Reflections on Romans 11

Romans 11 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? Certainly not! I am one of the people of Israel, and I myself am a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.
   
2. God did not turn his back on his chosen people. Don't you remember reading in the Scriptures how Elijah complained to God about the people of Israel?
   
3. He said, "Lord, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars. I am the only one left, and now they want to kill me."
   
4. But the Lord told Elijah, "I still have seven thousand followers who have not worshiped Baal."
   
5. It is the same way now. God was kind to the people of Israel, and so a few of them are still his followers.
   
6. This happened because of God's undeserved kindness and not because of anything they have done. It could not have happened except for God's kindness.
   
7. This means that only a chosen few of the people of Israel found what all of them were searching for. And the rest of them were stubborn,
   
8. just as the Scriptures say, "God made them so stupid that their eyes are blind, and their ears are still deaf."
   
9. Then David said, "Turn their meals into bait for a trap, so that they will stumble and be given what they deserve.
   
10. Blindfold their eyes! Don't let them see. Bend their backs beneath a burden that will never be lifted."
    
11. Do I mean that the people of Israel fell, never to get up again? Certainly not! Their failure made it possible for the Gentiles to be saved, and this will make the people of Israel jealous.
    
12. But if the rest of the world's people were helped so much by Israel's sin and loss, they will be helped even more by their full return.
    
13. I am now speaking to you Gentiles, and as long as I am an apostle to you, I will take pride in my work.
    
14. I hope in this way to make some of my own people jealous enough to be saved.
    
15. When Israel rejected God, the rest of the people in the world were able to turn to him. So when God makes friends with Israel, it will be like bringing the dead back to life.
    
16. If part of a batch of dough is made holy by being offered to God, then all of the dough is holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, the rest of the tree is holy too.
    
17. You Gentiles are like branches of a wild olive tree that were made to be part of a cultivated olive tree. You have taken the place of some branches that were cut away from it. And because of this, you enjoy the blessings that come from being part of that cultivated tree.
    
18. But don't think you are better than the branches that were cut away. Just remember that you are not supporting the roots of that tree. Its roots are supporting you.
    
19. Maybe you think those branches were cut away, so that you could be put in their place.
    
20. That's true enough. But they were cut away because they did not have faith, and you are where you are because you do have faith. So don't be proud, but be afraid.
    
21. If God cut away those natural branches, couldn't he do the same to you?
    
22. Now you see both how kind and how hard God can be. He was hard on those who fell, but he was kind to you. And he will keep on being kind to you, if you keep on trusting in his kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too.
    
23. If those other branches will start having faith, they will be made a part of that tree again. God has the power to put them back.
    
24. After all, it wasn't natural for branches to be cut from a wild olive tree and to be made part of a cultivated olive tree. So it is much more likely that God will join the natural branches back to the cultivated olive tree.
    
25. My friends, I don't want you Gentiles to be too proud of yourselves. So I will explain the mystery of what has happened to the people of Israel. Some of them have become stubborn, and they will stay like that until the complete number of you Gentiles has come in.
    
26. In this way all of Israel will be saved, as the Scriptures say, "From Zion someone will come to rescue us. Then Jacob's descendants will stop being evil.
    
27. This is what the Lord has promised to do when he forgives their sins."
    
28. The people of Israel are treated as God's enemies, so that the good news can come to you Gentiles. But they are still the chosen ones, and God loves them because of their famous ancestors.
    
29. God doesn't take back the gifts he has given or forget about the people he has chosen.
    
30. At one time you Gentiles rejected God. But now Israel has rejected God, and you have been shown mercy.
    
31. And because of the mercy shown to you, they will also be shown mercy.
    
32. All people have disobeyed God, and that's why he treats them as prisoners. But he does this, so that he can have mercy on all of them.
    
33. Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does?
    
34. "Has anyone known the thoughts of the Lord or given him advice?
    
35. Has anyone loaned something to the Lord that must be repaid?"
    
36. Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.
    
    

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    The first part of chapter 11 is difficult to grasp. It, in fact, seems at certain points to be contradictory. But in the later portion of the chapter Paul's arguments become much clearer.
    
    The question that begins the chapter, "has God rejected His people?" is immediately answered in the negative, "Absolutely not!"  But then Paul makes references to their rejection. This seems a contradiction. He also refers to God's foreknowledge and election which leaves us wondering if he is contradicting his earlier arguments in support of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. But we discover in both cases that there is no contradiction with Paul's arguments, simply a lack of understanding by the reader.
    
    What about God's rejection of Israel? No, God has not totally rejected Israel for all time, but there has been a partial and temporary rejection. Paul's use of the olive tree to illustrate his point helps to clear this up. The tree is sound. Its roots and trunk are well-established. The early patriarchs are the foundation. God has not uprooted the tree and discarded it, but has removed branches that have not produced the fruit of faith. This is the partial rejection. And as we come to see, it is not based on God's arbitrary choice or election, but on the hardness of the hearts of those who refuse faith in Christ. We come to discover that Paul's reference to election does not refer to salvation but to God's choice of those He uses for His purposes, such as the patriarchs.
    
    The removal of Jewish branches from the tree has allowed for the grafting of Gentile branches into the tree. So this partial and temporary rejection of Jews serves the purpose of bringing Gentiles into the tree - that is, including them in God's plan of redemption. In time, many Jews will also be grafted into the tree, and eventually the bulk of Israel will return. This is after the full number of Gentiles have come in or been grafted into the tree. As Paul says, "I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: a partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in." (11:25)
    
    Paul concludes the chapter with a doxology of praise to God "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!" (11:33) Lest we be tempted to question God's wisdom or the justice or rightness of His plans, Paul states, "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?" (11:34)  We don't fully understand God's purposes or fully know what He plans to do. We do best to hold our judgement of Him and His ways in check and to trust that He is wiser and more knowledgeable that we.