Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Sep 16, 2015: Romans 11:16-36 Israel Is Still Gods People
Transcript
- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015. We're going to be in Romans chapter 11 this evening, continuing our journey through the book of Romans and jumping kind of right into the middle of a thought here in Romans chapter 11 where Paul's been talking about his love for the nation of Israel and also God's plan for the nation of Israel. And so we'll be looking at Israel being God's people as we began looking at that last week as well, the first part of chapter 11. But let's start this evening by reading verses 16 through 22 and getting into the passage that the Lord has for us this evening. Romans chapter 11 verse 16 says... Verse 1. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. Verse 19. You will say then, branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well said. Because of unbelief, they were broken off. And you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he may not spare you either. Verse 22. Verse 22. Here in Romans chapter 11, Paul the Apostle began back in verse 1 with a question. Has God cast away his people? Has he thrown off his people and said, you know what, I'm done with Israel because of their rejection of Jesus, because of their continual rebellion, and he's reached out to them continually, he said in chapter 10, but they've been rebellious and stubborn. And so then it leads him to this question, does that mean then that God has cast off his people? And he answers the question by saying, certainly not. And he provides himself as the evidence for that. He says, And so he went in, as we looked at verses 1 through 15 last week, we saw that Israel is God's people, and he established the truth that Israel is God's chosen people. He's not cast them away. There is a blindness that's upon Israel, but he's not done with them, and the plan is not over. He still has things in store for the nation of Israel. And so as we look at Paul's heart for the nation of Israel, we continue to see that this evening. Remember in chapter 9 and 10, he expressed at the beginning of the chapters his great desire for Israel to be saved. And that is part of the plan of God. And that's what he's talking about here in chapter 11. Now, some people in Paul's day believed and taught differently that, you know, God was done with Israel. They were no more. And people continue to teach and believe those things today. And so Paul is refuting that mindset, that thinking that Israel is no more having a place in God's plan. No, Israel is God's people. That's been true ever since Abraham. And it's still true today. It will always be true. Now, as Paul deals with the different things Subjects we'll be looking at tonight. I just want to give a quick reminder. A key to understanding the things that Paul is talking about here in Romans chapter 11 is that Paul is speaking about Israel as a group collectively. And so he's not saying, you know, every single individual Jewish person when he talks about Israel. He's talking about Israel as a whole, collectively, generally. And the same thing is true when he's talking about Gentiles. He's speaking about the group, the Gentiles, that is, those who are not Jews. And he's speaking about them collectively and generally. And so... I would caution against taking some of these scriptures and trying to apply them to individual salvation and individual experience with God. But he's talking about these people groups as God is working amongst humanity. But so the message this evening, as we look at chapter 11, verses 16 through 36, the title of the message is that Israel is still God's people. We saw that Israel is God's people at the beginning of chapter 11. And even today as we study these things, you need to know that Israel is still God's people. That's true today. It will always be true. And so there's some things that we learn about the nation of Israel and God's plan for them as we continue on. And so there's four points that we'll look at here in chapter 11. The first point we'll find in verses 16 through 22, and that is do not boast against Israel. Since Israel is still God's people, we need to be careful of the attitude, the mindset, and the heart that we have towards the nation of Israel because they are God's chosen people. And so jumping into verse 16, he says, Now he's going to start talking about ♪♪ And he refers to them as being holy. And so he says, if the first fruit is holy, well, then the rest are also holy. Now, the first fruit was an offering that the children of Israel were instructed to offer to the Lord. That is, when they would harvest the grain, before they could harvest the grain and partake of it themselves personally, they would harvest a small portion of which they would refer to as the first fruit. So first things first, they would harvest a small portion and they would take that to the Lord and they would offer it to the Lord. And that was the first fruit in faith for the rest of the crop that they were about to harvest. And so if that first fruit is holy, that first thing that's offered to the Lord, it was representative of the rest of the harvest. And so the rest is holy as well as what Paul is saying here. And then he uses the same point, but just slightly different analogy. So if the root is holy, then the branches are holy. So, you know, if the roots, you know, in holy water, in holy ground, and then it's going to be receiving the nutrients from that. And the result, the product of that is going to be holy as well. And so he's talking about the origins as God has established the nation of Israel from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and given them these great promises and set them apart. It's not that these men were holy in the sense that they were perfect. But they were holy in the sense that God set them apart. He gave them specific promises. And so the product of that, their descendants are part of those promises and that work that God is doing with the nation of Israel, the people of Israel. Verse 17, he says, and if some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. Now, Paul here is using this illustration of the olive tree just to paint the picture. And let me just remind you that we as Gentiles, we have salvation because of God's work amongst the nation of Israel and God's plan for Israel, God's desire to bring salvation through Israel. All of that results in the opportunity for us to have salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, The olive tree representing the nation of Israel or really God's plan for the nation of Israel. The branches, he says, some of them were broken off. That is, the nation of Israel, when Jesus came, rejected Jesus. And as they rejected Jesus, they rejected their Messiah, and it changed for them their standing in God's current work, his present work, so that God has begun to work through the church, where Israel was originally called to be the light of the world, and now God has called the church to be the light of the world. And so some people would have this attitude, this haughty attitude, well, you know, some branches were broken off that we might be placed in. And here in verse 18, he's saying, don't boast against the branches. Don't boast against Israel. Don't boast against, you know, and think that somehow the Gentiles are are greater or better or have some better standing than Israel does, he compares it to being grafted in. And so if you wanted to add on to or bring in an extra branch to an olive tree, you could do this kind of grafting where you cut a piece out and then you bring in this other branch. And he refers to it as a wild olive tree. So take a branch from a wild tree and you graft it into your olive established olive tree, and you're able to, you know, produce branches and fruit in that way. But it's a secondary type of way to produce fruit. It's not as strong. Grafted branches are not as strong. And it's something that, you know, we can understand. It's just a picture for us to understand. Salvation, by God's design, is primarily for the Jews. It's Again, remember Romans 1, verse 16. The gospel, we shouldn't be ashamed of it. It's the power of God unto salvation, Paul says, for the Jew first and then also for the Greek or the Gentiles. That is, God's plan of salvation always centers around the nation of Israel. But in their rejection of Jesus Christ, and we went through a lot of these details last week, It opened up the door. God then reached out through their rejection to all of humanity, through the Gentiles, and we're grafted in. And so we get to partake of the goodness of God and the offer of salvation, the working of God as a result of that. And so we ought to count ourselves incredibly blessed and privileged to benefit from the work of God towards Israel. And Paul is saying we must never think too highly of ourselves, but we should honor Israel and appreciate Israel and recognize that Israel is God's chosen people. Do you remember the parable that Jesus spoke about the wedding feast and how the wedding was ready and he sent out the invitations already, everybody knew about it, but then when it was time for the feast, he sent out the servants to call the people to the wedding feast and then the people started making excuses. Well, you know, I have a field I need to check out or I just got married, I have these things going on, I can't make it. And so everybody made excuses and nobody was going to attend the wedding feast. And so the master sent out his servants and said, okay, well, forget about the invited people. Go out just to whoever you can find on the highways and the byways and invite people to come in. And so the servants went out and brought people into the feast and And then the master came and looked and there was still room. There was still lots of spots available at the feast. And so he sent out his servants again and go farther now, go to the hedges and the, you know, the shrubs and, you know, dig up whoever you can find and just get people and bring them in so that there will be abundant people at this wedding feast. That's a picture for us. The nation of Israel were the initial invites, right? They were the ones who had the initial invite from the Lord to partake of the work of God and the salvation offered by the Messiah. But they made excuses. They had other thoughts and ideas about how to get right with God. And so they rejected that invitation. And so the Lord has sent out the invitation to the highways and the byways and the hedges. Now, that is, you know, a reference to us. We're hedge people. And hedge people have no room to boast. You know, he kind of dug us up and pulled us out of the muck and brought us into the wedding feast. And so we have no place, no room to boast against Israel. No room for anti-Semitism. There's no room for us to be against or opposed to God's people. They are God's people, and we are so blessed and privileged to have the opportunity of the work of God in our lives and salvation offered to us as a result of God's plan for them. And so that's the idea that Paul is getting across here using this olive tree in the branches illustration, that we're not to boast. We're to understand our role and our position in the plan of God. In verse 19, he says, And so you might say, well, but... Why can't we be a little bit haughty? Because, I mean, they were broken off so that we could be brought in. It was like, you know, God removed them. He took them out of the way so that there could be room for us. You know, that's kind of the attitude that he's conveying here. But Paul says, you got to understand, they were broken off because of unbelief. So they rejected Jesus. They refused to believe. They refused to approach God, to be right with God by faith. But he says, And saved Gentiles, that is for the most part you and I as believers in Jesus, the church, we are in our current condition because of faith. We have believed in Jesus. There's no room for haughtiness. It's not anything that we have to boast of, anything that we are able to, you know, be arrogant about. Instead, he says, we ought to fear. And there's much room for fear. No room for haughtiness. no room for pride and arrogance, but there's much room for fear. Now, not that we have to be paranoid, you know, like, oh no, is God going to strike me down today? Or is God going to take away my salvation today? You know, it's not that God's going to change his mind, but I would suggest that fear is appropriate because we are prone to wander. It's not that God changes, but we're pretty flaky. We're pretty wishy-washy. And so there's an appropriate fear that we need to have understanding our own nature and understanding