Why did salvation come to the Gentiles?
Salvation came to the Gentiles through Israel's fall, not because God abandoned His covenant people. When Israel stumbled over their Messiah, God did not finish with them; rather, He raised up Saul of Tarsus and sent him far hence to the Gentiles, making him primarily the apostle of the Gentiles.
Les explains that Paul asks whether Israel stumbled so as to fall. God forbid. Rather, through their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles, but under a whole different format. In the Old Testament, the promise was that every Jew could be a priest of God to bring Gentiles to a knowledge of their Jehovah God, but Israel missed it. That did not stop God. Instead of taking the whole nation of Israel, God raised up one other little Jew, Saul of Tarsus—a renegade, zealous for the law—and saved him by grace on the road to Damascus. God told Saul, "I'm going to send you far hence to the Gentiles." Saul would also go to the Jew, but he was primarily the apostle of the Gentiles. Israel's stumbling did not mean God removed them completely; no way.
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.
More Questions
How did Israel's rejection bring salvation to the Gentiles?
Israel's fall, namely their rejection of all these promises, resulted in salvation coming to the Gentiles.