“Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved…”. Romans 11:25-26
Scripture doesn’t mention end times (eschatology) outside of this context: to assure and encourage the saints. The line – “lest you be wise in your own conceits” – is the critical one. We shouldn’t busy ourselves trying to predict when Christ will return. Nope. That’s like trying to take your cat for a walk. It’s a futile endeavor. And this is the seminal passage in all the Bible to prove it. God will restore Israel and there will be a final Judgment Day. The particulars aren’t the point – the assurance is. We should and must tread carefully just as we’re warned here. Too often Christians become fixated on end times prophecy at the expense of the context – which is the gospel. That’s the point of Romans 11.
Here are a few things to note.
First, Israel has experienced a “partial hardening.” Charles Hodge said, “As the rejection of the Jews was not total, so neither is it final.” Verses 25-31 of Romans 11 are the most important passages in Scripture as to whether or not the Jews will come to Christ. “Have they stumbled in order that they might fall (to complete ruin)? Certainly not! (Romans 11:11)”. God has not rejected His people.
Second, Paul is clearly talking about ethnic Israel, not spiritual Israel, nor individual Jews. Individual Jews can and are coming to Christ through faith alone even though ethnic Israel rejects Christ. We see that before our very eyes today.
Third, the partial hardening has been done so that the Gentiles, who didn’t pursue righteousness, have received it. God has done this. Just as He sovereignly elected the Jews, He elects “spiritual Israel” now in Christ, through faith alone. The righteousness of God through faith has come to the Gentiles. We note the kindness and severity of God (verse 22) in this amazing mystery that’s working out. The purposes of predestination and election, loathsome as they are to immature believers who misunderstand the doctrine and twist it to their shame, have always been at work. Israel was called. Israel was chosen. God’s purpose of election is secure.
Fourth, the Lord said in Luke 21:24 “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (completed).” What could this mean but that there’s a terminal point at which the door to the ark of salvation for the Gentiles closes and the partial hardening of ethnic Israel will cease? This and the whole of Romans 11 surely shows us that after the time of the Gentiles is complete that God will do a mighty work of salvation on ethnic Israel. He has the power to “graft them back in again (verse 23)” Why else would Paul say in verse 24, “For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.”
Fifth, after almost 1,900 years in exile the Jews returned to Jerusalem in 1967! From A.D. 70 when the Romans annihilated the temple and trampled it underfoot, through to that day in ’67, the Jews were scattered across the globe. Some remember seeing it on TV. Jewish soldiers dropped their weapons and ran to the Wailing Wall (a precious remnant of the Temple from all those years ago!) and threw themselves to the ground before it. They wept. And they wept. The Jews were home again.
What do we make of this? It’s been over 50 years since and Israel still is hardened against Christ and the gospel. Is it a coincidence that Adolf Hitler did his evil and hearty best to kill the Jews during World War Two? We think not. And yet, despite this, we scratch our heads and wonder. What does it mean? Has God restored Israel? Not yet. They have, in Jerusalem, merely a beachhead. They haven’t yet turned to Christ in faith. Will God suddenly – and soon – renew Israel? Or will the Jews be scattered again and then restored in another thousand years? We have no idea! Lest we be wise in our own conceits we say again: we have no idea when and exactly how the Great One of Israel will bring history to a close. When Paul considers these things later in the chapter he’s moved to say, in awe and in love:
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:33-36
You see, the whole point of this isn’t to turn prophecy into a complex timeline, trying vainly to figure out what God is doing in order to prove our Christian bonafides. What proves Christian character isn’t vast knowledge of Revelation and Daniel mixed with current events, geo-political history, Israel and intrigue. All of that, in fact, points to Christ, not to intrigue and politics. If our eschatology (doctrine of last things) doesn’t inspire faithful living right now and the confidence that Christ will return, we’re missing the point. If we’re hoping for Israel to rebuild the temple rather than preaching the gospel, we’re missing the point. It’s not for us to know the time, but to know the times. We’re in the age of the Gentiles right now. We’re in the age of the Great Commission. Before, it was all centripetal; now it’s centrifugal. That’s to say, as far as the Kingdom of God was concerned in the Old Testament, all things moved in toward Israel (centripetal). Now, in the age of the gospel and missions, everything is moving outward from the church.
The age of the Gentiles appears to be ending. The Romans were blessed. The Greeks were blessed. And no nation on earth has ever been more blessed, yet more ungrateful, than America. The explosion of wealth and leisure in the last century has been unprecedented and yet America and the West has hardened. We note the kindness of God toward the Gentiles/West (the wild olive tree). But they haven’t stood fast through faith. They’ve become proud (Romans 11:20) rather than stand in awe, ignoring God’s promise and warning. It’s very likely that America is about to be cut off because she’s refused to continue in His kindness. Americans should read Romans 11:17-24, fall to their knees and weep before God. The ruin and judgment of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 may very well be on her horizon. The black clouds of judgment are gathering on her horizon.
I pray for my countrymen. They know not what they’re doing. God is not mocked. If you’re dabbling, if you’re obfuscating, if you’re equivocating, run now to the shelter of the cross. Run now to the faith. Don’t be so foolish as to try and keep one foot in Sodom as Lot’s wife did. Those clouds are real. These headwinds you feel on the beach of American life are very likely the beginning of a monster gale felt by all nations that have dared to taunt the Great King. He will not break His word. The tempest of judgment must and will come or else God is a liar. America is an evil nation and her every institution is shot through with the cancer of humanism.
Whether this portends to the end of the Gentiles age or merely the end of this particular Gentile nation we know not. But we do know that the Lord warns us “For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness.”
Jesus Christ isn’t a cosmic Santa Claus. He’s the righteous One of Israel.
God will save Israel! “And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliver (Christ) will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob (through faith alone); and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” Romans 11:26-29
Finally, no Christian should hate Israel for they are God’s people and the root of the tree. The story of salvation starts with the Jews. Jesus Christ was a Jew. Moreover, God’s call is irrevocable! What a blessing that is. Let’s not miss it. Our God is a covenant God who makes promises. In a manner of speaking, He works in and through covenants/contracts. He has not forsaken His people (the Jews) and this means He won’t forsake us either. Far from going down the rabbit hole of political/historical prophecy for its own sake, we should look to the glory of Christ and the fact that He’s the same yesterday and always!
Understanding end times prophecy should cause us to be in awe of our great God. It should cause us to sigh in relief as the world turns and totters.
He will not lose us, just as He hasn’t lost the Jews.
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