our own need to walk with God. And Paul's saying we can easily find ourselves in Israel's place. In a state of unbelief and not experiencing the blessings and benefits of the work of God. In verse 21, he says, So here's why we ought to fear. Because if God didn't spare the natural branches, those, you know, were the natural ones. They were the most valuable ones in a sense. Then the ones that were grafted in, he's not going to sweat over that. Sure, pull out those grafted in branches if they're not producing fruit. If they're not fruitful, then no need to keep them around. Now, again, I would caution against using these verses and just looking at them specifically and only as a, you know, individual. And sometimes these verses are brought in for the whole discussion about once saved, always saved and things like that. But Paul's speaking generally. He's saying, look, since God did not... spare the nation of Israel since they had this part they had this place in his plan but they rejected his plan they rebelled against it so he's moved on now he's not given up on them and their time is not over completely but he's moved on and now he's working through the church but if the church if the Gentiles turn to unbelief and respond in the same way that Israel did then Well, God's able to work beyond that, and he's not so desperate, you know, for us that he's going to ignore that, and we have to continue in faith. We have to continue in the grace of God. J. Vernon McGee says it this way. He says, since God did not spare the nation Israel when they apostatized, when they left God, the argument is that he will not spare an apostate church. If we reject God, if we reject Jesus Christ, well, we're in danger. We're in danger of judgment. Remember what Jesus said to the church in Revelation 2, verse 5, the church of Ephesus. He says, And so this is where we need to understand there's an appropriate need to fear God. to recognize the place that we have. And it's a place of privilege and a place of honor, but no room for haughtiness, but all kinds of room for us to repent and to rely upon God and to come to God to receive his grace and mercy. Verse 22, therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God on those who fell severity, but toward you, goodness. If you continue in his goodness, otherwise you also will be cut off. So he says, consider two things. Consider, number one, God's goodness. And number two, consider God's severity. This is an important thing for us to spend some time on, for us to wrap our minds around. A lot of times we focus on one aspect of God and we neglect another aspect of God. And so he says, here's what you need to consider. The goodness as well as the severity of God. God is not just one thing. And sometimes people focus on, well, God is love. And so then that's all they think about. That's all they, everything is interpreted to God is love. And they come up with some wacky conclusions about God, who God is and the way that God works because, well, God is love. But if we neglect the reality that God is also holy, then we're going to miss out on understanding who God really is. We're going to have a skewed perspective on God. God is not just one thing. And so he says, consider God's goodness and God's severity. You could maybe put it also another way. Consider God's mercy and God's justice. God is just and he is severe in his justice. He's also good in his mercy. Now, understanding how important Israel is to God, you know, kind of putting together the things that we've been looking at here in chapters 9, 10, and 11, we could easily think that God would never cast off Israel, even temporarily. When Paul says, has God cast off Israel in verse 1? Certainly not. We understand he's talking about a permanent, you know, no means for salvation for any of the Jews. Certainly not. That's not true. But he also goes on to say, but he has cast them off. There is a temporary change that God has made. Now, if we, before that, without understanding these things, just understood the importance of Israel to God, we could think, never. He'll never do that. He'll never even temporarily cast them off. And that's what the Jews thought. The Jews thought that they had this ultra secure place no matter what because they were God's chosen people. But consider the severity of God. God wasn't willing for them to stay in that unrepentant rebellious state experiencing his work and his blessing and his salvation. He was willing to deal with that sinfulness. He's willing to deal with that rebellion and not put up with it. God is severe. He doesn't put up with sin. He is holy. He deals with wrongdoing. He deals with and brings justice. But also consider God's goodness. Now, the point that he's been making is that as a result of Israel turning away and rejecting Jesus Christ, the gospel was brought to the Gentiles. And so he says, you guys experience goodness. The goodness of God. God doing great things and bringing grace and mercy to you. And so there is the goodness of God. There is the grace and the mercy of God. But don't think then that you can just take that for granted, live however you want and say, well, I can live in sin because there's grace. No, he says, consider the goodness and the severity of God. We need to consider both and understand that both are accurate depictions of and characteristics of God. The commentator William MacDonald says, nothing can separate a believer from the love of God, but the Gentile peoples can be removed from their present position of special privilege. If we collectively as a group turn away from the Lord in the same way that the Jews did, we will miss out. We will lose our opportunity to be part of God's work in the same way that Israel did. So Israel is still God's people. We're not to boast against them. We have a privileged part in God's plan and God's work. It's nothing to boast about, though. It's received by grace, God's goodness. And our job is to accept that, to receive his grace, and then to walk in that. Well, going on in verses 23 through 27, point number two now, Paul says that Israel's blindness is temporary. It's temporary. This isn't permanent. This isn't, you know, their final condition. This is a temporary condition. Verse 23 says, And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? So again, speaking generally, collectively about Israel and about