Trinity Evangel Church

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Paul builds a rhetorical argument, repeatedly and emphatically, that God has purposed to bless the world through the kind of salvation that is jealousable. This paragraph makes a verbal argument for jealousability, but it is jealousability embodied, an argument lived out, that God will use to save the Jews.

What are we doing here? We’re in the Reserved section of the Romans letter (chapters 9-11), the section not as heavily trafficked; it’s often reserved for the theology professors who nerd out on doctrine or Bible commentators who signed a contract to get through these pages, as much as they may have wanted to skip from chapter 8 to 12.

But in these chapters we’re near the nucleus of God’s work in the world. When you remember that everything is from Him and through Him and to Him for His glory (per Romans 11:36), think about how Israel’s calling was from-through-to Him, how Israel’s rejection of Christ was from-through-to Him, how the salvation of the nations is from-through-to Him, in such a from-through-to Him way that will provoke Israel to return to Christ, for the blessing of riches for the world that are from-through-to Him. To Him be glory forever, Amen!

The relevance of this world history, of the purpose of God in election and His particular promises to Israel, is that God’s Word is worth everything. Our peace with God is as certain as the reconciliation of a coming generation of the Jews with God. Our inseparable state of being loved by God in Christ no matter the groan-levels of suffering is as certain as the irrevocable gifts and calling of God in showing mercy to Israel in Christ. The gospel is the power of God to salvation for the Jew first and also for the Greek, a gospel revealed by His word, and the word of God does not fail.

What sort of lives do from-through-to Him people live? When we understand this, we can be the kind of living sacrifices that stay conscious while staying on the altar. Usually sacrifices are dead, but we present our bodies (not just our precious Bible-thought moments) as living sacrifices. When we confess that Christ is Lord, and we learn about how He rules, we boast that He leads and lords us with jealousable blessings.

Here we are again in Romans 11:11-15. It is a waterfall of strength and beauty and motivation. In the previous message I defined a couple terms: Jews and jealousable. The Jews are those Israelites, identified by blood and culture, not spiritually or allegorically interpreted. The jealousable are those to whom God gives great blessings in order to provoke great desire among the Jews for the blessing Giver. God will use a no-covenant people to fulfill His new covenant with the house of Israel. Who would have thought?! Not the Jews, and not the idolator-demonic-darkened-mind Gentiles.

When I say argumentative I don’t mean that Paul is being cantankerous or combative but that he is systematically reasoning through the issue.

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! (Romans 11:11a ESV)

Stumble and fall are two-steps that don’t always go together. You can trip and lose your footing without plummeting off a cliff, without finding yourself on the ground unable to get up again. The fall Paul has in mind is not only down but destroyed. God had not rejected His people entirely because He chose a remnant by grace (11:1, 5). But were the “rest” hardened permanently?

We’re talking about multiple generations of Jews who stumbled, and keep stumbling, over the stumbling Stone (Romans 9:32-33); Paul himself couldn’t know how many. But what Paul did know is that there was no way the stumbling of Israel would be final. “Absolutely not!” (NET) “Not at all!” (NIV) “May it never be!” (NASB).

Who needs to hear this? The Jew first, especially those paying attention to God’s promises, and also the Greek, those tempted to arrogance thinking Israel was out. Paul denies that their denial was/is final.

There are five movements, all connected to each other. They are not like houses built side by side in a row, they are like dominoes toppling one after the other.

Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. (Romans 11:11b ESV)

The first movement is trespass, it is the moral wrong of the non-remnant Jews, the religious offense pictured by stumbling. This stumbling was sin, the false step of refusing Christ as Lord.

The second movement is salvation, the deliverance from the consequences of sin, for the Gentiles. But note that this came through Israel’s sin. In Acts 28:24-28, Paul had called together the leaders of the Jews in Rome, and most of them left after he quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 about the dull hearts and deaf ears and closed eyes, “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” (Acts 28:28)

The third movement is so as to make [them] jealous. Again, this is the purpose of the second part; Gentile salvation provokes Jewish jealousy. They will feel a desire to have what others have, especially what they thought should be for them in the first place.

The fourth movement is implied from the question and answer at the beginning of verse 11. Jealousy, in and of itself, could be a punishment rather than a provocation to something better. When Paul quoted Deuteronomy 32:21 in Romans 10:19, God’s warning sounded as if jealousy and anger would be the end of the line, the last purpose. But now Paul makes it clear that jealousy would not be the fall! And there is more to say about their “full inclusion” (verse 12) and their salvation (verse 13) and their acceptance (verse 15).

Our salvation as non-Jews is subordinate to the salvation of the Jews. We do not get a lesser grace, we do not get a lesser salvation, we are not part of a lesser body, but we are “partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). And “yet it does not follow that Israel no longer fulfills any particular design in the realization of God’s worldwide saving purpose” (Murray).

And what about a fifth movement? That’s Paul’s argument in verse 12: greater riches for the world.

The argument is from the lesser to the greater, and there is full expectation that the greater will be gotten to.

Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! (Romans 11:12 ESV)

This is a conditional expectation, and there are two “if”s. But note that the two are really one; it’s the same basic reality presented from different angles. The format also assumes that the “if”s are true, the “then” is also true. “If this, then that. This is, so that will be.”

The distinction continues between Israel, three times “their,” and the world, also considered as the Gentiles, just mentioned in verse 11. The Jews have trespass and failure, or loss, synonyms for stumbling.

In verse 11 Paul said that through the Jews’ trespass “salvation” came to the Gentiles, he goes further here. Salvation is also considered as riches for the world, and said again, riches for the Gentiles. “World” probably describes the recipients comprehensively as the world’s population, while “Gentiles” characterizes their ethnicity or religion.

And what are these riches? Paul writes about God’s riches a lot, but he usually follows it with a specific: riches of God’s kindness (Romans 2:4), riches of His glory (Romans 9:23), His riches and wisdom and knowledge (11:33), riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). In Romans 11:12 Paul doesn’t specify the type of riches but emphasizes the extent of them. That he doesn’t narrow the riches into a list encourages us to think broadly. These riches are all the blessings of salvation.

Salvation blessings include, but are not limited to: personal humility before God, honesty before men, and hope in the word of Christ. Families that have fathers with hearts for their sons and sons with hearts turned to their fathers, mothers gladly birthing and nursing babies and raising generations. Churches of loud singing, faithful praying, strategic feasting. Cultures faithful and fruitful in art, business, education, economics, government. Group rejoicing with those who rejoice, group weeping with those who weep. Christians not conformed to this world, abhorring evil, holding fast to what is good, outdoing one another in showing honor, overcoming evil with good.

And the logic of the argument here is that the blessing and riches that will come to the Gentiles at the time of Israel’s “fulfillment” will be even greater. This is an upgrade, a windfall, a snowball, a riches multiplier. How much more, more surely, and more richly. Gentile blessings will be amplified by Jews being blessed. We ain’t seen nothing yet.

The word πλήρωμα denotes “full measure” or “completeness.” The ESV has full inclusion, or we could say “full restoration” (NET). Though one of Paul’s intentions is to show that Israel will again receive full blessing, the higher aim is to show that ALL Israel will receive those blessings (see also Romans 11:26). Israel’s obedience of faith will be even more obvious than Israel’s stumbling. Their privileges are promised, not in part, but the whole.

This is optimistic. Paul argues—he expects—that Israel’s stumbling will not be a final fall, that Gentiles will provoke Jews to jealousy, that a full inclusion of the Jews will happen, that the riches for the world will be greater. How can he, and we, be so confident? Because that is God’s covenant word to Israel (see especially Jeremiah 31:31-37). What does Paul, and should we, do with this confidence? Magnify our blessings of salvation in front of them!

As obviously bad as ethnic prejudice and antisemitism is, it is a different sort of bad (pathetic, as in miserably inadequate) how much salt has lost its taste among Gentiles who profess that Jesus is Lord. Unsalty salt is not good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet (Matthew 5:13).

Our lives of salvation blessings are rhetoric. God blesses men with persuasive and provocative lives as they confess that Jesus is Lord.

Nothing is more important for you to meditate on than the Lord Jesus Christ. All things are from-through-to Him. Mediate on the Lord day and night. Mind your business with Him in mind. He is true, honorable, just, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise. Think with His mind, think with Him in mind, and you will be blessed in the from-through-to Lord.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul builds a rhetorical argument, repeatedly and emphatically, that God has purposed to bless the world through the kind of salvation that is jealousable. This paragraph makes a verbal argument for jealousability, but it is jealousability embodied, an argument lived out, that God will use to save the Jews.

