By Steven J. Hogan
The future of the Jewish People
Has God nullified His promises to the Jewish people, promises concerning giving them land, a King, and salvation (Ezekiel 37:24-28)? Has God, because of their rejection of Him, rejected them? Have His promises to them been given to the Church?
What are God’s plans for the Jewish people during this current Church Age? Romans 11 answers these questions, with a specific emphasis on God’s plans to save a remnant of the Jewish people.
Romans 11:1-10
“Far from it!” (v. 1). In the strongest of words, Paul tells us that God has NOT rejected the Jewish people.
He wants us to know “there has also come to be at the present time a remnant” (v. 5), referring to Jewish people who were, are being, and would be saved during this Church Age.
This remnant is comprised of Jews whom God foreknew – those He planned to save from eternity past. Paul makes it clear that their salvation is by God’s grace, not by their works, so that all Jewish people who are saved are saved because of God’s gracious choice (Ephesians 1:4).
What about the Jewish people who are not saved? “The rest were hardened” (v. 7) for they did not repent of their sins and believe in the Messiah – and God hardens the hearts of all those who do not believe, who willingly harden their hearts against Him.
A great majority of the Jewish people rejected Jesus, not just in the 1st century (Acts 13:44-52), but throughout the centuries. Therefore, there’s a partial hardening of the Jewish people (Romans 11:25), but the good news is that it’s not a complete hardening, for this remnant is still being saved.
Not only that, but this hardening is temporary, for at the end of Daniel’s 70th Week, “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26).
Indeed, God will keep His promise to His chosen people! “He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His name” (Psalm 111:9).
Romans 11:11-16
Paul speaks of the Jewish people as ones who stumbled, but did not fall, meaning that God’s plan for “all Israel to be saved” is now on hold. However, as I just noted, this will be only for a time, for after this age is over – after the rapture of the Church – the Jewish remnant will be redeemed.
But why did God allow the Jewish people to stumble in the first place? He did it for the sake of the Gentiles. The sin of the Jewish people – their rejection of Messiah – is resulting in a large number of Gentiles being saved during this Church Age, and Paul, “an apostle of Gentiles” (v. 13) was thankful for this.
Paul also knew that when the Jewish people saw Gentiles being saved (Galatians 3:6-14), they would be jealous, resulting in some of them – the remnant – trusting in the Messiah and being saved.
Paul then tells of the bigger and eternal picture, that all this will turn out not just for the present good of the Gentiles, but for the future good of the Jewish people. He wrote: “How much more will their fulfillment be?” (v. 12) and “What will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (v. 15).
Throughout the years, millions of Jewish people have rejected Christ, but all the Jewish people who will be alive at the end of Daniel’s 70th Week will accept Him, and then “all Israel will be saved” (v. 26). “Israel has been saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation” (Isaiah 45:17).
Their salvation will set the stage for Jesus’ glorious 1,000-year (Millennial) reign, when all these newly saved Jews will worship Him and rule with Him (Hebrews 11:10-16, 39-40).
Romans 11:17-24
Paul knew that many saved Gentiles could mistakenly believe they were better than the Jews. Therefore, he told them: “… and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in” and were partakers of the “rich root” (v. 17).
He wanted the believing Gentiles to know they were saved in this Church Age because some of the Jewish people were “broken off” due to unbelief.
The “rich root” refers to God’s unconditional promise to Abraham: “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Additionally, their God-given faith in Christ was the same kind of faith Abraham possessed (Genesis 15:5-21; Romans 4:9-25). Only because of God’s promise, power, and grace are these Gentiles saved.
To make doubly sure these Gentiles knew their salvation wasn’t solely because of God’s love for them, Paul reminds them that God will graft in the Jewish people (which will occur at Christ’s second coming): “This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days … I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:33, 34).
This leads us to the next verses.
Romans 11:25-32
In no way does God want us “to be uninformed” (v. 25) about His plans for the Jewish people. God wants all believers to know that this “partial hardening” (v. 25) of the Jewish people, which has been occurring for close to 2,000 years, will not continue.
Now that the Jewish people are back in their land, we know we are living in the end-times, and that it won’t be long before this ends, and we will say, the “fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (v. 25) – and “all Israel will be saved” (v. 26). Gentile Christians need to see the Jewish people as ones loved by God, and therefore we are to also love them.
Verse 29 tell us that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable,” which means God won’t go back on His word, but will keep His promise to save the Jewish people.
God neither lies nor changes His mind, and He has not forsaken His people – He will be true to His word! In the near future, this partial and temporary hardening of the Jewish people will come to an end, and “all Israel will be saved” (v. 26).
Just as God was merciful to us when we were disobedient, so too will God be merciful to this remnant of Jewish people!
Steven J. Hogan has been a pastor-teacher for more than 25 years and at Hope Bible Church of Tampa since 2003.
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