Gentiles, he says they were part of the olive tree. They were part of God's plan and God's work, and they were removed because of their unbelief. God's able to graft them in again. If God could take Gentiles and make them a part of his work and his kingdom, then how much easier will it be for him to take his own people that he has chosen and bring them back into his plan and into the work that he has in store for them? And so that's the point that he's making. If a wild branch can be grafted in, how much more can the original branch that was taken out be grafted back in and be able to thrive and be fruitful once again? And so again, we can become arrogant and Thinking, hey, the Gentiles are fruitful. It's all about the church. Israel missed out. But his point is, it's much easier for God to bring Israel back to their rightful place than it is for the Gentiles to be grafted in and for the work to continue through the church. Verse 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. And so Paul says, I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery. Now notice that he says there's mystery here. So if you're getting a little bit lost here and there, if all of this is like, there's, you know, some work to be done to put all these pieces together, that's okay. It's appropriate. A mystery, biblically speaking, is something that was previously hidden, but is revealed. And so there is some challenging truths to hear to this, but God is revealing it, and he's bringing forth this revelation through the Apostle Paul, using these different illustrations to help us understand the truths of how God works and the way that he has put these things together. And so he says, I don't want you to be ignorant. So if you're struggling with some of these concepts, don't be ignorant. Don't give up struggling with them. Work to wrap your mind. Continue to read and meditate on these thoughts to understand God's plan with the nation of Israel and with the Gentiles. Because if you don't understand, he says, the danger is that you could be wise in your own opinion. When we misunderstand, when we don't fully understand and recognize the mystery that is being revealed, he says, well, we'll become wise in our own opinion. Again, we'll have that spirit of haughtiness, that arrogance, which should not be there for us. He says, here's what you need to understand. Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. There's a partial blindness. Now again, he's been talking about the Jewish people collectively, but as he says the blindness is partial, he's saying it's not total. That is, individual Jews have believed. And that's why, again, in verse 1, Paul says, God hasn't cast off Israel. I'm a believer. I'm part of God's work. I've believed in Jesus Christ. And so there is a partial blindness in that, for the most part, the majority of Jews have rejected Jesus. But there are some who have had their eyes opened, who've had the veil removed, and who have turned to the Lord by faith in Jesus Christ. This partial blindness, where God is working individually in the lives of Jewish people, but not collectively as a whole are the followers of him and walking with him. This, he says, is temporary. This partial blindness is going to happen until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Now, the fullness of the Gentiles is an interesting concept. The word fullness, it means to be complete, or it's the total number. It was used of talking about ships. So when all the crew and all the passengers, you know, were on the ship, then it was a filled ship. It was, you know, the fullness of the ship. Or when all the cargo was loaded, that was the fullness, you know, it was complete. The total number was filled. And that's the idea here, the total number, the completeness of the Gentiles. Now, this speaks to, here's what we believe about these things. It begins to deal with some of the prophetic understandings that we have. And so, looking back very quickly at Daniel chapter 9, you don't have to turn there, but you remember the prophecy that was given to Daniel about the 70 weeks that were appointed for the nation of Israel. And in those 70 weeks, we look at those and understand that he's not talking about 70 periods of seven days, but 70 periods of seven years for a total of 490 years. And as you look at that passage and see the history of Israel, we can see that 483 of those 490 years were fulfilled. But there's a final seven-year period that is yet to be fulfilled. And so the pause button was hit. When Jesus came the first time, and as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9, verse 9, They laid down the palm branches and said, Hosanna, blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord. As he rode in, it was the fulfillment and the final part of that 483 years. And then God's work with the nation of Israel essentially has been paused since then. And since then, it's been what we refer to as the church age, where God has been Calling the church to be the light of the world. And bringing forth his message and his work to the world by the church. And so it was ever since then where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. That he, the Messiah, was cut off. That's a reference back to Daniel chapter 9. For the people. And then the followers of Jesus have continued on the work. And it is the church age. But there's still a seven-year period that is yet to be fulfilled. Right? And we look forward in the sense that it's not yet fulfilled to the seven-year tribulation period as that final seven-year piece of God's plan for the nation of Israel. And so there is the church age currently happening. And that comes to an end at the fullness of the Gentiles. And then will begin the next period of seven years that God will be working specifically with the nation of Israel, but also with the world in the seven years of tribulation. Pastor John Corson puts it this way. There is a Gentile somewhere on the earth who is the last one to be saved. So there's a complete number, you know, and there's someone who is the final one. That's the idea. That's the picture that Paul is painting for us. There's someone, you know, the The Lord is bringing people to salvation. He's bringing people to faith in Jesus Christ, and they're getting saved. And at some point, there's going to be that final person, that final one that, okay, that's