Coffee House Chapel #4

April 26

Romans 11:11-12, “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”

The Jewish people were the avenue through which God chose to send the Messiah to a lost and dying world. Last devotional we saw that the Jews had stumbled, and that their stumbling led to the gospel being introduced to the Gentile world. This stumbling by the Jews does not mean that all the promises of God to Israel were forfeited by Israel. Paul clearly states this in verse 11 of our text when he answers his own question “Have they stumbled that they should fall?” with that strong negative that he uses - “God forbid” or “May it never be!” God’s promises to Israel will forever remain with Israel, and God’s promises to the church will forever remain with the church. These promises are not interchangeable.

The early church, the first Christians, were almost all Jews. On the Day of Pentecost, there were Jews from many different countries in Jerusalem, Acts 2:9-11, “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” Dr. Luke states that these who heard the message of Peter were “Jews and proselytes,” that is, natural born Jews, and Gentiles who had converted to Judaism. Acts 2:46 tells us that these new believers “continuing daily with one accord in the temple.”

As we study the early church, particularly the Gentile controversy over circumcision, we can safely assume that these Jewish believers would have “undoubtedly continued to observe the ceremonies, sabbaths, rites, feasts, and holy days of Israel.” (Boice) I think that we can also safely assume that this would have continued indefinitely had not the great persecution broken out against the church at Jerusalem. The result would have been Christianity becoming just a minority sect of traditional Judaism. The persecution is an example of God getting His people to do His bidding (the Great Commission) even when they are a rebellious people, or a people who have become complacent with the status quo. The church in Jerusalem was not a case of rebellion against God’s command, but rather the people were so happy with the great work that was going on in Jerusalem that they didn’t want to leave - and reach “Judaea, .... Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

In Acts 4, Peter and John, and other leaders were brought before the Sanhedrin and threatened with harm if they continued preaching Jesus. In Acts 5, the apostles were arrested and flogged because they ignored the warning of Acts 4. In Acts 7, Stephan was killed, and the martyring of this believer triggered a general persecution. The result of this persecution was that believers got the “get up and go” that Christ had previously commanded them in Acts 1:8. Acts 8:1, “And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

This scattering was the impetus that led Philip to Samaria, where he preached Christ, and many Samaritans believed (Acts 8:4-7). Later God sent him to Gaza where he led the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ (vers 26-39), who took the gospel back to Ethiopia. Philip ended up in the Gentile City of Caesarea, where he appears to have had a long and effective ministry (Acts 21:8).

The gospel came to the Gentiles. The first missionaries were Jewish Christians, who were finally doing what God had desired Israel to do all along, that is being “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6).

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Thank you Blackbird!

 

April 28

Romans 11:11-12, “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”

Israel rejected the Lord Jesus. Because of the rejection, the gospel was spread to the Gentile world. Today we look at the Apostle Paul. Paul (Saul) was headed to Damascus to arrest Christians when Christ got his attention. After Paul’s conversion, he ended up in Damascus, and might have stayed there, if the Jews there had not conspired to kill him. Acts 9:23-25, “And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.” Paul then went to Jerusalem, where we see the beginning of a pattern that was to follow Paul for his entire missionary career. That pattern - preaching Jesus, first to the Jews (usually in a synagogue - until being rejected), then preaching to Gentiles, then being “driven” from the city by jealous Jews, and then going from city to city - preaching the gospel - following this same pattern.

At Pisidian Antioch - Acts 13:45-50, “But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.” Driven from Pisidian Antioch, Paul went to Iconium.

At Iconium - Acts 14:2, 5, “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren .... And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,” Driven from Iconium, Paul went to Lystra.

At Lystra - Acts 14:19, “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.” Driven from Lystra, Paul went to Derbe.

At Thessalonica - Acts 17:5, “But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.” Thessalonica was on Paul’s second missionary journey. The trouble in Thessalonica sent him off to Berea.


At Berea - Acts 17:13, “But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.” The Christ rejecters at Berea caused trouble and Paul headed to Athens.

At Ephesus during Paul’s third missionary journey in Acts 19 there was a riot. Paul then traveled to Macedonia.

This recurring pattern led to the spread of the gospel elsewhere. Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” We should eternally thank God for missionaries like Paul who did not quit in the face of persecution, but went elsewhere to preach the gospel.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Thank you Blackbird!

 

April 30

Romans 11:11-12, “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”

Paul presents four important points in these two verses. It is obvious that (1) Israel has rejected Jesus, and (2) that this rejection of Jesus (the Messiah) by Israel resulted in the gospel going to the Gentile world. Paul’s “third point is that the salvation of the Gentiles would lead in time to the ‘fullness’ of Israel, that is, to the salvation of Israel as a nation, and that this in turn would lead to even greater Gentile blessing.” (Boice) This has not yet happened, but it will.

Paul has clearly stated that God has not and will not permanently set Israel aside.

“Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.” (Rom 11:1)
“God hath not cast away his people ... “ (Rom 11:2)

Yet many reformed theologians of our day reject the idea of a future blessing for Israel. In spite of the clear teaching of Romans 11, these theologians make the church the “new Israel” with the “old Israel” being forever superceded. Boice writes, “To their way of thinking, any future blessing of Israel as a nation must be a backward step, a regression in God’s plan. Spiritual realities in Christ have replaced the Jewish types that pointed to them.”

What do these theologians do with Romans 9-11? Paul is not speaking of a spiritual Israel (the church) in these chapters. He plainly is speaking about Israel as a nation. Paul asks the question - “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?” The answer is NO! – and an emphatic NO at that. Paul could not conceive of God casting off Israel. Now here is the heart of the situation - if God has cast off Israel permanently - that means that God has broken His covenant promise with the Nation of Israel - something that God cannot do and remain a truth-keeping, faithful God.

In closing I will quote from several reformed writers that believed Israel is Israel, and the Church is the Church, and that the two are not one and the same:

F. Godet - “It is almost inconceivable how our Reformers could have held out obstinately, as they have done, against a thought so clearly expressed ... When Israel shall see the promises of the Old Testament, which ascribe to the Messiah the conversion of the Gentiles to the God of Abraham, fulfilled throughout the whole world by Jesus Christ, and the Gentiles through His mediation loaded with the blessings which they themselves covet, they will be forced to own that Jesus is the Messiah.”

Charles Hodge - “Israel ... must mean the Jewish people, and all Israel the whole nation. The Jews, as a people are now rejected; as a people, they are to be restored.”

Robert Haldane - “The rejection is to continue till the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in. Then the people of Israel, as a body, shall be brought to faith of the Gospel.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

May 2

Romans 11:11-12, “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”

Today we will do a bit of soul searching. Our text presents us with four points, the first three we have previously considered: (1) Israel has rejected Christ, (2) their rejection resulted in an extension of blessings to the Gentiles, and (3) the nation of Israel will yet be saved. Paul’s fourth point gives us the mechanism by which point three will take place - Israel will be provoked to jealousy because of the blessings God has bestowed upon the Gentiles. This obviously has not yet taken place, so where to you suppose the fault lies for this? I suppose we could slip into the hyper side of Calvinistic thought and blame God and say He has not yet seen fit to use the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy! The fault does not lie with God, the fault lies with Gentile Christians. For the most part, Gentile Christians of the western world have done little to provoke anyone to jealousy for what we possess in Jesus Christ, let alone to provoke Israel to jealousy.

Jews have good cause to suspect the “Christian” world. In the name of “Christianity” the crusades of the middle ages persecuted the Jews. Much of Christendom stood idly by while Stalin and Hitler slaughtered millions of Jews during the first half of the twentieth century. Before you protest to loudly, remember the Britain fought the second world war because they were attacked by Hitler’s armed forces, not because they wished to protect the oppressed Jew. America is guilty of the same as we steadfastly and foolishly tried to distance ourselves from the battle until December 7, 1941, when we were drawn into the war because we were attacked. But wars started by non-Christians aside, how do we as Christians act towards the Jew. Do we love them through Jesus or do we tend to blame them for many of the ills of society (especially financial ills) that we perceive are caused by them. For the most part, if I am being honest, there is nothing we Gentile Christians have done to show the Jews that what we have in Jesus Christ is worth having.

When the unbelieving Jew stands before the “Great White Throne” they will have to answer for their unbelief. In the face of the evidence of their own Scriptures (the Old Testament) - they will have to answer why they willingly did not see and recognize their Messiah when He came to this earth. Their real blindness to God’s revealed truth is only exacerbated by their willing blindness as they go to incredible lengths to deny the clear teaching of God’s Word.

But the Christian’s sin is equal to or even greater than the Jew’s sin of unbelief. I say that because we know the gospel. We have the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us - to live like Jesus Christ and show His love to all perishing Jews and Gentiles alike. “But instead of showing love to Jews, most Gentiles (even many genuine Christians) have shown the Jews prejudice and hatred.” (Boice) Leon Morris writes, “Instead of showing to God’s ancient people the attractiveness of the Christian way, Christians have characteristically treated the Jews with hatred, prejudice, persecution, malice, and all uncharitableness.” Morris then adds what is surely a major understatement, “Christians should not take this passage calmly.”

(Note: though I strongly believe in God’s sovereignty - and do not question it - I do not “blame” God for man’s sin and rebellion! And though God will provoke Israel to jealousy when He sees fit to do so - Gentile Christians will have much to answer for when standing at the Bema Judgement for their unwillingness to be the provokers to jealousy that God intends us to be. It almost seems that we are getting even with the Jew for not being the light that God intended them to be to the Gentile, by not being the light God intends us to be to them.)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd