The Mystery of Israel's Future

Welcome to the broadcast ministry of Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews, where we seek to glorify God by making him known and guiding others towards their true purpose in life.

No one is here by chance. God put us here for a reason. And the most important thing we can do is discover his plan for us and commit ourselves to it.

Keep listening as we learn from the Bible how to live wisely in God's world, which is the first step towards finding your purpose. All right, tonight's message is entitled The Mystery of Israel's Future. We're gonna be looking at Romans Chapter 11. I'm going to only cover verses 22 through 32. And so the past two weeks, we've been in Romans 11, looking at Romans 1 through 21.

I just want to give a quick review of what we've learned. First, concerning Israel. So beginning with Abraham and coming forward to our present age, all the way up to today, God has always reserved a remnant of Jews for himself. And Paul uses himself, you remember, God's foreknowledge, the prophet Elijah, and grace as evidence to prove this point. Second, concerning the nations.

Notice how similar it is. Beginning with Abraham and coming forward to our present age, God has always reserved a remnant of Gentiles for himself. And so this pattern to save a remnant from both Jews and Gentiles, it shows us God's predetermined plan of salvation for the world to save a remnant. And remember, the gate, is it wide or narrow?

Okay, the road is narrow, the gate is small. And the problem with the Israelites is they pursued righteousness by the law, and they rejected the grace of God offered through Christ on the cross because the cross was offensive to them. In fact, the cross is offensive to the world.

You know why? It reminds us of the cross. It reminds us that we're sinners. Before we become arrogant, Gentiles have often pursued righteousness in the same way. Not by faith, but by what?

Works. We've also learned of God's preordained order and salvation that John Stott calls what? Remember, a chain of blessing. Jew, Gentile, Jew. And that's where we'll get to tonight, is to that third link, Jew.

I'll get to the fourth at the end. So Jew, Gentile, Jew, and then I would actually say the world. And then we unveil the mystery of the olive tree.

And because of time, I'm gonna let you just read that, okay? But the olive tree, remember, is the true Israel, and it goes all the way back to Abraham. We're naturally grafted into the olive tree.

So we're unnaturally grafted in. And then Jews, who don't continue in unbelief, they can be grafted back into their own tree. And so saved Jews and Gentiles become branches on this olive tree, which is the true Israel. This brings us to what I want to cover tonight, the mystery of Israel's future. Look at verses 22 through verses 24 in Romans chapter 11. Here's what Paul writes.

For the kindness and sternness of God, sternness to those who fail, but kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they, talking about the Jews, do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you will cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature, will graft it into a cultivated olive tree. Remember, that's the true Israel. How much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their, what kind of olive tree?

Their own olive tree. So in these three verses, I want you to see two things. First, there's a warning to the Gentiles, and then there's a promise to the Jews. So here's the warning to the Gentiles, and this one applies to us. We are not to be arrogant, particularly when it comes to Jews, because we've been engrafted into their olive tree. We must always remember, so look at, I'm gonna take you back first to verse 18. So I'm gonna back up just a few verses. Verse 18 says, and he's talking to Gentiles, do not boast over those branches, that is the Jews, who have been cut off.

If you do consider this, you do not support the root, but the root supports who, it supports us. We need to always remember that the Christian faith has Jewish roots. First, the patriarchs, who are the ancestors of the Jews, they are our spiritual fathers, our spiritual ancestors. The word of God came primarily from who? Jewish authors. The entire New Testament was written by Jews, with the exception of two books in the Bible, and then you just ask, which two books? Luke and Acts, that's right, by Dr. Luke, who was a Gentile.

And Jesus, the living word of God, along with the disciples and the apostle Paul, were all what? Jews. And so we have Jewish roots. Therefore, we should never look down upon Jews, but how they value them, and this absolutely leaves no room for, what you see on the campuses today, anti-Semitism.

Any of the mason hat just came out of nowhere. It just shows you it's always under there. In verse 22, Paul says that Gentiles should have first a healthy fear of God.

Why is that? Well, he says that we should remember his sternness in judgment and condemnation of the Jews who rejected Christ. Therefore, we should have a healthy fear of God. If you cut them off, he can also cut us off.