it. That's the number. That's the fulfillment. That's the filling and the fullness that the church had appointed for it. And so that's it. That's the final one. That's the last one. God calls the church home to be with him, and then the world continues on into the tribulation period where Jesus is working directly with the nation of Israel. So the plan of God switches back, the focus of God switches back to the nation of Israel, and it's during that time where the nation of Israel returns to Jesus and looks to Jesus and understands that Jesus is the Messiah. Not just some individuals within the nation like it is currently, but But as a whole, there will be exceptions. There will still be those who don't believe in Jesus. But as a whole, the majority, collectively, the people of Israel will return to Jesus and believe in Jesus Christ during that time. And so there is going to be a revival in the nation of Israel. And they are going to turn to their Messiah, Jesus Christ. And so Paul's point here is that Israel's blindness is temporary. Right? There's this period of the church age until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and then God will begin to once again work with the nation of Israel directly, and their blindness will be removed. Verse 26. And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Here he quotes from Isaiah chapter 59, verses 28. And so he says, all Israel will be saved. So again, after the church age, as they go into the tribulation, the people of Israel collectively will turn to the Lord and all Israel will be saved. And it will be the fulfillment of not just Isaiah 59, but many other scriptures as the people of God turn back to God and accept their Messiah. God is going to do a glorious and amazing work in the midst of that. And so Israel as a whole will be saved. Their blindness is temporary, but it will be removed. It's temporary for the church age. And during this time, individual Jews are saved by believing in Jesus just like everybody else. But after the church age, Israel is going to turn to Jesus by faith. The blindness will be ended, and they will get to experience God's working in their midst again. of the tribulation and then the thousand years reign of Christ that follows that. Well, point number three, as we go on in verses 28 through 32, here we see Israel is beloved. Israel is beloved or God's beloved. In verse 28, he says, So again, Paul is making the point Israel is blind, right? but beloved. That is, they're not cast off. They still are beloved by God. They still have this great and important place in God's heart and in God's plan. Even though they oppose the gospel, he says they're enemies concerning the gospel. They reject the gospel. They not just reject it, but they oppose the gospel. But God has not stopped loving Israel. They've not ceased to be his beloved. God is going to be faithful to the promises that he made to Abraham. It's not going to change. It's going to continue. He's going to continue to have them as his beloved. He says in verse 29, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. They're irrevocable. That is, I like the definition of irrevocable for kids. Impossible to take away or undo. It's impossible to undo the gifts and the calling of God. Impossible to undo it. Impossible to take it back. Israel is God's chosen people, and that is irrevocable. That's permanent. They're always going to have this special status in God's heart, in God's plan. That's always going to be that way. That's never going to change. Israel's place in God's plan is a gift. and it's a calling and nothing can change that his love for israel is irrevocable now this is important for us to understand again to recognize the nation of israel and their part in god's plan and and how we relate to that but also these these are valuable truths for us to consider because you see how god is so steadfast in his promise to the people of israel to abraham He made this promise thousands of years ago, but he's steadfast in it. He's stubborn in it. He's going to continue to hold them in this position. No matter what they've done, no matter how much time has passed, you can see that God is faithful to his word. And so we're getting to understand here the character of God as we look at Israel in God's plan and in God's work. So that we can also consider the promises that are made to us, the church, that are made to us individually and understand that God is faithful to keep his word. He's faithful to his promises, not just to Israel, but to all peoples. He is faithful to his word. In verse 30, he says, for as you were once disobedient to God, yet now you have obtained mercy through their disobedience. Verse 31, even so these also have now been disobedient that through the mercy shown you, they also may obtain mercy. This is God's plan unfolding here. Israel's disobedience resulted in your mercy, resulted in God showing mercy to Remember Paul's point earlier? His objective was to make Israel jealous in verse 11. He says... Have they stumbled that they should fall? He said, certainly not. But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. So this is part of God's plan. He understood, he knew beforehand how Israel was going to behave, how they were going to reject the Messiah. And so he used that to accomplish salvation to the Gentiles. But salvation to the Gentiles is not just the, you know, the final desired end result. That wasn't just like, okay, that was the means, that's the end. But then also that salvation to the Gentiles is doing something with the nation of Israel so that then salvation will be brought to the nation of Israel as well as they're provoked to jealousy by the mercy shown to the Gentiles. And so then in verse 13, he says, look, I'm an apostle to the Gentiles. So I magnified my ministry so that I may provoke to jealousy those who are of my flesh, those of my brethren, those who are of the nation of Israel. Because again, Paul expressed his great love for Israel and his desire for them to be saved. And so he magnified his ministry. He did his ministry to the Gentiles as best as he possibly could because he understood God's plan. God's plan is that as God is working amongst the Gentiles, he's using that to do a work amongst the Jews. In the same way that while the work amongst the Jews and their rejection of Jesus brought salvation to