Romans 11
DODDRomans 11:1-10
The apostle shews, that though the rejection of present, general, according to their own prophe with astonishing blindness and obstinacy, yet there being still a number of happy believe Rom. XI. 1—10.
ROMANS. XI. 1.
WE have seen, my brethren, how the perverseness of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles, hath been foretold; but do I say then, that God hath entirely rejected his whole people, so as to have mercy on none of them? God forbid! I should then pronounce a sentence of reprobation upon myself; for I also am an Israelite, as it is well known; I am of the seed of Abraham, and can trace my genealogy, and shew particularly, that I am [of] the tribe of Benjamin. No, blessed be his name, God hath not rejected those of his people whom he oreknew; but hath still, as in the most degenerate ages, a seed, whom he hath chosen to faith and salvation. Know you not what the scripture saith to this purpose, in the story of Elijah? (Compare 1 Kings xix. 14,) when he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have cruelly slain all thy faithful prophets, and they have digged up the very foundations of thine altars;” and I am left alone, after the slaughter of all thine other servants; and they seek my life too, and send murderers in pursuit of me from place to place, that there may not be one worshipper of Jehovah left in their whole land." But recollect, what says the Divine oracle to him, in answer to this doleful complaint? “I have reserved unto myself, by my grace and Providence, no less than seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee before the image of Baal, nor complied
Digged up thine altars.] It seems from tribes built altars elsewhere. It is well hence, that, though according to the law known, at least, that Samuel, and Elija there was only one altar for sacrifice, and had done it, and perhaps, they were either that in the place where God had fixed his kept up, or others raised on the same spots peculiar residence; yet, by some special of ground. dispensation, pious persons in the ten
with any of these idolatrous rites which are established by these iniquitous laws.” And so also in the present time, bad as this generation of Israelites is, and sure they were never worse, yet there is a remnant, who continues faithful to God, according to the free election of his grace, whereby God hath reserved them to himself, and made them to differ from others. And by the way, I cannot forbear observing, and entreating you to reflect, that if it be, as I have said, according to the election of grace, then [it is] no more, as some have maintained, of works, whether of the Mosaic, or any other law; else grace is no longer grace, if the glory of our acceptance with God is not on the whole to be ascribed to that. But on the other side, if [it be] of works, then it is no more of grace: else work is no longer work. There is something so absolutely inconsistent between being saved by grace, and by works, that if you lay down either, you do of necessity exclude the other from being the cause of it. But, to return from this short digression, what then do we conclude? What, but this, that Israel hath not obtained that justification and righteousness which it has sought, nor retained these particular privileges of the church of God which they pretend entirely to engross: but the election, the chosen remnant, hath obtained it, having been by Divine grace engaged to embrace the gospel; whereas the rest were blinded by their own fatal prejudices, to which God hath, in righteous judgment, given them up. Accordingly as it is written, (Isa. xxix. 10; “The gospel would come of grace, if the Mosaic law were to be part of the terms of God.” But this change position. Who, that in any degree knew the term God’s anger, would not most gladly accepted of the full pardon the gospels, on much more rigorous terms obedience to the Mosaic ritual. meaning rather seems to be, “when given to works is the payment debt, whereas the notion of grace in an unmerited favour; so that the benefit cannot, at the same time, be ceded from both.” This seems to be reflection on the riches of Divine g which the apostle makes by the way which well agrees with the fulness heart on this subject.
Reflections on the remnant God hath reserved to
compare Deut. xxix. 4; and Isa. vi. 10.) God ath given them a spirit of slumber; eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear. He threatened, you see, to punish their perverseness, when it should come to a certain deree, by abandoning them to increasing stupidty and obstinacy, he hath done it even unto this day; for their blindness continues, notwithstanding all the extraordinary things which have been done, even in our own age of wonders, for their conviction. And this is agreeable to what David hath said, in that prophetical imprecation which is applicable to them, as well as to Judas, (Psal. lxix. 22, 23; compare Acts i. 20.) Let all the blessings of their most plentiful table become a snare to them, and that which should, according to its original use and intention, have been for their welfare, a trap. Thus the gospel, which should have been the means of their salvation, is now become an instrument of ruin and destruction to them, and an occasion of stumbling in the most fatal manner. And it must be acknowledged to be a just recompense for their wickedness; that the best of blessings should thus be turned into a curse to them that so ungratefully rejected and despised it. And in them the following words are also fulfilled, Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and keep their back continually bent down, under a perpetual weight of sorrows, which they may not be able to support, and which may be a just punishment upon them for having rejected so easy a yoke. (Compare Lev. xxvi. 13.)
