Has God Cast Away Israel? Romans 11:1-2 Finally Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, there we are, ready to get going and I'm going to have the studio audience turn with me to Romans chapter 11. We'll be starting right with verse 1. For those of you out in television, of course, we trust you'll do the same thing. Get your Bible and get a notepad and follow these things with us. And again, I guess it's been a long time since I've explained we are just a Bible study. We're not associated with any group. We don't trumpet any particular denomination. And as I told one of our listeners that called just yesterday, I said, I guess we get every stripe and every background that you can think of. And so that's the way we want it to be. We want people to get into the book and hopefully take away the blinders and get away from denominational narrow mindedness. And don't depend so much on what you've always heard or what you've always thought, but search the Scriptures. And that's all I try to do. You may not agree with me, and I don't mind that a bit, if you can disagree based on the Scripture. But if you're going to disagree just because your denomination doesn't agree, well, I think you're on thin ice, more so than I am. Because I have to feel that I'm staying as true to the Word as is humanly possible, and depending totally on the leading of the Holy Spirit as we teach. These things Paul says in 1 Corinthians are spiritual, and they must be spiritually discerned. In other words, we cannot comprehend these things from the natural man. We have to have had first and foremost a salvation experience ourselves. And then of course the Holy Spirit enlightens us, and the Scriptures begin to open up. I've been very blunt with some people when they say, Well, I just can't understand the Word you teach. And I say, Well, once you come to know the Lord, you will. And that's being extra blunt, I know, but nevertheless that's the problem. Most times when people can't get anything out of the Word, they know nothing of salvation, they're still in the natural, they're still living under the old Adam, and you will never comprehend the Scriptures until you enter into that relationship with Christ by virtue of your salvation experience. I always like to remind folks that all past programs are available on videotape, as well as the printed page, and if you're interested, you give us a call on the 800 number, or write to us. The address will be coming up on the screen. Alright, now let's get into the book, let's get into the meat of the Word, as I like to look at it. We're away from the baby bottle when I teach, and now here in Romans chapter 11, this flies in the face of what I guess 90% of Christendom stands on, and that premise is that God was all through with the Jew when Israel supposedly cried for the crucifixion of Christ, that God just turned them out and turned His back on them, and is through with the Jew, and consequently all of the Old Testament prophecies and promises fell through the cracks because God is no longer dealing with them. Well if they're going to take that approach, and like I said, that's 90% of Christendom, I know it is, they have to take at least Romans chapter 11, besides a lot of others, tear it out and throw it away. Because Romans 11 just trumpets, it just blasts it out, that God is not through with His covenant people Israel. Granted they're out there for the last 1900 some years in a spiritual blindness, and the nation as such is blinded, but as I pointed out in our last program, and I put it on the board, maybe I should do it again. I guess people like when I use the board, from what they tell us on our phone calls and letters and so forth, all the way from Genesis chapter 12, the call of Abram, all the way up until we get well into the book of Acts, it is predominantly Jew only. But there were exceptions, we always like to mention the exceptions. Jonah went to the city of Nineveh, Naaman the Syrian general, Rahab the harlot, Ruth the Moabitess, those were Gentile exceptions, but for the most part God was dealing with Jew only. Now after we get well into the book of Acts, all of a sudden the apostle Paul is called aside, and God tells him, I'm going to send you far hence to the Gentiles. Now see I've already changed my format, I told Iris to look up Genesis, but I'm going to switch. I want you to look a minute at Acts chapter 28, Acts 28, plus a lot of other verses in Acts. So what you'll see from the Scriptures is what I'm talking about. Acts 28, now of course by the end of Acts, Paul is now in prison in Rome, he's not too far from his martyrdom, and he's still going to be writing his prison epistles, but nevertheless Paul has already been out there amongst the Gentiles for many, many years, and at the same time he goes first to the Jew, to the synagogue many times, and then when they rejected him, he turns to the Gentiles. Now by the time we get to Acts 28, and Paul has finished his missionary journeys per se, and he's now in prison in Rome, he is called for the Jewish leaders in Rome to meet with him. And he goes over all these things again, how that all the Old Testament covenant promises had been presented to Israel, but they rejected them when they crucified their Messiah. And they left in discord and disagreement, they couldn't believe it. Then look what it says in Acts 28, "...Be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles." And they're going to hear it. Now he doesn't say they're all going to be saved, no