Romans 11:25-36
The Mystery of God: Theology (vv. 25-32)
A. Response to Israel
1. Don’t be ignorant
2. Don’t be arrogant
B. Revelation of Israel
1. Promise of their Deliverer (Isaiah 59:20)
2. Promise of their deliverance (Isaiah 59:21)
C. Reason concerning Israel
1. God’s promises are irrevocable
2. God’s promises are universal
II. The Wisdom of God: Doxology (vv. 33-36)
A. The depth of the Wisdom of God
B. The height of the Widom of God
C. The breadth of the Wisdom of God
More to Consider
Let us return to the text in Romans 11:25. Paul has stated the hardening is only a partial one, the presence of the believing Jewish remnant throughout history. However, the real content of the “mystery” (Romans 11:25) is not just that a remnant in the nation would remain, as this concept is already found in the Old Testament. Neither is the mystery the fact that Israel would one day experience a national revival beyond the locus of a small remnant, as this too is clearly taught in the Old Testament. Rather, what qualifies this aspect of Pauline teaching as a mystery is that “the inauguration of the eschatological age would involve setting aside the majority of Jews while Gentiles streamed in to enjoy the blessings of salvation and that only when that stream had been exhausted would Israel as a whole experience these blessings.” Thomas Fretewll, Why Israel? Understanding God’s Plan for Israel & the Nations.
Israel’s corporate stumbling, which is temporary, not permanent, is called a mystery. In Scripture a mystery is not a truth difficult to understand, but a truth previously unrevealed (and therefore unknown) which is now revealed and publicly proclaimed (cf. Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:26; at Matt. 13:10–16). John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 485.
“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel'” Benjamin Netanyahu
