1I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 

After spending much of chapter ten arguing that Israel as a nation had rejected the message of good news that the Prophets and Apostles brought to her, Paul now asked if this meant that God had rejected His people. His response, as we've seen many times in this epistle alone, was the strongest negative statement available to him: "may it never be!" This verse alone contradicts almost 1900 years of Christian theology! Whether it is covenant theology or dispensational theology, historically, Christianity has always understood that God had indeed, in some form, rejected His people Israel. The first proof that Paul gave to show that God had not rejected Israel was to explain that he himself was an Israelite! In order words, there is no way that God could have rejected Israel because He had not rejected Paul. At the very least, Israel continued on through the Apostle Paul. Sha'ul of Tarsus was a true Israelite, descended from Abraham through the noble tribe of Benjamin. Sha'ul - whose Diaspora name was Paul - was born in Tarsus but was raised in Jerusalem, educated under the top sage of his day, Rabbi Gamaliel (cf. Acts 22:3). Paul was a life-long Pharisee, who kept the Torah according to the customs he received from the larger Pharisaic community (cf. Acts 23:6). Not only did Paul live out the Torah among the Jewish people but he fulfilled the calling of the people of Israel and shone the light of the Torah among the Gentiles as well. No, God did not reject his people for Paul was not rejected and, actually, there were thousands of Jews who were faithful in Paul's day (cf. Acts 21:20).

2God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3"Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE." 4But what is the divine response to him? "I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL." 

Paul then plainly answered the question he raised in verse one, stating that God had not rejected His people whom He foreknew. The addition of the phrase "whom He foreknew" cuts to the very heart of why God hasn't and never will permanently reject Israel. Just as each believer's personal salvation was in view from the before the creation of the world, the national salvation of the nation of Israel was always in God's plan. Just like how each of us are not always in obedience to God but will one day be made perfect, Israel as a nation has never been in complete obedience but will be made perfect in the end. Nevertheless, in proving his point that God had not rejected Israel in his day, Paul calls our minds to the story of Elijah, specifically in 1 Kings 19. Elijah believed that he was the only one left who was faithful to God and the covenant but God assured him that He had preserved seven thousand men to be faithful. Despite the rebellious state of the people in Elijah's day, God had made sure that there was a remnant that had remained faithful to God and His ways. The people of Israel lived on through Elijah and the seven thousand.

5In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. 6But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. 

In Paul's day, and in every generation actually, like in Elijah's day, there was a remnant of Israelites who were not in rebellion but were faithful to God. The existence of the remnant was because God graciously chose a group within Israel to come to true faith, confess Yeshua as Master and obey the Torah through such faith. There has never been a time when the whole nation of Israel was completely obedient but there has always been a select group who truly represented what Israel should be. That such a remnant exists is based purely on God grace and not works. As we've seen numerous times already, the word "works" referred to the idea that one's legal status as a Jew automatically granted that person a place among God's covenant people. In other words, by virtue of being born Jewish or going through a legal conversion to become Jewish, one could be assured a place among God's chosen people both in this life and in the World to Come. Of course, in order to maintain such a status (or in the case of proselytes, obtain and then maintain) one would have to obey the Torah and be sure not to break any of the commandments that promised ex-communication from Israel as punishment. Paul, without diminishing the importance of Torah keeping, emphasized that being counted among the faithful remnant was not a matter of man's doing but was based upon God's grace. Only those whom God graciously chose would experience the regenerating work of the Spirit and be given the ability to be faithful to the covenant. In this way, that the remnant exists due to grace does not negate the necessity that those whom have been chosen will display the grace shown to them by being faithful to the Torah, while all the while focusing on the goal of the Torah, Messiah Yeshua.

7What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; 8just as it is written, "GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY." 9And David says, "LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. 10"LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER." 

