God's Unveiling Mystery

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Rom 11:1-5

There are many people today who have the belief that God has cast off the people of Israel, and that the covenant between God and Abraham is not relevant in this age of Christianity. There's arguments for and against this subject, and the debates can get very hostile. There's not going to be any debating here. The information posted here on these verses can give the reader a good overall look at what Paul was talking about, in regards to where Israel stands with God, and what God is going to do with his people, and that in no way, has he cast them off. The commentaries below have scriptures references to help you study further, and learn more. I'm standing on what scripture teaches, and what Paul's true meanings are regarding the Jews. I won't argue with anyone, I'll just point you to scripture, and sound bible scholars, and let you make up your own mind. 
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I believe God's word, as it's written, and stand with Israel. One day, they will have their eyes opened, and their blindness will be removed-and they will know that Jesus Christ, is their Messiah. He has not forsaken them. This teaching is to bring the scriptures to bear, to speak to those who hate Israel, and all Jews. What's going on in this country now, is very twisted, and racist. It's wrong, and I will not be silent about it. My approach is to let the Word of God speak for itself. Now to begin- B.W. Johnson breaks down the above verses, for our understanding.

Hath God cast away his people? In chapter 10 Paul has shown that the Gentiles were to come into God's favor, and the Jews, the chosen people, to be rejected. He now asks whether the Jews were finally cast off. He shows that the rejection was not total, but partial, many Jews being saved; and secondly, that it was not eternal, but finally all Israel would come to Christ.

I also am an Israelite. Hence all Israel is not cast off, since he, an Israelite, is an apostle of Christ. He shows that he is of approved Jewish descent.

God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Israel was the people foreknown, "the chosen people." In Rom_11:1, "his people" refers to the nation; here it must mean the same, not individuals. The nation foreknown and chosen is not totally and eternally cast off. This is what Paul means, and what he devotes the rest of the chapter to proving. He first shows that a portion of Israel is saved.

Know ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias? The passage referred to is found in 1Ki_19:10. Elijah, a fugitive for his life, in his appeal to God, assumes that all Israel had fallen into the idol worship of Ahab and Jezebel. But there were true worshipers left, although the nation seemed to have fallen away. In what seemed a general apostasy, there were seven thousand left. So, argues the apostle, there are faithful ones left now in Israel.

Not bowed the knee to Baal. Baal was the principal deity of the Phoenicians, and represented the sun. Jezebel, the queen of Ahab, was a Phoenician, and sought to supplant the worship of Jehovah with the worship of Baal. Though it seemed as though she had succeeded, still there were those left who had not bowed the knee to the false God.  [B.W. Johnson]

A REMNANT SAVED BY GRACE

In the worst days of Hebrew apostasy there was always an elect handful that did not go astray after other gods. It was so in the days of Elijah; and it was a comfort to the faithful heart of Paul to believe that, amid the general opposition excited by the preaching of the gospel, there were many secret lovers of the Cross who were true to the Messiah and His claims. Man can never count these quiet, unknown, holy souls, who, like the sweetest wild flowers, can be detected only by the fragrance of their lives. But God counts them, to whose grace and care all that is good in them is due.

The few seek and find, because they stoop to seek in God’s predetermined way and along His lines. But when men set themselves against these, they become hardened and overwhelmed by a “spirit of stupor,” Rom_11:8.
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 

When Scripture says that God gives them this, it simply means that such state of insensibility is the working out of an inevitable law. But the Apostle cherished the secret hope that the avidity with which the Gentiles were accepting the gospel would, in the mystery of God’s providence, have the ultimate effect of bringing the Chosen People back to Him whom their fathers crucified, Rom_11:11.
​Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. [F.B. Meyer]

As Paul continues, this was done to bring the Gentiles in:

Gentiles Grafted In

​Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? 
Rom 11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 
Rom 11:14  If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 
Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 
Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 
Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 
Rom 11:23  And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 
Rom 11:24  For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? 