What are we doing here? We’re in the Reserved section of the Romans letter (chapters 9-11), the section not as heavily trafficked; it’s often reserved for the theology professors who nerd out on doctrine or Bible commentators who signed a contract to get through these pages, as much as they may have wanted to skip from chapter 8 to 12.

But in these chapters we’re near the nucleus of God’s work in the world. When you remember that everything is from Him and through Him and to Him for His glory (per Romans 11:36), think about how Israel’s calling was from-through-to Him, how Israel’s rejection of Christ was from-through-to Him, how the salvation of the nations is from-through-to Him, in such a from-through-to Him way that will provoke Israel to return to Christ, for the blessing of riches for the world that are from-through-to Him. To Him be glory forever, Amen!

The relevance of this world history, of the purpose of God in election and His particular promises to Israel, is that God’s Word is worth everything. Our peace with God is as certain as the reconciliation of a coming generation of the Jews with God. Our inseparable state of being loved by God in Christ no matter the groan-levels of suffering is as certain as the irrevocable gifts and calling of God in showing mercy to Israel in Christ. The gospel is the power of God to salvation for the Jew first and also for the Greek, a gospel revealed by His word, and the word of God does not fail.

What sort of lives do from-through-to Him people live? When we understand this, we can be the kind of living sacrifices that stay conscious while staying on the altar. Usually sacrifices are dead, but we present our *bodies* (not just our precious Bible-thought moments) as living sacrifices. When we confess that Christ is Lord, and we learn about how He rules, we boast that He leads and lords us with jealousable blessings.

Here we are again in Romans 11:11-15. It is a waterfall of strength and beauty and motivation. In the previous message I defined a couple terms: Jews and jealousable. The Jews are those Israelites, identified by blood and culture, not spiritually or allegorically interpreted. The jealousable are those to whom God gives great blessings in order to provoke great desire among the Jews for the blessing Giver. God will use a no-covenant people to fulfill His new covenant with the house of Israel. Who would have thought?! *Not* the Jews, and *not* the idolator-demonic-darkened-mind Gentiles.

# An Argumentative Denial (verse 11a)

When I say *argumentative* I don’t mean that Paul is being cantankerous or combative but that he is systematically reasoning through the issue.

> So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! (Romans 11:11a ESV)

**Stumble** and **fall** are two-steps that don’t always go together. You can trip and lose your footing without plummeting off a cliff, without finding yourself on the ground unable to get up again. The **fall** Paul has in mind is not only down but destroyed. God had not rejected His people entirely because He chose a remnant by grace (11:1, 5). But were the “rest” hardened permanently?

We’re talking about multiple generations of Jews who stumbled, and keep stumbling, over the stumbling Stone (Romans 9:32-33); Paul himself couldn’t know how many. But what Paul did know is that there was *no way* the stumbling of Israel would be final. “Absolutely not!” (NET) “Not at all!” (NIV) “May it never be!” (NASB).

Who needs to hear this? The Jew first, especially those paying attention to God’s promises, and also the Greek, those tempted to arrogance thinking Israel was out. Paul denies that their denial was/is final.

# An Argumentative Sequence (verse 11b)

There are *five* movements, all connected to each other. They are not like houses built side by side in a row, they are like dominoes toppling one after the other.

> Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. (Romans 11:11b ESV)

The first movement is **trespass**, it is the moral wrong of the non-remnant Jews, the religious offense pictured by stumbling. This stumbling was sin, the false step of refusing Christ as Lord.

The second movement is **salvation**, the deliverance from the consequences of sin, *for* the Gentiles. But note that this came *through* Israel’s sin. In Acts 28:24-28, Paul had called together the leaders of the Jews in Rome, and most of them left after he quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 about the dull hearts and deaf ears and closed eyes, “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” (Acts 28:28)

The third movement is **so as to make [them] jealous**. Again, this is the purpose of the second part; Gentile salvation provokes Jewish jealousy. They will feel a desire to have what others have, especially what they thought should be for them in the first place.

The fourth movement is implied from the question and answer at the beginning of verse 11. Jealousy, in and of itself, could be a punishment rather than a provocation to something better. When Paul quoted Deuteronomy 32:21 in Romans 10:19, God’s warning sounded as if jealousy and anger would be the end of the line, the last purpose. But now Paul makes it clear that jealousy would *not* be the fall! And there is more to say about their “full inclusion” (verse 12) and their salvation (verse 13) and their acceptance (verse 15).

Our salvation as non-Jews is subordinate to the salvation of the Jews. We do not get a lesser grace, we do not get a lesser salvation, we are not part of a lesser body, but we are “partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). *And* “yet it does not follow that Israel no longer fulfills any *particular* design in the realization of God’s worldwide saving purpose” (Murray).

And what about a fifth movement? That’s Paul’s argument in verse 12: *greater riches for the world*.

# An Argumentative Amplification (verse 12)

The argument is from the lesser to the greater, and there is full expectation that the greater will be gotten to.

> Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! (Romans 11:12 ESV)

This is a conditional expectation, and there are two “if”s. But note that the two are really one; it’s the same basic reality presented from different angles. The format also assumes that the “if”s are true, the “then” is also true. “If this, then that. This is, so that will be.”

The distinction continues between Israel, three times “their,” and the **world**, also considered as the **Gentiles**, just mentioned in verse 11. The Jews have **trespass** and **failure**, or loss, synonyms for stumbling.

In verse 11 Paul said that through the Jews’ trespass “salvation” came to the Gentiles, he goes further here. Salvation is also considered as **riches for the world**, and said again, **riches for the Gentiles**. “World” probably describes the recipients comprehensively as the world’s population, while “Gentiles” characterizes their ethnicity or religion.

And what are these **riches**? Paul writes about God’s riches a lot, but he usually follows it with a specific: riches of God’s kindness (Romans 2:4), riches of His glory (Romans 9:23), His riches and wisdom and knowledge (11:33), riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). In Romans 11:12 Paul doesn’t specify the type of riches but emphasizes the extent of them. That he doesn’t narrow the riches into a list encourages us to think broadly. These **riches** are all the blessings of salvation.

Salvation blessings include, but are not limited to: personal humility before God, honesty before men, and hope in the word of Christ. Families that have fathers with hearts for their sons and sons with hearts turned to their fathers, mothers gladly birthing and nursing babies and raising generations. Churches of loud singing, faithful praying, strategic feasting. Cultures faithful and fruitful in art, business, education, economics, government. Group rejoicing with those who rejoice, group weeping with those who weep. Christians not conformed to this world, abhorring evil, holding fast to what is good, outdoing one another in showing honor, overcoming evil with good.

And the logic of the argument here is that the blessing and riches that will come to the Gentiles at the time of Israel’s “fulfillment” will be even greater. This is an upgrade, a windfall, a snowball, a riches multiplier. **How much more**, more surely, and more richly. Gentile blessings will be *amplified* by Jews being blessed. We ain’t seen nothing yet.

The word πλήρωμα denotes “full measure” or “completeness.” The ESV has **full inclusion**, or we could say “full restoration” (NET). Though one of Paul’s intentions is to show that Israel will again receive full blessing, the higher aim is to show that ALL Israel will receive those blessings (see also Romans 11:26). Israel’s obedience of faith will be even more obvious than Israel’s stumbling. Their privileges are promised, not in part, but the whole.

# Conclusion

This is *optimistic*. Paul argues—he *expects*—that Israel’s stumbling will not be a final fall, that Gentiles will provoke Jews to jealousy, that a full inclusion of the Jews will happen, that the riches for the world will be greater. How can he, and we, be so confident? Because that is God’s covenant word to Israel (see especially Jeremiah 31:31-37). What does Paul, and should we, do with this confidence? Magnify our blessings of salvation in front of them!

As obviously bad as ethnic prejudice and antisemitism is, it is a different sort of bad (pathetic, as in miserably inadequate) how much salt has lost its taste among Gentiles who profess that Jesus is Lord. Unsalty salt is not good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet (Matthew 5:13).

Our lives of salvation blessings *are rhetoric*. God blesses men with persuasive and provocative lives as they confess that Jesus is Lord.

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## Charge

Nothing is more important for you to meditate on than the Lord Jesus Christ. All things are from-through-to Him. Mediate on the Lord day and night. Mind your business with Him in mind. He is true, honorable, just, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise. Think with His mind, think with Him in mind, and you will be blessed in the from-through-to Lord.

