, He could deal with them as disobedient sinners through His love, grace, and mercy. So now, when they come to Him, it will be through Christ, the Gospel, and the cross, not by way of Abraham and their claim as being part of the original covenant.

Once they are willing to accept God’s unquestionable sovereignty over humanity, then their worship of Him will take on a new meaning. It frustrated Paul to see their continued rebellion against accepting their promised Deliverer and King. Even His miracles were not enough to convince them. So God decided to remove the roadblock in their thinking by appealing to them as sinners and not His sons. Since they had never been born again, this was not a case of backsliding so that they would think they were starting over again. Therefore, the Gospel message that had been designed for the Gentiles was now going to be used for the Jews as well.²

Adam Clarke makes a similar point by saying that this refers to the guilty state of both Jews and Gentiles. They had all broken God‘s law. The Jews were disobedient to the written law; the Gentiles were disobedient to the law written in their hearts. They are all represented here as having been accused of many transgressions. As they stood before God in His courtroom, they were found guilty on all charges; given the death sentence that they rightly deserved and then ordered to be incarcerated in the sinner’s prison of unbelief to await their execution. Once there, they were hoping that God would change His mind and commute their sentence. Then the Good News came! God, in His own compassion, moved by no merit found in either party, caused a general pardon by the Gospel to be proclaimed to all as a result of the sacrifice of His Son on their account. All they had to do was to repent and receive their forgiveness by faith.³

But, says Clarke, the Jews refused to receive this pardon on the terms which God proposed, and, therefore, continue locked up in their unbelief. But as the offers of mercy continues to be made to all indiscriminately, the time will come when the Jews, seeing the vast increase of the Gentiles going into the kingdom of the Messiah, and the glorious privileges which they enjoy will also lay hold of the hope set before them, and thus become united with the Gentiles as one flock under one shepherd and one bishop of all their souls. Clarke feels that this is a fine and well-chosen metaphor under these circumstances to expresses the guilty, helpless, wretched state of both Jews and Gentiles in need of salvation.⁴

Frédéric Godet also touches on the subjects of common salvation and universal salvation. In his mind, the domain of disobedience, within which God has successively detained all sinners, leaves both Jews and Gentiles with only one choice. They can humbly accept salvation from the hand of mercy or refuse it as being unnecessary. There is, therefore, no inference to be drawn from this passage in favor of a final universal salvation for all without exception. Paul teaches only one thing here: that at the close of the history of mankind on this earth there will be a dispensation of grace in which salvation will be extended to the totality of the nations living here below, and that the magnificent result will be that the humiliating periods through which the two halves of mankind, Jews and Gentiles, will have successively come to an end. The Apostle had begun this vast exposition of salvation with the fact of universal condemnation; he closes it with that of universal mercy. What could remain for him to do now but start singing the hymn of adoration and praise to a merciful and loving God?⁵ What we need to notice here is that Godet does not go on to say that God’s universal mercy will lead to universal salvation. That is an individual, not a group, decision.

Charles Ellicott sees Paul’s writing here as a persuasive matter embracing the whole course of human history and summing up the divine philosophy of the whole matter. The goal of God’s plan was that absolutely everything He created was to work in absolute harmony so that it resulted in fulfilling His divine will. We are able to see only a part of God’s ways, and the direction things are going now makes it difficult for anyone to believe that in the end “all things will work together for good,” because the full process by which this will happen is still not clearly seen.⁶ What Ellicott is talking about here is exactly how and when will the Jews as a nation turn to Christ as their Savior. All they can do is speculate based on their understanding of dispensational prophecy.

John Stott also has some interesting things to say along the same lines as Godet. For him, disobedience is likened to a dungeon in which God has incarcerated all human beings so that they have no possibility of escape except as God’s mercy releases them.⁷ This has been the argument of this letter to the Romans. Starting in the first three chapters, Paul demonstrated that all human beings are sinful, guilty and without excuse, and then from chapter 3:21 onward unfolded the way of salvation by grace through faith in Christ. He writes something similar in Galatians. “The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin… We were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge (the Revised Standard Version renders it, “was our custodian”) to lead us to Christ.”⁸ Thus human disobedience is the prison from which divine mercy liberates us.

Stott has a question about the term “all mankind” that Paul uses here. What exactly is he pointing out by saying that all mankind is on-hold because of their disobedience to God, but that all will receive mercy in the end? Some people have taken this verse upon which to build their theory of universal salvation for everyone without any fear of retribution. But this letter to the Romans will not allow this interpretation since in it Paul declares that there is to be a day of God’s wrath.⁹ on which some will experience God’s fierce anger.¹⁰ What, then, is the alternative? It is to note that in both halves of verse 32, regarding those whom God has imprisoned in disobedience and those on whom He will have mercy, Paul does not actually write of “all mankind” as an indication that it will include every single one. Rather, that mankind as a whole has been under the curse of sin and that the offer of salvation will be made to all. However, not everyone will accept God’s offer of salvation to be among the called and chosen, so they who refuse will then suffer the consequences.¹¹

Verses 33-36: O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God!12 How inscrutable are His judgments! How unsearchable are His ways!13 For, ‘Who has comprehended what is in the Lord’s mind? Who has been His counselor?’14 Or, ‘Who has given Him anything and made Him pay it back?’15 For from Him and through Him16 and to Him are all things.17

The writings of Paul are rich with what appears to be ancient creeds, declarations of faith, and portions of early hymns. This text could possibly be one of those. If we look at these words as a prose or anthem of faith, drawn from different scriptures, they ring with such certainty that it causes our faith to rise and our hearts to beat so strongly that we want to stand up and cry out, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!”

