The Future Of Israel: Dispensationalists' Big Error / Greg Bahnsen

Turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Romans the 11th chapter, which we will read in its entirety as our scripture reading. We're continuing today in our series on covenant theology. And we come to the subject of the future of Israel. Romans the 11th chapter, beginning at verse one. Hear now God's word, I say. Then did God cast off his people, God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God did not cast off his people which he foreknew. Or know ye not what the Scripture saith of Elijah, how he pleadeth with God against Israel. Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and have digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. But if it is by grace, it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace. What then? That which Israel seeketh for that he obtaineth not. But the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened according as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this very day. And David saith, let their table be made a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them, let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow thou down their back Always I say. Then did they stumble that they might fall. God forbid. But by their fall salvation has come unto the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy. Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fulness. But I speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then, as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry. If by any means I may provoke to jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save some of them for if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? And if the first fruit is holy, so is the lump and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree, glory not over the branches. But if thou gloriest it is not thou that bearest the root, but the root thee. Thou shalt say, then branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well, by their unbelief they were broken off. And thou standest by thy faith. Be not high minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, and neither will he spare thee, behold then, the goodness and the severity of God toward them that fell severity, but toward thee. God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and was grafted contrary to nature, into a good olive tree, how much more shall these which are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, and thus all Israel shall be saved. Even as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of. For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past tracing out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor, or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompense unto him again. For of him and through him, and unto him are all things, to him be the glory forever. Amen. Thus far the reading of God's word. Well, what an exciting chapter. Paul deals with so much heavy theology here. And he and he. He shows the wondrous wisdom and mercy of God, that God will not only shut up all men under sin, but he also has a plan whereby all nations are going to be saved. And God has done this in a way that seems paradoxical, somewhat ironic. God, by judging Israel, is going to end up blessing Israel all the more. Paul says, for the judgment of God upon Israel means his blessing upon the Gentiles. And this will provoke a work of jealousy in the Jews when they see the Gentiles blessed by the Gospel. So that now the Jews will come en masse to the gospel and it will be like life from the dead for the world when Jew and Gentile alike in the church of Jesus Christ, glorify him and thank him for his mercy. No wonder Paul ends this chapter with this marvelous adoration of God. He says, oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments. Who has known the mind of the Lord, who was given to him that it should be recompensed unto him? He says, no, everything's unto God because everything comes from God. Now why is Paul so worked up? Why does this make him so enthusiastic? Well, because Paul was a Jew. And the irony is he was a Jew whose ministry by the providence of God was to the Gentiles. And because the Gospel had gone to the Gentiles and many of the Jews had rejected the faith, Paul was concerned for his brethren after the flesh. He actually begins in chapter nine. If we could go back that far this morning, you'd see that his heart's desire is for his brothers. After the flesh. He cries out to God for their salvation. People might wonder, has God broken his covenant? Has God forgotten his ancient people? Is it the case that what he said to the patriarchs is now not going to come to fruition? Is it possible? Is it possible that God would have cast off the Jews? We need to ask that question too, because, as you know, in this series on covenant theology, I have argued more than once that the New Testament Church of Christ Christ is the new Israel of God, that God's saving mercy and promises are now going to be fulfilled in the mixed congregation, Jewish and Gentile mixed congregation of the International Church of Jesus Christ, that God no longer has a special place for ethnic Israel in the land of promise. And so many of our dispensational brothers and sisters are going to say to us who hold the covenant theology, what has God forgotten his covenant? I mean, you call yourselves covenant theologians. How could you possibly, you know, portray God is forgetting his covenant and now casting off his ancient people. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. God doesn't change his mind when God lays down a promise, he doesn't break it. And so how can you say that the promises given to Israel are now fulfilled the church? Are you saying there is no future for ethnic Israel? And surprising answer is no, we're not saying that at all. We do believe that there is a future for ethnic Israel, a glorious future for ethnic Israel. And this is the crucial point. We believe, following the teaching of Scripture, we believe in terms of our covenantal understanding of God's saving mercy, that ethnic Israel does have a blessed future. But it is not a blessed future apart from God's people. It is not a future separated from Christ and the church. That is to say, ethnic Israel has a glorious future to look forward to. But it will not be a future independent of the gentile Jewish church. It will not be a future independent of God's saving mercy in this dispensation in the church. And so that's what I'd like to look at very briefly this morning. What is the future of Israel according to covenant theology? You remember how at the beginning of biblical history, nearly the beginning of biblical history, God called Abraham to belong to him. The call to Abraham is central to covenant theology. We see there God declare his covenant with Abraham. He establishes it sovereignly on his own. He takes the initiative. It is his grace that blesses Abraham. And God promised to Abraham in particular that he would have a seed and that he would have a land. We believe that this promise to Abraham has been made good and that the seed is the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ himself, the one who was born, the true son of Abraham, to inherit all the promises. And we believe the promise of the land to Abraham has been fulfilled in the kingdom of the Messiah. That there is a domain where Jesus reigns and we have been brought into that kingdom, the kingdom of God's dear Son, by his grace. So Abraham made, excuse me, God made a promise to Abraham. We see that fulfilled in Christ and in the work Christ has done in establishing his kingdom. Now, at the very beginning, God promised Abraham that he would be a father of many nations. Many nations, not of one. And so from the start, the Jews never should have had some kind of exclusivistic pride, as though God's concern was only for Jews. From the very beginning, many nations were to be blessed in Abraham. The Gentiles were part of this plan from the get go. And so later, when the Gentiles are brought into the church on an equal footing with Jews, this is no violation of the promised Abraham in the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. Well, God called Abraham later, you know that God called Moses to be a leader of the Israelites and to form Abraham's descendants into a nation. Up until this point, they were a family, an extended family, and then many families, but they were in bondage. God now redeems Israel's descendants, brings them out of the land of bondage, out of the house of Israel, excuse me, Egypt, and puts them into a land where they will be formed now as a nation, a holy nation, one set apart and consecrated to God's purposes. In so doing, God was anticipating his work in the church. And how do we know that at first? Peter, chapter two, verse nine, Peter declares that the church is that holy nation that Israel was formed to be. And through the church, through this holy nation, God's intention is to spread his saving blessing to the entire world. And so we see the fulfillment of the Abrahamic and the Mosaic covenants in the saving work of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the international church of Jesus Christ through which the Gospel is to be taken to the entire world, so that all the Gentiles will be included in the kingdom of God as well. Now, everything that I've said thus far I think should be pretty much cut and dry. Should be able to look at the Bible and see how the New Testament uses Old Testament illusions and what the general plan of God is and say, yeah, that's right. Covenant theology has this right. What God promised to Abraham, what God did through the work of Moses, has been fulfilled now in the saving work of Jesus Christ and the establishment of a new kingdom that is international in character. Jews and Gentiles alike in the church of Jesus Christ bringing His Word to all the world. But our dispensational brothers say, no, you've missed something here. And that's why we're having today's lesson. Dispensationalism holds out a special hope and blessing for ethnic Israel organized as a nation in the promised land of Palestine. You see, what I've explained to you about the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant and about the fulfillment of the Mosaic covenant does not envision a national future for ethnic Israel in the promised land of Palestine. Envelope and dispensationalism says, therefore we have really fallen short of teaching all that the Bible has to say, and we have gone contrary to the teaching of God in the Scriptures. I brought my worn copy of Charles Ryrie's Dispensationalism today to church. You can imagine how precious this is to me. It's marked up terribly. I would remind you that dispensationalists are Christian brothers and sisters, but they don't like what we have to say very often. And they say some pretty mean and low down things about us. And I hope that we don't return that kindness by saying mean and low down things about them. But I do think that they have missed the mark biblically. And I'd like to read for you what Ryrie has to say about ethnic Israel and its future, just so you have some flavor of the dispensational claim flavor of that. And I trust