## Benediction:

> And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

> The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (Philippians 4:19–20, 23, ESV)

Some things you can’t unsee. I can’t unsee this paragraph, Romans 11:11-15. It’s only five verses. But once you get through it, it’s as if you’ve been over Niagara Falls. You will stop thinking about finding the right little barrel to protect yourself, and you’ll realize you are riding waterfalls.

I said somewhere in a sermon when we started Romans 9 that these three chapters frame an entire worldview. There’s theology for sure, studying God’s power and purpose in sovereign election. There is history for sure, as God lifted up a hardened Pharaoh to make a name for Himself as He delivered Israel, and as God prophesied a hardened Israel to make His name known among the nations. But the concept in these five verses contains more application than your lifetime can imagine, than our generation will fulfill. We label these chapters doctrine and say that the practical stuff starts in chapter 12; so be it. But those exhortations, as good and necessary as they are, are examples of what this paragraph presents.

Evangelization? Yes. Eschatology? Yes. But however much men argue over election and reprobation in Romans 9, it is far too much compared to how much more men should adorn the doctrine of our Savior in Romans 11, in particular verses 11-15. Summary: God blesses those who confess Jesus is Lord in order to bless the world. A little longer: God blessed the nations with the gospel of salvation and the riches of Christ by ordaining the rejection of Christ by the Jews, so that the riches of Christ among the Gentiles would make the Jews jealous and turn them to the gospel of salvation so that the glories of God in blessing His people would show His riches for the world. Shorter again: God makes men jealousable with all the blessings of salvation.

This is what Adam and Eve started out to do, it was the project for mankind. God blessed them, having given them an abundance of goods, of riches. God called them to increase their tribe and expand their work and exercise stewardship as rulers, to grow in blessing and riches. Sin ruined it. And the better/last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) has come to provide forgiveness, and to restore God’s image in us, to renew our ability to receive goods from God with gratitude and to obey Him in hope of joyful fruit. This is not a secret, and this is part of His strategy to spread the blessings.

There are wonders in the story that give new life to our good works by faith. It’s more than lifestyle evangelism, it is salvific jealousability that is life from the dead. We should understand this, embrace it, embody it, enjoy it. We’ll need some definitions, qualifications, implications, and that will take a couple sermons.

Many modern English translations make a division between verses 16 and 17, and I can see an argument for a subject shift in verse 17 from the glories of Israel’s reconciliation to a warning against Gentile pride. But I think that transition actually starts with verse 16, and verse 16 is where the analogy of the root and branches begins that extends into the next verses.

Plus, there is a parallel format between verse 12 and verse 15. Both of them ask an exclamation, though the ESV punctuates verse 12 with an exclamation mark and verse 15 with a questions mark. But both are rhetorical conditional arguments, both moving from lesser to greater. If this, how much better this?!

Add to that the double-jealousable mention, first in verse 11 and again in verse 14. The jealous pieces hold the paragraph together. The jealous pieces move the world.

So the NKJV has verses 11-12 together, with verses 13-15 together (also sections recognized by Murray and Calvin). The point of this paragraph is that God-given riches make Gentiles jealousable to Jews in order to reconcile the Jews.

There are two terms that beg for definition: Jews and jealousable.

The first question in verse 11 is about the “they,” and we know from the first part of chapter 11 that this is about Israel. Paul was an Israelite, as a biological descendent of Abraham, specifically from one of the tribes of Jacob’s sons, Benjamin (Romans 11:1). Israel was distinguished by their worship, or they were supposed to be, though priests of Baal had demolished altars for Yahweh and Elijah prophesied against them (Romans 11:2). There was a remnant by God’s grace (Romans 11:5), those elected to faith and faithfulness within the nation, though the elect nation of Israel as a whole failed to obtain righteousness (Romans 11:7).

Did they stumble in order that they might fall? This obviously isn’t a question about the elect, about the remnant, but about the rest of Israel. Based on the answer it can’t be a question about only one generation within Israel’s history, whether in Elijah’s time or David’s time, because all those Jews who died in rebellion did “fall,” they were not saved. So there is still some ongoing question about a group identified as Israel; is it over for them? Has God rejected them (see verse 1)?

They are distinguished from “the Gentiles” (verse 11). They must be distinguished from the Gentiles if, as a people group, they can be made jealous. It’s interesting that English clarifies “Israel” in verse 11 when the Greek has “them.” It’s also valuable to see that in verse 14 the Greek says “to make jealous my flesh (μου τὴν σάρκα),” which English turns into “Jews” (ESV) or “my fellow countrymen” (NASB).

We will eventually get to the bottom line in verse 25: “all Israel will be saved.”

I emphasize this for a few reasons. First, too many Christians play loosey-goosey with the terms “Israel” and the “church.” They use the word “church” for Israel in the Old Testament, and they use the word “Israel” or “spiritual Israel” or “true Israel” as another word for church in the New Testament. This is not just sloppy, it’s nonsense. It guts the argument of meaning.

If the non-elect Israelites rejected Jesus so that elect Gentiles would receive Jesus, but the elect Gentiles are just “spiritual Israel,” then we’re done as soon as Gentiles believe because they make up New Testament “Israel.” But it’s physical, national Israel that matters in this sequence.

Second, how does Paul know that there will be a full inclusion of Israel? He’s stating it, adamantly, because this is what God promised to Israel in the Old Testament. Paul has quoted more OT in Romans 9-11 than the first eight chapters. Their rejection was prophesied, so is their salvation. The King’s kingdom is coming to earth, as it is in heaven, and the King will reign from His throne in Jerusalem.

A few years ago I had a conversation about this with a brother in Christ who is a self-confessed Reformed type who told me that no one cares what happens to Israel. He told me that God’s program is the church, and while Jews can believe, like any other people, there is nothing unique or remaining for them because of being Jews.

A good term to summarize this is Supersessionism. It goes by other names as well, such as Replacement Theology or Fulfillment Theology. It includes:

the belief that Christianity is the fulfillment of Biblical Judaism…. Israel has been superseded in the sense that the Church has been entrusted with the fulfillment of the promises of which Jewish Israel is the trustee. (Source)

Many of the guys I learn a lot of other things from go to great lengths of squirming to say that they’re not replacing Israel with the church, but it still stinks. It is ironic, it is wrong, even in light of Romans 11:16-24, especially verse 18 where Paul urges the Gentiles not to be arrogant or proud toward the “natural branches.”

Also, none of this means that Israel’s current spiritual state is anything but apostate. There is a remnant who have received the Messiah by faith. But until Israel confesses Jesus is Lord, we are not bound to support every political decision they make nor back them in every conflict.

A Defense of Jealousy. Because of God’s Word we rightly regard jealousy as a sin. Joseph’s brothers did horrible things to him because they were jealous (Genesis 37:11). Jealousy is more consuming and overpowering than anger (Proverbs 27:4). We often see it as a synonym with envy, a resentment from a desire to possess what someone else has.

And yet we also read in the Scriptures that the LORD revealed His name as “Jealous.” He commanded that no other god be worshiped because He “is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). “The LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). And the Lord recognized a good jealousy among spouses, if one suspected the other of cheating it was “the spirit of jealousy” (Numbers 5:14-30). So jealousy includes the idea of being “fiercely protective or vigilant of one’s rights or possessions” (New Oxford American Dictionary).

In Romans 10:19 Paul quoted only the second half of Deuteronomy 32:21, here is the full verse.

They have made me jealous with what is no god;

Romans 11 clarifies, in a way that Deuteronomy 32 doesn’t, that the jealously is only a subordinate end; there is another step. God will make Israel jealous to re-include them (verse 12). Paul made them jealous for sake of their salvation (verse 14). It’s a when, not an if, they will receive God’s mercy (verse 31).

A Demonstration of Jealousy. In other words, what are the Jews jealous over? This demands more time. Just skimming the paragraph again, it must include “salvation” (verse 11) and “reconciliation” (verse 15). But note the breadth: “riches for the world…riches for the Gentiles” (verse 12), and even “life from the dead” (verse 15).

The things the provoke the Jews to jealousy are the kinds of things God promised to them, the kinds of things that are spiritual and material, eternal and earthly, individual and corporate. It is every part of life over death. It is “blessings all mine, and ten thousand beside.” And in light of Paul’s argument from lesser to greater, if God’s blessings are so good to us from Israel’s failure, how much greater will God’s blessings be to all of us when Israel is fully included?!

