SERMON: “How Should Christians Think about Israel” (Rom. 11)
“How Should Christians Think about Israel” (Rom. 11)
Series: Topical Text: Romans 11
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
October
4, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
- The
attack was unprecedented. It involved
thousands of militants breaching the border in numerous locations,
using a variety of tactics including paragliders, ground forces, and
massive rocket barrages. This
operation demonstrated a level of planning and coordination that caught
Israeli defenses off-guard, highlighting significant intelligence and
security failures.
- Over
1,400 people were killed, marking one of the deadliest days in Israel’s
history, which many likened it to Israel’s 9/11. More than 200 were taken hostage, many
from their homes. Some of these
hostages were American, and many hostages remain missing a year later.
- Thankfully,
the attack received widespread condemnation from over 44 countries as an
act of terrorism. Yet, many attributed
the root cause of the attack to the supposed ongoing Israeli occupation
and policies towards Palestine. In
other words, many began to blame the victim.
- Israel’s
immediate and sustained military response, including airstrikes and a
ground invasion into Gaza, aimed at destroying Hamas’s military
capabilities. Hamas’s continued use
of civilians as human shields meant that Israel’s strikes resulted in
significant Palestinian casualties and destruction, sparking international
debate and winning support for Hamas.
- The
blockade of Gaza, intensified military operations, and the displacement of
Palestinians have led to a significant humanitarian crisis,. Hamas has reportedly kept many civilians
from fleeing, creating additional difficulties for the non-combatants caught
in the conflict zones.
- The
event has implications for international peace efforts. Israel had long pulled out of Gaza,
removing Israeli citizens and allowing the Palestinians self-government, creating
essentially a Palestinian state.
However, with Gaza now occupied with Israeli soldiers looking for
hostages and terrorists, other Middle Eastern nations like Syria and Iran
have joined the fight, launching rockets and missiles into Israel. The future of the broader Middle East is
unsure, as American forces have been slowly mustering in the region, and
many voices have been calling upon Israel to take the lead in a ceasefire.
With this, we’ve seen a variety of reactions from the
church. We might assume that Christians
are generally supportive of Israel because of our background as a church, but
that is not necessarily the case. Some
have pointed to the fact that Israel is currently a nation refusing to
acknowledge God (much like America), and that the majority of people there are
not Christian. They’ve also noted that
there are Palestinian Christians who are suffering from this conflict, though
there are also Israeli Christians, as well.
Others say that the people of Israel are not the people of
God and do not deserve the support of the church. Some go further than that and even engage in
antisemitic smears, a detestable viewpoint that shouldn’t be worth our attention,
but we will address it. That’s not
everyone’s opinion who are not supportive of Israel, though, as they simply
point out that the Israel we see is not the same as the Israel of the
Bible.
So, what should we think about the modern state of Israel? In Romans 11:17-21, Paul uses the metaphor of
an olive tree to explain the relationship between Israel (both ethnic
and spiritual) and the church (composed of both Jews and Gentiles). This passage is crucial for understanding how God
uses the concept of the “people of God” in different ways through Scripture,
showing both continuity and distinction between Israel and the church.
II.
Ethnic Israel as the Natural Branches
Paul’s metaphor begins with natural branches. These branches represent the ethnic people of
Israel, which begins with the patriarchs.
Paul alludes to the promise of God to Abraham in v. 1 and mentions the
fathers in v. 28. Pastor Jorge talked
about the land of inheritance back in May, examining Genesis 17, if you want a
more study into those promises. Here, we
can see that Paul sees those promises as important to his point, establishing
them as the root of the branches of this olive tree.
For us, if we’re to understand what it means to be the
people of God, we must start with these promises. Paul says in v. 1 that God has not rejected
“His people.” In case we thought God’s
people was only a spiritual category, Paul continues, “For I too am an
Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” He describes himself in ethnic rather than
spiritual terms when describing God’s people.
That continues into the next verse. He says, “God has not rejected His people
whom He foreknew” (v. 2). Yet, through
the next verses, we hear Elijah’s complaint about what God’s people have
done. However, God responds in v. 4, “I
have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Paul
explains, “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time
a remnant according to God’s gracious
choice” (v. 5). Now, that means that
there are some within the covenant people who are a specifical remnant.
That brings us to the second usage of the term, “God’s
people” — there is a spiritual people of God.
Remember, God originally chose the nation of Israel as His covenant
people. The Lord said in Deuteronomy
7:6, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has
chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are
on the face of the earth.” That wasn’t
to be merely a physical covenant with circumcision and Sabbath-keeping and
other external ceremonies. Moses said, “So
circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer” (Deut. 10:16). This was to be a people who were internally
following God.
