“and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is
written, “Therefore I will give
praise to You among the Gentiles, And
I will sing to Your name.” Again
he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him.” Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, And
He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In
Him shall the Gentiles hope.” Now may the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the
Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:9–13, NASB95)
Yesterday we looked at the hope for the Jews as God has
proven Himself faithful to the promises He had made to Abraham and others.
Today the focus shifts to the Gentiles, which includes everyone who is not of
the Jewish people. God’s promises included that through Abraham’s seed all of
the nations would be blessed, and the Gentiles comprise all of the other
nations. Specifically cited in these verses are some Old Testament passages
which pointed to the rejoicing of the Gentiles for the salvation they had been
granted.
During this current church age we have many Jews who are
saved, but the church is largely comprised of Gentile believers. Those who were
formerly not a part of the promise have now been grafted in. Paul wrote earlier
in Romans 11, starting with verse 13 and leading up to verse 25 which was cited
yesterday, that in response to the rejection He received from His people, God reached
out to the Gentiles that they also might believe. This was not a secondary plan
of God’s, but one He knew would unfold this way and even declared through the
prophets, and for which He has the outcomes fully under control. We read,
“But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as
I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to
jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is
the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from
the dead? If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the
root is holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken
off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became
partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant
toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who
supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were
broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off
for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but
to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also
will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will
be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off
from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature
into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural
branches be grafted into their own olive tree?” (Romans 11:13–24, NASB95)
Paul, who considered himself to be a Jew of Jews, was called
by God to be an apostle to the Gentiles. And in that role he is cautioning the
Gentile believers not to hold this over the Jews and in so doing become
arrogant. Salvation was first given to the Jews and the first believers in
Christ were Jews. It was from them that the good news spread and Gentiles came
to believe. And it was God who stopped Paul in his tracks, changing him from
one who was dragging out followers of Christ to be persecuted to one who was
given to proclaiming the good news to both Jew and Gentile alike. As was his
custom, when Paul entered a town he went first to the synagogues and from there
to the streets. But Paul’s greatest ministry, the one where he saw the greatest
fruits was the one which he was set apart for and that was to reach the Gentile
peoples for Christ.
As Christians today we indeed can rejoice, thanking God that
His plan was not exclusive to His chosen people, but that from His great love
He called so, so many others. Because of their hardness of heart we were
invited to dine with Christ. We have a partial description of this in one of
the parables of Jesus found in Matthew chapter 22.
“Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom
of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And
he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast,
and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell
those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my
fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the
wedding feast.’ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own
farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated
them and killed them. But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and
destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his
slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ‘Go
therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the
wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together
all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner
guests.”” (Matthew 22:1–10, NASB95)
But the amazing thing about our God is that His love is not
easily set aside. He had made a promise to the Jewish people and He is faithful
to His promises. The next verses of Romans chapter 11 goes on to tell of a time
yet to come when the fullness of this Gentile period will reach its climax, and
God will bring forward during the great tribulation period a remnant so that
all Israel will be saved.
There is clearly cause for all believers to rejoice in the
hearing and receiving of God’s Good News. Paul closes these verses with the
admonition that, “the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” There is no
greater hope and no greater peace than to know that we have been fully accepted,
forgiven, and embraced by God through His Son, indwelt by His Spirit and filled
with hope as we look forward to eternity which is set firmly in His hands.
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