way. But they're going to hear it, and we know from Scripture that they have. And that's why all the world stands guilty, and that's why Romans 1 says they are without excuse, because they've heard it. So now then, with the advent of the Apostle Paul going out, it is predominantly now Gentiles, and again I'll use almost the same word, it's Gentiles only with exceptions, but now who are the exceptions? Well Jews, see? Jews can become believers of this Gospel, but they're few and far between. By far and most of the calling out into the body of Christ are from amongst the Gentiles, and I pointed it out in the last program. It's just been a complete flip-flop, whereas it was Jew only, and there were some exceptions of Gentiles, now it's Gentiles with some exceptional Jews coming in. But Paul says here in Romans 11, let's come back to that now. I say then, has God cast away His people? Like I've already said, 90% of Christendom would say yes. He's all through with the Jew. They crucified their Messiah. How many Catholic folk, and even a lot of Protestants down through the centuries past have called the Jews the Christ killers, persecuted them unmercifully in the name of religion, that they were the Christ killers. God's all through with them. But listen, God's not through with the Jew. He's set them aside, absolutely. He's blinded them. But now this chapter 11 is going to tell us that God is still going to come back and finish His dealing with His covenant people, which of course all the Old Testament taught. Ezekiel 37, Deuteronomy 29, Zechariah, and all of them foretold of the day when God would yet fulfill these covenant promises with His chosen people. But of course tonight, they're out there in blindness, and they're out there in unbelief. But God hath not cast away His people, and I can't emphasize that enough. He has not cast them away. And then Paul goes on to say, "...for I am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." Now I've wondered more than once, because we won't take time to look, but if you go over to Philippians 3, he uses that same analogy. I'm an Israelite, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin. And that has bugged me for a long time. Why did the Holy Spirit inspire the apostle Paul to emphasize the tribe that he came from? Not many others do. Now we know that Christ came from the tribe of Judah, but other than that, there's not much emphasis on their tribal background. But Paul is inspired to emphasize that both times that he speaks of his background, that he is from the tribe of Benjamin. Well the more I thought on this, and I hope I'm not way out in left field, some may say I am, but I'd like to take you back for a moment, and just give you food for thought, if nothing else. Come all the way back to Genesis, chapter 35. And here of course we have the account of Rachel dying in childbirth for the little babe Benjamin. But as she's dying, and you all know the account of this, in chapter 35, verses 17 and 18. You might want to put these verses on the screen. Genesis 35, verses 17 and 18. And it came to pass, when she, that is Rachel, was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not, thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, for she died, that she called his name Ben-Oni. But his father called him Ben-Jamin. Now why the two names? Well you see Ben-Oni in the Hebrew meant, the son of my suffering, or of my sorrow, my heartbreak, because she was dying. She'd had hard labor. But Jacob turns around and names him Ben -Jamin, which meant in the Hebrew, the son of my right hand, or the son of strength, the son of power. Now you see the ancient rabbis took this, and they studied it, and they mulled over it for centuries, and some of them came forth with the idea, that this must be a picture of two messiahs. And so a lot of them taught that, that there would be a suffering messiah, the Ben-Oni, but also there would be a ruling messiah, the Ben-Jamin, and so many thought that there would be two messiahs. They couldn't picture at all, that both of these would be embodied in the one and only messiah. When he came the first time, he was the Ben-Oni. He was the suffering messiah. But when he comes the second time, he's going to be the ruling messiah, the son of power and strength. Now that's the main lesson, of course, that I know the Scripture is teaching here. But I have to keep mulling over in my mind, why does the Holy Spirit make Paul emphasize, that he too was from the tribe of Benjamin. Now I'd like to take you on over to Genesis 49, and not lose sight of the two aspects of the baby Benjamin, the son of sorrow, but also the son of strength. Now old Jacob on his deathbed, is making some prophetic utterances concerning all the twelve sons. And we're not going to look at all of them, we're just going to look at the one that deals with Benjamin. And that would be in Genesis 49, and come all the way down to verse 27. Genesis 49, verse 27. And Jacob is speaking, remember, prophetically from his deathbed. And he says, "...Benjamin," now he's the youngest, so he was the last one referred to, "...Benjamin shall raven as a wolf. In the morning he shall devour the prey." Now that's a vicious statement, isn't it? That's a picture of viciousness. "...But at night he shall divide the spoils." Now, here's where I like to bring Saul of Tarsus and Paul into the picture. Maybe you never thought of it before, and I think this is why Paul is making reference to the fact that he's of the tribe of Benjamin. What was