Jerusalem Countdown

THE INABILITY OF the Jewish people to recognize Jesus as Messiah benefited the Gentiles by bringing to them the opportunity of salvation.

I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

The salvation of the Gentiles was intended by God to “provoke the Jews to jealousy,” exciting them to seek and claim a share in the blessings of the new covenant.¹

In Luke chapter 7, a centurion’s servant was healed by Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, who, being an observant Jew, would not enter the house of a Gentile. The Roman centurion asked the Jewish elders what he could do to get Jesus of Nazareth to enter his house and pray for his sick servant. The elders went to Jesus and pled with Him earnestly, saying that the Roman centurion deserved to be helped. (See Luke 7:1–10.) Why did he deserve to be helped?

The elders said to Jesus, “For he [the centurion] loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue” (v. 5).

The point is this: a practical act of kindness on the part of a Gentile provoked Jesus to enter the centurion’s house to heal his sick servant, fulfilling Jesus’ covenant with Abraham: “I will bless those that bless you…”

The tragedy of history has been that for two thousand years, recognized Christianity has not provoked Jews to jealousy by their kindness but has produced a harvest of hatred that caused the Jewish people to recoil in fear from those who waged war beneath the cross.

When the Roman Catholic Crusaders entered the city of Jerusalem in 1099, they trapped more than nine hundred Jewish women and children in their synagogue and burned them alive while they sang “Christ We Adore Thee.” This kind of “Christianity” is no different from a member of the Taliban who straps himself with a bomb and murders Jews who refuse to believe in Islam.

In the twentieth century, six million Jews were systematically slaughtered by Adolf Hitler. Hitler and his Nazi monsters were never even slightly scolded by the pope, let alone excommunicated from the church for their crimes against humanity.

It’s time for Christianity to reach out to our Jewish brothers and sisters, demonstrating the unconditional love of God, which is what Saint Paul commanded in Romans 15:27:

For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things [the Jews], their duty [the Gentiles] is also to minister to them [the Jewish people] in material things.

What riches came to the Gentiles because the Jewish people stumbled over the stumbling stone, which was Jesus of Nazareth?

RICHES FOR THE GENTILE BELIEVER

• As Gentiles, we receive the unsearchable riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• We receive the riches of the blessings of Abraham, which know no measure and have no limit.

• We receive the riches of faith by which the treasures of heaven are made possible to each of us.

• We receive the riches of repentance through which each of us becomes a child of God.

• We receive the riches of His love, joy, and eternal peace in the Holy Spirit.

• We receive the riches of salvation by grace through faith.

• We receive the riches of adoption and the riches of being heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

The riches that came to the Gentiles because the Jewish people stumbled over the identity of Jesus Christ are without limit and beyond our knowing.

For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Saint Paul is making a prediction that in Israel’s future there will be a national spiritual resurrection that will be so dramatic it will be like someone coming back to life from the dead. How could such a thing happen? Remember, my friends, “With God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). How and when God will cause a spiritual resurrection to come to Israel is known only to God.

In Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel describes that very thing when God showed him the nation of Israel as a valley full of very dry bones. The bones were “very dry,” meaning they had been dead a long time. Israel as a nation was dead for almost two thousand years. God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the dead bones. Ezekiel instantly obeyed the voice of the Lord, for obedience is better than sacrifice.

The valley of dry bones began to come together miraculously as Ezekiel spoke. Then came the sinews, the flesh, and skin, and those bones stood up an exceedingly great army. There is no doubt this is national Israel, for the scripture reads:

Israel is reborn and thrives today as a mighty democratic nation. We are now awaiting the Jewish people’s spiritual resurrection. Ezekiel describes it as follows:

Then they [Israel] shall be My people, and I will be their God. David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.

Count on it! God’s love for Israel and the Jewish people is boundless for the patriarchs’ sake. This spiritual awakening, which is very clearly predicted by Ezekiel, is now beginning and will soon explode into a global reality. It is God’s time to pour out the spirit of grace upon the house of Israel and the Jewish people.