And more needs to be said about the fact that jealousability cuts two ways. The Jewish chief priests delivered Jesus to be killed because of envy (Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10), and the Jews “were filled with jealousy” against Paul and stirred up persecution (Acts 13:44-50). God’s blessings lead to rejoicing for some, and resentment for others.

You are here. You are in this, a part of it. You might not be doing it well, you might doing it amazingly but not intentionally. But we are blessed. We continue to receive blessings from God that make us jealousable, and He purposes for those jealousable blessings to bring even greater blessings to the world.

Count your blessings, give thanks to God for every one. Show off your blessings, boast in a way that points others to God. Seek the God of blessings, let Him make you jealousable for the good of the nations.

The LORD bless you and keep you;

Some things you can’t unsee. I can’t unsee this paragraph, Romans 11:11-15. It’s only five verses. But once you get through it, it’s as if you’ve been over Niagara Falls. You will stop thinking about finding the right little barrel to protect yourself, and you’ll realize you are riding waterfalls.

I said somewhere in a sermon when we started Romans 9 that these three chapters frame an entire *worldview*. There’s theology for sure, studying God’s power and purpose in sovereign election. There is history for sure, as God lifted up a hardened Pharaoh to make a name for Himself as He delivered Israel, and as God prophesied a hardened Israel to make His name known among the nations. But the concept in these five verses contains more application than your lifetime can imagine, than our generation will fulfill. We label these chapters doctrine and say that the practical stuff starts in chapter 12; so be it. But those exhortations, as good and necessary as they are, are examples of what this paragraph presents.

Evangelization? Yes. Eschatology? Yes. But however much men argue over election and reprobation in Romans 9, it is far too much compared to how much more men should adorn the doctrine of our Savior in Romans 11, in particular verses 11-15. Summary: God blesses those who confess Jesus is Lord in order to bless the world. A little longer: God blessed the nations with the gospel of salvation and the riches of Christ *by* ordaining the rejection of Christ by the Jews, *so that* the riches of Christ among the Gentiles would make the Jews jealous and turn them to the gospel of salvation *so that* the glories of God in blessing His people would show His riches for the world. Shorter again: God makes men *jealousable* with all the *blessings* of salvation.

This is what Adam and Eve started out to do, it was the project for mankind. God blessed them, having given them an abundance of goods, of riches. God called them to increase their tribe and expand their work and exercise stewardship as rulers, to grow in blessing and riches. Sin ruined it. And the better/last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) has come to provide forgiveness, and to restore God’s image in us, to renew our ability to receive goods from God with gratitude and to obey Him in hope of joyful fruit. This is not a secret, and this is part of His strategy to spread the blessings.

There are wonders in the story that give new life to our good works by faith. It’s more than lifestyle evangelism, it is salvific jealousability that is life from the dead. We should understand this, embrace it, embody it, enjoy it. We’ll need some definitions, qualifications, implications, and that will take a couple sermons.

# The Paragraph

Many modern English translations make a division between verses 16 and 17, and I can see an argument for a subject shift in verse 17 from the glories of Israel’s reconciliation to a warning against Gentile pride. But I think that transition actually starts with verse 16, and verse 16 is where the analogy of the root and branches begins that extends into the next verses.

Plus, there is a parallel format between verse 12 and verse 15. Both of them ask an exclamation, though the ESV punctuates verse 12 with an exclamation mark and verse 15 with a questions mark. But both are rhetorical conditional arguments, both moving from lesser to greater. If this, how much better this?!

Add to that the double-jealousable mention, first in verse 11 and again in verse 14. The jealous pieces hold the paragraph together. The jealous pieces *move the world*.

So the NKJV has verses 11-12 together, with verses 13-15 together (also sections recognized by Murray and Calvin). The point of this paragraph is that God-given riches make Gentiles jealousable to Jews in order to reconcile the Jews.

# The Terms

There are two terms that beg for definition: Jews and jealousable.

## The Jews

The first question in verse 11 is about the “they,” and we know from the first part of chapter 11 that this is about Israel. Paul was an Israelite, as a biological descendent of Abraham, specifically from one of the tribes of Jacob’s sons, Benjamin (Romans 11:1). Israel was distinguished by their worship, or they were supposed to be, though priests of Baal had demolished altars for Yahweh and Elijah prophesied against them (Romans 11:2). There was a remnant by God’s grace (Romans 11:5), those elected to faith and faithfulness within the nation, though the elect nation of Israel as a whole failed to obtain righteousness (Romans 11:7).

Did **they stumble in order that they might fall?** This obviously isn’t a question about the elect, about the remnant, but about the *rest* of Israel. Based on the answer it can’t be a question about only one generation within Israel’s history, whether in Elijah’s time or David’s time, because all those Jews who died in rebellion *did* “fall,” they were not saved. So there is still some ongoing question about a group identified as Israel; is it over for them? Has God rejected them (see verse 1)?

They are distinguished from “the Gentiles” (verse 11). They *must* be distinguished from the Gentiles if, as a people group, they can be made jealous. It’s interesting that English clarifies “Israel” in verse 11 when the Greek has “them.” It’s also valuable to see that in verse 14 the Greek says “to make jealous my *flesh* (μου τὴν σάρκα),” which English turns into “Jews” (ESV) or “my fellow countrymen” (NASB).

We will eventually get to the bottom line in verse 25: “all Israel will be saved.”

I emphasize this for a few reasons. First, too many Christians play loosey-goosey with the terms “Israel” and the “church.” They use the word “church” for Israel in the Old Testament, and they use the word “Israel” or “spiritual Israel” or “true Israel” as another word for church in the New Testament. This is not just sloppy, it’s nonsense. It guts the argument of meaning.

If the non-elect Israelites rejected Jesus so that elect Gentiles would receive Jesus, but the elect Gentiles are just “spiritual Israel,” then we’re done as soon as Gentiles believe because they make up New Testament “Israel.” But it’s physical, national Israel that matters in this sequence.

Second, how does Paul know that there will be a full inclusion of Israel? He’s stating it, adamantly, because *this is what God promised to Israel in the Old Testament*. Paul has quoted more OT in Romans 9-11 than the first eight chapters. Their rejection was prophesied, so is their salvation. The King’s kingdom is coming to earth, as it is in heaven, and the King will reign from His throne in Jerusalem.

A few years ago I had a conversation about this with a brother in Christ who is a self-confessed Reformed type who told me that no one cares what happens to Israel. He told me that God’s program is the church, and while Jews can believe, like any other people, there is nothing unique or remaining for them because of being Jews.

A good term to summarize this is * Supersessionism*. It goes by other names as well, such as Replacement Theology or Fulfillment Theology. It includes:

> the belief that Christianity is the fulfillment of Biblical Judaism…. Israel has been superseded in the sense that the Church has been entrusted with the fulfillment of the promises of which Jewish Israel is the trustee. ([Source](https://www.theopedia.com/supersessionism))

Many of the guys I learn a lot of other things from go to great lengths of squirming to say that they’re not replacing Israel with the church, but it still stinks. It is ironic, it is *wrong*, even in light of Romans 11:16-24, especially verse 18 where Paul urges the Gentiles not to be arrogant or proud toward the “natural branches.”

Also, none of this means that Israel’s current spiritual state is anything but apostate. There is a remnant who have received the Messiah by faith. But until Israel confesses Jesus is Lord, we are not bound to support every political decision they make nor back them in every conflict.

## The Jealousable

A *Defense* of Jealousy. Because of God’s Word we rightly regard jealousy as a sin. Joseph’s brothers did horrible things to him because they were jealous (Genesis 37:11). Jealousy is more consuming and overpowering than anger (Proverbs 27:4). We often see it as a synonym with envy, a resentment from a desire to possess what someone else has.

And yet we also read in the Scriptures that the LORD revealed His name as “Jealous.” He commanded that no other god be worshiped because He “is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). “The LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). And the Lord recognized a good jealousy among spouses, if one suspected the other of cheating it was “the spirit of jealousy” (Numbers 5:14-30). So jealousy includes the idea of being “fiercely protective or vigilant of one’s rights or possessions” (New Oxford American Dictionary).

In Romans 10:19 Paul quoted only the second half of Deuteronomy 32:21, here is the full verse.

> They have made me jealous with what is no god;

> they have provoked me to anger with their idols.