Saul of Tarsus in his early life? I've always referred to him as a raging bull, a religious zealot, hating anything concerning Jesus of Nazareth. And I think that in the same light with the two names of Benjamin, in God's eyes Saul was a heartache. How he hated Jesus of Nazareth. But listen, Saul's got another side to him, just like the name of Benjamin had. And now what does Saul of Tarsus become? Paul, the great apostle. The one, I'm sure, who just thrilled the heart of God as he suffered, and he suffered, and he suffered for the sake of the gospel. Because of that one little Jew, Christianity swept across the Roman Empire. And I think this is a tremendous lesson for us, that way back here in Genesis, God already had the apostle Paul on His mind, as well as, of course, the prophecies concerning the Messiah. Now we aren't taking anything away from the type that we have of Christ in all this, but I think in a lesser role, in a smaller scale, the apostle Paul fits so beautifully as well. Alright, now if you'll come back with me to Romans chapter 11, where we find that God is not through with His covenant people, and even this great apostle himself is a Jew, a son of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Now I guess I should take you to another verse of Scripture. I wasn't planning to do this. They come to mind, and I can't help it. That's the way I teach. I Corinthians chapter 15, and Paul here again makes a tremendous statement that most people miss entirely, and yet it's such a fantastic truth when you see it as I think the Scripture intended you to see it. I Corinthians chapter 15, and he's talking about the resurrection of Christ, and we start at verse 6. I Corinthians 15, verse 6. Now look at verse 8. I Corinthians 15, verse 8. Now remember, Paul never saw Christ while he was walking on the earth. Paul didn't see Jesus in that 40 days after His resurrection. Paul didn't see Him until after his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, which of course was about 8 years after Pentecost. So this is what he's saying. Last of all, he was seen of me also. In other words, Paul is claiming that he saw the resurrected, ascended Lord face to face, and I know he did. I again have to take you back to II Corinthians 12, but we won't look that up. But nevertheless, what's he talking about now in the last part of this verse is one born out of the due time. Now he's making reference to a physical birth from a physical mother. If a mother gives birth to her baby before the due time, what do we call it in our present day language? A preemie, it came prematurely. Now that's exactly what Paul is likening himself to in regard to the whole nation of Israel. He was born as a preemie, which means that at some future date, now remember a thousand years with God is just a day, but at some future date, the whole nation of Israel is going to experience the same kind of a salvation that Paul did on the road to Damascus. And we know they are. We know Zechariah tells us that all of a sudden they're going to look on him whom they pierced, and they're going to mourn for him as one for an only child. Why? Because the nation will suddenly, as Paul experienced or saw on the road to Damascus, they're suddenly going to understand who Jesus really is. And then Isaiah says, the nation will be born in a day, Isaiah 66. And so this is all the things that Paul is now talking about in this chapter. That yes, Israel is set aside. They're blind. God is dealing with the Gentiles, and we'll be getting into that a little deeper further into the chapter. But Israel is still in God's program. Israel is still going to experience her greatest glory. We've been teaching the book of Acts in one of our other classes, and back there in chapter 1, you remember the disciples asked Jesus, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And I always point out, why did they use the word again? Well, they were thinking of all the glory of Solomon's kingdom. That was Israel's high point. Are we going to experience something like that again? Well, Jesus didn't ridicule them in Acts 1 and say, well now get that out of your head. We're talking about spiritual things. No. Just like we use so often, and I hear it almost every day lately. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. And that's what He told them. It's not a matter if the kingdom is coming. You bet it is. Israel is going to have the glory and then some. Far more than she experienced under David and Solomon, when they have their king, the king of kings. But they just weren't to know when. But it's coming, and I'll tell you what, we're getting closer every day. I told my class again last night, I think it was, the more you read about exploding technology, the more you read about these fantastic things that are coming in the area of electronics and communication, oh, let it just scream at us. It's just that much closer. It's that much closer to the end of this age of grace, and Christ is going to return. We know He is. Whether the world scoffs at it or not is beside the point. In fact I told someone the other night, who made this statement, well, he said, they've been talking about this from years and years back. And he said, nothing's ever happened. I grinned at him and I said, my, I'm glad you said that. And I took him back to Peter. I said, because you are fulfilling exactly what the scripture said. And I read him those verses. That the scoffers will come in the last days saying, where is the promise of His