Here, Paul clearly gave his understanding of the spiritual state of Israel as whole. Nationally, Israel did not obtain the salvation that they were looking for. Paul had already taught that Israel was indeed keeping the Torah, God's standard of righteousness, but did not come to the salvation that the Torah pointed to. They missed the goal of the Torah because they kept the Torah not by faith but by works (cf. 9:31-32, 10:3-4). While this was true for the majority of Israel on the one hand, a remnant within Israel was chosen to be able to see the Messiah in the Torah and obtain true righteousness on the other hand. While the chosen remnant obtained righteousness, the rest of Israel were hardened. Amazingly, it was the plan and doing of God Himself that led to the hardening of the majority of Israel. Just as God's sovereignty was manifest in His hardening of Pharaoh, His sovereignty is displayed in the fact that the majority of Israel, the possessors of God's revelation, has missed God's righteousness. To bolster this point, Paul quoted Moses and David, finding fitting illustrations that can be applied to the spiritual state of Israel. Firstly, Paul quoted Deuteronomy 29:4 but changed the phrase "heart to know" to "a spirit of stupor." To Paul, not having the ability to "know" God - that is, be in covenant relationship with Him - was the same as God giving a spirit of stupor. Paul was simply highlighting, again, God's sovereignty in choosing those who would and would not be in real covenant relationship with Him. The use of David's plea for his enemies to be punished is indicative that God can sovereignly cause some people to be blessed and some to be punished. This strengthens Paul argument that only the chosen remnant, through their faith in the Messiah, have obtained true righteousness and blessing, while the rest of Israel were hardened.

11I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. 

Indeed, the hardening of the majority of Israel was an act of God but was this hardening permanent? Furthermore, what was the purpose of the hardening? From a historical Christian perspective, Israel's hardening is permanent and was a result of their rejection of the Messiah. Once again, we must espouse what the Scripture says and not rely simply on the traditions we've received. Paul again used the emphatic answer of "may it never be" in response to whether Israel's stumbling over the Messiah was permanent. Israel's sin in regards to the rejection of the Messiah is tragic but it has a purpose. Israel's rejection of the Messiah led to salvation coming to Gentiles, which, in effect, should have provoked jealousy among Israel. Paul had already alluded to this with his quotes from the Torah and Isaiah (cf. 10:19-20). Essentially, the covenant blessings that God promised Israel would go to the people of other nations, arousing jealousy among the people of Israel. The people of Israel would see the Gentiles enjoying the covenant relationship that God promised her, causing her to repent from her sins. The tragedy of history is that the covenant life and blessings that Israel would be jealous of come through the Mosaic covenant, a covenant that has been essentially rejected by Gentile believers. Historically, Christians have had no problem identifying with the Abrahamic covenant, seeing themselves as the "true" children of Abraham. The problem with this is that the Abrahamic covenant cannot be disconnected from the Mosaic covenant. Indeed, the Abrahamic covenant establishes the children of Abraham as the covenant people of God but it's the Mosaic covenant that outlines the parameters of whether the people of God will receive blessings or punishment. In theological terms, the Abrahamic covenant is like justification and the Mosaic covenant is like sanctification; justification is a matter of God's sovereign grace but sanctification is a joint effort between God and the believer. In order for any real change to happen in a person's life, they must submit to God's Spirit and obey His commandments. Without the hard work of sanctification, there is hardly any evidence that the person has experienced the work of salvation. In this way, for 1900 years, Israel has not been provoked to jealousy on any great scale. With Gentile believers rejecting the full Torah way of life, Jewish people have had an excuse to continue to reject Yeshua as the Messiah. Let's keep these things in mind as we continue to understand Paul's explanation of the purpose of God hardening the majority of Israel in order to save Gentiles.

12Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! 13But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.

Paul used a kind of a kal v'homer argument here, pointing out the fact that if Israel's mistake of rejecting the Messiah brought riches and blessing to the Gentiles, what would happen if Israel finally did accept Yeshua as the Messiah? Notice that Paul equated rejection of the Messiah with being unfulfilled. In modern times, the phrase "completed Jew" has been used to refer to Jewish people who have come to accept Yeshua as the Messiah. Unfortunately, in many cases, these new Jewish believers abandoned the practice of Torah for mainstream Christianity. Despite this, in a very real way, an Israel that does not accept Yeshua as the Messiah is indeed unfulfilled. Yeshua truly is the Messiah and until Israel accepts Him as such, the Messianic era will continue to elude us. This, it would seem, is the key to Paul's point; Israel's rejection of the Messiah provided a window of time for the good news message to be presented and accepted by Gentiles. The salvation of Gentiles was not, however, the end of the story. In fact, Paul then directly addressed the Gentile believers, reminding them that one of the purposes of his ministry among them was to move his fellow Israelites to jealousy, to save them. Apparently, there was a growing arrogance among the Gentile believers of Rome; the seedlings of replacement theology were being planted among the Gentiles believers in Rome and Paul wanted to remind them that the salvation of Gentiles was of great importance but not the final step in God's plan of salvation. To believe that Israel had been abandoned by God and had moved on to a new people, a people with a Gentile majority, is to misunderstand why salvation had gone to Gentiles at all. Saved Gentiles are to be an example of God's sovereignty and nothing more; the salvation of Gentiles in no way diminishes God's promises to Israel.