What Paul says here is something most modern liberal theologians, agnostics, and individuals with little spiritual knowledge who try to serve as interpreters of Scriptures never really fathom. The only place in the Bible where I find that God came to man for assistance was when He asked Adam to name the animals,¹⁸ and that was before sin took over. If we mortals, with finite minds, can fully conceive and predetermine events as our immortal, infinite God did, then He isn’t God after all! At most, we can only scratch the surface of one infinitesimal speck of knowledge He has graciously given for brilliant minds to conquer. When a person rises in their conceit in an effort to explain just why or how or what God did, the Lord only chuckles at man’s ignorance. But beware lest your vanity and pride go off the rails at the expense of not meeting God’s Son. “Except you be converted and become as a little child you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

When my children were small, they took for granted what I told them about the sun, moon, stars, galaxies, nature and animals, ethics and virtues, etc., as being true. As they grew older and learned more on their own, it was a joy when I would hear one of them say, “You know dad, you were right!” Jesus said that this is the kind of faith we need to have in what He has told us. For sure, when we get to heaven all of us will exclaim to Him, “You know, Father, You were right!”

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXXVI)

Charles Hodge comes to the same understanding, as mentioned above, concerning what was good for the Gentiles is now good for the Jews. The cases of the Gentiles and Jews are very nearly parallel. The Gentiles were a disbelieving people and required mercy from God. Likewise, the unbelief of the Jews will also require that same mercy. As the Gospel came from the Jews to the Gentiles, so it is to return from the Gentiles to the Jews. Paul had before stated how the unbelief of the Israelites was instrumental in promoting the salvation of other nations, and how the conversion of the Gentiles was to be reciprocated to the Jews.¹

Frédéric Godet gives a sweeping view of what has happened over time to bring the world to the place where Paul saw his vision for Jews and Gentiles in the future. The entire course of the religious history of the world has been deeply affected by the calling of Abraham. His descendants were a people especially destined by God to receive His divine revelations, and the other nations were left to discover Him based on what they saw in creation. From that moment on, there begin the hostility between those whom God chose to be His own and those who were left out. But at one point in time the paths of these two groups crossed each other when Jesus came into the world. Those two immense curves which traverse the ages of antiquity in opposite directions, and which, crossing one another at the advent of Christianity, now continue on but in reverse directions. This will all be terminated when they meet again and this time merge with one another to become just one people as God’s chosen children.²

F. F. Bruce gives his synopsis of God’s ultimate purpose for the human race as now revealed by Paul. It is mercy for both Jew and Gentile. The faithful remnant of both the Jews and Gentiles “chosen by grace” has not yet been completed. So at this point in time we are unable to declare who will or will not be saved because election by divine mercy is to be extended to all without distinction.³ There is an unmistakable universalism in Paul’s language here, even if it be a prophetic universalism and not one for the present age. But it must be taken as being representative or many rather than an individual.

Paul has already announced that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”⁴ All have been convicted before the tribunal of God; none, whether Jew or Gentile, can lay any claim to His mercy based on who they are or what they’ve done. If there is to be hope for any, it must depend solely on God’s mercy. But there is still hope because of God’s boundless grace. God’s purpose in allowing both the Jews and Gentiles to learn that their disobedience to His will must be confessed and openly admitted, was so that He might lavish His unmerited kindness on Jews and Gentiles together for the same reason – His tender mercy.⁵

Jewish scholar David Stern focuses on the need for God’s grace and mercy. A key fact about God’s mercy is that it contains within itself a moral imperative that it not be held back from anyone. God Himself does not withhold His mercy; and anyone who has truly received God’s mercy cannot but let themselves be a channel for communicating that same mercy to others. Therefore, the importance of what Paul is telling the Gentiles is this: Everything you have from God – your salvation, your righteousness, your hope – comes from God having shown you His mercy by grafting you into Israel, through your trusting Israel’s Messiah. You have that mercy in your possession, and it is wrong for you to hold it back. Therefore, both because you owe it to the people of Israel to display God’s mercy toward them, and because God’s mercy is in its essence not something that can be hoarded, you are always to be showing Israel the same mercy that God has shown you.⁶

Stern concludes his passionate plea by saying that Paul specifically exhorts Gentiles along these lines in Romans 15:27. Indeed, most of the rest of this letter is devoted to instructions about how to express God’s mercy to others. And the operative word is “now;” which is used twice in this verse. It gives urgency to the exhortation: Gentiles should show mercy now so that unbelieving and disobedient Jews who are headed toward a tragic destiny, may now, through them receive God’s mercy and be headed toward a glorious destiny. Israel’s salvation does not depend on some future event for which Christians must passively wait. All that is needed is for Gentile Christians (and Messianic Jews) to show God’s mercy to the unsaved of Israel. They can and should do it now. Then, “all Israel will be saved.”⁷

Another Jewish writer states that the Gentiles in Rome were benefiting from the “unbelief” of these Jews, yet, as we will see, condemning them because they, the Gentiles, did not see God’s incomprehensible ways.⁸ Both the Jewish disobedience and God’s mercy are in the present tense. Mercy is shown to the Jews through Gentile inclusion in the faith of Israel. The current stumbling of these Jews is, in God’s deep wisdom, a blessing not a curse since it brings salvation to Gentiles and provokes unbelieving Israel to reconcile with the Messiah they rejected.⁹

Verse 32: All people have at one time refused to obey God, so He treats all mankind as being disobedient so that He can show all mankind mercy.