coming? For even since the fathers fell asleep, they've been talking about these things. Well granted, but not on a scale like it is today. It's just the world is just screaming at us with all the things that are taking place, that the Lord is coming. He's coming soon, and we better be looking up and we better be ready. Well anyway, back to Romans chapter 11, verse 1. So here we have this great man of God. I've said more than once, I think other than Christ Himself, the Apostle Paul is the greatest human being that ever lived. I think he even overshadows Moses. And I also think, and I've said it on the program, that when the Bride of Christ is introduced to Him in glory, I think the old Apostle Paul will be the one to do the introducing. He has been such a fantastic instrument that God has used to bring this glorious gospel, and the joy and the power of it. Alright, so now then coming down into verse 2. God, Paul says, has not cast away His people, which He foreknew. You know, I've taught it for years, when all of a sudden the religious leaders of Israel and Rome consorted together. See that's why they can't call Israel the Christ killers, they didn't do it alone. Oh, they asked for it, they demanded it, but who carried it out? Rome did. And that's exactly what Psalms 2 says, that the rulers of Israel and the kings of this earth would consort together and put the Messiah to death. And so, I don't know where they get it, that Israel alone is guilty of killing the Christ. Jew and Gentile together consorted and crucified Him. But what I was going to say, was God caught by surprise? No, it was all in His foreknowledge. He knew exactly what was going to happen. Jesus Himself, you remember, told the 12 up there in northern Israel, just before they went up to Jerusalem to be crucified, and Jesus told them detail by detail of what was going to happen to Him. That He would be scourged, that He would be beaten, and that He would be put to death, and that on the third day He would be raised from the dead. He told them, He knew, and He didn't know it just in His earthly ministry, He knew it from eternity past. And so, here we have it again. God has not cast away His people, which He foreknew. Nothing Israel did caught God by surprise. They were operating under a free will as a nation of people, and as I've always said, for the 25 years I've been teaching, one of the hardest things to put together, in fact, I can't, I don't even try anymore, how God can set this whole system of humanity in motion back there in Genesis, gave men and nations their free will, and yet everything they do is according to His plan. Everything they do is bringing everything to the end that He has planned, and it's all according to His foreknowledge. Now that is hard to comprehend, but God is able, He's sovereign, and He's omniscient, and He is absolutely in control of everything. Alright, now then, God has not cast away His people. Oh, let's go back, let's go back, I think we've got time. Go all the way back to 2 Samuel, a verse that we used a long time ago, and sometimes I cringe from using things over and over, but I have to remember that most of my listeners only hear these things one time, and I get the idea that if they've heard it once, they know it, and that's not true, I know that isn't. But you come back to 2 Samuel chapter 7, and we always use this of course when we teach the Abrahamic covenant, that after God gave Abraham that covenant promising a nation of people dwelling in the land, that at one time there would come a government. Now that covenant concerning the government did not really come into play until God gives it to King David. And here we have it in 2 Samuel chapter 7, where David is promised that coming from his loins would be a royal house, or a royal family of kings who would rule and reign over the little nation of Israel, but through that line of kings would one day come the King of kings. And that of course was Christ, born of Mary with Joseph his legal father, and both Mary and Joseph come down those royal family bloodlines of David and Solomon. Now here is the promise then in 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 14. I will be his father, he shall be my son, if he commit iniquity, and we know Israel has. I will chasten him with the rod of men, and we know God has, and with the stripes of the children of men. Now verse 15. But in spite of all that, but my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And then verse 16. Here is God's promise to the nation of Israel. Thy house and thy kingdom shall be established ever before thee, thy throne shall be established forever. Listen, God doesn't lie. God cannot lie. And when God told David that this royal family would go down through history, and it would go beyond history right on into eternity, and that is that out of this royal family of David would come the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and he is going to come as he did the first time to the nation of Israel. That's why they have to be in the Middle East at the time of his coming. He's going to come back to the Mount of Olives as he left in Acts chapter 1. And so regardless of what may take place in Israel tonight, you rest assured, one way or another, the Jews are still going to be there when Christ returns at the end of the tribulation, because He has promised it, and God just cannot lie. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick. A weekly Bible study. 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