IMPROVEMENT.
verse 3,4 LET us learn from the answer of God to Elijah, when he thought himself left alone, and knew nothing of the seven thousand which God had reserved; to encourage ourselves in a secret hope, that there may be much more goodness in the world than we are particularly aware of. The number of those, that constitute the invisible church, are unknown to us, but they are known to God. They are all registered in the book of his remembrance, as they are all reserved unto himself by his grace: no 2 shall his people whom he hath foreknown be cast away. May we be of that blessed number; and may the degeneracy, which we see so prevalent around us, animate us to a holy zeal, to hol
Through the fall of the Jews salvation is come to the Gentiles,
fast our own integrity : yea, to seize the occasion of approving it in a more acceptable manner, from a circumstance, in every other view, greatly to be lamented.
Let us often reflect upon this great and important truth so frequently inculcated upon us in the word of God, that it is to his grace, and not to any works of our own, that we are to ascribe our acceptance with him. And let the ministers of Christ be ready, after the example of the apostle, sometimes to turn, as it were, out of the way, to dwell a little on a thought, at once so humbling, and so reviving.
We see the miserable circumstances of God’s ancient Israel, given up to a spirit of slumber, to blind eyes, and to deaf ears. O let us take heed, that we do not imitate their obstinacy and folly; lest God make our own wickedness our destruction; lest he send a curse upon us, and curse our blessings, so that our table should become a snare to us, our temporal enjoyments, or our spiritual privileges. Lord, let us often say, Give us any plague rather than the plague of the heart; and bow down our backs under any load of affliction, rather than that which shall at last crush those who have refused to accept of thy gospel, and to take upon their shoulders the light burden which a gracious Saviour would lay upon them.
Romans 11:11-24
The apostle shews in this and the next section that the rejection of Israel is not final; but that the time shall come, when, to the unspeakable joy of the Christian world, the Jewish nation shall be brought into the church of Christ. Rom. XI. 11—24.
ROMANS XI. 11.
ROMANS XI. 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.
I HAVE asserted above the rejection of the Jewish nation in general; yet I have observed, that it is not total, so that none of them should remain objects of mercy. And do I assert it to be final? Do I then say, they have so stumbled, as that, as a nation, they should fall into irrecoverable ruin, and never more be owned by God as his people? God forbid! but I assert, that by this fall of theirs, salvation [is] at the present [come] to the Gentiles; the future consequence of which shall be to provoke them to holy emulation of sharing the blessings and benefits to be expected from their own Messiah, when they shall see so many heathen nations enjoy them.
Now if the fall. But these should be no unwelcome tidings to you Gentiles: for if their fall [be] by accident
Rom. xi. 11
that the Jews might be provoked to emulation.
the riches of the world, and their diminution the of them be the riches xxv. riches of the Gentiles, by scattering the preach- of the world, and the from ers of the gospel among them, by proving our diminishing of them xi. 12 veracity and integrity, and in some measure ex- Gentiles: how much citing compassion too; though their rejecting more their fulness? us, in itself considered, might rather appear as an argument against it; how much more shall the bringing in their whole fulness, that is, the whole body of the Jewish nation, be a means of propagating the gospel much farther, and recovering multitudes, by whom it hath been rejected from their scepticism and infidelity, when so great an event appears in accomplishment of 13 its known predictions. For I now speak to you Gentiles, and I do it with tenderness and respect, as I am, by a special designation of Providence, the apostle of the Gentiles; I therein extol my office, and esteem it the most signal 14 honour of my life to be employed in it. And while I thus address you, it is also with a desire that I may, if possible, excite to emulation [them who are] my brethren according to the flesh, and who, are dear to me as the members of my own body; that if I may not prevail for the recovery of their nation in general, I may at least save some of them; while I speak of these kind purposes, which I assuredly know God will accomplish towards the whole Jewish people in his appointed time. And this thought gives new spirit to my address to you, as I 13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
ᵃ Accomplishment of its known predictions.] So many of the prophecies of the Old Testament, do evidently refer to the reduction of the Jews into their own land, as the people of the Messiah, that I can by no means doubt of the certainty of that event. Compare Isa. xxvii. 12, 13; Ezek. xi. 17—21; chap. xx. 34—44; chap. xxxiv. 13, 14; chap. xxxv. 25—29; chap. xxxvi. 24—28; chap. xxxvii. 21—28; Amos ix. 14, 15; Obad. ver. 17; Mic. vii. 14, 15; Zech. xiv. 10, 11. And the wonderful preservation of them as a distinct people, thus far, not only leaves a possibility of this great event, but encourages the hope of it. When it shall be accomplished, it will be so unparalleled, as necessary to excite a general attention, and to fix upon men’s minds, such an almost irresistible demon-
stration both of the Old and New Testament revelation as will probably captivate the minds of many thousands of deists, in countries professedly Christian; (of which, under such corrupt establishments as generally prevail, there will of course be increasing multitudes;) nor will this only captivate their understanding, but will have the greatest tendency to awaken a sense of true religion in their hearts; and this will be a means of propagating the gospel with an amazing velocity in Pagan and Mahometan countries; which probably had been evangelized long ago, had genuine Christianity prevailed in those who have made a profession, and God knows, for the most part, a very scandalous profession, of its forms. The 15th verse has so natural a connection with the 12th, that Elsner includes the 13th and 14th in a parenthesis.