the Gentiles, the salvation of the Gentiles is provoking the Jews to jealousy and it will bring them to salvation as well. In verse 32, he says, They've been disobedient. And so he's moved on to the Gentiles. He's committed them all to this disobedience so that he can come back and have mercy on all. It's part of God's plan. God's working with Israel is similar to his working with individuals for salvation, right? In Galatians 3, verse 22, Paul says, We've all been sinned. confined under sin. We've all been, you know, sinful. We've all have this condition, this status, so that salvation is simply a work of God's grace and God's goodness. And the same is true for the nation of Israel. They have a special place in God's heart. They have a special place in God's plan, and his plan is to show them mercy. So they're going to obtain salvation in the same way that Gentiles obtain salvation, and that is by faith in Jesus Christ. by God's mercy. Israel is still God's people. Israel is beloved of God. They have this special place in God's heart, in God's plan. It's unchangeable. It will always be that way. That is permanent because God is faithful to his word. Well, finally, we're going to go now into verses 33 through 36. And here we have point number four, and that is that God's wisdom is unsearchable. So as you consider this plan, and remember, Paul said it was a mystery, right? It was hidden. It's being revealed. There's some confusing aspects of it to us. There's some aspects that, well, if I was God, I don't know if I would actually do it that way. You know, we might think, we might say to ourselves, or we might think, well, I don't know if that's the best way, or maybe what about this way, or what about that way? And so here Paul goes on to say, here's what we need to understand, right? We don't understand. In verse 33, I know I've been kind of going a little bit speedily through the previous verses, but I want to slow down a little bit for these remaining verses and just help us to think through what Paul is saying here. He says, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Here, Paul is really crying out in worship. He's marveling at who God is and the work of God. And so this is referred to as a doxology. It's an expression of worship. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He's marveling at God's wisdom. He's marveling at God's knowledge as he considers God's plan for the nation of Israel, how he used that to reach the Gentiles and how he used that to go back and reach the Jews. Like this is God's plan. It's how he has orchestrated things. And he says there's great depth here to the wisdom of God, to the knowledge of God. And his ways are unsearchable. His judgments are unsearchable. They're past finding things. I started to think about, I wonder if we really know the meaning of unsearchable in our day. Maybe in previous days we could have understood that idea of unsearchable. But, you know, with so much information at our fingertips, there's not much that we can't find out. What question do you have that can't be answered? Of course, we can just Google it, right? We can just look it up. Google searches 30 trillion web pages 100 billion times a month in order to come up with the index that, you know, you're able to look. And so you're able to access all this information, searching web pages, books, you know. If there's an answer to any type of question, you can find it very quickly. There's not much that's unsearchable for us. When he talks about God, he says, how unsearchable are his judgments. His ways are past finding out. The wisdom and knowledge of God have infinite depth. And as, you know, maybe if Google tried its best, it could never index the wisdom and knowledge of God. It could never provide a service where we could find out exactly everything that God is doing with any particular thing. think about it this way. Think about the complexity of the human body. Now, I'm not an expert. I don't have anything to do, you know, with anatomy or anything like that. But just think of the complexity of our human body that you could think of it on a very basic level, you know, the different members of our body and how they work together and how they're joined together. But then you could get into great detail and looking at the different systems, you know, and so you have the the different aspects, the different organs, the nervous system, all these things that are working together. And you take any component of the human body and you could spend the rest of your life essentially researching it. You can become an expert on that component because there's great depth to it. There's great complexity to every part of the different members of your body, the different systems that are working within your body. And then think about that complexity times 7 billion or 6 billion, how many ever people there are in the world just right now at this moment, not thinking about all of eternity. Then factor in, maybe add in some of the complexity of insects, right? Just as humans have great complexity in who we are and how we function, well, then you have this incredible variety of all these different kinds of insects with the similar levels of complexity in their makeup and in what they do and in their part of life. the things that happen and things that affect the world. And then you can consider the complexity of animals and the complexity of plants and then how all of that works together and how we interact together and then add to that the complexity of our weather and the climate and the ecological system and all the things that are happening with that and then add to the complexity of that our solar system and how, you know, things are rotating and spinning and moving and going around and then you add to the complexity of that. the galaxy that we're part of and all the other galaxies and how they interact with one another. And there's just like endless levels of complexity. And yet it's all so simple to God. He spoke it into existence. We could take one part, one just tiny sliver, and spend the rest of our life studying it and not get to the end and understand it completely. No matter how far we take any part of God's creation, we can study it for the rest of our lives, and still there will be mystery at the end. Still be things that we don't understand. Still be things that we don't get. And