I'll talk about that in just a minute. At the same time, we need to remember God's kindness towards those who truly believe. In Romans 2.5, it says that God's kindness leads us towards repentance. It's the kindness of God that draws men and women to repentance. Now, here's an important question. By the way, I want to tell you this. If you look through 1 John at the very end of the Bible, 1 John 1-5, it's actually a spiritual test.

Did you know that? It's designed for you to read through it like a mirror, and you're supposed to see the marks of a true, genuine Christian. And I'm actually teaching this to two groups on Thursday and Friday mornings, and I've read through the five chapters carefully, and I've come up with 37 marks of a genuine Christian. And those 37 marks, I believe, they're either all true of you or none of them are. And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, 13, I think it is.

I may be wrong with that. But anyway, he says, examine yourself, test yourselves to see whether you're in the faith, unless, of course, you fail the test. So you want to test yourselves. So what is one evidence?

And this is one of those 37. What is one evidence that you really belong to Christ? And it's coming from the text we just read in Romans. You do not, you continue in belief.

You do not turn away from the faith. 1 John 2-19 says, they went out from us. He's talking about, Jesus had a lot of people following Him, and the true disciples stayed with Him, but some left. So John is talking about those who left. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us.

But they're going to show that none of them belong to us. So the evidence that you truly belong to Christ is that you persist in your faith, which, by the way, is one of the five tenets of the Protestant Reformation. The Tulip, total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and what? Perseverance of the saints. Perseverance of the saints. That's the Tulip. It comes from John Calvin.

And I think all of those five letters are correct. And I can support that scripturally if you want to test me later. Oh, now, by the way, who enables you to persist in the faith? Philippians 1 says, being confident of this, that y'all heard this verse, that he who began a good work in you will what?

Carried on to completion until when? You've memorized that verse, haven't you? So look, here's the promise.

The promise is this, and we're going to see this tonight. God is not finished with the Jews. Paul explains it like this. If a wild Gentile can be saved, so can a Jew, as long as they do not persist in what? Unbelief. In fact, it is more natural for a Jew to believe than it is for you and me. Did you know that?

In fact, I've noticed this. When a Jew becomes a true believer, it's like he skyrockets past Gentiles in their faith, because it's just natural to them. They were given so much.

And so why is it natural? Because they are being granted back into their own olive tree. Remember, according to Romans 9, verses four and five, theirs are the adoption of sons. There's the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. There's all the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ.

But you need to understand this. None of these blessings matter if a Jew continues in unbelief. Like you and me, a Jew must come through Christ, he must come through the cross, because of what? John 14, six.

Jesus said what? I am the way. Yeah, he's the way. In fact, the first believers were called the way, because they belong to the way. And this brings us to what I want to talk about tonight, the mystery of Israel's future. And the question that we're going to attempt to answer in our remaining time is this. What is meant by the statement that all Israel will be saved?

That's the million dollar question. All Israel will be saved. What does that mean? Let's read verses 25 through 27. Don't y'all find this fascinating? Just watch the news, and we're gonna talk about what's gonna happen to all those Jews over there, and the ones living in America and around the world. Paul writes, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, there's that word again, brother, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the Deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. Who does Jacob represent, huh?

Who? Israel, the Jews. He represents the Jews. Remember, Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and from him he had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. So what is meant by the word mystery?

I think we've talked about this before. Well, the Greek word is there in your text, musterion, that's how you pronounce it, musterion. It's used 27 times in the New Testament. In fact, 21 times by the Apostle Paul. And so a mystery in the Bible refers to some hidden truth that was previously unknown, or it just wasn't understood. But now it's been revealed by divine revelation, and it's always revealed through Scripture.

And so in essence, a mystery is not something that's unknowable, but rather it's a divine truth that God chooses to reveal to his people at the appropriate time in his plan of redemption. Look at Colossians 1, 25 and 26. Paul writes, I have become, it says it, but he's home at the church.

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness, the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generation, but is now disclosed to the saints. So you know this from, if you're familiar with 1 Corinthians 2, 14, that the man without the Spirit cannot understand the things of the Spirit, why? Because they are spiritually discerned and he cannot understand them. It's impossible, because he's got a veil covered in his spiritual eyes, and until the Holy Spirit enters him and lifts the veil, he is blind to the gospel. He's blind to the deep mysteries of Scripture. So the mystery of God's Holy Scriptures cannot be understood by natural means. They can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Now listen, real quickly, I want to give you six examples. I think, again, the word mystery is used 27 times, but there are a number of key mysteries, and here's one, the first one, Ephesians 1, nine and 10. Guys, if y'all want to see what God's plan is for the world, go read Ephesians 1, nine through 11. But here it is, the mystery of God's will, here it is, guys, you ready?

