Les Feldick Bible Study

Will Israel be completely annihilated according to Romans 11:11?

No. Romans 11:11 presents Paul defending the nation of Israel, affirming they are not going to be completely annihilated. God had promised from the beginning not to give up on them, and He will yet bring them back and fulfill all promises made to their forefathers.

Les explains that although Israel rejected their Messiah and therefore lost their temple, their land, and were dispersed into ghettos and through the Holocaust, God promised from day one that He would not give up on them. In Romans 11:11 Paul is defending the nation of Israel, showing they are not going to be completely annihilated. One day God will yet bring them back to the land and fulfill all the promises He made to their forefathers. Paul also states his apostleship is to the Gentiles, not to Israel as Peter's was.

Romans 11:11

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

Does Romans 11:11 mean God is finished with Israel?

Paul's question in Romans 11:11—have they stumbled that they should fall?—means did Israel stumble over their Messiah and miss Him, and the answer is no, God is not through with His covenant people.

Did Israel stumble so as to fall completely out of God's program in Romans 11:11?

Paul teaches that Israel did not stumble so as to fall completely out of God's program—Paul's answer is "God forbid," so that should not be thought.

Does Romans 11 teach that Israel has completely fallen and is out of God's plan?

Romans 11:11's question about whether Israel stumbled so as to fall means asking whether Israel is completely out of God's program, and the answer is no—Israel has not fallen permanently or totally.