> So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;

> I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. (Deuteronomy 32:21 ESV)

Romans 11 clarifies, in a way that Deuteronomy 32 doesn’t, that the jealously is only a subordinate end; there is another step. God will make Israel jealous to re-include them (verse 12). Paul made them jealous for sake of their salvation (verse 14). It’s a when, not an if, they will receive God’s mercy (verse 31).

A *Demonstration* of Jealousy. In other words, what are the Jews jealous over? This demands more time. Just skimming the paragraph again, it must include “salvation” (verse 11) and “reconciliation” (verse 15). But note the breadth: “riches for the world…riches for the Gentiles” (verse 12), and even “life from the dead” (verse 15).

The things the provoke the Jews to jealousy are the kinds of things God promised to them, the kinds of things that are spiritual *and* material, eternal *and* earthly, individual *and* corporate. It is every part of life over death. It is “blessings all mine, and ten thousand beside.” And in light of Paul’s argument from lesser to greater, if God’s blessings are so good to us from Israel’s failure, how much greater will God’s blessings be to *all* of us when Israel is fully included?!

And more needs to be said about the fact that jealousability cuts two ways. The Jewish chief priests delivered Jesus to be killed because of envy (Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10), and the Jews “were filled with jealousy” against Paul and stirred up persecution (Acts 13:44-50). God’s blessings lead to rejoicing for some, and resentment for others.

# Conclusion

You are here. You are in this, a part of it. You might not be doing it well, you might doing it amazingly but not intentionally. But we are *blessed*. We continue to receive blessings from God that make us jealousable, and He purposes for those jealousable blessings to bring even greater blessings to the world.

----------

## Charge

Count your blessings, give thanks to God for every one. Show off your blessings, boast in a way that points others to God. Seek the God of blessings, let Him make you jealousable for the good of the nations.

## Benediction:

> The LORD bless you and keep you;

> the LORD make his face to shine upon you

> and be gracious to you;

> the LORD lift up his countenance upon you

> and give you peace.

> (Numbers 6:24–26, ESV)

Here’s an illustration to start. My wife’s favorite book among the Chronicles of Narnia is The Magician’s Nephew. It is the sixth of the seven in publication order, though it’s actually the creation account and so first of them all in terms of Narnian chronology. The reason she likes it the most is because of the treasure of finding out the origin of the tree from which the wood came that was used to make the wardrobe in the Professor’s house. You can read the series oldest to newest if you prefer grape juice narratives; but the author has poured this round of plot wine to gladden your heart.

Someone says, Who cares about where the wood for the wardrobe came from? The author did, and he thought it a thrill to reveal it at the right time. Don’t you want to at least see what he cares about before deciding it’s of no value to you? The same author who had an origin story for the wood in the wardrobe had an even deeper origin for the Narnian law that “if a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table would crack, and Death itself would start working backwards.” Aslan’s resurrection is quite the spoiler to the wicked.

Nothing beats the suffering and death and resurrection story in the gospel of Christ. That news is of first importance, the true myth at both the most woeful low and the highest peak, revealed at the right time. And what we’re reading in Romans 9-11 may be next best in terms of glory stories. We’re finding out things that could have been known but mostly weren’t noticed, things that look one way on the surface but work together toward a perfect last page.

It’s more than entertainment, it’s faith-food; read meat protein that builds hope-muscles. The righteous live from faith to faith. That means the righteous don’t live by works, but it also means the righteous don’t live by sight. We live by every word that proceeds from God. What about when we groan in a world of sin and suffering? What about when we’re led like sheep to the slaughter? Will His Word hold? What about when He said that He would give Israel a new heart? What about that covenant word?

His Word doesn’t fail. Read the story, follow the foreshadowing, and rejoice in your part.

At the beginning of chapter 9 Paul pointed out Israel’s privileges. At the beginning of chapter 10 Paul expressed his desire and prayer for Israel’s salvation. He’s talking like this because Israel, for the most part, were more like Pharaoh than Moses; they refused to obey the Lord though He gave them multiple chances. Yet “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people” (Romans 10:21). It’s time to ask the hard question: I ask, then, has God rejected his people?

The Jews, as a nation, those who shared biological descent and ethnic particulars and often specific geographical boundaries, were God’s people. Yahweh chose them (Deuteronomy 7:6), He led them, He redeemed them, He gave them His law, He made covenants with them, He established them (2 Samuel 7:23-24). All of them were His elect people and yet not all of them were elect persons. It was (and is) possible for Israelites to be one of God’s people in two ways, though many have only been in one way.

Jesus came to His own and His own received Him not. It was not priests of pagan deities that put Him to death, but the high priest of Israel in the Lord’s name. What a turn of events. Did God turn away from His Word to Israel? Is He done with His covenant to them, finally had too much of their apostasy, their refusal to come to Him with His hands held out? By no means!

Paul’s conversion was at least one proof. For I myself am an Israelite, a descendent of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jewish trifecta. To the Philippians he added that he was “a Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). That at least one Jew confessed Jesus as Lord meant that God hadn’t rejected His people entirely, and Paul had been one of the worst offenders (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Samuel told the people as much in 1 Samuel 12:22. “The LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for Himself.” So also in Psalm 94:14, “The LORD will not forsake His people; He will not abandon His heritage.” In context that’s Israel (even if we Gentile believers can sing it, confident in its application to us). He chose them with full-knowledge, with full-intentions for them. “The ‘foreknowing’ is the guarantee” (Murray).

Paul gives an example.

Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” (Romans 11:2b–4 ESV)

Speaking of great stories (that the Jews at least should have known), this conversation between Elijah and the Lord happened after Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal and had to have his altar drenched and a trench filled before “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (1 Kings 18:38). But when Jezebel heard that the priests were killed she sent word that she was going to make Elijah’s life like theirs within 24 hours (1 Kings 19:2). So he ran. And in the wilderness he prays, in an exhausted if not somewhat exaggerated self-pity, that he’s alone; he says he’s the “only” one left twice (1 Kings 19:10, 14). But the Lord said, ”I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (1 Kings 19:18).

God preserved, for Himself (not in the Hebrew of 1 Kings but supplemented by Paul for emphasis), some as no-compromisers. They would not give knee-service to false gods.

There’s application to the current situation. So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. Paul was included in that remnant (see also Romans 9:27). The Jews were—and are—God’s people, His chosen nation (in a way that no other nation has or will be. That doesn’t mean a nation can’t be a Christian nation, in self-confessed allegiance to Christ as Lord. But even a nation such as that isn’t foreknown like Israel.) This remnant has been around now through 20 centuries post-Paul; all are not lost. They will be around in every generation until the fulness of Israel is saved, more about as chapter 11 continues.

But it is not by Israel’s doing, or the remnant’s special wisdom, that they are saved. If it is by grace, it is no longer on the bases of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. The gospel of grace includes justification by faith alone, for the elect alone.

So what then? (Quid ergo?) There’s a remnant, at least, but what about the rest? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. This goes back to Romans 9. God’s purpose according to election stands, for nations (e.g., Israel not Egypt) and persons (e.g., Israel/Jacob not Esau), for temporal and eternal issues. Israel kept seeking, with zeal, a righteousness of their own that caused them to stumble (Romans 9:31-32). That the elect obtained it isn’t meaning that they found it by their superior wisdom, but that they obtained the gift, by grace, as verses 5-6 make clear.

Hardened here is a form (aorist passive) of the word πωρόω, with the nuance of “to petrify” or in medical terms “to cause a stone to form (as in the bladder) or a callus which unites fractured bones.” Its figurative usage means “to make without feeling, to deaden.” The text does not indicate that they were hardened because of unbelief but instead that the hardening produced unbelief.

Paul quotes Isaiah and Moses yet again, then a psalm of David to corroborate.

as it is written,

Romans 11:8 is a mashup of Isaiah 29:10 and Deuteronomy 29:4. It’s one thing for God to harden Pharaoh’s heart; Pharaoh was a pagan after all. This is God giving a spirit of stupor to God’s chosen nation; they were numbed, dazed, drawing a blank. Jesus talked about this a surprising amount (see just one example in Matthew 13:14-15).

And David says,

This comes from Psalm 69:22-23, originally a curse directed against David’s enemies. Their daily bread become a trap; they wanted the feasting without the fear of the Lord. Their unbelief turned them out of freedom into being servants with their backs bent under heavy burdens.

The story is about to explode; a seed was planted, a tree grew, the tree was blown down, but more wonderful fruit is coming from it. God could have chosen full acceptance by Israel from the start, and from there a simple sequential spreading of faith to the Gentiles. Instead God chose that a majority in Israel would reject the promised Christ, then to send the good news beyond Israel so that many would confess Christ as Lord among many nations, so that Israel would be provoked to turn back to the promised Christ (see Romans 11:11-12). It’s Israel’s story, and it’s not finished.

What are you supposed to do with this? Don’t pout like Elijah, don’t doubt God’s purpose of election, and recognize the riches of God’s grace you’ve received.

Have you noticed that I’ve not once, not ever, charged you to go be a pastor, or a vocational missionary? That might be the calling for a few of you, but never the majority of the body. That means that whatever your gifts and whatever your spiritual maturity, you have good to do. Is it sharpening your intellectual acumen for the education of the saints and defense of the faith? Do it. Is it building up your hosting courage and getting outside your food prep comfort zone? Do it. Is it surviving another round of chemo, or another week of being pregnant, or seeking the Lord’s help with a sadness that won’t lift? Beloved, do that. Get grace for that. Give thanks for those who do what you can’t do. Be jealousable where you’re supposed to be, not where someone else is supposed to be.

[M]ay our God may make you worthy of his calling and fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12, ESV)

Here’s an illustration to start. My wife’s favorite book among the Chronicles of Narnia is _The Magician’s Nephew_. It is the sixth of the seven in publication order, though it’s actually the creation account and so first of them all in terms of Narnian chronology. The reason she likes it the most is because of the treasure of finding out the origin of the tree from which the wood came that was used to make the wardrobe in the Professor’s house. You can read the series oldest to newest if you prefer grape juice narratives; but the author has poured this round of plot wine to gladden your heart.

Someone says, Who cares about where the wood for the wardrobe came from? The author did, and he thought it a thrill to reveal it at the right time. Don’t you want to at least see what he cares about before deciding it’s of no value to you? The same author who had an origin story for the wood in the wardrobe had an even deeper origin for the Narnian law that “if a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table would crack, and Death itself would start working backwards.” Aslan’s resurrection is quite the spoiler to the wicked.

Nothing beats the suffering and death and resurrection story in the gospel of Christ. That news is of first importance, the true myth at both the most woeful low and the highest peak, revealed at the right time. And what we’re reading in Romans 9-11 may be next best in terms of glory stories. We’re finding out things that could have been known but mostly weren’t noticed, things that look one way on the surface but work together toward a perfect last page.

It’s more than entertainment, it’s faith-food; read meat protein that builds hope-muscles. The righteous live from faith to faith. That means the righteous don’t live by works, but it also means the righteous don’t live by sight. We live by every word that proceeds from God. What about when we groan in a world of sin and suffering? What about when we’re led like sheep to the slaughter? Will His Word hold? What about when He said that He would give Israel a new heart? What about that covenant word?

His Word doesn’t fail. Read the story, follow the foreshadowing, and rejoice in your part.

# The Remnant - Chosen by Grace (verses 1-6)

At the beginning of chapter 9 Paul pointed out Israel’s privileges. At the beginning of chapter 10 Paul expressed his desire and prayer for Israel’s salvation. He’s talking like this because Israel, for the most part, were more like Pharaoh than Moses; they refused to obey the Lord though He gave them multiple chances. Yet “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people” (Romans 10:21). It’s time to ask the hard question: **I ask, then, has God rejected his people?**

The Jews, as a nation, those who shared biological descent and ethnic particulars and often specific geographical boundaries, were *God’s people*. Yahweh chose them (Deuteronomy 7:6), He led them, He redeemed them, He gave them His law, He made covenants with them, He established them (2 Samuel 7:23-24). All of them were His elect people and yet not all of them were *elect* persons. It was (and is) possible for Israelites to be one of God’s people in two ways, though many have only been in one way.

Jesus came to His own and His own received Him not. It was not priests of pagan deities that put Him to death, but the high priest of Israel in the Lord’s name. What a turn of events. Did God turn away from His Word to Israel? Is He *done* with His covenant to them, finally had too much of their apostasy, their refusal to come to Him with His hands held out? **By no means!**

Paul’s conversion was at least one proof. **For I myself am an Israelite, a descendent of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin,** a Jewish trifecta. To the Philippians he added that he was “a Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). That at least *one* Jew confessed Jesus as Lord meant that God hadn’t rejected His people entirely, and Paul had been one of the worst offenders (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

**God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.** Samuel told the people as much in 1 Samuel 12:22. “The LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for Himself.” So also in Psalm 94:14, “The LORD will not forsake His people; He will not abandon His heritage.” In context that’s *Israel* (even if we Gentile believers can sing it, confident in its application to us). He chose them with full-knowledge, with full-intentions for them. “The ‘foreknowing’ is the guarantee” (Murray).

Paul gives an example.

> Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” (Romans 11:2b–4 ESV)

Speaking of great stories (that the Jews at least should have known), this conversation between Elijah and the Lord happened *after* Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal and had to have his altar drenched and a trench filled before “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (1 Kings 18:38). But when Jezebel heard that the priests were killed she sent word that she was going to make Elijah’s life like theirs within 24 hours (1 Kings 19:2). So he ran. And in the wilderness he prays, in an exhausted if not somewhat exaggerated self-pity, that he’s alone; he says he’s the “only” one left twice (1 Kings 19:10, 14). But the Lord said, **”I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal”** (1 Kings 19:18).

God preserved, *for Himself* (not in the Hebrew of 1 Kings but supplemented by Paul for emphasis), some as no-compromisers. They would not give knee-service to false gods.

There’s application to the current situation. **So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.** Paul was included in that remnant (see also Romans 9:27). The Jews were—and are—God’s people, His chosen nation (in a way that no other nation has or will be. That doesn’t mean a nation can’t be a Christian nation, in self-confessed allegiance to Christ as Lord. But even a nation such as that isn’t foreknown like Israel.) This **remnant** has been around now through 20 centuries post-Paul; all are not lost. They will be around in every generation until the fulness of Israel is saved, more about as chapter 11 continues.

But it is not by Israel’s doing, or the remnant’s special wisdom, that they are saved. **If it is by grace, it is no longer on the bases of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.** The gospel of grace includes justification by faith alone, for the elect alone.

# The Rest - Hardened as Planned (verses 7-10)

So **what then?** (*Quid ergo?*) There’s a remnant, at least, but what about the rest? **Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened**. This goes back to Romans 9. God’s purpose according to election stands, for nations (e.g., Israel not Egypt) and persons (e.g., Israel/Jacob not Esau), for temporal and eternal issues. Israel kept seeking, with *zeal*, a righteousness of their own that caused them to stumble (Romans 9:31-32). That the **elect obtained it** isn’t meaning that they found it by their superior wisdom, but that they obtained the gift, by grace, as verses 5-6 make clear.

**Hardened** here is a form (aorist passive) of the word πωρόω, with the nuance of “to petrify” or in medical terms “to cause a stone to form (as in the bladder) or a callus which unites fractured bones.” Its figurative usage means “to make without feeling, to deaden.” The text does not indicate that they were hardened because of unbelief but instead that the hardening produced unbelief.

Paul quotes Isaiah and Moses yet again, then a psalm of David to corroborate.

> as it is written,

> “God gave them a spirit of stupor,

> eyes that would not see

> and ears that would not hear,

> down to this very day.” (Romans 11:8 ESV)

Romans 11:8 is a mashup of Isaiah 29:10 and Deuteronomy 29:4. It’s one thing for God to harden Pharaoh’s heart; Pharaoh was a pagan after all. This is God giving a **spirit of stupor** to God’s chosen nation; they were numbed, dazed, drawing a blank. Jesus talked about this a surprising amount (see just one example in Matthew 13:14-15).

> And David says,

> “Let their table become a snare and a trap,

> a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

> let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

> and bend their backs forever.” (Romans 11:9–10 ESV)

This comes from Psalm 69:22-23, originally a curse directed against David’s enemies. Their daily bread become a trap; they wanted the feasting without the fear of the Lord. Their unbelief turned them out of freedom into being servants with their backs bent under heavy burdens.

# Conclusion

The story is about to explode; a seed was planted, a tree grew, the tree was blown down, but more wonderful fruit is coming from it. God could have chosen full acceptance by Israel from the start, and from there a simple sequential spreading of faith to the Gentiles. Instead God chose that a majority in Israel would reject the promised Christ, then to send the good news beyond Israel so that many would confess Christ as Lord among many nations, so that Israel would be provoked to turn back to the promised Christ (see Romans 11:11-12). It’s Israel’s story, and it’s not finished.

