The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
July 28
Romans 11:13-36
Commentary by Nick Boork
July 28
Romans 11:13-36
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July 28 ~ Romans 11:13-36
For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 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, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 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. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 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? 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.
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; 27 For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
OKAY HERE’S MY COMMENTARY
The mystery of Israel and the gifts and call of God being irrevocable
A great mystery is revealed here for us to understand God’s timetable with Israel and the nations of the world. Paul says that blindness has happened to Israel temporarily until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. Jesus prophesied that this would also happen in Luke 21:24…Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Jerusalem has been trampled by the Gentiles since 70 A.D. when the Roman army surrounded and destroyed it. Since that time, Jerusalem has been constantly exchanging hands from one Gentile empire to the next. In 1948 Israel was recognized by the United Nations as a country of Jewish origin. Multitudes of Jewish people have returned and resettled what is modern-day Israel. Nevertheless, the country remains trampled by the Gentiles including the Islamic dome of the rock occupying territory that was originally set aside for the Jewish temple, which a part of the original wall where Jewish people pray can be seen today.
Another one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible is Romans 11:29 Amplified Bible: For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.] The context of this first has to do with God’s purpose for Israel. The original thought and plan that God had for Israel was to be a blessing to the entire earth by demonstrating life as a people blessed by God and showcasing the Messiah, Jesus Christ as the only savior of both Jews and Gentiles. Psalm 67:1 God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
Has the Lord given up on Israel? Never! Verse 26 says;…so all Israel will be saved. God has a prophetic timetable for both the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations of the world. There are all kinds of interpretations about Israel and the church but we must rightly divide the Word of God. The Word of God teaches us in the book of Jeremiah that God has determined that the nation of Israel will always exist and he compares his steadfast purpose for Israel as his nation comparing it to the stars in the heavens and the waves of the sea. In other words, if the stars stop shining and if the waves stop coming into the beach then Israel will cease to exist. Jeremiah 31:35-36 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name) “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
Here’s the question: Are the stars shining still and are the waves still crashing into the beach? Last time I looked up into the sky in the evening I saw plenty of stars and during our last vacation at the Dominican Republic we were on the beach and sure enough the waves were pounding the seashore! So, Israel continues as a nation in the sight of God and the Lord will fulfill his divine purposes for Israel.
The gifts and calling of God being irrevocable. What does this mean?
Romans 11:29 can also be applied to our individual lives as well. God calls us to fulfill a specific purpose in life and he imparts to us the gifts and abilities to accomplish what he has called us to do. It is very comforting and assuring to know that through all of our ups and downs God never changes his mind about what he has called us to do and he doesn’t take back the gifts that He has imparted to our lives. God is faithful but many times we are not. So, when we find ourselves weak and maybe not where we should be with God we need to remember this promise.
I like what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about stirring up the gift of God in his life: 2 Timothy 1:6 That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination]. Amplified Version The Holy Spirit had imparted to Timothy gifts to enable him to fulfill his calling to do the work of an evangelist. It seems that these gifts were the bestowed upon Timothy at his ordination. The apostle Paul reminds Timothy about his call and the gifts that God had given to him. Timothy may have been very discouraged but Paul came along and encouraged him to stir up the gifts in his life and keep preaching the Gospel and testifying about Jesus Christ. Sometimes our gifts are on fire and burning at the highest levels in our lives but at other times for a multitude of different reasons, the fire goes down to the point that you can’t even see any flame anymore. However, like the Bible says the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable so God’s call and his gifts remain in us but we have to stir them up just like an natural fire.
Growing up on the farm one of my jobs from the time I could walk was to bring wood and keep the fireplace going. This is how we heated our house. We had an iron stove in the living room which I would stack with wood everyday. Sometimes the fire would burn right down to nothing but ashes and embers but all I needed to do was stir up those embers and put some wood on top and the flames would begin burning again! That’s how it is in our own lives also spiritually. When we neglect our calling and do now use our gifts, the flames die down but all we need to do is stir ourselves up through prayer, the word of God, fasting and shake off any depression, unbelief or lethargy, rise up and begin to minister to people in Jesus name. Suddenly, you will find the flame of the Holy Spirit burning, the excitement of God on the inside and the joy of the Lord flowing through you once again!
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Only a remnant of Jews believed that Jesus was the Messiah
2) This was prophesied in the Old Testament
3) The Gentiles or Pagan nations of the world are grafted into the olive tree which represents Jesus Christ by faith.
4) Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. This started in 70 A.D. when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and has continued to the present day.
5) God has never changed his mind about Israel being his special nation.
6) the same principle applies to our individual Christian lives. God never changes his mind about his call nor does he take away the gifts he gives to us for His purposes.
7) What has God called you to do? When you answer this question you will be able to discern the gifts and abilities he is put within your life to achieve it.
8) Never stop believing in yourself because God has called you to serve him and has given you special gifts and abilities but you need to stir-up the gift within you. Don’t allow discouragement, negative people, demons, problems, setbacks or anything to distract you from doing what God has called and gifted you to do for His kingdom.