15For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Simple commentary cannot do justice to the significance of this verse! Israel's rejection of the Messiah led to many from every nation ("the world") to accept the Messiah and receive the reconciliation to God that comes through faith in Him. If this happened because Israel got it wrong in regards to the Messiah, what will happen when Israel as a whole sees and accepts the truth of Yeshua being the Messiah? To Paul, the salvation of Israel on a national level produces nothing less than the coming of the Messianic era, exemplified in the resurrection of the dead. The salvation of the Jewish people is not a peripheral issue! Without the national salvation of Israel, there is no return of the Messiah, there is no world peace and there is no resurrection of the dead. To be clear, this does not mean that Jewish people have to become "Christians" in the historical sense. Gentile believers have much to learn and repent of, having made discipleship to Yeshua into a new religion, a religion that ignores many aspects of the Torah. Jewish people do not have to become traditional Christians but they do need to see the goal of the Torah, God's way of salvation, Yeshua the Messiah. Until this happens, religious Jewish people, as faithful to the Torah as they have been, will continue to wait for the Messiah.

16If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. 

With that said, to the Apostle Paul, the future salvation of Israel as a whole was a sure thing. To demonstrate his surety, Paul provided two illustrations that would have been very familiar to a Jewish audience. Firstly, he pointed out that if the first piece of dough is holy, then the lump is as well. This referred to the commandment in Numbers 15:17-21, which states that a portion of all dough baked in the land of Israel should be offered to God. The set apart portion is called the "challah" portion and, in Temple times, was given to the priests. Here, Paul called the piece of dough apportioned for the priests as the "first piece" and the remaining portion as the "lump." If the first piece took on a sanctified status, being reserved for the priests, in this way, the remaining lump took on sanctified status, as it would be reserved for the common Israelite. Paul's second illustration was one of a tree, emphasizing the bond that branches have to their root. If the root of a tree were holy, then the branches would be also, for the branches are sustained through the root and would die apart from it. The main principle derived from these illustrations is that when one part of something is consecrated to God, it inevitably must represent the whole. As for what these illustrations specifically refer to, it would seem clear that both the dough and the tree represent the people of Israel. The "first piece of dough" and the "root" seem to represent the consecrated status of the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That each were chosen to be the progenitors of the Consecrated One and the consecrated nation, to Paul, indicates that there is a future hope for the whole nation of Israel. In this way, also, the Jewish remnant indicates a future national salvation; the remnant among Israel is like a foretaste of what will be realized in the whole nation.

17But 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, 18do 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. 

Paul then continued the illustration of the tree, which we learn is an olive tree. We should keep in mind that Paul is using the olive tree for metaphorical purposes and we shouldn't get hung up on the actual scientific details surrounding the grafting in process. Paul explained that there were natural branches that were broken off, while wild olive branches were grafted in among them. The wild branches partake of the same rich root that the remaining natural branches receive. As already noted, the root refers to the fathers, specifically the covenant promises made to them. In fact, when some of the Sages read the phrase "all nations of the earth shall be blessed in you" (cf. Genesis 12:3, Galatians 3:8) they saw that the word "blessed," in the Hebrew, was similar to the word for "grafted." In this way, the phrase "all nations of the earth shall be blessed in you" could have read "all nations of the earth shall be grafted into you." This midrashic reading of the text may have been on Paul's mind while formulating the olive tree metaphor. The covenant promises are enjoyed on a temporal level by all physical descendants of Jacob but only those who place their faith in the promised Seed of Abraham will enjoy the covenant promises eternally (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:20). In this way, the broken off branches refer to Jewish people who have denied Yeshua as the Messiah and show no signs of submission to God's will. The wild branches refer to Gentiles who have joined the people of Israel in the worship of God through faith in the Messiah. Gentiles who have joined the Jewish community, in one form or another, begin to enjoy the temporal blessings. Furthermore, if there is genuine faith, these Gentiles will also enjoy the eternal blessings. It is clear, from this illustration, that the people of Israel continued on as the people of God and that Gentile believers become joined to an already existing community. It is with this in mind that Paul then admonished the Gentile believers to not become arrogant towards the natural branches, both the remaining and broken off branches. Gentile believers are not second-class citizens among the people of God but there is a certainly a respect that must be given to the Jewish people in regards to faith and practice.