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.” ~ Romans 11:25-27
Today, we return to our study of Romans 9-11 which has as its overall theme: the Sovereignty of God. Underscored in this section is the fact that the people of Israel, by and large, have chosen to not place their faith in God's Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that Israel forgot God, not that God has forgotten Israel. No, Israel forgot God and turned away from Him. And, they chose to reject the free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "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."
There are times when believers in Christ experience ignorance with regard to God's will. In this case, our ignorance is caused by the lack of revelation on a given subject, namely here the blindness of the Jews regarding the identity of their Messiah. It is quite obvious in the Gospels and in the New Testament that some Jews did believe on the Lord Jesus as their Savior. In fact, such Old Testament passages like Daniel 9:24-27 revealed when the Messiah would come to the earth the first time.
In Daniel 9:24-27 God gave us a 490 year prophecy concerning Israel. According to the prophecy there were three divisions. The first was the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The second would be the coming of the Messiah. The third was to be a seven year period at the end of time that many call the Tribulation. When we do the math and we multiply seventy times seven we have a total period of 490 years which are decreed for Daniel's people which are the Jews.
According to Daniel 9:25 from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild the temple, the first period of time in this prophecy it would be a period of 49 years. The issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem came in Nehemiah 2:1-8 which was 444 BC and the completion of the rebuild of Jerusalem was in 395 BC. That is a 49 year period of time that the Lord told Daniel in advance would happen.
The second part of the prophecy also found in Daniel 9:25 where we learn that from the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah there would be 62 sevens. When we multiply 62 x 7 we get 434 years which was the many years later that the Lord Jesus arrived in Jerusalem as her King riding on the donkey. God had given Israel the precise dates to know the first coming of the Messiah but since the Lord Jesus did not fit their definition of a political messiah, they rejected Him. This underscores the utter necessity of God defining things for us.
Due to Israel's rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah, blindness in part has come upon Israel until the full number of Gentiles have come in. During this period that we know as the church age that we live in now, the emphasis of the gospel ministry has been mostly to Gentiles. When the number of the Gentiles is full, and only God knows what that is, at that point the church age will be over. The rapture of the church will take place at that point. Because of this, there is a clear distinction throughout the Bible between Israel and the Church. And, good biblical hermeneutics begins with keeping these two entities separate when we are making proper interpretation of the Scriptures.
In v.26-27 of today's passage we read, "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."
Note that some time in the future, the deliverer will come and turn godlessness away from Jacob who was renamed Israel. The significance of this is that Jacob is Israel in unbelief. I find Jeremiah 30:7 helpful because it describes the 70th seven of Daniel 9:27 as a time of Jacob's trouble. So, the point of the 70th seven is that God will deal with the unbelief of Israel during the Tribulation. You will also note that the first 69 sevens of Daniel 9 have been fulfilled, but the last seven has not. Most commonly call this last seven the Tribulation. The Lord Jesus refers to the last 3.5 years of the seven year tribulation as a time of great tribulation.
Note that some time in the future, the deliverer will come and turn godlessness away from Jacob who was renamed Israel. The significance of this is that Jacob is Israel in unbelief. I find Jeremiah 30:7 helpful because it describes the 70th seven of Daniel 9:27 as a time of Jacob's trouble. So, the point of the 70th seven is that God will deal with the unbelief of Israel during the Tribulation. You will also note that the first 69 sevens of Daniel 9 have been fulfilled, but the last seven has not. Most commonly call this last seven the Tribulation. The Lord Jesus refers to the last 3.5 years of the seven year tribulation as a time of great tribulation.
I find it quite fascinating that the people group we know as the Jews perpetuate. Over and over throughout human history, the Jewish people have been the object of annihilation, yet, they perpetuate. And, it is clear, according to this passage, God has a clear plan for the people of Israel in the future. I find this comforting. God is sovereign over the will of anyone else. God, even though man resists His will, keeps His promises. And, the purpose of the Tribulation is to bring those Jews of Israel who will be living on earth during the Tribulation back to God. God will do this by the arrival of the Deliverer who is none other than the Lord Jesus Himself. When the Lord Jesus arrives on earth at His second coming, He will take Israel's sins away. This will happen because they will see Him come to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and they will recognize their Messiah as the crucified Lord Jesus. They will know that it will be Him due to the nail prints in His hands and in His feet.
Let me close by centering in on a thought that I brought up earlier. God is true to His promises. When our lives seem to be on life support, the word of God and my experiences have shown that God is true to His word. God promised the children of Israel a promised land, and, as the book of Exodus notes, God delivered. Promised Land people choose to trust God’s promises. They choose to believe that God is up to something good even though all we see looks bad. When the sky looks threatening, always respond with this thought: "But God said..." Whenever our lives do not go the way we desire, when doubts arise, we must remember the statement, "but God said…" We must be in the habit of searching the Scriptures like a miner digging for gold and trust the promises we find therein that are applicable to us. When we do this, we will be defined by God. This is how we navigate through this woeful world which seems to be spiraling out of control. This is how we navigate ourselves into the exciting adventure of a personal relationship with God.