For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 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, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 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. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 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? 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.
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; 27 For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
OKAY HERE’S MY COMMENTARY
The mystery of Israel and the gifts and call of God being irrevocable
A great mystery is revealed here for us to understand God’s timetable with Israel and the nations of the world. Paul says that blindness has happened to Israel temporarily until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. Jesus prophesied that this would also happen in Luke 21:24…Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Jerusalem has been trampled by the Gentiles since 70 A.D. when the Roman army surrounded and destroyed it. Since that time, Jerusalem has been constantly exchanging hands from one Gentile empire to the next. In 1948 Israel was recognized by the United Nations as a country of Jewish origin. Multitudes of Jewish people have returned and resettled what is modern-day Israel. Nevertheless, the country remains trampled by the Gentiles including the Islamic dome of the rock occupying territory that was originally set aside for the Jewish temple, which a part of the original wall where Jewish people pray can be seen today.
Another one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible is Romans 11:29 Amplified Bible: For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.] The context of this first has to do with God’s purpose for Israel. The original thought and plan that God had for Israel was to be a blessing to the entire earth by demonstrating life as a people blessed by God and showcasing the Messiah, Jesus Christ as the only savior of both Jews and Gentiles. Psalm 67:1 God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
Has the Lord given up on Israel? Never! Verse 26 says;…so all Israel will be saved. God has a prophetic timetable for both the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations of the world. There are all kinds of interpretations about Israel and the church but we must rightly divide the Word of God. The Word of God teaches us in the book of Jeremiah that God has determined that the nation of Israel will always exist and he compares his steadfast purpose for Israel as his nation comparing it to the stars in the heavens and the waves of the sea. In other words, if the stars stop shining and if the waves stop coming into the beach then Israel will cease to exist. Jeremiah 31:35-36 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name) “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
Here’s the question: Are the stars shining still and are the waves still crashing into the beach? Last time I looked up into the sky in the evening I saw plenty of stars and during our last vacation at the Dominican Republic we were on the beach and sure enough the waves were pounding the seashore! So, Israel continues as a nation in the sight of God and the Lord will fulfill his divine purposes for Israel.
The gifts and calling of God being irrevocable. What does this mean?
Romans 11:29 can also be applied to our individual lives as well. God calls us to fulfill a specific purpose in life and he imparts to us the gifts and abilities to accomplish what he has called us to do. It is very comforting and assuring to know that through all of our ups and downs God never changes his mind about what he has called us to do and he doesn’t take back the gifts that He has imparted to our lives. God is faithful but many times we are not. So, when we find ourselves weak and maybe not where we should be with God we need to remember this promise.
I like what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about stirring up the gift of God in his life: 2 Timothy 1:6 That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination]. Amplified Version The Holy Spirit had imparted to Timothy gifts to enable him to fulfill his calling to do the work of an evangelist. It seems that these gifts were the bestowed upon Timothy at his ordination. The apostle Paul reminds Timothy about his call and the gifts that God had given to him. Timothy may have been very discouraged but Paul came along and encouraged him to stir up the gifts in his life and keep preaching the Gospel and testifying about Jesus Christ. Sometimes our gifts are on fire and burning at the highest levels in our lives but at other times for a multitude of different reasons, the fire goes down to the point that you can’t even see any flame anymore. However, like the Bible says the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable so God’s call and his gifts remain in us but we have to stir them up just like an natural fire.
Growing up on the farm one of my jobs from the time I could walk was to bring wood and keep the fireplace going. This is how we heated our house. We had an iron stove in the living room which I would stack with wood everyday. Sometimes the fire would burn right down to nothing but ashes and embers but all I needed to do was stir up those embers and put some wood on top and the flames would begin burning again! That’s how it is in our own lives also spiritually. When we neglect our calling and do now use our gifts, the flames die down but all we need to do is stir ourselves up through prayer, the word of God, fasting and shake off any depression, unbelief or lethargy, rise up and begin to minister to people in Jesus name. Suddenly, you will find the flame of the Holy Spirit burning, the excitement of God on the inside and the joy of the Lord flowing through you once again!
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Only a remnant of Jews believed that Jesus was the Messiah
2) This was prophesied in the Old Testament
3) The Gentiles or Pagan nations of the world are grafted into the olive tree which represents Jesus Christ by faith.
4) Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. This started in 70 A.D. when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and has continued to the present day.
5) God has never changed his mind about Israel being his special nation.
6) the same principle applies to our individual Christian lives. God never changes his mind about his call nor does he take away the gifts he gives to us for His purposes.
7) What has God called you to do? When you answer this question you will be able to discern the gifts and abilities he is put within your life to achieve it.
8) Never stop believing in yourself because God has called you to serve him and has given you special gifts and abilities but you need to stir-up the gift within you. Don’t allow discouragement, negative people, demons, problems, setbacks or anything to distract you from doing what God has called and gifted you to do for His kingdom.
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll