Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
What should I learn from this chapter?
- Either Law or Grace
- Israel’s Rejection Not Final
- A Spirit of Stupor
- The Elect
Israel’s Rejection Not Total
Romans 11:1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
- God promised Abraham and God will not relent. He will work with the Jewish people, even bringing them through great tribulation, in order to bring them to Himself.
- Hosea 2:23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”
- Jeremiah 31:35 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): 36 “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
- In other words: Only if the sun falls out of the sky will God cast away the Jews – WHICH IS NEVER. God has made a covenant which He cannot break!
- Hosea 2:23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”
Romans 11:2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
Romans 11:3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?
Romans 11:4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
Romans 11:5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
- Final verse of Isaiah 6, “There’s a seed. There’s a holy seed. There’s a remnant. There’s a stump. There’s a tenth.”
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
- It is either works OR grace.
John 6:28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Romans 11:7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
Romans 11:8 Just as it is written:
“God has given them (The Jews) a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day.”
- The spirit of stupor is a judgment of their unbelief. God withholds spiritual insight because if they have refused to accept the simple things they will certainly desecrate the deeper things of God.
- For this reason Jesus spoke to them in Parables. For this reason tongues were given at Pentecost. For this reason they have been given a spirit of stupor.
Romans 11:9 And David says:
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
- Their table is the banquet table of God’s blessings: God’s promise to Abraham, the land, the nation, the prophets, the feasts, the prophecies, the Word, and most important the Messiah.
- This is the same banquet table of the Rich man and Lazarus. The Rich man was a Jew while Lazarus was a gentile exemplified by the dogs (gentiles) who licked his sores. Remember the gentile woman who told Jesus even the little dogs eat the crumbs from the (Jewish) table. The Rich man feasted at the table of God’s blessings while Lazarus lay outside the gate as a beggar.
- The Rich man ended up in torments while Lazarus, the gentile beggar could be seen by the Rich man in Abraham’s bosom.
Romans 11:10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,
And bow down their back always.”
Israel’s Rejection Not Final
Romans 11:11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall (trespass), to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
Romans 11:12 Now if their fall (trespass) is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
Romans 11:14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
Romans 11:15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
- The first fruit is Jesus who was the first to be raised from the dead never to die again.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 – The Last Enemy Destroyed – But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
- The root is also Jesus.
- Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
- Revelation 22:16
Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and (richness) fatness of the olive tree,
- The branches of the olive tree (Jesus) are Jews. The branches of the wild olive tree are gentiles. When the branches of the wild olive tree are grafted into the olive tree, now they also partake of the richness of the olive tree.
- Jesus prayed and was arrested in an olive grove on Mount Olives. Like the olives, He was was pressed until His soul was poured out.
- Isaiah 53:12
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
- Isaiah 53:12
- A grinding stone (mill stone) is situated in the olive grove. It rolls within a stone groove in circles as the olive oil runs into and is collected by a trough. The grinding stone is called a “rider”.
- Olive oil was used for anointing God’s kings and priests and was prophetic of He who is the King of kings and the High Priest for believers.
Romans 11:18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
- Menorah has 7 branches. The center branch attached to the base is Jesus. The base of the menorah is “the root” of the menorah. The other six branches are supported by the root.
Romans 11:19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”
Romans 11:20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
Romans 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
- There will come a time when God once again focuses on the Jews while the gentiles will be the exceptions. This time period will be like non other, it is a time of severe tribulation that God may bring all the Jews to Himself.
- @ Prophecy Alert! When the fullness of the Gentiles comes to an end the veil of blindness will be lifted on the Jews. When you see this blindness lifted know that the “Age of Grace” has come to an end. It’s door will be shut tighter than Noah’s Ark. The believers will be taken out of the world and Daniel’s seventieth week will ensue; the tribulation. We are inches away from the blindness being lifted. What is happening to the Jewish culture today:
- The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and his prophecies of the end time.
- “The most well known event in the life of Rabbi Kaduri occurred toward the end of his life, which resulted in an encounter with the Messiah. A brief description of the events surrounding this occurrence will suffice. During this encounter, the Messiah revealed His name to Kaduri.
In a meeting in 1990 with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Rebbe of Lubavitch, many words of blessing were spoken to Kaduri. Among the words spoken by the Lubavitcher Rebbe was the blessing that Kaduri would not pass from this world until he met the Messiah. This came to pass in a mystical vision on 9 Cheshvan, 5764 (4 November, 2003), when Kaduri spoke with the Messiah. During this encounter, the Messiah revealed his name to Kaduri. Kaduri later noted to his disciples that the revealed name of the Messiah was hidden among his writings.
Kaduri’s disciples came across a note written by Kaduri in which was encrypted the name of the Messiah. This note contained instructions saying that it was not to be opened until a year after Kaduri’s passing. After a year passed, Kaduri’s disciples opened the note and discovered the name that the Messiah had revealed to Kaduri: Yehoshua (the Hebrew form of the Aramaic Yeshua). Here is an English translation of the note done by an Orthodox Rabbi:
Regarding the acronym of Messiah. The masses will themselves arise and verify that his words and his teachings can stand. With my signature in the Month of Mercy (Elul – Edit.) 5765, (signed) Yitzchak Kaduri.
- The initial Hebrew letters of the phrase “The masses will themselves arise and verify that his words and his teachings can stand” spell out Yehoshua. Although some deemed the note a forgery, others stated that it was indeed written by Kaduri. Most of the controversy surrounding the note revolved around the revealed name—that of the Master Yeshua (Greek translation – Lord Jesus).
Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri passed on 29 Tevet 5766 (26 January, 2006) at the age of 108. His funeral procession was one of the largest in attendance in the modern history of Israel. His yahrzeit (the anniversary of his death) this year begins on the evening of January 26th.
An article on Rabbi Kaduri that explores his life as well as what he believes the Messiah revealed to him can be found in First Fruits of Zion’s Messiah Journal 100.
https://ffoz.org/discover/yahrzeit/the-man-to-whom-messiah-revealed-his-name.html
- “The most well known event in the life of Rabbi Kaduri occurred toward the end of his life, which resulted in an encounter with the Messiah. A brief description of the events surrounding this occurrence will suffice. During this encounter, the Messiah revealed His name to Kaduri.
Romans 11:22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Romans 11:23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
- They are graphed in again at the end of the coming seven year tribulation. Every last person of the remnant will cry out to God in their affliction, then Jesus will come to save them and they will recognize whom their forefathers pierced. He will again call them “my people”.
- Hosea 5:15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
- Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Zechariah 13:9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
- Hosea 5:15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Romans 11:24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
- Olive oil is used for anointing. God anointed Israel for His purposes. The gentile believers are referred to as a wild anointing.
Romans 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion (estimation), that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
- There is a time when the fullness of the Gentiles brings the age of grace to an end. Like Noah’s ark the door will be sealed shut and then it is too late to escape the upcoming flood of the tribulation.
God is LOVE. “Love is like water. When it encounters an obstacle it cuts a new path.”
Crystal Middlemas –
Quantum Study Bible 