Before we go any further than that, we must remember that
salvation is always an act of God’s grace.
Even within the context of the remnant in Israel, God says, “I have kept
for Myself” (v. 4). In v. 5, we read
that, in the present time, it is God’s “gracious choice.” In v. 6, we read, “But if it is by grace, it
is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” So, those who are circumcised of heart, the
remnant, exist because of God’s grace in their lives, not because they earned
it.
Now, we’re obviously beginning to consider the church. Yet, in Romans 11, Paul does not present it
as though the church has replaced Israel.
He continues to discuss natural Israel in v. 7 — “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained,
but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened” He then describes the prophecies about their
hardening in vv. 8–10. It’s not
believers who are hardened and blinded, but the unbelieving Jews.
So, Paul returns to his original question. “I say then, they did not stumble so as to
fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them
jealous.” So, their failure to believe
opened an opportunity for the Gentiles.
Paul explains that God can show His riches now to them, but Paul still
expects that some of his unbelieving countrymen will be saved (vv. 12–14). He even expects “life from the dead” for them
(v. 15) — a point we’ll discuss more in a few minutes — and continues to
describe them as “holy” (v. 16). So, God
has not rejected His people according to the flesh.
So, I hope it’s clear that it’s still proper to refer to
natural Israel as “God’s people,” even though the unbelievers are not converted
sons and daughters of the King. They
still need prayer, still being in unbelief.
Because of this, many of the branches were “broken off,”
described in vv. 17–24. We will all be
judged for our sins, and those who do not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will
not be saved, Gentile or Jew. The
unbelieving majority of Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah, leading to a
temporary setting aside of Israel. This
illustrates that being part of the people of God is not merely about ethnic
identity; faith in God’s promises is the essential mark of belonging.
III.
The Grafting in of Gentile Believers
We’ve already been seeing this, but there are other branches
in this tree. Paul speaks here of the wild
olive branches, symbolizing Gentile believers who were not originally part
of God’s covenant people. Through faith
in Christ, these Gentiles are “grafted in among them” (v. 17), meaning they now
share in the covenant blessings.
This is a theme Paul also visits in Ephesians 2. In vv. 11–13, Paul writes,
Therefore remember that formerly
you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the
so-called “Circumcision,” which is
performed in the flesh by human hands — remember
that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. But now in
Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood
of Christ.
Paul continues there to explain that, of the two groups
(believing Jews and Gentiles), Christ made one “new man” (vv. 14–15). The Gentiles that Paul writes to in Ephesians
“are no longer strangers and aliens” but “fellow citizens with the saints, and
are of God’s household” (v. 19). God has
grafted in the believing Gentiles into believing Israel, making the church.
This is a continuation of the true, spiritual people of God
taken root in Israel. Jesus saves the
Old Testament saints who were looking forward to Him, and He saves and Jews or
Gentiles who look back to Him today. The
Son of God is the soil from which this plant grows.
This is the New Testament teaching that the church — composed
of both Jews and Gentiles — fellow heirs as the people of God in this age. The root — the promises of God made to Abraham
and the patriarchs — supports both Jewish and Gentile believers. This highlights the continuity between
Israel and the church as part of God’s people, yet it preserves a distinction.
Yet, Paul warns Gentile believers in this passage not to be
arrogant. They do not replace
Israel but are graciously grafted into God’s redemptive plan. Still, there are those Gentile Christians who
feel proud and even demean the unbelieving Jewish people today, and that’s
where we turn next.
IV.
The Warning Against Pride
In v. 18, Paul commands, “do not be arrogant toward the
branches.” Whether Jew or Gentile, we
must remember that we are where we are by God’s grace. To the Gentiles who might be tempted toward
pride, Paul says to “remember that it
is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you” (v. 18). If it
were not for God’s gracious promises to Abraham and his people according to the
flesh, then no Gentile would be saved.
Now, some might say that’s too much of a focus on the flesh
with the promise. Paul anticipates that;
he says, “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be
grafted in.’ Quite right, they were
broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear, for if God did
not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God;
to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His
kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off” (vv. 19–22). We should have reverence for the fact that,
just as God has broken off some branches for unbelief, He can break us off, as
well.
Our faith is seen in our attitude toward unbelievers, even
Jewish people. There is a disturbing
number of Christians who are starting to embrace antisemitic propaganda. They complain about the “post-war consensus,”
where, supposedly, all the allied nations choose to lie about Hitler, the
concentration camps, the holocaust, all of it.
They say that Jews propagate this lie, and they are ruining our
nation. Now, it is always possible that
there’s something in history that we miss, but the idea that we don’t really
know who the good guys and bad guys were in World War II is absurd. Moreover, while there are some unbelieving
Jews moving our country in a bad direction, there are also unbelievers of all
other stripes doing the same. This
kind of rhetoric arises from a place of sinful partiality and arrogance.
