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altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me'. and what was God's answer
to him? `I have reserved for Myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to
Baal' (I Kings 19: 18). So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; If it were, grace would no longer be
grace" (verses 2-6, N.I.V.).
God sees to it that He always has a witness and this is an act of sheer grace on His
part. As for the rest of the unbelieving nation, they came under God's judicial penalty for
their disobedience and in connection with this three O.T. scriptures are quoted:
"God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they
could not hear, to this very day. And David says, `May their table become a snare and a
trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes by darkened so that
they cannot see, and their backs be bent for ever'." (verses 8-10, N.I.V.).
The quotations are from Isa. 29: 10, Deut. 29: 4, and Psa. 69: 22 (LXX).
When Israel made it perfectly clear that they were not going to believe and obey God's
Word they then were disciplined by God and left in their darkened state. But one thing is
perfectly clear. Israel did not fall so as to rise no more:
"Again I ask, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather,
because of their transgressions, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the
Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!" (verses 11 and 12, N.I.V.).
These verses give the Apostle's interpretation of the words from the Song of Moses
(Deut. 32: 21) already quoted in 10: 19. When Israel began to see that God's blessing
was resting upon the despised Gentile and the nation's unique position was slipping
away, it might have the effect of stirring them up to belief and response. It is important
to note that this is the divine reason given for the admission of the far-off Gentile for
blessing. It was not to form the church revealed in Ephesians and Colossians, but to
wake up slumbering Israel to realize what they were losing. Paul's argument is that if
through the failure of the chosen people of Israel great blessing has resulted for the
Gentiles, how much more blessing will come when they are converted and at God's
disposal again! It will be like resurrection life to a dead world! The Apostle uses the
word pleroma, translated fullness. It means "full strength" or "complement".
He continues:
"If part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the
root is holy, so are the branches" (Rom. 10: 16, N.I.V.).
Paul uses two figures here. The former is an allusion to Numb. 15: 20. He regards
the faithful Jewish remnant as a pledge of the final salvation of all Israel. The second is
likened to a tree where the condition of the root vitally affects the branches and this leads
Paul to develop his parable of the olive tree which has given such difficulty to expositors.
One thing should be evident; it must be interpreted strictly with the context in view and
any attempt to avoid this or go over its bound must be resisted, otherwise we shall only
be misled.