Now Paul pushes his point one step further by making a universal statement: It is through unbelief that all mankind became candidates for God’s love, grace, and mercy. This is something no one will be able to obtain just by claiming to be good. Look at it this way, the only way a man can be saved from drowning is because of the fact he cannot swim or stay afloat. The only way a woman in a house on fire can be saved is because the fire is threatening her life because she cannot escape. The only way a child can be saved from starvation is because they are dying without food because it is unavailable. In other words, you need a threat in order for salvation to be a relevant factor.

This is what Paul tried to point out to the Galatians when he wrote: “The Holy Scriptures say that all individuals are guilty of sin.¹⁰ Then that which was promised might be given to those who put their trust in Christ. It will be because their faith is in Him.”¹¹” That’s why Paul told Timothy: “God wants all people to be saved from the punishment of sin. He wants them to come to know the truth. There is one God. There is one Man standing between God and mankind. That Man is Christ Jesus. He gave His life for all people so they could go free and not be held by the power of sin.”¹² And the reason this is so critical, is what Paul told the Romans earlier: “You get what is coming to you when you sin, and that is death! But God’s free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.”¹³

When it comes to recognizing God’s grace and mercy, Ambrosiaster notes that from earliest times of civilization all nations lived in ungodliness and ignorance because they were without God.¹⁴ This is confirmed by Rabbi Avraham Saba in his writings about what the Jews said concerning the people of that era. He states that normally, even wicked people entertain some worthwhile thoughts on occasions and plan to carry them out, even if they may get sidetracked. But the Torah testifies that the generation living before the flood of Noah did not even entertain worthwhile thoughts at all. The people of that time did not even contemplate the idea of doing what was considered right. He sees that these people do not correspond in any way to the individuals described by David where he said, “Those who live a blameless life by behaving uprightly; those who speak truth from their hearts.¹⁵”¹⁶

As Ambrosiaster sees it, for this very reason the law was revealed by which the worst ones could be picked out and restrained. But by the activity of Satan’s influence sins began to multiply, so that when the commandments were given, mankind was considered even more guilty. Then God, who in the mercy of His goodness always takes care of His human creation, seeing that even without the law sin still existed and that by the law it could not be wiped out, decreed that He would only require faith by which the sins of all mankind might be abolished. Thus although a person had no ground for hope through the law, they were nevertheless saved by the mercy of God. To declare everyone as being disobedient, means that this decree comes as a gift from God at a time when everyone was lost in the fog of unbelief, so that grace might appear to be the freest of all rewards. Therefore, nobody should boast, for the one who is proud of their ignorance is to be pitied.¹⁷

John Calvin makes two points on what Paul says here. First, that no one should rejoice in their salvation at the expense of others. All mankind comes to the cross on the same level of sinfulness and a need for God’s mercy. Paul leaves no doubt that the Jews are equally as guilty as the Gentiles. Both should understand that the avenue to salvation is as open to one as it is to the other. Calvin implies that Paul intends to teach two things here: First, there is nothing in any individual that should cause God to prefer one over the other. Second, apart from the simple favor of God, He is under no obligation when it comes to granting His mercy to whomsoever He pleases.

The main emphasis in understanding the word “mercy” is that God is bound to no one individual or group. Therefore, He saves all freely for they are all equally lost. It is indeed true that this mercy is offered without any discrimination to all, but it must be received as a gift by everyone through faith.¹⁸ But Calvin also warns that no one should interpret what Paul says here as a guarantee that everyone will be saved. John Bengel agrees and says in particular to the Jews, that the restoration Paul speaks of is not universal, but given to the elect who acknowledge their need for salvation and accept God’s offer of pardon and forgiveness.¹⁹

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, zoologist, botanist, and geologist once said: “Our friends show us what we can do, our enemies teach us what we must do.” Goethe went on to say that what friends do with us and for us is a real part of our lives for it strengthens and advances our personality. The assault of our enemies is not part of our life, it is only part of our experience. We can deal with it and learn to protect ourselves against it just as we do against frost, storm, rain, hail, or any other of the external evils which may be expected to happen.¹

There are insightful things we can learn from our friends, especially our closest friends. First, we can learn that quantity is of very little value while quality is everything. One good word of advice from a close friend is worth more than hundreds of words of flattery.

Secondly, we can be ourselves among good friends. This means we don’t have to pretend or put on a happy face when we are really despondent. Others may simply tolerate you, but a good friend will be tender with you. Thirdly, trust is a valuable commodity. In fact, it is priceless among good friends. You can tell it like it is without fear of being devalued. Real friends will never make fun of your hurt feelings because they are there to support you.

Fourthly, good friends need you as much as you need them. By helping others, we are inspired to strengthen ourselves. If people didn’t have problems, we wouldn’t be needed. Being a good friend can help someone you care deeply about to take the mean things they’ve been handed and make something meaningful out of them.

Fifthly, as long as you have true friends you are never alone in this world. Not only are they ready and willing to be with you in time of need, but to walk through the trouble with you to help you figure how to handle it. Sixth, what we learn from good friends make us better. Just as you often carry your good friends to help them progress, they will carry you when you need assistance and motivation. There’s nothing like growing together with good friends.