What are you supposed to do with this? Don’t pout like Elijah, don’t doubt God’s purpose of election, and recognize the riches of God’s grace you’ve received.

----------

## Charge

Have you noticed that I’ve not once, not ever, charged you to go be a pastor, or a vocational missionary? That might be the calling for a few of you, but never the majority of the body. That means that whatever your gifts and whatever your spiritual maturity, *you* have good to do. Is it sharpening your intellectual acumen for the education of the saints and defense of the faith? Do it. Is it building up your hosting courage and getting outside your food prep comfort zone? Do it. Is it surviving another round of chemo, or another week of being pregnant, or seeking the Lord’s help with a sadness that won’t lift? Beloved, do that. Get grace for that. Give thanks for those who do what you can’t do. Be jealousable where you’re supposed to be, not where someone else is supposed to be.

## Benediction:

> [M]ay our God may make you worthy of his calling and fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12, ESV)

Proverbs was written/edited by whom for whom for what? Solomon collected it for his sons so that he could teach them to know wisdom and instruction. The Lord blessed Solomon with wisdom on earth, not for some esoteric existence. As a father he gifted his sons by passing on this knowledge and discretion.

A workable definition of wisdom is "skill for living." I recently saw another good angle on this: “Wisdom comes from knowing the patterns God built into creation." (source) This recognition-ability helps us not pet the king's fur backwards, so to speak. All this is good.

And while of (stinking) course there is application for those in any and every station under the sun, the primary "for what" of Proverbs, the chief end of "for what" with wisdom, the telos of "for what" in skill for living, is glorifying God in ruling. Solomon was teaching his sons the family business: kingdom administration. “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:”

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

One of the first principles when leading any group of people is to recognize the pattern that a whole bunch of them are going to be stupid. There are rich and poor, diligent and lazy, righteous and wicked, wise and stupid.

A little more than a year ago I read The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. This booklet has less words than the book of Proverbs, and while the author isn’t a Christian he offers an astute non-inspired complement to the inspired Word. The definition of stupidity is really helpful: choosing things that don't benefit anyone, including oneself. “A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.” (Loc. 245)

With that definition in mind, Proverbs has a lot to say about stupid people. “Stupid" is a genus with a variety of character species. In Proverbs Solomon shows the patterns of the simple/naive, the fool, and the scoffer. They are on a spectrum of agreeableness to aggressiveness, but they all share the stupid gene. They are all throwing soup on paintings, some just have stronger arms and more chunks.

Proverbs is a Stupid Vaccine, a Treasury of Stupid Antidote, it's the Handbook for Ruling a Nation with Fools, it's wisdom that gives rulers skills against stupid people. (And to be clear, I am mostly thinking about people, not decisions. A foolish moment from your two-year old isn’t the same as a stupid person who is characterized by foolish choices year-in and year-out of their adult life.)

Before I give the headings, a few things. First, this ruling-wisdom works for all lesser magistrates. It applies at every level of organization. That starts with your own feelings. If you did nothing else with these skills, do self-rule when you see your own thoughts wanting to squirt off the path of wisdom through an open gate into the fool’s field. Cut them off. And then obviously there's a bunch of use for fathers (and mothers) dealing with stupid choices of sons (and daughters). Likewise, take notes: teachers, bosses, neighborhood association presidents, city council members, Christian nationalists.

Second, as Christians we are in line to be rulers. This is our future. The present isn't a game per se, but you are going to use all this after the school of life. The Lord has made us a kingdom and priests, and we “shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). Blessed are those who share the first resurrection, “they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6). You've got a governing position appointed for you in the Millennial Kingdom, so here's where you're putting in some reps to get ready. Proverbs in this sense is about Christ as the wise King teaching His sons their work.

Third, the stupid people are mixed in everywhere. Cipolla’s first basic law is: “Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.” I’m going to curate some of the counsel for us, use different words to concentrate our pattern recognition. But there's a subtle message in Solomon's arrangement of the Proverbs themselves: stupid people come up in all sorts of situations.

When I say to expect a miracle, I mean expect that it is going to take a miracle to fix stupid. Isn't this part of the reason we're so frustrated? We think it's natural, or at least obvious, to not choose things that benefit no one. And it is obvious, just like it's obvious that men didn't crawl out from being frog larvae and stretch their legs before inventing satellites and sending them into space. Stupid is a way of looking wrongly; that’s just how it looks.

My favorite proverb is not in the book of Proverbs.

But a stupid man will get understanding

The word for "stupid" here has the nuance of hollow, so “empty-headed” (NKJV); “An idiot will become intelligent” NAS), “The witless will become wise” (NIV). It is just as likely for dimwits to become discerning as it is for a donkey’s baby to come out a human being; it will take a miracle.

Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle

If you can't beat stupid out of someone, why would you think your charming smile is going to work? You're casting pearls before pigs that can't tell the difference between dirt and their own dung. Be wise, recognize the pattern, don’t lose your mind when stupid follows its trajectory.

Two of the most well-known proverbs on responding to fools hit one right after the other in Proverbs 26:4-5. They almost seem too clever because on the surface they say the opposite. But unlike Democrats, the wise can see a play on words, get the joke, and understand better.

Answer not a fool according to his folly,

We don't really have to guess what according to his folly means, there is plenty of fool fodder in Proverbs.

A fool exalts himself, to the point that he isolates himself (since no one is as wise-in-his-own-eyes). He has at least 11 followers on Twitter and 9 of them are bots who agree with him.

A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;

A fool loves to tell you what he thinks; while you’re talking he’s outlining his response. A fool “gives full vent to his spirit” (Proverbs 29:11), and one of the reasons he’s more and more isolated is because that means less people are around to challenge his opinion.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,

A fool can only see what's immediately in front of him, he is perpetually short-sighted. He will lose the relationship to win (he thinks) the argument.

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling,

Don’t let the fool devour your time and your energy; it would be better to meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs (Proverbs 17:12).

If a wise man has an argument with a fool,

It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,

Keep your head level and stay above the fray. Walk away. “Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge” (Proverbs 14:7). Rhetoric is the art of a good man keeping his pie-hole shut, said Quintilian, or that’s at least what his first draft might have been.

Let's go back to the answering two-step in chapter 26.

Answer not a fool according to his folly,

Yes, we're to do the opposite of verse 4, but not in an inconsistent way. These verses don't cancel each other out. Don't respond in kind, respond to show the kind you’re dealing with. Don't engage in a corn-stalk sword-fights, light their stalk on fire to show it's true nature.

It's the fool who thinks he must change everyone else's mind in one minute. The wise man pays attention to timing, and he knows his audience. His audience is often others who are watching the argument. “When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise” (Proverb 21:11). Think second level consequences.

How does the Lord respond to the stupid? He certainly sees, which means we ought to take heart that we don't need to collect all the evidence for Him. The Lord keeps track. And the Lord often lets them have more of what they want, not because it's okay, but because He loves the pattern He made. Those who won't self-rule will self-ruin; “they shall eat the fruit of their own way” (Proverbs 1:31). No matter what, it is consistently the case that He is not worried.

The Lord has a variety of plays in His repertoire. In the moment when we feel that we've only got one response, we've lost our nerve.

“Chronically anxious families (including institutions and whole societies) tend to mimic the reptilian response: Lacking the capacity to be playful, their perspective is narrow. Lacking perspective, their repertoire of responses is thin.” (A Failure of Nerve, Loc. 1289)

At times the stupidity is targeted at us personally. If we can't overlook an offense we're not as glorious as we thought.

The vexation of a fool is known at once,

Good sense makes one slow to anger,

You can only be calm and playful by fearing the Lord. “Vengeance on the stupid is mine,” says the Lord. Let Him take it seriously. You’re not defending yourself as much as showing that the fool shouldn’t trust his eyes that tell him he’s wise (Proverbs 26:5).

Our rulers are flattering the stupid (think transgenderism, which is sort of a nuclear level stupidity of causing irreversible damage with no true benefits for anyone). Our society rewards the fools, we bail them out, we give them the microphone, we empathize with their (self-identified) oppression. Our nation fears men, or the mob, or the made up mob we have in our minds.

The fear of man lays a snare,

You do not have to accept the stupidity. We're living in a culture-wide Objectivity Room where things are silly and our governing class either expects our agreement, or isn't blessed enough to boldly stand against stupid and coordinate greater protection from it. It’s not won by the Constitution, but by submitting to Christ.

