On October 7th 2023 Israel was attacked by Hamas. It put me in mind of the chapters from Romans 9 to 11 in the New Testament of the Bible. I thought it would be good to read it again from a thought-for-thought translation – the New Living Translation (NLT). More literal or direct translations can be hard to read at times and I wanted to understand better what I was reading. The writings below are some of my comparisons and thoughts which struck me in reading these two chapters.
There are certain turns of phrases when reading the Bible you don’t always see at first. This one about the gospel of good things** is one of those phrases. I have put this post under the menu gospel as it is most suited to that. The phrase gospel of good things is translated differently in the NLT version of Romans 10.15 of the NLT but it does occur in the LEB, NKJV, KJV and HCSB.
Moving further on in the passages I arrive at the bit about putting Israel to sleep in Romans 11.8. Talk about God being involved in and with his creation! The question one of the prophet’s states came to my mind: Can a nation be born in a day? I was also reminded of the organisation New Tribes mission somewhere in the Pacific witnessing a whole tribe turning to believe Christ in a moment.
(Incidentally it’s helpful to keep reading these passages as if one is in Paul’s day and remembering that it was written to the Roman church – not written to us but for us).
Romans 11:12 (NLT): ‘Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.‘
Romans 11:12 (NET): ‘Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration bring?‘ (Fullness or full inclusion)
Is this a hope? A wish? A desire of Paul? Is this going to happen?
Romans 11:15 (NET): ‘For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?‘
Romans 11:15 (NLT): ‘For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!‘
Good repeated gardening language occurs in the next few verses as Paul goes on to express his argument. That theme that runs through the Bible of the tree (series on the tree of life) the olive or the grape vine to be more specific. Like Jesus’ words in John 15. I am the vine you are the branches…
Romans 11:23–24 (NLT): ‘And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong’.
This is where it gets harder for us to grasp – will this happen in future? As believers in Jesus he is a reality so it is likely (an understatement) going to take place. Paul continues the theme.
Romans 11:25–27 (NLT): ‘Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,
“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,
and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.
And this is my covenant with them,
that I will take away their sins.”‘
This Jerusalem Paul speaks of is Him telling of what the prophet’s foretold in the Old Testament of the Bible. Now is it the heavenly Jerusalem, the earthly or both? Something to consider. It also links in other scriptures in the New Testament, like The Revelation of John. Whatever it is it’s bigger than we could imagine as there is a hint of resurrection there when the phrase life from death is used.
I like the way the NLT puts it, putting me in mind of my freedom dream (see link):
Romans 11:32 (NLT): ‘For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone’.
Greek συνκλείω, synekleisen – imprison, enclose, confine or consign. I shut together; I enclose, I shut in on all sides, e.g. Rom. 11:32.
Reading that last scripture made me think of Genesis 3 again. That’s the idea, it’s all part of the story. There’s no getting away from the mercy of God. He’s chasing us down and giving us a choice like Adam and Eve had in the beginning. He’s giving his people the people of Israel that choice. He hasn’t forgotten them.
Galatians 3:23–29 (LEB): ‘But before faith came, we were detained under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. So then, the law became our guardian until Christ, in order that we could be justified by faith. But after* faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For you are all sons (and daughters) of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise’.
A different Greek word is used for detained but that word can also mean confined. There’s a similarity about this passage here with Romans 9 to 11.
Romans 11:32 (Faithlife Study Bible): ‘God allowed unfaithfulness—to which He responds in mercy (compare Romans 3:23–25)‘.
Reading around the subject and looking particularly at the note above I am struck by the expression here – see the bold and underlined text:
Romans 3:23–26 (LEB): ‘…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God made publicly available as the mercy seat through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness, because of the passing over of previously committed sins, in the forbearance of God, for the demonstration of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just and the one who justifies the person by faith in Jesus’.
I love that so I repeat it:
‘…whom God made publicly available as the mercy seat…‘
There’s a scripture theme to follow…! What is the mercy seat?
‘MERCY SEAT The golden cover for the ark of the covenant. It was 2.5 cubits long and 1.5 cubits wide. It was made of pure gold and had two cherubim on top of it (Exod 25:17–22). The mercy seat represented Yahweh’s throne on earth, and His presence resided there. Yahweh commands Moses in Lev 16:2–16 to send Aaron before it on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle the blood of sacrifices there; he is to bring incense with him “so that he does not die.”’ Lexham Bible Dictionary
Now back to a nation being born in a day…
Isaiah 66:7–9 (NLT): ‘“Before the birth pains even begin,
Jerusalem gives birth to a son.
Who has ever seen anything as strange as this?
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Has a nation ever been born in a single day?
Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?
But by the time Jerusalem’s birth pains begin,
her children will be born.
Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth
and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord.
“No! I would never keep this nation from being born,”
says your God’.
(These lines are possibly a reference to Jesus being the new Israel? This can only be seen retrospectively. The Gospel of Matthew alludes to this)
That is interesting in the light of the Romans 11 passage looked at earlier in regards to Israel. Now Israel then and Israel now are very different. I don’t want to speculate but the scriptures do say as I quoted – all Israel will be saved. Whether that’s before Jesus comes again or during – is not clear here but other scriptures hint of that. Whether clear or not it does say it will be wonderful and life from death. The whole world will be affected by it in a good way.
There’s a few things to go back to there and meditate on.
As I was contemplating the scripture about the mercy seat and the bit about the world being changed because of the Jews as a nation turning back to God, that this is why the enemy is for pushing back this plan. He knows his demise when this takes place so he’s trying to hinder it as long as possible.
Romans 11:15 (NET): ‘For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?‘
Romans 11:15 (NLT): ‘For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!‘
Reading back through those two texts – same verse, different translations, I think on the words life from the dead. Then I realise or think I do isn’t that resurrection? Check it out. It does appear that way. (See earlier comments).
The word reconciliation here is also a great one. The note on that word here in the FSB is helpful and interesting:
Romans 11:15 (FSB): ‘The Greek word used here, katallagē, describes bringing two hostile parties together. Earlier, Paul explained how Christ’s death made it possible for people to be reconciled to God’.
‘Paul uses logic from rabbinic training called qal wa-chomer which asserts that if something is true on a small scale, it is also true on a larger scale. He witnesses how one negative action brought about a positive action, and he imagines the results of one positive action’.
The FSB does say this I hadn’t got that far in my scrolling:
Romans 11:15 (FSB): ‘Probably refers to the final resurrection of believers. The metaphorical language of “from the dead” is used in the New Testament to refer to resurrection (see Matt 28:7; Acts 3:15; 1 Cor 15:12; Heb 13:20)’.
CSSB Romans 11:12–16: 11:12, 15–16: ‘The future reception of Jews by God will result in world blessing. If their unbelief brought riches to the Gentiles, their future faith in Jesus as Messiah will enrich the world (cp. Is 2:2–4)’.
** John Piper states in one of his books that God is the gospel’s greatest gift and that is what the world needs the most.
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