entiles were not to coast against the Jews :
ope it may not only tend to your edification and salvation, but also to theirs.ᵇ
In like manner, when I wish their recovery, it is not for their sakes alone ; but also with respect to those happy consequences which I know it will have upon the spread of the gospel among the Gentiles. For, as I hinted above, if their rejection [were] the reconciliation of so great a part of the heathen world to God, as it was the means of sending the gospel of peace among them ; what [will] the reception [of them be,] but life from the dead ? What joy will it necessarily give, and what a general spread of the gospel will it naturally produce ?
And this blessed event we may assuredly expect : for if the first fruits [be] holy, so [is] the lump. The consecration of them was looked upon as in effect the consecration of all. And so would I look upon the conversion of some few of the Jewish nation, as an earnest of the conversion of all the rest. And so much the rather, when I consider how eminently dear to God those pious patriarchs were from whom they have descended : for if the root [be] holy, the branches [are likewise] so, and will surely at length be regarded as such. And this, though some of them be at present in so melancholy a state ; for if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, O Gentile, being, as it were a scion of a wild olive, were grafted in among them that remained,ᶜ and art with them partaker of, and nourished by, the root and fatness of the good olive ; being not only a graft upon another stock, but a meaner graft on a stock originally nobler and more excellent ; Boast not thyself presumptuously and ungratefully against the natural branches ; and if thou boastest, [remember] to thy humiliation, [that]
ᵇ Also to theirs ] Perhaps we can no where find an instance of a more popular and affectionate turn than this, in which the apostle seems to find a reason for his zeal to convert the Gentiles, in his love to his own countrymen the Jews
ᶜ Wild olive grafted in among them. ] It is very improper to object, that it is unnatural to suppose an ignoble branch grafted on a rich stock ; for it was not necessary that the simile taken from inoculation should hold
in all its particulars ; and the engagement to humility arises in a considerable degree from the circumstance objected against. Had the scion been nobler than the stock, its dependence on it to life and nourishment, would render it unfit that it should boast against it ; how much more, when the case was the reverse of what in human usage is practised, and the wild olive is ingrafted to the good.
For the Jews, the natural branches, shall be ag thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou hast received many benefits from Abraham’s seed, and the covenant made with him, but they have received none from thee. Wilt thou therefore object, and say, “Thy natural branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in; and therefore we may glory over them as they once did over us; Well, take this thought at least along with thee, they were broken off for [their] infidelity, and thou hitherto standest in their place through faith. Therefore be not high minded and arrogant, but fear, lest thou by thy sins forfeit the privileges to which thou art so wonderfully raised. For if God spared not the branches which were according to nature, neither will he by any means spare thee if thine unbelief make thee, after all thy peculiar obligations, as bad, and in that respect, even worse, than they. Behold therefore, on the whole, a remarkable display of the intermingled goodness and severity of God, and endeavour to improve both well! Towards them that fell, thou indeed seest a memorable instance of his severity; but to thee, a display of gentleness and goodness, if thou wilt be careful to continue in [his] goodness, and endeavour gratefully and dutifully to improve it; else thou also shalt be cut off, for the blessed God will not bear to be insulted with the petulency of sinners. And I would have you farther to consider, as a motive to think of the Jews with respect rather than contempt, that they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, shall be graffed on again, and restored to their former privileges. For it is certain, God is able again to ingraff them; hopeless as their state may seem, both with respect to their obstinacy and their misery, his powerful access to their mind can subdue their prejudices against the gospel, as thou mayest easily argue from what thou hast thyself experienced. For if thou wert, as I may properly enough express it, cut off from the olivetree which was naturally wild, and contrary to the course and process e not high minded, &c.] Archbishop modern church of Rom son well observes, that this caution ill amidst all the absurd the claim to in allibility, which the doctrine, and her ritual
ons on God’s dealing with Jews an Gentiles.