Removing the Blindness

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Rom 11:25-27

​I would not . . . have you ignorant of this mystery. Any secret thing, known to but a few, is called "a mystery." The mystery that Paul is about to unfold is concerning the conversion of Israel. He unfolds it lest the Gentile Christians may have incorrect views, or be wise in their own conceits. The first thing noted in explaining this mystery, is that hardening hath happened to Israel. This blindness, or hardening, had been due to Israel's sins, especially to unbelief. The second fact is that it would continue until the fulness of the Gentiles had come in, or the greater part of the Gentile world been converted.

So all Israel shall be saved. After the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, the Jews, as a people, shall be saved. That is, of the Jews then living, the great part shall be converted. The nation shall turn to the Lord.

Even as it is written. Paul does not quote literally in what follows, but cites the sense of Isa_59:20-21
Isa 59:20  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 
Isa 59:21  As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

and Isa_27:9.
Isa 27:9  By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. 
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There shall come a Deliverer out of Zion. Christ.

He shall turn ungodliness from Jacob. Convert to righteousness the descendants of Jacob, the Jews.
This is my covenant unto them. The Lord's covenant unto them is what follows, "Take away their sins." Hence these passages imply the restoration of Israel to the divine favor. [B.W. Johnson]

"THAT GOD “MIGHT HAVE MERCY UPON ALL”

“Mysteries” are the reasons and principles of the divine procedure which are hidden from ordinary minds, but revealed to the children of God by the Spirit, who searches the deep things, 1Co_2:10.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 

We cannot tell how near the brim we are, or when the fullness of the Gentiles will fill the predestined measure. It may be much nearer than we suppose, and then the door will be closed, and the Hebrew nation will be grafted in to serve the divine program in the last stages of human history. They are still beloved for their fathers’ sake, and the day is coming when all their sins will be forgiven and taken away.

We may go a certain distance in the devout understanding of the ways of God, but there is a point beyond which we cannot advance; and as we gaze down into the profound abyss of the divine dealings, we must cry, O the depth! Rom_11:33.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 

The origin, the maintenance, and the ultimate end of creation, providence, and redemption, is God. To Him must be the glory! In other words, we shall find that the whole story of sin, redemption, and salvation will unravel and reveal the nature of God, as the prismatic band of color the sunlight.
​[F.B. Meyer]

A Dual Method of Salvation

A dual method of salvation. Salvation for the Gentiles through the Jews; salvation for the Jews through the Gentiles. There shall come out of Zion a Deliverer. A mighty Deliverer has come out of the heavenly Zion to the earthly plains. He spoke in righteousness, travelling in the greatness of His strength, for He was mighty to save. And again in manifest and more victorious manner shall the Deliverer come out of the heavenly Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob; and Jew and Gentile shall embrace each other beneath the banner of mediatorial love. The Deliverer came with noiseless tread, with the silent but pervasive power of nature. And it may be that in the final ingathering there will be no miraculous interventions. All things will seem to be moving as before, until one day the Church will wake up to find herself pressed on all sides with ingathering adherents. Gladsome time when Jews and Gentiles shall love and worship the world’s great King—when the vast races of humanity shall bow, as one great army of the living God, beneath the spell of omnipotent and redeeming love! 

A dual emotional aspect.—“Enemies for your sakes. Beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” God is not a series of cold abstractions. God is emotional. Let us not be wise in our own conceits by pretending to explain the motions of hatred and love in a God. Perhaps, however, we may say divine hatred is the projection of human wrongdoing. Divine love is the projection of the divine attribute into humanity, removing human enmities, and filling the world with a new light. Let us fear lest we invoke divine enmity. Let us supplicate divine love. “Beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” Good fathers are a blessed heritage to their children. Here learn the greatness of man. He possesses a dual nature: one aspect stirs the divine enmity; another aspect elicits the divine love. God looks at the man and drives him from the divine presence. God looks again at the man and embraces him as beloved. Even in the expulsion there is a force of outreaching love. Is it not thus that we often appear to ourselves? We shrink with utmost loathing from one aspect, and then we taste some little comfort by the contemplation of another aspect. But oh to be beloved for the Son’s sake! The fathers of the race, the elected of God, were noble and beloved; but rising above all, and nobler than all, and more beloved than all, is the only begotten Son. Beloved for the Son’s sake! “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things!”—the needful, ofttimes more than the needful, in the present; the pleasant, the joy-inspiring, in the blessed future.   [Preacher's Homiletical]