If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

The Bible says, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14, NIV). The Word of God is saturated with the concept of holiness. Our Bible is called the Holy Bible. Jerusalem is called the Holy City. When we gather in the house of the Lord, we are on holy ground. The anointing oil that breaks every yoke is called the holy anointing oil. The tabernacle has the holy of holies where God Himself visited ancient Israel. The angels around the throne of God at this very moment are shouting in thunderous union, “Holy, holy, holy,” night and day.

In Romans 11:16, Paul captures that theme, saying that if the initial dough that makes the loaf of challah bread is holy, the whole loaf is holy. The concept was given to Israel first in Numbers 15:20–21, describing a small “cake” baked from dough set aside for God. All bread baked thereafter from the “holy dough” made the whole loaf holy.

Paul uses the same principle and applies it to an olive tree, which is the symbol of Israel. Paul states, “If the root is holy, so are the branches.”

The root of the olive tree is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Romans 11:28, Paul clearly states that Israel is “beloved for the sake of the fathers.” The “fathers” are the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now follow Paul’s transition. If the roots are holy (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), the branches are holy (v. 16). Who are the branches growing from the holy root? These branches are the righteous Jews, but not necessarily every Jew.

Note that in verse 17, “Some of the branches were broken off.” This means that some individual Jews have been disciplined by God and are temporarily broken off (v. 23). Logic states that if some of the branches are broken off, some of the branches are still attached to the tree, and they are holy. Paul very clearly states that the Jewish people are still God’s people and are considered by God to be holy.

And you [Gentiles], being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them [the Jewish people], 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. 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. 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. 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?

First, its roots are the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The branches that have been broken off are generations of unbelieving Jews, and the branches that have been “grafted in” are the believing Gentiles. Please remember that there are Jewish branches that are still attached to the olive tree.

Theologians debate that wild olive branches (Gentiles) cannot be grafted into a natural olive tree. While this is true as a fact of nature in horticultural science, Paul clearly states in verse 24 that the wild olive branch being grafted in is “contrary to nature.” This means the grafting in of the Gentiles is a supernatural act from the hand of God.

Saint Paul begins addressing the Gentiles directly in verse 13 (“for I speak to you Gentiles”), and he continues speaking to them until verse 25. In verses 17–22, he warns the Gentiles not to boast against Judaism because of the favor God has given to the Gentiles for the time being.

The Gentiles did not seek God, yet they now get to have a full share of the riches of Abraham. The transplanted olive branches “share the richness” of the olive tree.

What should the attitude of Gentiles be toward the Jewish people? Paul commands all Gentile believers of every generation, “Do not boast against the branches” (v. 18). Should you in your arrogance and pride be tempted to boast of the favor that God has given to you as a Gentile? You must remember that the Jewish root is bearing them, not them the root (v. 18). The Gentiles do not give life to the tree, but they draw life from the tree, which receives its life source from the taproot, which is Jewish, being Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Then Paul allows the imaginary Gentile person to voice his opinion in verse 19, saying, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” This very claim is made by those who teach that the church has replaced Israel in the economy of God. Replacement theologians teach that Israel has no role in the future of God’s work. Their time is past, they teach; now we (the Gentiles) are the people of God. This teaching is false doctrine!

Paul makes it very clear the root of the tree is Jewish, and many natural branches (Jewish people) are yet attached to the olive tree. Israel has a prominent and equal place in the economy of God forever. Paul’s description demolishes replacement theology, specifically in Romans 11:1 and 11, saying it is not true.

Paul then reminds any arrogant Gentile Christian, “Don’t think high thoughts. Be afraid!” (See verse 20). Why be afraid?

Christians should fear because, “If God did not spare the natural branches [the Jewish people], He may not spare you either” (v. 21). The language in the Greek here is bold and forceful. Paul uses the word kata phusis (natural) and para phusis (unnatural) in Romans 11:24. The point is shocking, yet unmistakable. The Jewish people are natural to God, and the Gentiles are unnatural branches in God’s economy.

Paul’s use of the word spare recalls Romans 8:32: “He [God] who did not spare His own Son.” Abraham, acting under God’s command, was willing not to spare Isaac, but to offer him as a sacrifice to prove his absolute loyalty to God.