we're just talking about physical systems. We're not talking about all the other things that are going on as well. And so you can understand here, this is all so simple to God. He spoke it all into existence. He doesn't have any mysteries. He understands all of these things and how they work together, how they contribute to one another. You know, the saying goes, a butterfly flaps its wings here, and then there's a storm over in the rainforest or whatever. That's no mystery, right? That's no mystery to God. It's so simple to God. He spoke it into existence. What kind of things can you speak into existence? Well, nothing. But if you could, you know, maybe the only thing that you speak into existence is saliva, you know, and so say it, don't spray it, you know, like that. But that's about as complex as you can get with your words. But God speaks and these incredible, complex, way beyond our ability to understand just a tiny sliver of it, even if we spend the rest of our life. Now, understanding that, then let's go back for a moment to Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. We can read that verse and wonder, how is that possible? For this, what I'm going through, this, what I went through, this, what that person experienced. How is that possible for that to work together for good? And it can be very difficult. And so we often refer to that and say, well, in eternity we'll understand. But for right now, we can't understand how all these things work together for good. Not just all these systems and things working together, but all the specific instances and events and situations in our life. How is God going to work this together for good? We can't figure it out because, well, his wisdom, his knowledge is deep. It's far deeper than we can ever go. His ways are unsearchable. They're past finding out. But God is able to orchestrate all these things. Think about it like this. Maybe a complex movie, perhaps. You're in the movie. You're trying to figure out what's really going on. And then all of a sudden, there's this scene that reveals everything. And it's like, your mind's blown, right? It's like, now it all makes sense. All those mysteries suddenly come together. And now I'm beginning to understand. All those things that were mysteries before, I didn't get how they were and who that was and why they did that. And then all of a sudden, it's revealed. And then, oh, now I get it. Think about that, but what God does with life and all things work together for good is like infinite times that, where he works every detail. He works every aspect of our life. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God are how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. The way that God has used Israel and their rejection of Jesus to reach the Gentiles in order to show them mercy to reach the Jews is It's an incredible work of God. It's something that we can begin to understand. We picture the olive branch and get some glimpses of how God works and what he's doing. But there's so much more depth to the work of God and the plan of God. In verse 34, he says, for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor? He's quoting here from Isaiah chapter 40, verse 13. Who has known the mind of the Lord? If you know the mind of the Lord, please... You speak instead of me. I'll sit down and you can speak. Who has known his mind? Or who's become the Lord's counselor? Does God ever come to you for advice? You know, I'm really concerned about this comet. What do you think I should do about this comet? You know, that's hurling through the galaxy at a million miles an hour, a million miles a second, or whatever. Now, we often give advice to God, but it's unsolicited, right? We tell God what to do, but it's not because he's asking us. It's because we think we've got it figured out. And so, you know, here's what you should do. Here's, you know, we know best and we've got it figured out. So we're going to help you out, God, and become your counselor. Of course, the question is meant to be, well, driving us to the point where we say none of us are God's counselor. That's the point, right? We're not God's counselor. We don't understand his ways. We don't understand what he does. He is far more wise and knowledgeable than we are. Verse 35, or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him. Here quoting from Job chapter 41 verse 11. Remember at the end of Job, after Job has talked a lot, his friends have talked a lot, there's all this nonsense being flung about in the book of Job as they wrestle with the issue of suffering and why this is happening. And then God comes on the scene and just clears everything up. One of the things he says is, hey, who has preceded me that I should pay him? Who's gotten here first and claimed this land so that, well, I have to lease it back? who's been here first? Who's given to me so that I owe them? Does, does God lease property from you? I really want to, you know, reach the nation of Israel or I want to reach the continent of Africa. And so, you know, I need to do some deals and negotiate and kind of, you know, rent this land in order. No, God doesn't. Nobody was before God. Nobody, nobody can claim that God owes them. He was first. Nobody else was first. Does God have to pay you royalties because you've copyrighted ideas that he wants to use? No. Nobody thinks of something before God does. It's all God. It's originated by God. He's first. He's foremost. And so he says in verse 36, for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Consider that. For of him and through him and to him are all things. Paul says God created all things. All things are of him. They're his creation. You are, I am, every person is, everything that we see, it's all God's creation. It's existing because God has begun it. But then also all things are through him. God sustains all things. The only reason that we continue to exist is because all things are through God. He holds things together. He holds the universe together. He holds your breath in his hands. He keeps your heart beating. He's the one doing the work. He sustains all things. All things are of him and through him and to him. That is that all things exist to glorify God. God's wisdom, his knowledge is so great. There's such depth that all things are of him, through him, and to him. Everything points to the glory of God. Everything