Seventh, even with good friends there can be disagreements. But instead of each one trying to prove the other wrong, good friends are willing to listen to where they may be wrong. Friendship helps us to be attentive with our words and actions. Accepting our own mistakes may be difficult, but who better to help you recover than a good friend? And eighth, understanding the true value of friendship will make any person thankful and grateful for having good friends. Good friends learn a lot from each other and what is learned will become precious lessons in life.

King Solomon had a quaint way of putting it when he said that just as iron sharpens iron, people sharpen one another.² That’s why friends who stick close to one another fit so well together. Solomon also said that being scolded out in the open is still better than hidden love.³ That means that sometimes good friends have to yank us by the arm to get our attention when they see that we are making fools out of ourselves. And it was the Apostle Peter who advised us that loving one another as good friends do, will help us get over many mistakes that could otherwise take us down.⁴ So if you have any good friends, keep them close to your heart. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

(Next week we’ll see what we can learn from those who are disrespectful to us.)

SLEEPING THROUGH A STORM

The following article was used by a blog writer. We do not know if it is a real story or one told like a parable. Either way, there is something important to learn here. I hope you enjoy it.

A young man applied for a summer job as a farmhand. After asking him about his experience in working on a farm, the farmer then asked, “Is there anything you can do?” The young man looked at him and said, “Yes, I can sleep through any storm.” The farmer laughed… but he liked the young man so he hired him.

A few weeks later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the middle of the night by a violent storm that came ripping through their valley. He and his wife jumped out of bed, grabbed their clothes, and got dressed. The farmer went running to wake up his new hired hand, but the young man was sleeping so soundly he didn’t hear a thing. The farmer didn’t have time to fool with the young fellow, so he and his wife scurried around, checking to see if everything was secure.

That’s when they discovered that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. When they inspected their property, they found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. They saw that bales of hay to feed the animals had been covered with a tarpaulin that was anchored to the ground with large rocks. The tractor had been moved into its garage. The barn was properly locked tight. Even the animals were calm and had plenty of feed. All was well.

The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man’s words, “I can sleep through a storm.”

Because the farmhand did his work correctly and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for any storm. So when the storm did actually come, he was not concerned or afraid. He could sleep in peace.

So what is the moral of this story? Rick, the writer of the blog, made this observation:

If we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business; our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of “I could have, I should have.” We can sleep in a storm. And when it’s our time to go, our goodbyes will be said with satisfaction.

The Bible is very vocal about being prepared for what’s coming. We are told that Noah took God’s warning seriously and out of reverence and respect built the ark years ahead of time that would help save him and his family from the devastating flood.¹ And Jesus told a story about ten young girls who were invited to be in a wedding, and what happened to those who prepared and those who did not.² And then our Lord warned everyone, “Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”³

You start getting ready as soon as you hear that the storm is on its way, not when you see the dark clouds gathering in the sky. Who goes out when the winds are already at 50 mph to prepare their house for a hurricane? Or who begins to move things to the second floor when the water is already lapping at their doorstep? God’s Word contains a checklist of things we can do to be prepared for the persecution that will come in the last days, make sure you have them all checked off so you can sleep through the storm.⁴ The key to it all is found in these words by our Master, “Those who faithfully perform to the end the duties they were given will be saved.”⁵ – Dr. Robert R Seyda.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXXV)

H. A. Ironside lectured on these verses and taught that the Apostle Paul was trying to tell his fellow Jews that although they were hostile to the Gospel, at that time, and even though God took this occasion to extend His grace to the Gentiles, He had not forgotten or forsaken them. According to His divine plan, they are still beloved for their forefathers’ sake. That means God will never take back His gifts and calling of the Jews as His people; the promises He made to the patriarchs and to David will and must be fulfilled.

Study carefully the 89th Psalm in this context. Just as the Gentiles, who in time past had not believed God but have now obtained mercy through the Jews’ unbelief, so in like manner, when the Gentiles prove unbelieving and are set aside, Israel will obtain mercy when they turn back in faith to God. So in the end, whether those saved are Jews or Gentiles, they are saved based on the same principle of God’s love, grace, and mercy.¹

Frédéric Godet summarizes his thoughts on these verses and concludes that Israel found itself in a two-fold relationship with God. On the one hand, they were His enemies. While, on the other hand, were His beloved. But in the end, being God’s beloved will win out over being His enemy. The term “hated,” opposed as it is to “beloved,” can only be taken in the passive sense: an object to be hated by God who is reluctant to pour out His fury on them.² It needs not be said that when the feeling of hatred is applied to God, we must eliminate from it any personal resentment on His part, or of the spirit of revenge. God hates sinners in the same sense in which they ought to hate themselves. That is to say, their own immoral lives. This sentiment is the way holiness hates wickedness.³

Godet goes on to suggest that this irrevocable character of Israel’s destiny has nothing in it contrary to individual liberty; God will hold nothing back in order to get them to where He want’s them to be. God will only allow unbelieving generations to succeed one another as long as it is necessary before a generation will come along whose eyes He will open and lead them safely back to Him. And even then, when the spirit of revival sweeps over a nation, there will still be some allowed to rebel and withdraw because they refuse to take part in it. Therefore, it will be impossible for Israel as a people (“the people whom God foreknew,”)⁴ that this destiny of returning to God could ever be terminated before it is realized because of the divine foreknowledge that arranged it.⁵

Messianic scholar David Stern takes the Jewish point of view on this subject. He does not hear Paul saying that the Patriarchs earned God’s favor by their meritorious actions, neither for themselves nor for their descendants. Rather, he is speaking of the Patriarchs as receivers of God’s gracious promises because of their obedience in faith. God made wonderful promises to them concerning their descendants – the people of Israel; He must keep those promises in order to vindicate His own faithfulness and righteousness,⁶ seeing that God is forever righteous and faithful. God’s free gifts, those promises and indeed all the gifts mentioned in Romans 9:4–5, and His calling the Jews to be a people dedicated to God, a holy nation,⁷ a light to the Gentiles,⁸ are irrevocable.