of nature, were graffed on the good olivetree; if thou wert admitted into covenant with God, though descended from parents that were strangers and enemies, how much more shall they who are the natural [branches,] to whom the promises do originally belong, be graffed on their own olive? God will not seem to do so wonderful a thing, in restoring them to what might seem the privilege of their birthright and descent, and saving the seed of Abraham his friend; as he hath done, in calling you sinners of the Gentiles, to participate the blessings of which you had not the least notion, and to which you cannot be supposed to have had any imaginable claim.
IMPROVEMENT.
LET us set ourselves seriously to pause upon the conduct of God towards the Jews and Gentiles in that part of it which the apostle here describes, and rejoice with trembling in it. Let us reflect on the Divine severity to them, and the Divine goodness to verse us. What immense goodness! that we should be taken from 22 that wretched condition in which we were utterly ignorant of the great Author and end of our being, of the nature of true happiness, and the way of obtaining it; that we and our offspring might be graffed on the good stock, be called to the most important of those privileges and hopes with which the seed of Abraham were honoured and enriched. We partake of the fatness of the good olive; may our fruit abound to the honour of God, to the benefit of mankind.
Let us cherish the most benevolent and tender disposition towards the house of Israel, to whose spiritual privileges we are raised; and let us earnestly pray that they may be awakened to emulation; especially as their fulness is to be the riches of the Gentiles, and the receiving them again, as life from the dead to the languishing and decaying church.
In the mean time, as the gospel comes to us in so awful a manner, vindicated from the contempt of former despisers, let us solemnly charge upon our souls this lesson of holy caution, these salutary words, (O that they may be continually present to our thoughts!) Be not high minded, but fear: whatever our 20 privileges, whatever our experiences are, whatever our confidence may be, let us dwell upon the thought; for there is no Christian upon earth that hath not reason to fear, in proportion to the degree in which he feels his thoughts towering on high, and grows into any conceit of himself. Daily let us recollect
VOL. 4.
Blindness is to Israel, till the fulness of the Gentiles come in :
what we were in our natural estate ; and what, with all our im- XXV. provements and attainments, we should immediately be, if God verse should forsake us.
Let us pray therefore that we may continue in God’s goodness; and whoever may continue to fall from it, let us not glory ; but rather mourn over them, and pray for their recovery and salva- 18 tion to that God who is able to recover from the most obstinate infidelity and impenitence, and to graff on not only foreign branches, but what may seem yet more wonderful, those that have appeared more than twice dead.
Romans 11:25
The apostle further illustrates the future conversion of the Jews to the gospel ; and concludes the argument with observing, that in the mean time, their obstinacy is overruled to such happy purposes, as make the whole scene a most glorious display of the unsearchable wisdom of God. Rom. XI. 25, to the end.
ROMANS XI. 25.
AND now, my brethren, upon the whole, I XXVI. will conclude what I have to say upon this Rom. interesting and affecting subject, which I have XI. 25 indeed enlarged upon pretty copiously ; for it lies with great weight upon my heart. And therefore I would not have you to be ignorant of this material circumstance relating to the great mystery in the dispensation before us, which, on the first views of it, may appear very unaccountable ; lest you should have too high an opinion of yourselves, when you see the Jews rejected for their fatal error. I would not, I say, have you ignorant of this, that the lamentable blindness and infatuation we have been speaking of, is in part happened unto Israel, and has spread itself over by far the greatest part of the Jewish people, not that they may utterly perish, and be for ever cut off ; but that they may continue in this humble and rejected state, till a certain period arrive, when the fulness of the Gentiles, the appointed harvest of them, shall be brought in,² and incorporated with
ROMANS XI. 25.
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:
² Till the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in, &c.] It is well remarked, by my late learned, pious and candid friend, Dr. William Harris, that as this epistle was written about the year 57, that is, long after the most remarkable conversion of the Jews, by the first preaching of the apostles, and after Paul had been about thirty years engaged in his work, it appears, that the prophecies relating to the calling of the Jews were not accomplished then, and consequently are not yet accomplished.
