Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 5 Study # 2
April 28, 2019
Humble, Texas
(126)
1769 Translation:
26 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:
27 For this [
is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, [
they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [
they are] beloved for the fathers' sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God [
are] without repentance.
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
1901 ASV Translation:
26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away
ungodliness from Jacob:
27 And this is
my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins.
28 As touching the
gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of.
30 For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
31 even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy.
32 For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.
- I. The Outcome of "The Fulness of the Gentiles".
- A. First we will note the "pattern" of divine dealings with men.
- 1. In 11:25 Paul addresses what he calls "the fulness of the Gentiles" in terms of its "coming".
- 2. In 11:12 Paul had written of what he called "the fulness" of Israel (11:7).
- 3. In both places Paul is addressing what he has seen in the Larger Plan of God: a "pattern" of God's dealings wherein He consigns the grossly guilty to His "abandonment" for a season in order that He might develop an "Elect" group to be used by Him for the "salvation" of those whom He had abandoned earlier and for the "riches" of those He had abandoned.
- a. This is stated in terms of how He was using "Israel" in respect to the Gentiles (11:11-12), but it is the foundation for Paul's explanation of how He was using the "Gentiles" in respect to Israel.
- b. What we see is that 11:25-26 is declaring a long-established pattern of God's dealings with men: the "rejection" of one leads to the "salvation" of the other and then the "rejection" of the other leads to the "salvation" of the former.
- c. This is a clear principle in the history of God's dealings with humanity.
- 1) He dealt with "humanity" until the ultimate "rebellion" resulted in both the flood and the confusion of languages at Babel. At the point of the second "rebellion" (the one which led to the tower of Babel and the confusion of human languages), God "rejected the nations" and began to work with an "elect man" (Abraham) in order to produce an "elect nation" so that He could, ultimately, bring "salvation to the nations" by way of a period of favor upon His "elect nation" followed by "rejection".
- 2) Then, having developed His "elect nation", He allowed them to develop in their natural depravity until they came to a point wherein He "rejected" them for season: a "partial hardening" settled upon them until God brought "salvation" to the Gentiles.
- 3) Then, using the principle of "jealousy", God favored the Gentiles for a "time" in order to provoke Israel through "jealousy" to turn back to Him for "salvation".
- 4) Then, when He has accomplished a sufficient level of "jealousy", God will bring "the times of the Gentiles" to fulfillment (Luke 21:24). When that happens, Paul declares that "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26).
- 5) Thus the "principle" is declared: God has concluded all in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all (11:32). He first concluded the Gentiles in unbelief and dispersed them by the confusion of their languages. Then He "favored" Abram/Abraham until the Gentiles were ready for the salvation He revealed to them in the Gospel. At that point, He concluded Israel in unbelief and dispersed them by the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome. Then He "favored" the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy for Israel's future salvation. Once His plans for the provocation are accomplished and the "fulness of the Gentiles" has come, Paul declares that He will turn back to Israel for the "salvation" of "all Israel". Thus, "salvation" comes to both Gentiles and Israel, each in their own "turn".
- B. Second, we shall consider Paul's use of Isaiah 59:20-21a.
- 1. The verses are set within the context of Israel's tragic and enormous elevation of injustice so that "...there is no justice in their goings..." (59:8), "Therefore is justice far from us..." (59:9), "...we look for justice, but there is none..." (59:11), "...justice is turned away backward..." (59:14), and "Yahweh saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice..." (59:15).
- 2. They are set within a context of "vengeance" so that "...He put on the garments of vengeance..." (59:17), and "According to their deeds...He will repay...", "...recompense to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompense..." (59:18).
- 3. It is at this point that 51:20-21a comes into play.
- a. Paul's summary of this extended text is "...and thusly all Israel shall be saved..." (Romans 11:26).
- b. His declaration is that "...it stands written...".
- 1) "The Deliverer" shall come out of Zion.
- a) Paul uses "ek" in respect to Zion ("out of"). The Hebrew text uses the typical "to" (a Deliverer will come "to" Zion). The Septuagint uses "eneken" (a Deliverer will come "for the sake of" Zion).
- b) These variations indicate a complication regarding Isaiah's meaning. Isaiah's "to" is inspired by the Holy Spirit (not, technically, the "to" ((which is the uninspired translator's term)), but the Hebrew letter that is typically translated "to"), and Paul's "ek" is inspired by the Holy Spirit as the legitimate translation of the Hebrew into Greek, but the Septuagint is not inspired as it is a human translation into Greek of the inspired Hebrew text.
- c) The conclusion we draw (uninspired) is that Paul saw Isaiah's meaning as a coming of a Deliverer "out of Zion" so that He is seen as having His origins "in" Zion. Did that Deliverer come "to" Zion? Yes, this is the testimony of the Gospels in their declarations, both of Jesus' virgin birth into humanity and, specifically, the Davidic lineage, and of His approach to Zion on what we call "Palm Sunday" -- what is also called "the triumphal entry" at which time "Israel" welcomed Jesus of Nazareth as the "Christ", though this "Israel" crucified Him just days later. Did that Deliverer come "out of" Zion? Yes, this is the testimony of Jesus' origins "out of" the genealogy of the kings of Israel so that He is the legitimate heir of the throne of David, the founder of Zion. When Paul narrowed Isaiah's meaning down to "out of", he clearly had Israel's "salvation" in mind as an outcome of "Deliverance".
- i. The crucial issue is This One's identity as "Deliverer". In Romans, Paul refers to "deliverance" three times (7:24; 11:26; and 15:31). In the 15:31 reference, the "deliverance" is of a physical nature as Paul desires to be "delivered" from his persecutors in Judea. But in the two prior references, the "deliverance" is from the ravages of The Sin as it dominates the children of Adam. Given that Paul, himself, identifies "The Deliverer" with "all Israel shall be saved", we can see that he saw the major issue of "Deliverance" as a matter of spiritual freedom from bondage. There is strong support for this concept in Colossians 1:13 where he wrote of God's "deliverance" of us from the power of darkness, and in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 where he declares that Jesus has "delivered" us from the coming wrath, and in 2 Peter 2:9 where Peter identifies a primary function of "The Lord" on our behalf: delivering us from temptations.
- ii. Because Paul clearly declares that "The Deliverer" is the "written" expression of "salvation" in our text, we can see that Paul primarily saw "deliverance" in the same way as he did in Romans 7:24 -- salvation.
- 2) He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
- a) "Jacob's" primary "problem" was his bondage to "ungodliness". In this text, "Jacob" is a reference to "all Israel" and the salvation that is to occur once the times of the Gentiles has run its course.
- b) The use of "ungodliness" is deliberate. As Jude 15 declares, by its use of "ungodly" four times in the one verse, "ungodliness" is a/the major problem. And, as one scholar argues, "ungodliness" is different from "unrighteousness" in that the former describes man's failure in respect to "God" (un-God-likeness) and the latter describes that failure in respect to one's fellow-man.
- c) Jacob's major "problem" for a large part of his history as a national identity was his "idolatry", running after the gods of the Canaanites. This was "turning the glory of God" into a "glory" of the creature; a most fundamental evil.
- d) The Deliverer is going to resolve this problem once and for all for "Jacob"; a fulfillment of His identity as Deliverer.
- 3) And this covenant [is] to them which [is] from Me: when I should remove their sins.
- a) The Isaiah text specifically defines "salvation" and the primary function of "The Deliverer" with these words: "I will remove their sins".
- b) The future of "Israel"/"Jacob" includes a divine "removal" of sins so that "ungodliness" is never again a problem and "salvation" has come.