glorifies his character, his nature, who he is. For of him and through him and to him are all things. God's wisdom is unsearchable. Now, this is kind of his conclusion to the subject of the nation of Israel. recognizing Israel is still God's people. But Israel has an important part in salvation, an important part in the plan of God. And the way that God has worked it out, we can begin to understand it, and there's lots of mystery in here, but we can begin to see that revealed And yet at the end, understand and recognize we're never going to fully get it. We're never going to fully reach the end and be able to just nail it down and say, I got it completely thoroughly. No questions anymore. I understand everything. No, God's wisdom is unsearchable. It's unsearchable. We can't reach the end. And so as we look at the whole of Romans chapter 11, we've been talking about the gospel and From the very beginning, the wrath of God being revealed, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and Paul walking us through step by step. We all need a savior. We all are deserving of judgment and wrath because of our sinfulness, but we come to God not by our works, not by what we do or present to God. We come to God by faith. It's always been that way. He used the example of David and Abraham. It's about believing God at his word, And we do that now through Jesus Christ. We believe in Jesus Christ and what he accomplished for us. And then he went into chapter 8 and gave us all the benefits of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the work that God does by the Holy Spirit. This is the gospel, the great work of God. But then don't separate that and say, OK, now we're awesome and Israel, you know, they're losers. But to have the right perspective, to have the heart of Paul, to desire for Israel to receive the same gospel that we received. And we could also apply that to others, to have the heart and the desire for others around us to receive the same gospel and experience the benefits that we have received, to not boast against Israel, to not think that we're greater or that there's something special about us, but to recognize this is all by God's grace and part of his incredible, infinitely complex plan that we could never dream of understanding. All we can do is trust God and receive God. what he has done for us. And I want to encourage you this evening to trust God. As you look at what Paul's been saying about Israel, as faithful as God is to Israel, he is to you. And the promises that he made to you, he's going to be faithful to fulfill those promises no matter what. He is faithful to his word. He is able to accomplish what he declared he would. And so if he declares he's going to work all things together for good, he's going to work all things together for good. to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. If he declares that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not height, nor depth, nor blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, anything you can imagine, anything you want to think about, nothing can separate us from God's love, then we can rest, we can trust, we can know that nothing will separate us from the love of God. Also, I want to encourage you this evening to trust God in that he knows what he is doing. We've been living in a mess the past couple of days, right? If you've been on the roads at all in the mornings, you understand traffic nightmare. And one of the big issues of this traffic nightmare is the construction that's going on and the way that they were going about it. And then this, you know, kind of unexpected rain hit that undermined the 91 freeway. And so there was these lanes that were compromised and As a result of the construction and the rain, the combination of these two things, you know, hitting at the right time where it was vulnerable and then boom, it caused some major incredible problems. God will never have an issue like that in his plans. People who plan big projects like the 91 Freeway project, they do the best that they can. They have lots of input, lots of counsel. They try to figure it out. But unexpected storm. We weren't ready for that. Now it's causing an issue. God's never going to have that. You can trust God. He knows what he's doing. He's never going to be like, oh, man, there's a storm. How am I going to fulfill the promises now? I mean, I really wanted to do those things for you. I really wanted to bring salvation to your life and to your friends and family. I really wanted to work that together for good, but it rained really hard. So, you know, I wasn't ready for that. There's never going to be any kind of interruption or interference in God's plans. You can trust God. You can rest in him absolutely, certainly, without question, without hesitation. God knows what he is doing. And you can trust him. Just as he's been faithful to Israel, he's going to be faithful to you. And you might not always understand it because his wisdom is unsearchable. But you can trust that the end result will be good. Amen? Kim's going to come up and close us in worship. And as we worship the Lord together, I want to encourage you to spend this time and just maybe do some seeking the Lord about your trust, about your faith in Him, about your resting in Him. So many times we're scrambling like crazy, stressed out, anxious, overwhelmed, because we're not trusting God. We're trying to make things work ourselves. We're trying to take matters into our own hands. And so I want to encourage you during this time, let's just recenter our lives. Let's just recenter our hearts and remind ourselves, encourage and stir up ourselves to really trust God, to cast our cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for us, to put ourselves at His mercy and to throw ourselves into His arms, that He would accomplish His purposes and bring glory to His name through our lives. Also, as Kim leads in the next couple songs, as always, we want to give that opportunity. If you want to pray for someone around you, you want to ask for prayer, maybe there's a scripture that God's put upon your heart to share with somebody, do have the freedom and move about as you need and as you feel led by the Lord to minister to one another, encourage one another, and pray for one another as we seek the Lord together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.