What Is Romans 9-11 About? Part Seven

In Isaiah 59:18, those of Israel who refused to repent and who rejected the Deliverer are called the enemies of God .

According to their deeds, so will He repay: Wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies; To the coastlands He will deal retribution. (NKJV)

According to Deuteronomy 32:41, the vengeance of God would come upon old covenant Israel, the enemies of God, in her last days.

If I whet My glittering sword, And My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, And repay those who hate Me (see John 15:18; Psalm 69:4). (NKJV)

The time of God’s favor to Israel would eventually come to an end, and vengeance would begin.

Jesus Proclaimed The Year Of The Lord’s Favor and The Day Of God’s Vengeance To Israel

Jesus came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor for Israel and the day of God’s vengeance upon Israel (Isaiah 62:1-2; Luke 4:16-19; 21:22-24 - NKJV)

Jesus was the Deliverer God sent to Israel to deliver them from his vengeance.

Those who believed in Jesus as the Deliverer were saved from this vengeance (the Jewish-Roman War, AD 66-70).

Those who rejected Jesus became the enemies of God and experienced his vengeance.

In Romans 11:28, Paul identifies those from Israel who rejected Jesus as enemies of the gospel.

As far as the gospel is concerned, they [unbelieving Israel] are enemies [of the gospel] for your [Gentiles] sake…

Paul defines the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter] and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

The gospel was the message about Jesus being the Christ of the Hebrew Bible who lived, died, and rose from the grave.

Jesus died for all people because he loved all people (2 Corinthians 5:14).

He died for all of our sins so we could experience forgiveness, righteousness, and be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

He rose from the dead so we could have eternal life (Romans 5:12-21).

This is the gospel unbelieving Israel opposed.

First-Century Israel Opposed Jesus

First-Century Israel opposed the identity of Jesus as the Christ, the finality of his accomplishments on the cross, and the reality of his resurrection from the dead.

In their opposition, they persecuted and killed believers in Israel.

Jesus said those in Israel who opposed him were the enemies of those in Israel who believed in him (Matthew 10:1-36; John 15:18-16:14).

The first believer that Christ-rejecting Israel killed was Stephen (Acts 6-7).

Their persecution of believers and murder of Stephen is evidence they were enemies of the gospel (Acts).

According to Paul in Romans 11:28, they were enemies of the gospel so the message of Jesus could go to the Gentiles.

As far as the gospel is concerned, they [unbelieving Israel] are enemies[of the gospel] for your [Gentiles] sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

This verse goes back to the superior attitude of the Gentiles toward unbelieving Israel.

God Elected And Loved Israel

Paul’s point was that God elected Israel as a nation, and he loved them because of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Though they were elected, they failed to shine the light of God to the nations.

Though they rejected Jesus as the Christ, and though they became God’s enemies by rejecting Jesus as the Deliverer, God still loved unbelieving Israel.

Because God loved them, the Gentiles should love them, too.

God’s Graciousness To Israel

After explaining God’s love for unbelieving Israel, Paul writes in Romans 11:29,

…for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

In the above verse, gifts is the Greek word for the generous gift of God’s grace (charisma), call is the Greek word for invitation (klésis), and irrevocable is the Greek word for unchanging (ametamelétos).

With these words, Paul explains that God’s graciousness to unbelieving Israel cannot change and his invitation to them to believe in Jesus remains.

This invitation would be extended to Israel once the fullness of the Gentiles came into the new covenant.

When the fullness of the Gentiles came into the new covenant, the hardening would be lifted and God’s mercy would be extended to Israel.

We will examine God’s mercy in Part Eight (available soon).