Others point to theology: The unbelieving Jews themselves
have grown arrogant in their rejection of Jesus. Those who are religious follow the Talmud,
which is the rabbinic traditions on Scripture, rather than Scripture
itself. Of course, this is true — in
places like Matthew 15:1–14, Jesus warns of “tradition” which transgresses and
invalidates the Word of God, and the Talmud was in use even then. As the Talmud developed, it generated a
thoroughgoing rejection of Jesus Christ.
Yet, the Talmud is just one of many excuses unbelievers give for not
trusting in the Lord. This fact
shouldn’t cause Christians to respond with hatred (a fruit of the flesh) but
with love (a fruit of the spirit).
Paul, a Jew, reminds us here in Romans that they were indeed
broken off for unbelief. And he also
says in vv. 23–24, “And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief,
will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature
a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive
tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?” Nothing is impossible for God, but humanly
speaking, it’s almost as though God can more easily bring them back to the
promises, regardless of their current traditions.
That brings us to the final point. We should not become arrogant against the
unbelieving Jewish person because God might use us to bring him or her to
faith. Moreover, it may be that most of
the Jewish people come to faith in Christ one day!
V.
Future Restoration of Israel
While some of Israel’s branches were broken off, Paul makes
it clear later in the chapter that God is not finished with ethnic Israel. We’ve already seen language that indicates
God’s plans in this regard. In v. 12, we
read, “Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is
riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!” In v. 15, we read, “For if their rejection is
the reconciliation of the world, what will their
acceptance be but life from the dead?”
In vv. 24–24, he speaks of the possibility of Israel being grafted back
into their own olive tree. This points
to a future restoration of ethnic Israel when they come to faith in
Christ.
Paul begins to make this clear in the next verse. He writes, “For I do not want you, brethren,
to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own
estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness
of the Gentiles has come in” (v. 25).
It’s a “partial” hardening because, in the early days of the church,
every believer was Jewish, and there remains a remnant of Jewish Christians
until this day. It’s also a “partial”
hardening because it is only until a certain point: “until the fullness of the
Gentiles.” At that point, the blinders
come off for the unbelievers.
Consider what he says next: “and so all Israel will be saved”
(v. 26). Now, our Reformed brothers and
sisters are quick to suggest that this likely refers to all spiritual Israel,
and it’s true that God will save all His spiritual people (as the emphasis on
removal of sins in vv. 26–27 suggests).
Yet, we’ve been seeing that Paul has been addressing two Israels
in this chapter — the spiritual and the physical. And both will be saved one day.
Keep following his argument if you doubt this. There are physical aspects of Israel which
are unbelievers, and as Paul says, “From the standpoint of the gospel they are
enemies for your sake” (v. 28). So, he’s
not talking about the church here, but ethnic Israel. Yet, Paul goes on to say that “but from the
standpoint of God’s choice they are
beloved for the sake of the fathers.” How
can we hate those who God calls beloved?
God has a plan for ethnic Israel. He says next that “the gifts and the calling
of God are irrevocable” (v. 29). While
the church is grafted into the olive tree and participates in the blessings of
the Abrahamic promises, God’s covenant with Israel remains intact. Romans 11 makes clear that ethnic Israel
is not permanently cast off but will be restored in the future, particularly in
the millennial kingdom. While the church
is the people of God today, Israel retains a distinct place in God’s redemptive
plan.
This restoration is part of God’s plan to fulfill His
promises to Israel, showing that while the church is now the people of
God, Israel still has a distinct role in God’s future purposes. Paul
elaborates in Romans 11:25-26 that "all Israel will be saved,"
pointing to a time when ethnic Israel will turn back to God in faith.
VI.
Conclusion
There’s a lot more we could discuss here. Should the United States continue giving
funding to Israel? Even if you don’t
believe that God will use Israel to set up the millennial kingdom of Christ,
you have to admit that they are in the land of promise and have the legal right
to live there in peace. They are an ally
in the middle of a terrorist-infested area, and the stability they provide
helps us in the long run.
Moreover, we see that they remain God’s beloved. Scripture says, “Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you” (Psa. 122:6), and that implies that
we should help them. There’s no reason
not to do so.
More to the point today, though, I hope you see the importance of faith in God through Jesus Christ. You might be wondering how God can remain faithful to ethnic Israel when so many rejected Him. However, apply that question to yourself; you’ve sinned and have spurned the grace of God at times. Yet, God demonstrates that He holds onto His promises regardless. You can know by looking at Israel that God doesn’t change His mind — if you call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, He will save you!