And when that event is come, Israel shall save ;
those already associated to the church of Christ. And so, when this happy season marked out in the Divine decrees, though to us unknown, shall be come, that blessed event shall make way for it, and all the seed of Israel shall, by a general conversion, be saved from its dispersion and misery, and fixed in a state of covenant favour and acceptance with God again. As it written, (Isa. lix. 20,) a Deliverer shall come out of Sion, and he shall turn away the punishment of their former impiety from Jacob, when he hath brought them to true repentance.ᵇ As it is added, And this [is] my covenant which I shall make with them when I shall take away their sins, that is, when their sins as a nation are remitted, it shall be to bring them again into covenant with myself. And thus on the whole, with respect to the gospel, [they are] indeed regarded as enemies for your sakes; that is, for their obstinate rejecting the gospel, God hath rejected them, in favour of you, and that he might receive you into his church as in their stead:ᶜ but as for the election, that remnant of them which God hath graciously chosen to be subdued by the grace of the gospel, [they are] beloved for their father’s sakes. God’s gracious regard to the memory of their pious
Harris’s Practical Discourses on the Messiah, p. 91. Dr. Whitby very justly observes, that there is a double harvest of the Gentiles, spoken of by Paul, in this chapter; the first, called their riches, verse 12, as consisting in the preaching the gospel to all nations, whereby indeed they were happily enriched with Divine knowledge and grace; the second, the bringing in their ulness, which expresses a more glorious conversion of many to the true faith of Christians, in the latter age of the world, which is to be occasioned by the conversion of the Jews. Whit. in Loc. This answers Orobio’s objection, (Limb. Collat. p. 94,) that Paul’s account is contrary to the prophecies of the Old Testament, which represent the recovery of the Gentile nations, as consequent on the redemption of Israel.
ᵇ As it is written, Isa. lix. 20, &c.] This text, as it stands in the Hebrew, seems different from the sense in which it is here quoted. A Deliverer shall come, to
those that turn from iniquity. But if Christ be here foretold as a Deliverer to the Jews, it is all that the apostle’s purpose requires. Yet it is observable the LXX agrees better with the words of the quotation, as it possibly might with the original reading; and it is certain, that the general tenor of God’s covenant with Israel gave no hope of deliverance after rejection and chastisement, but in a way of repentance and reformation Compare Lev. xxvi. 39—45; Deut. xxx. 1—10.
ᶜ Enemies for your sakes.] The most natural meaning of these words, were they considered alone, might seem, that the calling the Gentiles prejudiced the Jews against the gospel; but as they generally rejected it before the Gentiles were called, I, on the whole, prefer the sense given in the paraphrase. The different sense of the word here supposed, may seem a strong objection against it; but if the word be rendered with a regard to, it may be applicable to both.
For God’s gifts and callings are wit out repentance.
ancestors, engages him to take care that some of their seed shall always continue in covenant with him, till at length he recover them as a nation, and astonish the world with their unequalled glory and felicity. And this shall most assuredly be, for the gifts and calling of God [are] not to be repented of: he doth not resume the gifts he hath once bestowed, nor retract the calls he hath once given, but will maintain a remembrance of them, and act in perfect harmony with them, in all his dispensations; according to that wise plan which he hath laid in his eternal counsels, and from which no unforeseen contingency can ever cause him to vary.
As then ye Gentiles were once, and for a long time, disobedient to God, and buried in ignorance and superstition, but now have obtained mercy, by means of their disobedience; God having taken you to be his people instead of the Jews; So they also, having been disobedient to the gospel, and the more prejudiced against it on occasion of your admittance to such distinguishing mercy, yet shall not be utterly and finally ruined, but shall also to the glory of Divine grace at length, themselves, obtain the mercy they have envied you. And thus the Divine goodness is illustrated, even by that which might seem most contrary to it: for it appears, that God hath, for a certain time, shut up all under obstinacy and disobedience, suffering each in their turn to revolt, under different degrees of light, that he might in a more remarkable manner have mercy on all, and glorify the riches
Not to be repented of.] Elsner has produced many passages from approved Greek classics, in which the word ἀμία μυαία, is sed exactly in this sense; and has collected in his curious note on this verse, many testimonies of Pagan authors relative to the Divine perfections, which might have taught some Christian Divines to speak more honourably of them than they do in some of their writings.