Here's where we're headed. It's to bring all things together under one head, all things in heaven and on earth under one head, and who would that head be? Jesus Christ, it's all gonna happen in Christ, and it's gonna happen in the end times.

Ephesians 3, six reveals the mystery that Gentiles are heirs together with Jews and members of one body, so it's the mystery of the church that they just did not understand. First Corinthians 2, seven is the mystery that the indwelling Holy Spirit fills us with the wisdom of God such that we actually take on what? The mind of Christ, so this book, guys, think of this as the mind of God, and is it the complete mind of God? No, it's like a little speck in the universe.

But it's all of those formed by what? The renewing of my mind so that I'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will. That's how we take on the mind of Christ, and as we read the Bible, we come to know what God's will is for us. Then First Corinthians 15, 51. Go read First Corinthians 15, verses 35 through 55, and this is the mystery of how our bodies one day will be raised from the grave, and they'll be transformed in the twinkling of an eye so that we take on these new spiritual bodies that will be glorious and supernatural and immortal. And then Ephesians 6, 19 is the mystery of the gospel, that salvation is by faith alone through Christ alone.

And then we come to the mystery I want to talk about tonight. Romans 11, 25, the mystery of Israel's partial blindness. So here's the question, guys, that I've been trying to get to. What's God's plan for Israel? Because of their hardened hearts, remember, they hardened their hearts first, and then God divinely hardened them. Because of that hardening, only a small room of Jews going all the way back to Abraham have believed that Jesus is their true Messiah, their Savior. Second, because the vast majority rejected Jesus in the first century, God raised up a man by the name of Paul, and he commissioned them to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles. Remember, they chained a blessing to the Jew first and then to, well, who the Gentile? To the Gentile, right? The gospel went to the Jews first, they rejected it. So it went to the Gentiles to make Israel what? Gentiles.

That's right. Third, ever since Paul began taking the gospel to the Gentiles, really since the Pentecost, we've been living in what is known as the, I call it the present age or the church age or the age of grace. And with the exception of a very few Jews today, the church is filled primarily with Gentiles.

However, that appears to be changing even now. They have a hard time numbering Jews because some people have a Jewish father, but not a Gentile mother and vice versa. So some people are partial Jews, so we really don't know the exact number of Jews in the world. But it's around 18, 19 million. And about half of them live in Israel.

This makes what I'm about to tell you amazing. Y'all have heard of Joel Rosenberg? I've read several of his books. He's a Messianic Jew.

He mainly wrote fictional books, but he's written several nonfiction. So he's a Messianic Jew. He believes that Jesus is the Messiah. He has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And he's a New York Times best-selling author. His books have been printed in 5 million copies. And he and his wife Lynn live in Jerusalem today.

They actually moved from Washington, D.C. I mean, he's wildly respected. He's actually been called in by the Pentagon.

He's met with presidents. He's friends with Netanyahu. He knows, he's a well-respected, well-known Jewish scholar, really, author. So on September 24th, 2023, which is the very month of Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement, here's what he says.

This is September 24th, 2023. This Yom Kippur, 1 million Jews believe atonement comes only from Messiah Jesus. And only he can write their names in the Book of Life. So he's saying there are about 1 million Jews in the world who are Messianic Jews. But I also, and he also points to a landmark study by LifeWay, which is the research branch of the Southern Baptist Convention, that found that there are 871,000 Jewish Americans who believe, who have the same theological beliefs as evangelical Christians. Now, I just don't accept that one estimate. So I researched some more, and I found estimates anywhere from 150,000 to 300,000 Messianic Jews.

So you've got a range that really nobody knows. Who really knows? God.

So you have to leave it at that, but here's what we do now. At some point in the future, and only God knows when, the full number of Gentiles will have come in. That is the last few Gentiles, in fact, the last Gentile, at some point in the future, and it could be near, will be grafted into the olive tree. When I think about Gentiles, I think about the almost revival that's taking place in Muslim Christians that the world knows nothing about.

