Romans 11:7-16
7: What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;
8: just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.”
9: And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.
10: “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”
11: I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
12: Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
13: But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
14: if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.
15: For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
16: If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
To summarize what he had been saying, Paul said that Israel as a whole had not obtained the salvation they were seeking, other than the remnant who followed the path of salvation by grace and faith through Jesus Christ. Paul quoted Deuteronomy 29:4 to compare the state of the Jewish people, other than the remnant, to the spiritual condition of Israel after their forty years of wandering. They had seen God do many miracles but still did not have a true understanding of God. Eyes that did not see and ears that did not hear.
Paul also spoke of David who, referring to his adversaries (a prophetic representation of the enemies of Christ), asked that their table--their display of blessing-- would become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, and that their eyes would become dark and their backs weak (Psalm 69:22-23). This speaks of a judgment coming on those Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah. Once again, he used Old Testament Scripture to back what he said for this is what the Jewish people adhered to. He didn’t expect them to just take his word for it. Even though he also was a Jew, he gave them Scripture.
Paul went on to explain what good might come from the stumbling of the Jewish people. Was it for them to fall? No, but by their transgression salvation had come to the Gentiles to make them jealous. If the unbelief of the Jewish people brought the great treasure of salvation to the rest of the world, imagine how great it will be when they come to believe! If the first dough, or first fruit, is holy then the rest of it is also. This refers to the practice of offering the first fruit or grain to God, separated from the rest, which had to be done first before the rest could be considered holy and partaken of (Numbers 15:19-21). If the root is holy, the branches are too. Salvation was offered to the Jews first, but God did not delay in offering this salvation to the Gentiles, even if the Jewish people ignored it, delayed in believing it, or outright rejected it themselves.
8: just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.”
9: And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.
10: “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”
11: I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
12: Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
13: But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
14: if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.
15: For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
16: If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
***
To summarize what he had been saying, Paul said that Israel as a whole had not obtained the salvation they were seeking, other than the remnant who followed the path of salvation by grace and faith through Jesus Christ. Paul quoted Deuteronomy 29:4 to compare the state of the Jewish people, other than the remnant, to the spiritual condition of Israel after their forty years of wandering. They had seen God do many miracles but still did not have a true understanding of God. Eyes that did not see and ears that did not hear.
Paul also spoke of David who, referring to his adversaries (a prophetic representation of the enemies of Christ), asked that their table--their display of blessing-- would become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, and that their eyes would become dark and their backs weak (Psalm 69:22-23). This speaks of a judgment coming on those Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah. Once again, he used Old Testament Scripture to back what he said for this is what the Jewish people adhered to. He didn’t expect them to just take his word for it. Even though he also was a Jew, he gave them Scripture.
Paul went on to explain what good might come from the stumbling of the Jewish people. Was it for them to fall? No, but by their transgression salvation had come to the Gentiles to make them jealous. If the unbelief of the Jewish people brought the great treasure of salvation to the rest of the world, imagine how great it will be when they come to believe! If the first dough, or first fruit, is holy then the rest of it is also. This refers to the practice of offering the first fruit or grain to God, separated from the rest, which had to be done first before the rest could be considered holy and partaken of (Numbers 15:19-21). If the root is holy, the branches are too. Salvation was offered to the Jews first, but God did not delay in offering this salvation to the Gentiles, even if the Jewish people ignored it, delayed in believing it, or outright rejected it themselves.
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