you'll see that it doesn't fit in really with the teaching of the New Testament anyway. Ryber says that God is continuing his work of redemption and calling out a people for his name in the Church. The body of Christ we gladly affirm, but we also insist that this body of Christ is distinct from any previous body of redeemed people in its nature, characteristics, time and promises. And then I'll skip down. Because of the sharp distinction dispensationalists draw between the purpose of God in the Church and His purpose in the Kingdom, it is often assumed that there is no relationship between the two in relation to the future millennial kingdom. Dispensationalists have always taught that the Church will share in the rule of that kingdom. At the same time, dispensationalists maintain the separate place and distinct blessings of national Israel restored and regenerated in the millennial kingdom. Are you getting the point here? He's saying we're not trying to deprive the Church of anything. In a sense, if, if Dr. Ry were here today, I think he'd say, well, what Dr. Bonson has said about these covenantal fulfillments in the Church and so forth, that's all fine, but that's not enough because you must also have a separate distinct place and purpose of God for Israel. Dispensationalists have sometimes made a sharp distinction between the heavenly future of the Church and the earthly future for national Israel. For instance, Chafer wrote and now he quotes Lewis Barry Chafer. The dispensationalist believes that throughout the ages God is pursuing two distinct purposes. One related to the earth, with earthly people and earthly objectives involved, which is Judaism, while the other is related to heaven with heavenly people and heavenly objectives involved, which is Christianity. Now I would expect that, that if I would have said this, I mean, leave the book at home. And I just say, you know what dispensationalists believe? They believe God has two purposes. One in Judaism, one in Christianity. You would have said, oh, no, Dr. Bonson, no one can make that big a mistake. You just earned it. Dispensationalism Today they believe that God has an earthly purpose for ethnic Israel, and he has a heavenly purpose for the church, which includes regenerated Jews and Gentiles. He says the earthly purpose of Israel of which dispensationalists speak concerns the national promise which will be fulfilled by Jews during the millennium as they live on the earth in unresurrected bodies. One more time. The earthly purpose of Israel of which dispensationalists speak concerns the national promise which will be fulfilled by Jews during the millennium as they live on the earth in unresurrected bodies. And one more quote, and I'll put this away. He says it is quite obvious that Christians are called the spiritual seed of Abraham. But the New Testament nowhere says that they are the heirs of the national promises made to the physical descendants. It is this recognition of the future fulfillment of these promises to natural Israel that makes a man a premillennialist. In contrast, he says to an amillennialist, he really means in contrast to a covenant theologian, whether post mill or all mill. But here's a defining mark then, he says of dispensational premillennialism that they believe in a future fulfillment for natural Israel of the national promises given in the Old Testament by God to the Jews. And it's that error that covenant theology stands over against. Let's ask ourselves a series of questions this morning. First of all, what about Israel's ethnic privilege before God as the seed of Abraham? What has come of that? Let's ask, what about Israel's national status as God's select nation? Ask about Israel's inheritance of the Promised Land. And let's ask about Israel's spiritual privilege or historical superiority. First of all, what about Israel's ethnic privilege before God as Abraham's seed? What has taken place in terms of Israel's ethnic privilege? Galatians 3:7 28 answered that question pretty categorically, I think. Paul says in Galatians 3:7, know therefore, that they that are of faith the same are sons of Abraham. Now, in the quotations I gave you from Ryrie a few moments ago, Ryrie says, oh yes, the. The church's spiritual seed of Abraham. You know. He wants to draw a distinction between spiritual and literal seed. But Paul doesn't bother to draw that distinction. He simply says, those who walk in the steps of Faithful Abraham, Romans 4, those who are of the faith of Abraham, they are his children. They are his seed. He puts it categorically here, without Ry's distinctions. Know therefore that they that are of faith the same are sons of Abraham. And then verse 28 of the same chapter says, there can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free. There can be no male and female. For ye all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise? Promise. This is a fantastic passage because it declares first of all that there can't be a distinction between Jew and Greek anymore. Does Paul mean that there's no natural distinction? He wouldn't say anything so silly as that. He talks about male and female. He knows that men continue to be men and women continue to be women. But in Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, male and female, bond and free. And the reason for that is that God doesn't have two people. He doesn't have an earthly people and a heavenly people. Paul says, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And what's the consequence of that if we are one, be it Jew or Greek, if we are one in Christ? He says, if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed. Listen to this language. Heirs according to the promise. Bryrie had said in what I just quoted that the Bible doesn't say that the Church are the heirs of the promises made to natural Israel. Isn't that exactly what Paul says here? He says you are the ones who will receive the promises given to Abraham and to his seed, because you are the seed of Abraham, you who are Greek or Jew, because you are one body in Christ. So ethnic privilege has now been done away with. Jews and Greeks stand alike before God, and both as one body are heirs according to the promises made. Well, let's ask secondly, what about Israel's national status as God's select nation? Doesn't that continue? Dr. Bonson? Look at Ephesians 2, verse 12. Actually, let me back up to verse 11 for you and put it in context. Wherefore remember that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands that ye, the uncircumcised Gentiles, ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, the there's national Israel, God's descendant, Abraham's descendants, God's people, formed as a nation into a commonwealth known as Israel. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye that were once far off are made near by the blood of Christ. In verse 19. So then you are no more strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. What does Paul said you once were not part of the Commonwealth of Israel. You were not part of national Israel, but through the blood of Christ you who were far off have been brought near. And now you're fellow citizens. And so what has happened to the national privilege of Israel? It belongs to everyone that's part of the church of Jesus Christ and that by Paul's own words, he says the Commonwealth of Israel is now where you have your citizenship. That doesn't mean any of you should be going out and expecting to, you know, get some kind of voting card in Palestine these days. In the days of the early church, those who were in the in the church of Jesus Christ had become members of the Commonwealth of Israel because all of those promises of God have passed through the new Israel. Well, somebody says, what about Israel's inheritance of the promised land? How can you say that that promise continues in terms of your covenant theology unless you expect the Jews to go back to the land someday and to get that eternal promise of an inheritance there? Well, our approach to interpreting the Bible is that the New Testament needs to interpret the Old Testament. We need to be able to see the purposes in God's wondrous ways worked out, maybe in a way that you might not have anticipated. But the New Testament teaches us that what God was doing with Abraham and with the Jews was only an object lesson. God was simply granting temporarily the land of Palestine to ethnic Israel, because that would be, if you will, part for whole. God showed in a little picture what he did in in Palestine, what he expects to do in all the world. Because what he promises his people is not some sliver of land over there next to the Mediterranean Sea. He promises his people the world. You see, Dr. Bonson, that sounds great, but is that what the Bible says? It sure does. Look at Romans, the fourth chapter, Romans 4:13 makes allusion to God's promise to Abraham that he would have the land. But here's what Paul says. For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. Anybody want to jump in and correct the apostle and say, paul, no, no, no, no. The Old Testament says they would be heir of Palestine. But Paul understood the theology of the Old Testament much better than many of us today, and certainly our dispensational brothers. Paul said God never did intend for Abraham simply to have a little patch of the world. He intended for him to have the whole world. The little patch was a microcosm of the big work of salvation God would do when the Messiah would actually arrive. By the way, a substantiation of Paul's understanding. You might study Ephesians 6, verse 3. Sometime there Paul reminds children they should obey their parents, because that law from God is the first one with a promise. And he says, and if you obey your parents, then you will inherit the earth. Now some of you are smiling. That's because you see the discrepancy already. The Ten Commandments don't say that children will inherit the earth. Their life will be long upon what the land which the Lord thy God gives thee. But Paul translates land that the Lord thy God gives thee into the earth in Ephesians chapter 6. Because he knows that Palestine was only a microcosm. It was the small picture of the larger work of God that he intended to do in giving his people the entire world as his kingdom. And then one more question. What about Israel's spiritual privilege? What about Israel's historical superiority? They were first to be called out by God. Doesn't that grant them some kind of one upmanship over Gentiles in God's saving plan? Let's look quickly at two passages, because all of this is just the introductory work. So we can now go to Romans 11 and understand it properly. Oh, don't worry, we won't be here that long. Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 14 to 17, Ephesians 2, beginning at the 14th verse. For he, Christ is our peace, who made both, I.e. jew and Gentile, made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity even the law of commandments contained in ordinances that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit, un to the Father. So then you are no more strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. How many times does Paul have to emphasize this in one paragraph? You are one. You are one. You are one. No enmity no distinction, no division, no middle wall of partition. You both come to the Father. You are fellow citizens. Jews and Gentiles alike stand on an equal footing before God checks Chapter three, verse four, whereby when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit. And what is that mystery that was not so? Mystery which for ages hath been hid in God, who created all things to the intent that that now under the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, might be made known through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God. You see God's mystery in the Old Testament, it might not have been as understood so well, but Paul says it's now been made manifest. He says, I'm an apostle to the Gentiles. Isn't it clear that we are all fellow heirs, fellow members, fellow partakers in Christ? So what has happened to Israel's special spiritual privilege? They no longer exist. Jews and Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members in the church of Jesus Christ. I'll let you study this on your own this afternoon. Colossians 1:25, 28. And then confirmed in Colossians 3:11, Paul says, this is the mystery that hath not been known up until this point. That Jews and Gentiles alike are in Christ as fellow heirs on a par. On the same footing. Galatians 6:16, Paul pronounces benediction upon the Israel of God. Dr. Ryrie and other dispensationalists don't want to see that as a reference to the Church as a whole. But it is a strained exegesis gymnastics that you have to go through to avoid seeing the Gentile Jewish nature of the Galatian church is obvious from the nature of the Epistle itself. Is circumcision necessary? And so forth. And at the end, Paul declares God's blessing upon the Israel of God. Israel no longer has ethnic privilege, no longer has a national status before God, no longer has the inheritance of the promised land of Palestine. Israel no longer has a historical superiority or spiritual privilege of any sort over the Gentiles. This is the repeated message of God's Word. So let's close our Bibles and go home and that settles it. There's no more future for Israel, right? Wrong, because there's also Romans 11 to take account of. That's why I said all of what I was saying up to this point was just introduction. Now turn in your Bibles to Romans. The 11th chapter. See, we want to make all of these claims that I've been making about Jews and Gentiles being one in the church, the Church being the new Israel, and the Church inheriting the promised is made to the patriarchs. That's what the Bible teaches. But that does not mean that there is no distinctive future for ethnic Israel. But as I said in my introductory words, remember that distinctive future for Israel is no different from the future of all of God's people. It is not a distinctive blessing separated from Christ or from the Church. I find it abhorrent. Though I love my dispensational brothers, I find it abhorrent that they could say, God has two plans, one through Judaism, one through Christianity. Second Corinthians 1:20 declares that all the promises of God are yes and Amen in Christ. God has no separate plan for Judaism. God has no separate plan for national Israel. All of the plan promises of God were made in and through Christ. And yet there is a blessed future for ethnic Israel. In the first place. Paul says in Romans 11:23, 4, Israel is going to be grafted back into the olive tree. God originally called Israel, made Israel as it were, an olive tree of faith. But now he has cut off the natural branches. And what he has done is he's grafted in wild branches in the place of the natural tree. He's brought the Gentiles, us wild Gentiles, into the church. But now what does he say in verses 23 and 24, Romans 11. And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou was cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and was grafted contrary to nature, into a good olive tree, how much more shall these which are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? God started with Israel, and they've been cut off because of their unbelief. He's grafted in wild branches, the Gentiles. But he says, how much more if God can graft in wild branches, how much more can he graft in the natural branches? It is the most natural thing in the world to expect that God can bring Israel back into a position of promise and blessing. But you notice, Israel will not come back into this position of blessing as a separate national entity. Israel will come by being grafted back into the same tree that the Gentiles are now part of. Israel is going to rejoin the Gentile Church. Of course, Paul tells us at the beginning of chapter 11 that even now there is a remnant of believing Jews. You mustn't get the idea that Israel and as a whole has ever been cast off by God. Let's read this real quickly for a refresher, beginning in verse 21 of the 10th chapter. But as to Israel, he saith, all the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people? Paul says. I say, then did God cast off his people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Israel. Benjamin, God did not cast off his people, which he foreknew. Or know you what the Scripture saith of Elijah? And he repeats how God told Elijah There were yet 7,000 men that hadn't bowed the knee. Verse 5. Even so, then, at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Okay, so even though most of Israel has rejected the Messiah and has been cast off, there is a small remnant according to God's working of grace. There is the elect among Israel as a whole that believe in Christ. So no, God hasn't forgotten his promises, because there is still the remnant