Is it too much to believe that Saint Paul is once more making a connection between Jewish people who had the first claim to “sonship” (Rom. 9:4) and Jesus Christ on the cross? If God did not spare His first son, Israel, and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, He certainly will judge arrogant Gentiles as severely as He judged the Jews who disobeyed the Torah. That’s why Paul says to Gentile believers, “Do not be haughty [toward the Jewish people], but fear” (Rom. 11:20). Remember the words that God gave to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” (Gen. 12:3).

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?

Most of Romans 11 deals with God’s purposes for the Jewish people in this present age. Romans 11:1 deals with the fact God has not cast away the Jewish people in this present age. Romans 11:5 states, “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” God has divinely chosen Jewish people at this present time who live in God’s favor.

In Romans 11:30–31, Paul is referring to the salvation of the Jewish people at some point in the future.

Paul makes it clear in Romans 11:25 that Israel’s blindness to the identity of Messiah will end when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” The fullness of the Gentiles will endure until Christ returns to earth. Then Paul plants the blockbuster verse of all the Book of Romans: “All Israel will be saved” (v. 26).

Notice the pattern of progression in Romans 11 concerning the redemption of the Jewish people in the future.

PATTERN OF THE FUTURE FOR THE JEWS

• The possibility that the Jewish people could be grafted in at some point in the future: “God is able to graft them in again” (v. 23).

• The probability that the Jewish people will come to redemption in the future: “How much more will these, who are natural branches [the Jewish people], be grafted into their own olive tree?” (v. 24).

• The absolute fact that, at a time in the future, redemption will come to all righteous Jews: “And so all Israel will be saved” (v. 26).

Paul again presents God as a Creator who calls into being that which did not exist and raises the dead to life. There is the connection between the birth of the Jewish people and Isaac, whose parents were “as good as dead.” Remember, Abraham and Sarah were sterile in their old age when Isaac, the son of promise, was born.

Now Paul presents the regeneration of the Jewish people from the “remnant according to the election of grace.” Paul cups his hands to his mouth and shouts for all generations to hear, “Am Israel Chai,” meaning, “The people of Israel are alive.”

Paul begins to summarize his argument by reminding his Gentile readers once more not to be arrogant toward the Jewish people because of the Gentiles’ present favor with God. The Gentiles do not know it, but they are involved in a mystery, which is something else all together different than a problem.

A problem is something human intelligence can eventually work out. Problems are chess moves, crossword puzzles, and broken marriages. But a mystery is something that, when the answer is known, human intelligence cannot fully grasp its meaning.

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.

THE SEVEN MYSTERIES OF GOD

1. The mysteries of the kingdom of God (Matt. 13:11)

2. The mystery of the olive tree (Rom. 11:25)

3. The mystery of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32)

4. The mystery of piety (1 Tim. 3:16)

5. The mystery of the rapture of the church (1 Cor. 15:51)

6. The mystery of lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:7)

7. The mystery of God finished (Rev. 10:7)

A mystery in Scripture concerning a future event can be known only through divine revelation. These seven mysteries recorded in Scripture are explained, and they should be known by the body of Christ. Yet they are strangely ignored by the vast majority of Christians.

The specific mystery Paul is writing about here is that “all of Israel will be saved.” Why is it a mystery? Obviously, no one could have predicted this in Paul’s era without divine revelation. There are theologians today who can literally see the physical restoration of national Israel before their natural eyes, and still they deny that God has or will restore Israel.

Paul now shares with his Gentile readers that the “hardening” of Israel is only partial and temporary. It will last only until the full number of Gentiles come in (Rom. 11:25). Paul is using almost the exact words of Jesus, who said, “Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

Paul’s expectation that “all Israel will be saved” was exactly like Abraham and Sarah contemplating the birth of Isaac when they were totally barren. Yet Paul’s revelation is not based on human possibility, but in “God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Rom. 4:17).

The fact of Scripture is this: at some point in the near future, there is going to be a massive spiritual awakening in Israel that will shock the world, and the Word of God will come true—“All Israel will be saved.”

Could it be during Ezekiel’s war as described in Ezekiel 38 and 39? Is this national spiritual awakening of Israel what Ezekiel refers to in Ezekiel 39:22, 29?

“So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward.…And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.