They are literally seeing signs and visions of Jesus. I've read numerous accounts. I believe it. I just believe it.

I've read too many accounts of it. In fact, Richard Fountain, who's a good friend of mine, his son went to Turkey a few years ago and met a young Muslim man who converted to Christianity because he said that Jesus appeared to him in a dream. So it's happening. So Gentiles are coming to faith even in Muslim countries. Where we're not seeing too much conversion is where?

In America. And then it says in verse 26, so when the full number have come in, this hardening is gonna be lifted. And then it says, and so all Israel will be saved. So here's the question, what does all Israel mean? Well, it means one of two things. I'm gonna give you two options that I believe are the two only explanations of what Paul meant when he said, and so all Israel will be saved.

So first, here's what it could mean. It could mean that beginning with Abraham and coming forward to our present day, literally, it's the day of the 29th, October 29th, 2024, God has saved a remnant of Jews. And he will continue, and this is key right here, in this same manner until the second coming of Jesus. In other words, only a remnant of Jews will ever come to faith and be grafted into the altar. In other words, God is just gonna keep working with Jews the same way he's always been working, saving a small remnant. And this is the contention of Sam Storms. In his book, Kingdom Come Again, by the way, I highly recommend this book.

I'm just skipping around in it, but it's a great book. He points to the English translation of two Greek words, kai-utos, that's how you pronounce it. But the ESV, I think, has a better translation. It translates it in this way.

In other words, in this manner. So what does it mean, what does it mean, in this manner, all Israel will be saved? Well, here's what Storms says. It's not so much the fact as it is in the fashion in which they will be saved. In other words, Paul is not telling us when all Israel will be saved, but how. So how shall all Israel be saved? Well, according to him, all Israel shall be saved in the same way Paul has described in the first 24 verses of Romans 11. He then goes on to quote, O. Palmer Robertson, who's an American Christian theologian, and he's a biblical scholar, and guess where he lives?

Winston-Salem, and here's what he says. And in this manner, kaiutos. And in this manner, by such a fantastic process, which shall continue through the entire present age, up to the point that the full number of the Gentiles is brought in, all Israel will be saved. Do y'all follow what he's saying? It's a little bit hard to follow, but let me explain it in my own words. He's saying that all Jews within this chosen remnant shall be saved in the same way God has always saved them.

It's always been a small remnant, and it always will be. So that's one view. It's just gonna be a small remnant of Jews, all the way to the very end. That's not what I really believe, even though I highly respect Sam's storms. Here's the second possibility. The phrase all Israel refers to a large number, perhaps all the Jews left in the world just prior to the second coming, and they will all be saved.

So I don't know whether it's a large number or if it's all of them. Now, to support this view, I turn to Douglas J. Mood. You ever heard of him? I've got a commentary of his that's about that thick on Romans, and it's actually very easy to read at least parts of it. It's the part that's at the bottom of the page where he's using Greek words that's not that easy. It's very technical, but it's just a great verse.

I spent about two hours this afternoon reading up on this so that I could make sense tonight. But here's what he says, and he's a renowned New Testament scholar. According to Mood in verses 25 through 32, Paul brings our attention to the last act of the drama, the heart of the mystery. So the last act of his historical salvation drama, in other words, in the history of the world, the last drama is the restoration of Israel. Verse 26a says, and in this way, all Israel will be saved. He says, this is not just the climax of Romans 11, it is the climax of Romans 9, 10, and 11.

So here's what Mood says, and I'm quoting him. Israel's present hostility toward God manifested in her general refusal of the gospel. And we've been saying this, it's part of God's plan, for it's the result of God's act of hardening.

It's a judicial hardening. Israel hardened their own hearts, so God traditionally hardened their hearts. But the hardening is both limited and temporary, designed to allow Gentiles to come in and to stimulate Israel or herself to repentance.

That's exactly what we've been saying, right? To the Jew, to the Gentile, the jealousy of Israel is aroused and then something happens. He goes on to say, in the future, I'm quoting him, God's unwavering commitment to Israel will be spectacularly revealed in the salvation of the nation as a whole. The last day will reveal that God has treated Jew and Gentile equally, imprisoning all in disobedience. Gentiles before Christ, Jews since Christ's coming, so that he could have mercy on them all. Gentiles in the present age, he's having mercy on them. Jews making up for their small numbers now in great numbers at the end of the age.

