11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 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!
MacArthur explains....
The Israelites are a disobedient people, a contrary people, a blind people, a deaf people. Their own table becomes for them a snare and a trap, that is the things religiously that they think they're feasting on are going to consume them in reality. And yet with all that judgment talk in verses 8 to 10, he comes right back in verse 11 and says, "Have they stumbled that they should finally and ultimately fall?" And the answer is no. It's no.
Is it a permanent falling? It`s not a permanent falling. Did the mass of Jews stumble? That verb is interesting, ptaio, it's an interesting verb. It just means a stumbling. Did they stumble in order that they might fall? That verb means fall in a situation where you could never get back up again. It's one thing to stumble, it's something else to hit with such a crash that you're totally debilitated and can never get up again. Did they fall in order that they would never be able to come back? Is their stumbling complete and irreversible? Is it a permanent falling from which no recovery is ever possible? Is national Israel dead? Are they never to receive the promises? And the answer is God forbid...God forbid.
Now the stumbling to which he speaks obviously refers to their rejection of the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And many have thought that when Israel rejected Jesus Christ they stumbled and they stumbled into a permanent fall from which they will never recover and God has nothing more planned for Israel as a nation itself. But Paul's answer is "God forbid," it's as if he says, "Horrors no." Such a suggestion is totally rejected with vehemence, far from it....
But rather something very different from that. They did not stumble in order to fall permanently but rather to fulfill a marvelous purpose. And this is, I think, so exciting. The fall of Israel was very purposeful. It had a definite purpose....
The first element in the purpose for Israel's fall is Gentile salvation. In other words, in the fall of Israel there is even a gracious purpose, a far-reaching aim, the salvation of non-Jews. When Israel fell away, the gospel was taken to the Gentiles, it was taken to the world. And so in their falling the world was incredibly enriched with the gospel....
the blindness, the deafness, the obstinacy of Israel works to the salvation of the Gentiles. And you remember that when Paul went on his missionary journey and he went into a new city, where did he go first? To the synagogue. And when he found that they would not respond, he turned to the Gentiles. And so this then is what Paul wants us to understand, that the setting aside of Israel has a very definite purpose. It is that God may then take the gospel immediately rather than mediately to the Gentiles that they may hear and see and believe. God could not reach the world through the Jews so He did so by setting them aside. We then are redeemed as a direct result of the blindness of Israel....
Has God allowed them to stumble that they should forever fall? No. But rather through their fall...now notice the second word fall, it's a completely different word than the first word fall. The first word is from the verb pipto, this is a word paraptomaand is better translated trespass. And it talks about their sin. Through their sin of rejecting Christ salvation is come to the Gentiles, or to the nations. What a wonderful thing. So God even overruled the Jewish unbelief....
the second one is Jewish jealousy....the purpose in God allowing them to stumble was not to destroy them forever, but to bring about Gentile salvation which would in turn provoke them to jealousy that they too might be saved. So the purpose of God then was to save them ultimately through their stumbling, not to destroy them......
The purpose of Israel's stumbling was that the Gentiles would be saved and the Jews in seeing the blessedness of being saved among the Gentiles would be drawn by jealousy or envy, a desire to emulate, a desire to imitate, a desire to possess what the Gentiles possess in being blessed by God and therefore would come to salvation. So the word "jealousy" here is used in a positive sense. It has to do with admiration, or emulation, or a striving after. In other words, Israel would see the Gentile church. Israel would be drawn when they see how blessed it is and what it is to know Christ and how they have been so enriched and privileged as those who are redeemed. And then Israel in individual Jewish cases would look at itself and say, "Look what we missed, look what we have lost, look what we have forfeited." And by seeing the glory of God given to the Gentile church, be drawn to Jesus Christ...
we have been redeemed with a great burden on our backs and that is to give clear-cut testimony to Israel that they may be provoked to jealousy. Well in many case, that's the last thing they're provoked to since they wouldn't want what they see some Christians have. But we should so live to be attractive....
First was Gentile salvation and then Jewish jealousy and thirdly is world blessing....if their rejection has brought privilege and blessing to the world...look at the end of verse 12, "How much more their fullness." Now think about that. Listen. Because here he introduces their restoration. Negatively if their sin accomplished that, can you imagine what their righteousness will accomplish? That's his argument. If they accomplish so much in a negative way, it's hard to even conceive of what will happen in a positive way. If a negative can produce such results, what can a positive produce?....
If the unbelief of Israel brought us salvation, how much more will the faith of Israel bring? And what is the "how much more?" Well it's the Kingdom, isn't it? Because when Israel finally believes, what's going to happen? They'll look on Him whom they've pierced and the Lord will give them their Kingdom. That's the promise of the prophets. The "how much more" is what's going to happen when Israel finally believes. And you can read about the "how much more" all through the Scripture. The Kingdom coming is a time of the glory of the renewed heaven and earth. It is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the redeemed nation of Israel will reign and bring people from all around the world to see Christ. Satan will be bound. Justice will rule. There will be one law and one King. There will be universal peace. There will be universal joy, world-wide righteousness, worship, wisdom will dominate all dealings and prosperity will reign everywhere. The tremendous description of the Kingdom from beginning to end really of prophetic literature. That's the "much more." If in their unbelief the world was brought salvation, what will happen when they finally believe? The world will receive the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What amazing purpose, what an amazing plan!Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 11:13-16
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