Romans 11 through Isaiah 53
Since that revelatory encounter those many years ago, I have pondered on the time shown on the clock-11:53. Perhaps it is something like this: Romans 11 will be fulfilled through Isaiah 53. Romans 11—“all Israel will be saved”—will be fulfilled by a revelation of the Suffering Messiah in Isaiah 53.
Romans 11:12 speaks of how the Jewish people’s rejection of their Messiah has brought salvation to the Gentiles. Paul says, “[If] their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!”Romans 11:15 goes on to say, “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
What do you think “life from the dead” looks like? Zech. 14:5, 8-9 and 11 give us a glimpse of that day:
Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! . . .
And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem. . . .
And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. . . .
People will live in [Jerusalem], and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
The Father will reward His Son, the Messiah, for His sufferings. The salvation of Israel is a key component of that reward, and the Father will not do without it. If we are going to align ourselves with the God of Israel, we are going to have to align ourselves with His covenants and His prophetic promises of the salvation of the Jews and the restoration of Jerusalem.
It is not difficult to find political analysts, historians, reporters and even theologians ready to explain their theories and share commentary on Israel’s current state of affairs. But despite the abundance of opinions and strong feelings, the future of Israel still remains a mystery to most of the world. Paul, the apostle and bond slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, did not want believers to be uninformed of this mystery or to be wise in their own estimation concerning Israel (see Rom. 11:25). The Holy Spirit through Paul made a number of very clear points in Romans 11.
Despite what it may look like, Israel has not fallen so far from God that they can never return. In fact, their falling away was ordained by God as a measure of grace to us, the Gentiles. Paul said it this way: “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Galatians 3:14, NIV).
The Gentiles are being embraced by the Jewish Messiah in part to make Jews jealous (see Rom. 11:11). Gentiles are not “natural branches” on God’s family tree, but rather “wild olive shoots” who must recognize that they have been grafted in. God’s plan is to graft the “natural branches” into their own olive tree once again (see Rom. 11:24), resulting in the reality that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26).
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