God cannot, and will not, deny His own eternal nature as a faithful fulfiller of promises. In the light of Chapters 9–11, in general, and these verses, in particular, any Christian theology which teaches that God no longer loves the Jews, or that the Jewish people will not receive all the good things God has promised them, contradicts the express teaching of the Last Covenant.⁹ Furthermore, such teaching necessarily portrays God as unfaithful and unworthy of being trusted by anyone, Jew or Christian.¹⁰

Verses 30-31: At one time you yourselves refused to obey God. But now you have received mercy, because of Israel’s disobedience. And now that they are the ones who refuse to obey because God showed mercy to you they may now receive mercy from Him.

Now Paul tells the Gentiles that the tide has shifted. He clearly proved that because of Israel’s unwillingness to accept Jesus as the Messiah, His grace flowed unrestricted to them. But now that they have become believers, it is the Jew’s turn to receive the same grace and forgiveness. So Paul repeats his message to the Corinthians: “Some of you were like that. But now your sins are washed away. You were set apart for God-like living to do His work. You were made right with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God.”¹¹ So, says Paul, what God did for you Gentiles He certainly should be allowed to do the same for the Jews.

Daniel Whitby sees Paul pointing to the Gentiles and more or less saying: Don’t let what happened to the Jews happen to you. Their unbelief is what caused them to miss the coming of Yeshua the first time. But there will be no second time for the Gentiles. When their period of grace is over, only those who believed and were converted will be saved. However, just like there were Gentiles converted to Judaism under the Law before He came, so there may be Gentiles converted through the ministry of the believing Jews right before Christ returns to set up His kingdom on earth to begin His millennial reign.¹² This same message should be transmitted to the non-Jews who are turning away from the Gospel in unbelief. For some reason, they have come to believe that they will still end up in heaven because God is simply too merciful to send them to hell because of all the good works and charitable giving they have done.

John Bengel responds to the question of how could the Gentiles have refused to obey God before the Law or the Gospel was brought to them. He believes that Paul is referring to those laws and codes that were passed on from Adam to Noah, and Noah to succeeding generations. We know from near-east documents that codes such as those of Hammurabi already existed and practiced during the time that Abraham lived in Chaldea before God called him to go to what would become Israel’s Promised Land. For instance, one such law reads: “If anyone brings an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offence charged, be put to death.” And another: “If anyone is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.” There are some 282 such laws found in the writings of Hammurabi.

Adam Clarke sees Paul’s reference to be part of a maxim that he is trying to teach the Gentiles. It can be understood this way: Although the Gentiles in times past were in a state of alienation from God, they were never totally excluded from getting to know God. In fact, they were brought into the Kingdom of the Messiah through the mercy of God, despite their unbelief. Therefore, as Clarke sees it, the Jews are currently, through their infidelity, shut out of the kingdom of God. But this exclusion will not be everlasting.

It also serves to open a new scene when, through farther displays of mercy to Gentiles, Jews may also obtain mercy by being received into the kingdom of God again. This will take place whenever they consent to acknowledge the Lord Jesus and count it a privilege to be fellow-heirs with the Gentiles of grace and everlasting life. As sure, therefore, as the Jews were once in the kingdom, and the Gentiles were not, so sure is it now that the Gentiles are in the kingdom and the Jews are not. But by the same assurance that brought the Gentiles into the kingdom, the Jews will be brought back into that kingdom.¹³

Robert Haldane writes concerning God’s mercy and how the Gentiles can work with Him in bringing the Jews to the truth. It appears that God abandoned the Jews to their idolatrous unbelief in order that their eventual restoration might serve as an illustration of how His mercy and grace was bestowed on the unworthy idolatrous Gentiles. Had the Jews all received the Gospel at first, both they and the world at large would have been inclined to believe that they did not need the same conversion or the same grace as the Gentiles. This would have confirmed the view which they hold of themselves, that by hereditary descent from Abraham they are entitled to heaven and the privileges of Messiah’s kingdom.

But since they have crucified the Son of God, and continued in the most blasphemous rebellion against Him for so many hundreds of years, their conversion will display the same mercy that called the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness and were not seeking God. If the unbelief of the Jews was the occasion of showing mercy to the Gentiles, so the mercy shown to the Gentiles shall be the occasion of showing mercy to the Jews. The same mercy that saved the heathens who believed without any mixture of merit, will save the Jews. And by the same token, the mercy shown to the Gentiles is a sign that the Jews will also obtain mercy.¹⁴

Some may wonder why God allowed the Gentiles to exist for so long without knowing Him more intimately and understanding His Laws better, and why He allowed Israel to drift so far away from the truth given to them that they rejected His Son who came to be their Messiah. Albert Barnes tells us that it was all done to highlight God’s mercy. As Barnes sees it, mercy is favor shown to the undeserving. It could not have been shown to the Jews and the Gentiles unless it was before proved that they were unworthy. For this purpose proof was furnished that they were all in unbelief.