So you see what he's saying? Look at verse 32. I don't have time to get to verse 32, but here's what it says. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may what? Have mercy on them all. That's God's way of, I don't know why he's doing it this way but he has given us all over to disobedience, I guess so that we will see how much we need him. And then he, according to his foreknowledge and his sovereign will, he has mercy on whom he has mercy. Remember that in Romans nine.

But here's what I believe personally. I believe that at some point in our future, and this could be very soon, when you look at what's taking place in the Middle East, God is going to do something special within the nation of Israel. And I believe the world will witness it and they will be stunned that these Jews who think that Christians are their enemy, all of a sudden believe that Jesus Christ is their Yeshua. How's this going to happen? I don't exactly know.

That's the mystery. But it will be the climax of God's redemptive plan for the Jews. I believe it's a huge number of them will call on the name of Jesus and be saved.

What does Romans 13, excuse me, 10.4, 10.13 say? For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's what's going to happen to those Jews over there today.

So what should we be doing for the Jews? Praying. And here are two interesting verses from the Old Testament in Zechariah.

Again, I don't have much time. I'm just going to read the verses. Zechariah 12, 10 says, And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. And they will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. Why do you think they're going to mourn so much? Because they're going to be repenting. They're going to see how they've been so blind. And they're going to experience God's mercy. And they're going to have a great moment of repentance. And they're going to mourn over their sin, just like you and I've done.

I've done that. I've been in my office weeping over my sin before. Zechariah 13, one says, On that day, a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

To do what? This fountain, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. See, I don't think that's happened yet. Now, you could argue that this took place when Jesus came the first time, but a lot of these prophecies in the Old Testament have double fulfillments, a smaller one and then a larger one.

And I think the large one is in our future. Now, what will happen when this large number of Jews is grafted into their own olive tree? Real quick, open up, make sure you, Romans 11. I got to turn there myself, because I want to look at two verses real quick. Romans 11, and we're almost done here, but this is so important right here.

I think Paul is hinting at something here when he says in Romans 11, look at Romans 11, 12. 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? So when they are saved in mass, something great just want to happen.

If you look down at verse 15, for if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but what? Life from the dead. When this revival occurs in Israel, I believe it will usher, here's the great thing that's going to come, happen. The second coming, that's the fullness. And it points to the resurrection of the dead. It will bring, the dead will come to life. And I want to close with this verse.

This is really a warning that I close with tonight. You need to figure out where you stand with Jesus. In John 5, 28, 29, Jesus says, "'Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming "'when all who are in their grace "'will hear his voice and come out.'" Remember in Revelation 1 it says his voice is like the sound of rushing river like Niagara Falls. In other words, when he speaks this time at his second coming and he says come out, every voice will be silenced.

And every voice in the grave and every voice that is alive, every person that's alive will hear this voice. And they will have to do the same thing Lazarus did. What did Lazarus do when Jesus said come out? And he said come out, Lazarus. Why did he say Lazarus' name? So that not everybody would come out, maybe. What did Lazarus do?

He wobbled out somehow because he was still bound in his grave clothes. Those who have done good will rise to live. Does that mean you've done good works?

No, it means that you've done the one good thing you need to do and that's to believe that Jesus is who he claims to be. And those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. I think about America today, that we are more evil. There's really not much good about us. We're just evil. So let me ask you a question. Let me ask you, let me just say this.

It's easy to sit here and say they're all evil out there. We need to weep over their conditioning. What should we do about that? Go share the gospel with them. And it says and rescue some from the fire.

That's what we need to do. So let me ask you this question. Are you ready for this day? In other words, are you ready to die, be buried, and know that you have nothing to worry about because when you hear his voice, you want to rise to live. Are you ready for that, young man? Are you guys ready for that?

I know it's important to get ready for a job or to get ready for marriage or whatever, but this is more important than any of that stuff. You need to be ready to hear his voice. You know, if the Bible ends, amen, come Lord Jesus. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews. This broadcast is made possible because of the prayers and financial gifts of listeners like you. If you want to learn more about our ministry or support us as we reach others with God-centered Bible teaching, please visit us at findingpurpose.net. We'll see you in the next one.