Shut up all under disobedience, &c.] It is of great importance to observe, that this refers to different periods. First, God suffered the Gentiles, in the early ages of the world, to revolt, and then took the
Abrahamic family as a peculiar seed to himself, and bestowed extraordinary favours upon them. Afterwards, he permitted them, by unbelief and disobedience, to fall, and took in the Gentiles on their believing; and he did even this, with a intent to make that very mercy to the Gentiles a means of provoking the Jews to jealousy, and so bring them to faith, by that which had at first been an offence in the way to it. This was truly a mystery in the Divine conduct, which the apostle most rationally, as well as respectfully, adores, in the concluding words of the chapter.
The apostle adores the riches and wisdom o Go .
of his grace, in favours bestowed on those who evidently appeared so undeserving.
And now, to conclude this article. Who in the view of such a series of events must not cry out, O the awful and unfathomable depths of the riches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God! How rich are the treasures of his mercy, how deep the contrivances of his wisdom, how boundless the stretch of his knowledge! How unsearchable, and yet how unquestionable, [are] his judgments! and his ways such as cannot be traced out! For who hath completely known the mind of the Lord in these things, or who hath been his counsellor, in forming the plan of them? Who, whether Jew or Greek, can pretend, that he hath first given any thing to him, or conferred any obligation upon him? Let him make out the claim, and we may answer for it, that it shall be exactly repaid him again. For, on the whole, of him, as the original Author, and through him, as the gracious Preserver, and for him, as the ultimate end, [are] all things. To him therefore [be] glory for ever and ever; and let all the creation join their utmost force to advance it to the highest degrees, and unite their voices in saying, Amen.
IMPROVEMENT.
LET our whole souls be engaged to glorify this great and bless- verse God, from whom, and through whom, we, and all creatures exist. O that it may be our eternal employment to render adoration, and blessing, and glory to him! To him, whose counsels none can trace: to him, who hath prevented us all with the blessings of his goodness; so that far from being able to confer any obligation on him, for which we should pretend to demand a recompense, on the contrary, we must own, that the more we are enabled and animated to do for him, the more indeed are we obliged to him. We cannot pretend to have known the mind of the Lord in all its extent, or to have been admitted into his secret counsels. He is continually doing marvellous things, which we know not: yet surely we know enough to admire and adore.
Of him, through him, for him, &c.] imagine he had borrowed from this Antoninus, speaking of nature, that is, of Paul, in σι πανία, in . οι πανία, in σι πανία, God, has an expression, which one would all things are of thee, in thee, and to thee.
Reflections on the final conversion of Jews and Gentiles.
We know enough to cry out in raptures of delightful surprise, xxvi. O the depth of the riches, both of his wisdom and goodness!
verse 33 One instance, though but one of many, we have here before us, in his mysterious conduct towards Jews and Gentiles; in which, occurrences that seem the most unaccountable, and indeed the most lamentable, are overruled by God to answer most benevolent purposes. That the sin of the Jews should be the salvation of the Gentiles, and yet the mercy shewn to the Gentiles, in its consequences the salvation of the Jews, and so both 32 should be concluded under sin, that God might more illustriously have mercy on both!
O that the blessed time were come, when all Israel shall be saved: when the Deliverer, who is long since come out of Sion, 25 shall turn away iniquity from Jacob; and the fulness of the Gentiles come in, so that from the rising to the going down of the sun, the Lord shall be one, and his name one. Our faith waits the glorious event, and may perhaps wait it even to the end of life. But a generation to be born shall see it: for the gifts and callings 29 of God are without repentance. Let our assured confidence in the Divine promise, travel on, as it were, to the accomplishment over mountains of difficulty, that may lie in our way; and let our hearts be cheered with this happy prospect, under all the grief which they feel, when we see how few now believe the report of the gospel, and to how few God hath revealed his arm.
While the glorious expected event is delayed, let us add our fervent intercessions with God, to these prayers, by which the church has in every age been endeavouring to hasten it on. They are all written in the book of God’s remembrance, and shall all be reviewed and answered in their season. Let us in the mean time comfort ourselves with this reviving thought, that the covenant which God will make with Israel in that day, is in the main the same he has made with us, to take away sin. Eased of such an insupportable burden, that would sink us into final ruin and despair, let us bear up cheerfully against all discouragements, and glory in the gospel which brings us this invaluable blessing; how long, and how generally soever, it may be, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness.
ians exhorte to present themselves to o