It was clear, therefore, that if favor was shown to either one it must be on the same grounds that it was undeserved mercy. Thus, all people were on the same level. And those who were admitted to heaven were given that privilege without showing favor to one or preference for another. It was all done out of God’s mercy and love. It does not prove that all people will be saved, but that those who are saved will be saved by the same mercy of God. That’s why Paul is emphasizing that any salvation conferred on Gentiles will be the same on the Jews.¹⁵

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXXIV)

John Calvin agrees that God always keeps His promises. Even though the Gentile’s chief fault was misbelief, and for the Jews it was unbelief, even so, the Jews were blinded for a time and that made a way for the Gentiles to hear the Gospel, God still did not excluded the Jews forever from receiving His grace. So Paul openly admits that though the Jews were alienated from God during his time, yet God was ever mindful of the covenant which He had made with their forefathers. God made it known that according to His eternal purpose He still loved that nation: and He confirms this with a remarkable declaration, – that the grace of the divine calling cannot be made void¹.²

John Locke does not take what Paul says of the Jews as “enemies of the Gospel,” to suggest that they were trying to destroy the Church and wipe it off the face of the earth. That’s why in his paraphrase he calls them, “strangers to the Gospel.” The reason they were strangers, is because the Gospel was strange to them since they were so alienated from God. That’s why they were not familiar with what their own prophets had to say about the Messiah. So they refused to embrace the Gospel that Paul preached, even though he told them that he had received it directly from God’s Son, the Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth. So as long as they refused to accept Yeshua as their Messiah, their Lord and Savior, they would always be alien to the kingdom of God. How sad for Paul, that those who were originally chosen as the children of God were now no longer able to claim that title. Unfortunately for them, it had been given to the Gentiles whom they hated and despised. Perhaps that was another reason why they rejected the Gospel as having any meaning for them.³

Daniel Whitby sees the picture of a “double election⁴” of the Jews here in verses 28-29. The first election was through Abraham, and passed on to them physically through Isaac and then later through Moses and the Law. The second election will be brought to them spiritually through Abraham and Isaac and then Yeshua and the Gospel. The first was election by obedience through works of the Law, the second will be by obedience through faith to the words of the Gospel. In the first election it was because of their forefather’s sake, in the second it will be because of Yeshua’s sake. The first election was to make them a peculiar people among the nations to share the Law of Moses and it’s form of salvation through works. The second election will be to make them a peculiar priesthood among the nations to share the Gospel and it’s form of salvation through faith. The first took place before Christ came and was to be initiated once He arrived. But they rejected His message and dismissed His claim of being the Messiah. So they will be given a second election just before He returns, and that will be the last.

John Bengel feels that the stubbornness of the Jews should not be thought of as a reason to discount their eventual conversion. Right now they are called “enemies” in an active sense, but “beloved” in a passive sense.⁵ However, Bengel says that the “calling” Paul speaks of here is that of the Gentiles. In other words, even though Israel was God’s people called through Abraham, He does not regret sending the same calling out to the Gentiles. Furthermore, He will not take that calling back. At the same time, the calling of the Gentiles does not cancel out the eventual calling of Israel.

With respect to God’s gifts and calling of Israel being without any expiration date, Adam Clarke feels that the gifts and calling which God bestowed upon the Jews will never be revoked. In reference to this point, there has been no change in God’s of mind. Therefore, the possibility and certainty of their restoration as the people of God, enjoying every spiritual blessing with the fullness of the Gentiles, may both be reasonably and safely inferred. Repentance, when applied to God, signifies a simple change of purpose relative to some declarations made subject to certain conditions. Jeremiah explained this very well by using himself as an illustration⁶.⁷

Robert Haldane now points to the Gospel as revealing that although the Jews rejection of the Messiah led to the Gentiles becoming part of the family of God, still as far as their being His chosen people is concerned they are still beloved by Him. Haldane believes that Paul is attempting here to put to rest any objection that might be brought against the future recall of the Jews. The great body of the nation — all whom the Apostle declared to be judicially blinded – were now the enemies of God with respect to the Gospel. They had rejected God’s message by His Son, and, thereby, became His enemies while they called Him their God.

The Gentiles, then, might object, How can the Jewish nation ever be grafted into the true olive tree again, seeing they continue to refused to listen to God’s message of reconciliation? The Apostle gives his own answer to this. First, Paul admits that the Jews had become hostile to God, and were dealt with as enemies for their contempt and disbelief of the Gospel. In the next place, he says that this was for the sake of the Gentiles. The rejection of the Jews was, in the incomprehensible mind of Yahweh, connected with and overruled for the salvation of the Gentiles. Some understand the words, “for your sake,” as implying that the Jews were enemies to God because of His sending the Gospel to the Gentiles. This no doubt gave the Jews great offense, but it was before this event that they rejected and crucified Christ.⁸

Then Haldane touches on the subject of how the gifts and calling are without repentance and cannot be voided. This is something that many preachers, teachers, and scholars have misinterpreted as being a reference to the gifts of the Spirit and the calling into the ministry. But when seen in the context of these verses, it is clear that Paul is saying that even though the Jews became hostile to God’s plan of salvation that included the hated Gentiles, yet He will never deny that He called them to be His people and the promises He made to them are still valid. Also, since the salvation of the Gentiles was a gift from God, that will He never withdraw or ask to be returned.

