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11. THE GENTILE PROBLEM

‘Did God reject his people?’ (11:1). By now we should be accustomed to Paul’s habit of asking questions to make his points across. No, God did not reject his people, declares the apostle, and he gives three reasons for saying so. Reason #1: Paul himself is a living proof that God has not rejected his people. He is after all, ‘an Israelite’ himself, ‘a descendant of Abraham’, and ‘from the tribe of Benjamin’. And what is Paul now? He is a Christian, a disciple and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, God had not rejected his people, the Israelites. Reason #2: the foreknowledge of God. God foreknew (v. 2) the would-be stubbornness of the Israelites and yet God made Israel his special chosen covenant people. For this reason too, God did not reject his people. Reason #3: the historical precedent of the 7,000 in Elijah’s time (vv. 2b-6). Elijah was mistaken that, of all in Israel, he alone remained faithful to the Yahweh God. God made it known to Elijah that he had preserved 7,000 Israelites who had not ‘bowed the knee to Baal’. Transferred to the present, God too, has chosen ‘a remnant’ for preservation and this is ‘by grace’ not ‘by works’.

‘Did they (Israel) stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?’ (v. 11). Again the answer is in the negative. Israel’s fall is not beyond recovery. On the contrary, her fall has turned out to be an advantage to the Gentiles: ‘salvation has come to the Gentiles’ and the truth of this is already generating a response from Israel. Israel is provoked to envy and something positive will come out from this reaction: some from among them will be awakened from their ‘spirit of stupor’ (v. 8) and will be brought to salvation (v. 14).

But if Israel’s fall and loss have resulted in spiritual riches to the Gentiles, how much greater spiritual blessings will result from their recovery and reconciliation (vv. 12, 15). Paul invites the Gentiles to ponder on this thought. He says he is talking to them in particular for they too have an attitude. They too need correction. Paul uses two metaphors (v. 16) to launch his discussion on this Gentile problem:
     If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy;
     if the root is holy, so are the branches.

The first metaphor, from Jewish liturgical life, seems to re-visit the two questions that the apostle had posed earlier in vv. 1 and 11 in relation to Israel’s spiritual condition. Paul seems to be saying that the spiritual well-being of the part does have a positive influence on the whole. But he does not elaborate and so we cannot be too certain.

However, he does elaborate on his second metaphor, the root and the branches, which is from horticulture. In this metaphor, Paul alludes to an exceptional practice among the Palestinian farmers to graft wild olive shoots onto cultured but old olive stems in order to reinvigorate the old trees to bear fruit once again. In this metaphor, the ‘olive root’ stands for the faithful people of God throughout all times, the ‘branches [that] have been broken off’ are the unbelieving Jews, and the ‘wild olive shoot’ represents the Gentiles.

Paul warns the Gentiles that they should not be too complacent about their present circumstance. They were wild olive shoots grafted onto the cultured olive stem because its own branches were cut off. They now ‘share in the nourishing sap from the olive root’ (v. 17). But they need to consider their position properly for they ‘do not support the root, but the root supports’ them. If they become overly arrogant of their new-found position and despise the ‘branches’ that were broken off, then they need to beware: God who did not spare the ‘natural branches’ (the Jews) because of their unbelief, will certainly not spare the Gentiles, the ‘grafted branches’, who have become too puffed up. In short, Paul is saying to the Gentiles, they too will be cut off if they are not too careful. They need to consider the kindness and sternness of God (v. 22) and should choose to remain on his kind side.

In making the metaphor, Paul also extends an olive branch (pun intended) to the Jews. If they do not persist in their unbelief, God will graft them back again (vv. 23-24).

Paul goes on to reveal a ‘mystery’, which consists of three parts: (1) ‘Israel has experienced a hardening in part until’; (2) ‘the full number of the Gentiles has come in’; and (3) ‘all Israel will be saved’ (vv. 25-26). Except for the first part, the partial and temporary hardening of Israel, the last two parts remain to all intents and purposes a mystery unless one is to take them at face value. What does the expression ‘full number of the Gentiles’ mean? Does it mean a fixed number? A quota? Or, the total possible number of Gentiles that can be saved? When will this ‘number’ be reached? Then there is ‘all Israel’. Is the word ‘all’ completely encompassing, without any exception? Or, merely a collective qualifier to indicate ‘Israel as a whole’ (as per F. F. Bruce)? Then again there is ‘will be saved’. What does ‘saved’ here mean? Is it political - the re-establishment of Israel as a nation on earth? Or, is it spiritual - the salvation under the umbrella of faith in Christ?

Archive
The Romans Series
1. Being the Community of God’s People
2. Ethno-Religious Tensions
3. The Power and the Wrath of God
4. Justification by Faith
5. Justification Brings Blessings
6. While We Were Still Sinners
7. Died to Sin
8. Slaves to Righteousness
9. The Difference of the Spirit
10. The Israel Problem
11. The Gentile Problem
12. Community Living
13. Community Unity
14. Community Ethics
15. Loving the Enemy Ethic
16. Extra-Community Ethics
17. The Weak and the Strong
18. Community Formation
19. Paul, the Minister
20. Gems in Greetings

Articles on The Da Vinci Code, Gnosticism and
the Gospel of Judas
1. The Da Vinci Code: A Christian Response
2. The Nag Hammadi Documents and Gnosticism
3. The Gospel of Judas
4. The Gospel of Judas - A Retake
5. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 1)
6. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 2)
7. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 3)
8. Canonicity and the Gospel of Judas

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