In Romans chapter eleven, the apostle makes it so clear that God is not through with the Nation of Israel. We find a mystery or secret that was hidden in the mind of God until revealed to the apostle Paul in verse 11:25.
‘For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.’
Romans 11:25
Since the church fathers like Origen, Irenaeus, Constantine, and Augustine, most of Christendom has professed that God is finished with the nation of Israel. But the Bible says otherwise: He (Jesus Christ) is still going to return one day and fulfill all the promises He Himself made to the Jewish people (His chosen people).
Now here in Romans 11:25, there is a mystery (or secret) that was revealed to the apostle Paul, not Peter and the eleven; they knew nothing of this because it was hidden from them. As for the so-called church fathers they have no excuse (they had the full counsel of God, the Bible), they have twisted this passage, ignored all of the Old Testament covenants God made to the nation of Israel, or made God’s promises to Israel their own (i.e., they are now for Gentiles) because they could not and would not believe what God said (no faith), and completely twisted scripture (especially Paul’s epistles) in unbelief to their own destruction.
‘and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.’
II Peter 3:15-16
Now let’s take a look at this mystery that had not been revealed until 40 AD, when the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus revealed it to the apostle Paul.
Romans 11:25
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (or secret, and this secret has been held in the mind of God until revealed to Paul) lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; (which a lot of Gentiles are today, they will not believe) that blindness in part (not forever, but they have been temporarily blinded as a nation for almost 2000 years) has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Come into what? The body of Christ, which is His church, or the church, which is His body (Colossians 1:24; Ephesians 1:22-23) Then, at God’s appointed time, when the last Gentile is saved, the body of Christ, which is His church, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds (1 Corinthians 15:51–52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17). After this (Acts 15:16) (the rapture of the church), God’s prophetic time clock will start once again to bring to fruition the final seven years of the 490 years prophesied by Daniel (Daniel 9:24).
The Mystery of Gentile Salvation
All of the Old Testament testifies that God would one day save Gentiles, with Israel being the instrument of Gentile salvation. Beginning with Genesis 12:1-3, the Abrahamic covenant, we find that through Abraham’s Seed, “all” the nations of the earth will be blessed.
The Old Testament timeline clearly indicated that Gentiles were on the mind of God, as made so clear in Isaiah 42:6, Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 60:1-3, Zechariah 8:22–23, and other passages. Once Israel became the obedient nation, the “Kingdom of Priests” (Exodus 19:5–6), then Israel would evangelize the pagan Gentile world around them. But hidden in the mind of God was a secret: that He would go to the Gentiles without Israel (because of Israel’s disobedience) and because of and through Israel at the same time (through the Jewish people, we have the word of God, and through the Jewish people, we have the Savior of the world).
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING… God’s word is precise and perfect. This theme is so beautifully summed up in Romans chapter 11 and epitomized in Romans 11:32–33. Of which all were preordained by the Triune God before time began (Acts 2:23).
It’s crucial to understand that the Bible is a progressive revelation.
‘For God has committed them all (the nation of Israel) to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all (both Jews and Gentiles). Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!’
Romans 11:32-33
‘Him (Jesus Christ), being delivered by the determinate counsel (the Triune Godhead preordained, before creation, that God the Son would step out of the invisible Spirit and become flesh) and foreknowledge (again the Triune God knew before creation that Israel would be disobedient and would temporarily blind Israel Romans 11:25, and turn to the whole world with a message of salvation that is by grace through faith alone in the finished work of the cross apart from the Mosaic law and temple worship) of God, ye (ye, is speaking of the nation of Israel as a whole) have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:’
Acts 2:23
Because the nation of Israel as a whole rejected Christ (which God already knew they would do because of His foreknowledge), God displaced them from Jerusalem and dispersed them into the nations of the world, and now He has gone to the Gentiles with the Gospel of the Grace of God. A mystery, a secret, hidden in the mind of God, but now (around 40 AD) revealed to the apostle Paul.
Takeaway
Let us embrace this revealed mystery, recognizing that God’s faithfulness to Israel persists. And maintain a heart of gratitude as God, because of Israel and through Israel, has poured out His grace upon all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles.
As we navigate theological discussions, may we anchor our understanding and believe (faith) in the precise and perfect Scripture, appreciating the depth of God’s judgments and the unsearchable nature of His ways.
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