Haldane sees Paul’s reasoning here is based on the fact that since God never changes, then His purpose for the ones He called also does not change. In other words, what He has given the Jews He will not withdraw, and His choice of them as His special people will never be altered. “Calling” in this verse equivalent to “election” in the preceding verse. This election or calling as a nation cannot be revoked, and that national election was connected with and subservient to the election to eternal life of multitudes of their descendants, at the period when all Israel shall be saved. For this purpose, it was that in the destruction of Jerusalem the whole Jewish nation was not exterminated. But how much longer can this standoff last. Jesus made one thing clear when He said: “If those days had not already been shortened, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.⁹”

Haldane then goes on to point out that the term “elect” here cannot be applicable to those Jews who had already embraced the Gospel, for the tribulations of those days, even had they not been shortened, would not have caused their destruction, scattered as they were through many countries. It must refer to the elect of God in that future age when all Israel will be offered salvation. It was for their sake, who were to descend from the Jewish people, that the destruction of that people was limited, and for which God was pleased to preserve a part of them, and continues to preserve them to this day. The same reason, then, for this miraculous preservation, had likewise been given by the Prophet Isaiah, “But I will not destroy them all,” says the LORD. “For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away – some of those grapes are good!’), so I will not destroy all Israel. For I still have true servants there.¹⁰”¹¹

When it comes to God’s invitation to all people to come and partake of His goodness, grace, and favor, this He did without any thought of canceling that call. Albert Barnes gives his thoughts on why this calling is without termination: First, he says, all the promises made to the people of God will be fulfilled. Secondly, His people need not be discouraged or despondent during times of persecution and trial. Thirdly, none who become His true friends will be forsaken, or thrown away. God does not bestow the gift of repentance and faith, of pardon and peace, on people, for a temporary purpose; nor does He withdraw them for no reason and leave the soul to perish.

When He renews a soul, it is with reference to His own glory; and to withdraw those favors, and leave such a soul once renewed to go down to hell would be as much a violation of all the principles of His nature as it would be to all the promises of the Scripture. Fourthly, for God to forsake such a soul, and leave it to ruin would imply that He repented of His actions. It would suppose a change of purpose and of feeling. It would be the character of an impulsive individual with no settled plan or principles of action; no confidence could be placed in Him, and His government would be unworthy the affections and trust of His intelligent creation.¹² What Barnes does not say is that if there is any breakdown in the completion of that calling and the awarding of those favors promised, it is on man’s side, not God’s.

Henry Alford offers his opinion on how the Jews can be both “enemies” and “beloved, and how the “gifts” and “calling” should be understood with regard to the Jews and Gentiles. He says that when we look at the Jews from the pages of the Gospel, they are enemies of God’s Good News of salvation by grace not works. But when we look at them from the view of ancestry, they are the beloved because of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so often referred to by God as a cause for His favorable remembrance of Israel. Then Alford says that for an explanation of how God still regards them even in their state of exclusion because of their rejection of Jesus and the Gospel, the “gifts” (generally) and “calling” (as the most excellent of those gifts) cannot be recalled or repeated. Alford agrees with Bengel that the “gifts” are meant for the Jews, and the “calling” is meant for the Gentiles.¹³

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXXIII)

Stern goes on to say that Paul is not focusing on a part but on the whole of Israel, except for the part that accepted Yeshua, as being affected by this partial stoniness. For, as the next two clauses show, it delays Israel’s national salvation. The stoniness is not total, because there are and always have been Jews who end up trusting Yeshua. It is also wrong to see in the term “partial stoniness” any veiled approval of non-Messianic Judaism as being superior to the “total stoniness” of paganism. That is the opposite of Paul’s point, which is, that rejection of Yeshua by people with so many advantages demonstrates irreversible stoniness.¹ This is no new problem for the Jewish people – in the Tanakh God frequently called them stubborn and stiffnecked. The passage does not say that God caused the stoniness, as He hardened Pharaoh’s heart;² it implies that God knew it would happen. Nevertheless, this does not provide an excuse for anyone to remain stonehearted³.⁴

Verses 28-29: Right now, many of the Jews are enemies of the Gospel. They hate it. But this has been a benefit to you, for it has resulted in God’s giving His gifts to you Gentiles. Yet the Jews are still beloved of God because of the Patriarch Abraham’s sake, for God’s gifts and His call can never be withdrawn; He will never go back on His promises.

Rather than seeing all this as a negative and bemoaning the fact that Jesus failed to persuade the chief priests and various factions of Judaism to accept Him as the Messiah, Paul looked at it from the positive side. That by becoming enemies of the Gospel, the Jews were doing the Gentiles a favor. In other words, as Jesus indicated, by the Jews considering Him a stumbling block it turned into a steppingstone for the Gentiles.⁵ This was the message that Paul and Barnabas gave to the Jews in Antioch in Pisidia.⁶ When they got to the cities of Iconium and Athens they ran into the identical Jewish opposition with the same Gentile opportunity.⁷ That’s why Paul shared his consternation with the Thessalonians: “It was the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the early preachers. The Jews made it hard for us and made us leave. They do not please God and are working against all men. They tried to keep us from preaching the Good News to the people who are not Jews. The Jews do not want them saved from the punishment of sin.”⁸

