Chapters 9-11
In chapters 3:21 to 8:39 we have had the righteousness of God declared in the gospel. Now in chapters 9-11 we see the righteousness of God displayed in His dispensational ways.
The Reconciliation of the Gospel With God’s Promises to Israel
This part of the epistle deals with the main objection that the Jews have with the gospel Paul preached. In their minds, his message was that God was finished with Israel and that the promises that He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning the nation's blessing were now null and void. And this is all because God, on a whim, has decided to make a new departure toward the Gentiles with the gospel!
Since this is contrary to what is stated in the Old Testament Scriptures, which are replete with unconditional promises regarding the blessing of Israel, the Jews naturally rejected Paul’s gospel. The prophets of Israel portray a coming day when that nation will be blessed of God under the reign of their Messiah. Many earthly blessings will be bestowed on them, such as: supremacy over the Gentile nations, wealth, long life, etc. The hope of every God-fearing Jew is to be part of that coming scene of earthly glory. If it’s true that God has broken off His dealings with Israel and it’s now all over for them, then God has broken His promises! The Jews knew that this was something God could not do, because He would be denying Himself (Heb. 6:17-1817Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: (Hebrews 6:17‑18)). (And they are quite right about this!) Thus, they concluded that the gospel Paul preached was a spurious and heretical thing, and rejected it out-rightly.
Knowing that what he preached could be a stumbling-block to the Jews, if not understood properly, Paul goes at once to setting this straight. In these next chapters (9-11), he shows that the Jews had mis-information about what he taught concerning the gospel and God's promises to Israel. He carefully explains that the Gospel of the Grace and the Glory of God (which he preached) does not in any way nullify, set aside, or even touch the promises of God to Israel. In fact, Paul taught that the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still stand as God gave them, and they will be realized by Israel in a coming day, in a literal sense—which is totally orthodox from a Jewish standpoint.
This is important for us to understand, because, sad to say, there are Christian teachers (Reformed theologians) who erroneously teach a system of doctrine (called “Replacement” or “Covenant” Theology) which states that the hopes of Israel are null and void! And, that the promises God made to the patriarchs will not be fulfilled to Israel in a literal sense! Instead, they tell us, that those promises have been fulfilled in the Church today in some spiritual sense! In view of these serious misunderstandings, Paul's teaching in this part of the epistle has a double purpose today. Firstly, it shows the Jews that the promises of God to Israel have not been made null and void by the gospel, and thus they will all be fulfilled literally, as God has said in His Word. And secondly, it shows that those who have imbibed Reformed Theology are sadly mistaken about their ideas concerning God's promises to Israel being "spiritualized" in the Church.
Thus, in these next three chapters, Paul reconciles the teaching of the gospel with the promises of God to Israel. He quotes from the Old Testament no less than 30 times in this section of the epistle. This shows that he was writing predominantly for those who knew the Scriptures—i.e. the Jews. He shows from God's Word that God has not gone back on His promises to Israel.
A Suspension in God’s Dealings With Israel
While God will not go back on His promises to Israel, Scripture indicates that He would temporarily suspend His dealings with them and they would be set aside nationally on account of their unbelief and rejection of Christ the Messiah. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to the student of Old Testament Scripture, for there are a number of places that indicate this (Psa. 69:22-2822Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 23Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. 24Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. 25Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. 26For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. 27Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. 28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. (Psalm 69:22‑28); Dan. 9:26-2726And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:26‑27); Micah 5:1-31Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 2But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. (Micah 5:1‑3); Zech. 11:4-144Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 5Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. 6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. 7And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. 8Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. 10And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. (Zechariah 11:4‑14), etc.). There are types that indicate it as well—in Joseph, Moses, David, etc. (Gen. 37; Ex. 2; 1 Sam. 17). There are also prophecies that indicate that after the Jews pass through a time of trouble yet to come (Dan. 9:27; 12:127And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)
1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1); Jer. 30:77Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7); Mic. 5:33Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. (Micah 5:3)), God will resume His dealings with them, whereupon a remnant of the nation will repent and receive the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and thereafter blessed in His millennial kingdom. However, Scripture does not say that this coming blessing for the nation of Israel (which will be the fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) will be the portion of every single Israelite. Many of them will show themselves to be faithless and will miss out on this national blessing (Psa. 135:1414For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants. (Psalm 135:14); Ezek. 11:9-10; 20:389And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 10Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 11:9‑10)
38And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 20:38); Dan. 12:22And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2); Amos 9:9-109For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 10All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. (Amos 9:9‑10); Zech. 13:8-98And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zechariah 13:8‑9), etc.).