So because Christ is Lord, fear the Lord and say what He says and let the stupid fall where they will.

Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor

But the pattern reveals that only certain people learn.

Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,

The righteous will groan when wicked fools rule over them (Proverbs 29:2), but even here the Lord is giving us wisdom to rule for the rejoicing of others when it is our time.

Lightning round:

Stupid people are like the poor: always among us. Stop freaking out that so many people are so stupid. It is not wisdom to respond to stupid people for no one's benefit, that is the essence of stupid.

"Understand oh stupid people, when oh fools will you be wise." (Psalm 94:8) The Hebrew word here has the nuance of being dull (ESV), not sharp, of being senseless, like an animal, so "brutish" (KJV). We have every reason to take refuge in the Lord as our stronghold, to trust Him to wipe out the wicked, and to fear Him for sake of learning the skills for ruling.

Isaiah was the first to write that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). Habakkuk picked it up, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). There is no sea without water, and there will be no square inch of ignorance of, let alone rebellion against, God. Those who already have the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6) long for the days when true knowledge and worship of God is unchallenged.

We are tempted to act like the apparent ignorance about this knowledge is too great a chasm to bridge, and/or man’s modern rebellion against this knowledge is too entrenched. Discouragement takes as much effort as falling down the stairs; anyone can be discouraged when they look for sin. Sin abounds.

Yet even with such straightforward and hopeful prophecy many Christians have learned pessimism in the name of the Lord and we have taken up the worst worldview. We have been taught to doubt the prompt fulfillment of His Word, and we have become like a group of characters that Bunyan might have named the Little-faithed. We have been taught as if patience in a sovereign is a passive fatalism. Such negativity assumes the worst about God.

But God is not busy elsewhere. He is never without a witness to Himself and His glory. There is already no place on the planet that can claim pure cluelessness. His Word always accomplishes His purpose, whether that Word opens ears or that Word closes ears; men often show the success of God’s Word as they refuse it. And that He works in ways that surprise natural men shouldn’t be surprise to spiritual men. That He stands in a position of ready grace will amaze us for ten-thousands of years. All day long He holds out His hands to the disobedient, and that is not giving the disobedient the upper hand.

Romans 9 opens the curtain to God’s eternal purpose of election; some believe and some don’t according to God’s will. Romans 10 shows what the working out of God’s will looks like on the ground, and how those who don’t believe don’t have a good excuse. God is sovereign, men are responsible. And this is especially true for the Jews. Of all peoples, Israel wasn’t ignorant, they were obstinate.

In these final verses of Romans 10 Paul shows that Israel was not ignorant of the Word, and in fact that, during this part of God’s plan, they fulfilled it by refusing it. Paul makes his point with two questions, four Old Testament quotes, and all of it is aimed to encourage us that the Word of God has not failed.

On one hand, no one calls on someone he doesn’t know. On the other hand, it’s not like they didn’t know.

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

Hearing requires preaching. Preaching announces the goods (Romans 10:15). And while the good news is very specific, it isn’t totally unheard of. Have they not heard? They have most definitely heard.

Paul borrows the exact words from the Greek translation of Psalm 19:4; it’s an inspired quote. Those lyrics referred to creation, in particular the heavens and the sky as “day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Psalm 19:2). It’s a universal language, and the voice of these figurative teachers have gone global.

Who are the they that have heard? It’s all men under the sun, in all places with a sky, in all times no matter the position of the stars. That’s the point about general revelation, and this is the point Paul picks up on in Romans 1 about the Gentiles. They know.

How does that help in the argument of Romans 10:18? Yes the “word of Christ” is special revelation, and not each and every person may have heard it yet, but there is no excuse under heaven. The gospel goes out to a global audience. Paul is not making an apostolic allegory out of Psalm 19; John Calvin observed, and dismissed, those thought to show “most piety” who interpreted the sun going forth as Christ and took the heavens as a reference to the apostles.

If the message has been heard among the Gentiles, then Israel has no excuse.

Paul explicitly calls out Israel, here and again in verse 21.

But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

Hearing and knowing work together. Haven’t “they” heard? Yes. Didn’t Israel in particular know? Yes. The ESV’s understand is fine, but it’s a form of the same word from Romans 10:2; Israel had a zeal for God but not according to “knowledge.” But the problem in verse 2 wasn’t that the knowledge was obscure or beyond reach, the problem is that they didn’t accept it.

In answer to whether Israel knew, First Moses means that we’ve got more than one answer coming. This first answer in verse 19 quotes from Deuteronomy 32:21. Not only did they know that righteousness comes by faith not by their own works (see Romans 10:3, 8). Israel knew 1) that the Lord’s blessings would abound beyond their borders, and 2) that they would be mad about it.

This is the first of a few strategic references to jealousy. Paired with anger it's not positive, it's punishment. (Fathers are commanded not to provoke their kids to anger, Ephesians 6:4). And yet there is something that was meant for the Jews that they naturally should see as theirs. We don’t know yet whether or not the bitterness would be the bitter end or if the jealousy would provoke something better (see Romans 11:11, 14).

God Himself will provoke jealousy, “I will make jealous,” and He do it by blessing.

If we had a map of redemption and tried to find ourselves, the label “You Are Here” sits on top of Romans 10:19. Even with the Christian principles that figured into our founding and that still have fingers in many of our common practices, from a Jew’s perspective we are a Not-Nation, another ID10T-Nation. And yet we are among those who, by receiving blessings from God not promised directly to us, are God’s tools to finish promises He did give directly to Israel. This is part of what I mean when I use the adjective jealousable. This is definitely what the phrase Kuyperian Dispensationalism tries to capture.

Here is some of that “not a nation” and “foolish nation” getting grace that grated on Israel.

Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

This is the second answer to whether Israel knew. They were told that they would be made to look foolish and they were told that the foolish ones would be made to receive blessing.

Isaiah is bold because it this is hidden in plain sight. The quote is from Isaiah 65:1, and 65:2 is coming up in verse 21. The Israel-ism-ness, the Israel-centricity had been confronted; remember Hosea’s kids (referred to in Romans 9:25-26), “No-mercy” and “Not-my-people.” There are the natural, so to speak, and the unnatural, the expected/unexpected. These are the same ones that weren't a nation or weren't the right nation.

God is making sons out of pagans! He’s giving an inheritance to the prodigal son’s foreign barkeeper.

To know God, to be loved by God, to be blessed by God, these are not just better hopes for heaven realities. We have the light of the gospel now and living by faith that Jesus is Lord has spiritual and material fruit, invisible and visible results, eternal and economic impact, which enables our better grasp of success and suffering, and all that works together to make the Jews jealous.

Israel was God’s chosen nation, and they had privileges that no other people had. This was the LORDS’s doing. But they did not get it as grace to them, or expect that God would send this grace around the world.

There were seasons of revival and faithfulness to the covenant, but so much of Israel’s history was disbelief in the Word and disobedience to it. This follows with Isaiah 65:2.

But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” (Romans 10:21 ESV)

All day long emphasizes the constancy of His patience. That the Lord held out my hands is a human figure of speech for openness, receptivity; this is the only use of the word in the NT. But they were disobedient and contrary, “obstinate” (NASB). The KJV has “gainsaying,” which means saying against, so denying or contradicting, opposing.

And while this is bad, it is prophetic. They fulfilled prophecy by refusing it. All this makes us wonder if God is done with Israel, which is where Paul picks up in chapter 11: "Has God rejected His people?"

Of course we are not encouraged by the rejection of God’s Word we see around us. And, of course, we’re supposed to live by faith not by sight. Also, we should be encouraged that God not only pays better attention than us to that rejection, but that in His sovereign will He means good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.

This is the best kind of pressure: we are to live in such a way that equips a generation to bring about the end of the age; the jealousable in Christ provoke the Jews to receive Jesus as the Messiah and the Kingdom comes. By receiving (and rejoicing in and stewarding) the blessings of God’s grace to us in Christ the Lord—blessings that we were not seeking—we are a jealousable people in His hands.

God’s Word is a training manual, it tells us what to do with our hands. Manual derives from the Latin word manus, meaning hand. What we believe comes out through our hands. The Lord gave you hands to cook and clean and show hospitality and compassion. The Lord gave you hands to type and turn pages, to write and read for His name. The Lord gave you hands with which to shake, or hug, or hold out to others. Be jealousable with your hands as instruments in the Lord’s hands.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14, ESV)