Now this is awkward isn’t it? In the last post it hopefully encouraged us to look at God’s intervention brought salvation and averted disater by Jesus bringing grace, where striving, according to law had failed. However, if the faithful, “obtained“, righteousness, then what happened and is happening to the others.
Romans 11 verses 7 – 10 :
“What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor,eyes that could not seeand ears that could not hear,to this very day.” And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap,a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,and their backs be bent forever.””
Firstly, they were hardened (eporothesan). As we read this and follow through into the old Testament where Paul’s inspiration is sourced, we can olny begin to assume that the olive tree with porosised branches was already in place and that Israel was already separated from it’s source of nourishment according to prophetic revelation given in Isaiah and Deuteronomy and then in Psalm 69. Of course there is another obvious point to make here, that, “If Israel is the subject of these things, and the subject of porosis and breaking off, then Israel as the root of the Church has to be examined. Furthermore, in ordser that the purposes of God now continuing must have a covenant in which to do so”. Now please don’t look at this as purely semantics but the Church is not replacing Israel but is the separated out ones, both Jews and Gentiles. The covenant which depended on law never produced the required righteousness, but the New Covenant of Grace and Faith does, therefore the old is obsolete because the New is in force. According to what Paul is saying, there are those which are broken off and replaced by others from a Gentile tree. There only way back is via the same means, “There is no difference”, by faith they can be re-grafted.
If we look at some of these Old Testament scripture which Paul is quoting as now being fulfilled, we read, Isaiah 29 verse 10, “The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).” paretheses here are contained in the text of NIV translation of the Bible. Deuteronomy 29 verse 4 : “But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear”.
I want to make the point here that there is a death, a falling a termination which is unacceptable to some, but is necessary, if the Covenant of grace is to come. Let me put it this way, resurrection life works best on dead people. You cannot bring on resurrection covenant without death taking place.
So God takes away the sight and understanding which Israel have. It’s good to know that because I am often told that their point of view is relevant to my Christianity. Those who are thus afflicted by their God, I would suggest, are not our best counsellors on this subject, but those who remain in the olive tree are helpful to those who seek righteousness and it’s outcome.
In Psalm 69 verses 22-23 “There table has become a snare, a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution“, not the place to dine. “Their eyes are darkened so that they cannot see” Blind leaders of the blind. “And their backs are bent for ever”. These are the ones who are required to walk, “uprightly“, before the Lord. I do not minimise the historic suffering of the Jewish people, nor do I fail to recognise the brutal and horrific anti-semetism which is so prevalent today. Nevertheless the way which is open, visible and clear before us is that, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, (and first to Israel), but that through Him the world might be saved.
So the porosised are broken off so that they might receive, “Life from the dead”. This where Paul goes next in this letter to the Church in Rome.