The teachings of Paul in the New Testament, therefore, in no way interfere with the earthly blessings that God promised to Israel. His preaching and teaching have to do with what God is presently doing while Israel is temporarily set aside. He shows that God is presently visiting the Gentiles with favour and privilege, and is calling them by the gospel of His grace (Acts 15:1414Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14)) to be part of an altogether new thing that Christ is building—the Church of God, which is His (mystical) body (Matt. 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18); Eph. 1:22-2322And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22‑23)). This is a heavenly company of believers, separate and distinct from (restored) Israel and the Gentile nations who will be blessed with Christ on earth in His kingdom in a coming day. Thus, there is a wonderful and glorious future for Israel as their Prophets have foretold.
The reason for this present call of the gospel is that God has purposed that when Christ reigns publicly in His kingdom, He will have both a heavenly and an earthly company of blessed persons to reign with Him (Eph. 1:1010That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10)). The present call is simply the gathering out of those who will form the Church, which will be part of the heavenly company. It will consist of the Church (Eph. 2:66And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6); Phil. 3:2020For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20); Heb. 3:1; 12:22-23a; Rev. 21:9-22:59And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. 25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. 1And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 21:9‑22:5)), the Old Testament saints “made perfect” by being raised and glorified (Dan. 7:18, 22, 2718But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. (Daniel 7:18)
22Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Daniel 7:22)
27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. (Daniel 7:27) – "the saints of the high places;" John 3:2929He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. (John 3:29); Heb. 12:22Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)3b), and, children who have died under the age of understanding, who will also be raised (Matt. 18:10-1110Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:10‑11)). The earthly department in the kingdom will consist of restored Israel and the converted Gentile nations.
Those who respond to the call of the gospel today are made part of the Church. As mentioned, it is a heavenly entity with heavenly blessings and hopes, having a heavenly destiny. Paul does not disclose the details of this new departure toward the Gentiles (called the Mystery) here in the epistle to the Romans, because he is primarily occupied with Israel's side of things. Thus, this interposed, heavenly calling is like a parenthesis in God's dealings with Israel; it does not in any way upset or nullify the promises He made to them. Paul's purpose in Romans 9-11 is to show the Jews that the nation of Israel hasn't lost anything that has been promised to it. If they would repent and receive Christ—which a remnant of them will do in a coming day—all that has been promised to them nationally will be theirs in the fullest sense. Paul also shows in these chapters that some Jews today have "pre-trusted" in Christ by believing the gospel of their salvation which Paul preached (Eph. 1:12-1312That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:12‑13)). He calls them "a remnant according to the election of grace" (Rom. 11:55Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. (Romans 11:5)) and "the Israel of God" (Gal. 6:1616And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:16)). As a result of their reception of Christ now, they have been made part of the Church (Eph. 3:66That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: (Ephesians 3:6)).
A day will come when God's outreach to the Gentile nations with the gospel of His grace will be over, and “the fulness of the Gentiles” will be “come in” (chap. 11:25). This means that the full number of Gentiles who will believe the gospel according to the election of grace will be complete. The Rapture will then take place (1 Thess. 4:15-1815For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15‑18)), and all who have believed the gospel (Christians) will be taken to heaven, whereupon God will begin to deal with Israel again to bring a remnant of the nation into blessing with Christ on earth in His millennial kingdom. This simple sequence in God's ways with “the Jews” and “the Gentiles” and “the Church of God” is called "Dispensational truth" (1 Cor. 10:3232Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (1 Corinthians 10:32)).
An Overview of Chapters 9-11
• Chapter 9—Paul shows that the sovereign election of Israel still stands, and that God, being sovereign, has every right to call Gentiles into blessing today.
• Chapter 10—Paul presents the moral responsibility of man to believe the gospel—whether Jew or Gentile. He reports that the Jews have failed in this responsibility and this has opened the door for blessing to go out to the Gentiles, and many of them have come into blessing through faith.
• Chapter 11—Paul explains that the stumbling of Israel is only a temporary thing; the eventual rejection of grace by the Gentiles will prepare the way for Israel's restoration, whereupon the promises to their fathers will be fulfilled.
This section of the epistle (chaps. 9-11) begins in a sorrowful tone (chap. 9:1-2), but it ends with a note of triumph and rejoicing (chap. 11:33-36). It ends on a happy note because, as Paul explains, God is in complete control of everything, and He will work out all things for His own glory and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also for the blessing of those who will believe. Knowing this gives Christians confidence to trust God in His dispensational ways, and to praise Him even now for His ways, before we see His plans for the blessing of the world come to fruition in the kingdom of Christ.