“So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” Romans 11:11
October 20, 2023
If you are a Christian and a non-Jew, have you ever thought that on the basis of that fact, you have made someone jealous? Stand by for the possible surprise that your conversion as a Gentile was planned by God to make Jewish unbelievers jealous. The argument being made in Romans 11:11-15 that the salvation of Gentiles is a proof that God is not through with the Jew. Israel’s unbelief is temporary and God in the meantime is using it to bring many Gentiles to Christ. That’s right, the unbelief of Israel is designed by God to advance His plan of redemption. You are reading that right, God has determined that evil (unbelief) is used to bring glory to God. God is not applauding the refusal of the Jewish people to believe in their Messiah. Paul himself, a Jew, was called by God to take the gospel to the world of the Gentiles. Don’t misunderstand, the passage of Scripture before us (Rom. 11:1-15) is not an antisemitic diatribe, but is a compassionate, Scripturally reasoned, theologically accurate understanding of the place of ethnic Israel’s rejection of her Messiah. Israel, did indeed stumble as a nation, but it is not final. The salvation of Gentiles will lead, in time, to the fullness of Israel. There is more to be said about all this, but take this with you. As God uses us to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, this is advancing His plan to bring about the glories of the coming kingdom. A glorious, magnificent future awaits the Jewish people, namely, a spiritual rebirth in the future.
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“They forget a main point of the Church’s glory, who pray not daily for the conversion of the Jews.” Robert Leighton