But out of this came the glorious realization that the Gentiles were not given the message of salvation by default, but on purpose. It was all part of God’s plan to populated His Kingdom by selection. That’s how Peter referred to them in his greeting: “You were chosen by God the Father long ago. He knew you were to become His children. You were set apart for holy living by the Holy Spirit. May you obey Jesus Christ and be made clean by His blood. May you be full of His loving-favor and peace.”⁹ This inclusion of the Gentiles into the family of God because of the action by the Jews was not a secret, it was prophesied all the way back to Jacob. In his dream he heard God say: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. I will give to you and your children after you the land where you are lying. They will be like the dust of the earth. You will spread out to the west and the east and the north and the south. Good will come to all the families of the earth because of you and your children.”¹⁰

Rabbi Avraham Saba has a very interesting commentary on this portion of Jacob’s dream when he saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder. As the messenger from God was speaking to Jacob about this promise of gathering all the families of the earth together. Rabbi Saba notes the words from the prophet Zephaniah where God says that when He decides to assemble all the nations and kingdoms of the earth together, He will change them so that their lips will become pure enough to call on ADONAI by name, and that they will all serve Him of one accord.¹¹ Rabbi Saba emphasizes that these nations will be of such pure speech that they will call on the Lord by His actual name.¹² For the most part, they substitute HaShem (“the name”) for YHWH (Yahweh). This is significant because up to this day the Jews refuse to call God by His name because they do not want to break the third commandment that says they should never use His name in vain. Could it be that the Holy Spirit was already revealing that one day Jews and Gentiles alike would call out to God by His name?¹³

But Paul did not want the Jews to forget the promises of God. That’s why Moses told the children of Israel: “Adonai your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.”¹⁴ Moses reiterated this commitment by God to His children by telling them: “You are a holy nation to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the nations on the earth, to be His own. The Lord did not give you His love and choose you because you were more people than any of the nations. For the number of your people was less than all nations. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the promise He made to your fathers.”¹⁵

But Paul knew this promise came with a qualifier: “Remember the Lord your God. For it is He Who is giving you power to be well-off. By this He may keep His agreement which He promised to your fathers, as it is this day. If you ever forget the Lord your God and go to other gods to worship and work for them, I tell you today that you will be destroyed for sure.”¹⁶ Therefore, says Paul, God does not change His mind when He chooses people and gives them His gifts.

Like the prophet Balaam, Paul wanted the Roman believers to know: “God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a descendant of man, that He should be sorry for what He has said. Has He ever spoken, and will not do what He said? Has He ever spoken, and will He not keep His Word?”¹⁷ This then gives what God said through Malachi even more validity. God will do everything possible to save His chosen. Here is His promise: “For I, the Lord, do not change. So you, O children of Jacob, are not destroyed.”¹⁸ Bible scholar John Gill tells us that Rabbi Obadiah Sforno in his work, “Liber Cosri” wrote: “The holy blessed God, after, ‘that He hath given a gift, never takes it away from the receiver.’”¹⁹

No doubt, this was based on the story we find in the Talmud concerning a prayer by a poor Rabbi named Hanina, who ask God to supply their needs, which He did by filling a neighbor’s oven with loaves of bread. But the wife questioned how often this would continue to happen. Rabbi Hanina prayed again, and this time he received a vision that taught him that the pious would eat from a table with three gold-covered legs while the less pious would eat from a table with two gold-covered legs. In other words, be satisfied with what you have instead of desiring more just because others have more. So he asked his wife if she would be satisfied to eat whatever they have without desiring more. She agreed. So the Rabbis used this to a maxim: “The latter miracle was greater than the former; for there is a tradition that [even though] a thing may be given but once; it is never taken away again.”²⁰

And, on another occasion the Rabbis spoke about what Rabbi Judah taught in speaking about the trial their forefathers went through at the crossing of the Red Sea. When they entered the Red Sea, the Prince of the Sea was told to cast them out on dry land. But the Prince of the Sea spoke back and asked: “Sovereign of the Universe, is there a slave to whom his master gives a gift and then takes it away from him again?”²¹ According to the legend, God told the Prince of the Sea not to worry, He would replace them one and a half times as many with the Egyptians. So we can see that in the Jewish mind, once God labeled them His people and promised them a place in the world-to-come, even though they may have wandered far from Him, and sometimes even tried to replace Him with idols, nevertheless He would keep His promise. But Paul was trying to tell them the same thing Noah told the people in his day, God wants to save you but you must board the ship in order to be saved.

Early church scholar Ambrosiaster continues to project the theory that when the Jews finally do turn and accept Jesus as their Messiah, they will do so with joy. No matter how seriously they may have sinned by rejecting the gift of God, and however worthy they may be of death, nevertheless, because they are the children of God, whose privileges and many benefits from God they have received, they will be reclaim with joy when they return to the faith, because God’s love for them is stirred up by the memory of their ancestors.²²

Martin Luther makes the point that while the Jews are despised by God and the Apostles, it is not they who are hated but their rejection of the Gospel of the Messiah that is condemned. On the other side are those called the “beloved” because they have accepted and incorporated the Gospel into their faith and living. Therefore, Paul can declare that the calling God issued through Abraham to both Israel and Gentiles will not be invalidated. Luther asserts that God’s plan of election and salvation cannot be altered by a person’s merit or demerit. God never regrets His gifts and calling people to repentance. The Gentiles who were called were most unworthy, and the Jews who were called were called in spite of their proud self-righteous which made them worthy only in their eyes. God does not change His mind. That’s why the elect will surely be converted and come to the truth of faith – salvation without working for it.²³ The reality is, that although God never takes back His promises, refusal to accept those promises through obedience disqualifies a person by their own will and choice.

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