of Jews who believe. But then Paul has more to say and this gets real exciting. He says, you know what God has done by rejecting Israel as a whole? Not every one of them, but general, generally, those who were in unbelief. Verse 11. I say, Then did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid. But by their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles because Israel would not have the Messiah. The Gospel goes to the Gentiles as well. Now all who would believe on him, Jew or Gentile alike, are going to be in the kingdom of God. But now why has God sent the Gospel to the Gentiles in this way? Notice the last line. To provoke them, that is the Jews to jealousy. To provoke them to jealousy. Israel's general rejection is for the sake of Gentile salvation. And Gentile salvation will provoke Israel to jealousy so that in this way all Israel will be saved. Verse 12. Now if their fall, that is the fall of Israel, is the riches of the world and their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. Paul says, now if the Jews being cast off in general, has brought fullness to the Gentiles, what will the fullness of Israel mean? But I speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then, as as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry. If by any means I may provoke the jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save some of them. For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? You see, God has cast off his ancient people in general because only a small remnant has believed in the Messiah. Messiah. God has cast them off, and that's brought salvation to the world. But now, if the world has been blessed by Israel's being cast off, what will happen to the world when Israel is reconciled? You see, Paul doesn't think God's going to lead things there. He says he's going to reconcile Israel to the Messiah as well. And when he does that, he says it will be like life from the dead for the world. That's how blessed will will be. Jump to verse 25. For I would not, brothers, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own conceits. And here's the mystery to keep the Gentiles humble. Remember this. A hardening in part has befallen Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. And in this way all Israel shall be saved, even as it is written. Listen, friends, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As touching the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. For the gifts and calling of God are not repented of. Does covenant theology break the promises of God to Israel? Absolutely. Absolutely not. Paul says that this is God's covenant to them, and God will fulfill it. How? He will cast them off for their unbelief, provoke them to jealousy through his blessing upon the Gentile world, and then they will want the Messiah and the Savior too, and they will be grafted back into the olive tree. And in this way all Israel shall be saved. Oh, there's a glorious future for ethnic Israel. All Israel is going to be saved someday. To use the language of prophetic hyperbole, Paul says you should look for like life from the dead. The world is going to be so blessed when the Jews come in mass and join with the Gentiles in the church to worship Jesus Christ and to profess him as the Messiah and the Savior of men. Oh, there is a blessed future for Israel. But notice it is not a national future. Notice it is not a distinctive future, as though the Gentiles been left out of it. Notice it does not give superiority to Israel. Everything that we learned in the first part of today's lesson is still true and will always be true. There is but one people of God, fellow heirs, fellow citizens in the Kingdom of God. Jews and Gentiles on the same footing. But the promise of God is that God will not leave the Jews out of this worldwide revival that is going to come through the ages. That God will not only bring in the Gentiles in mass to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, but he will not reject his ancient people. They too will be grafted back in and all Israel shall be saved. We never could have come up with a plan this intricate, this wise and this wondrous. That's why Paul got so excited and he ended this chapter. Oh, the depth of the riches, the wisdom of God. His ways are past. Tracing out the grace of God will always surprise us. God's got something better in mind for the Jews than dispensational theology ever promised. And we pray for that. Let's pray. Lord, help us to understand the nature of your kingdom and to be encouraged today that you do not break promise with your people. That you keep all of your promises and help us to see the Lord Jesus Christ as central to your plans. Help us to understand and to rejoice that it's in Christ that all your promises are fulfilled. How we thank you that there is not first class and second class citizenship in your kingdom. We thank you that all of us, Jews and Gentiles alike, stand on an equal footing before you as fellow citizens of the commonwealth of Israel in the Kingdom of God. We thank you also, Lord, that in the way that you have saved us, by your covenant mercy, you are going to save the Jews as well. That as you will bless the Gentile world with widespread sovereign salvation, you will not exclude your ancient people. We thank you that you will indeed provoke them to jealousy, that they might see your goodness and grace manifest in the church of Jesus Christ and that they might come to partake of it. Lord, we pray that you would hasten the day when you will graft back in the branch of Israel that all of your people would stand together and worship and praise you.