ROMANS 24


     We will begin this lesson in Romans 11:1 "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."

     We see here, again, that Paul is proud of his Israelite heritage.
Paul mentions this heritage several times in his writings. 2nd
Corinthians 11:22 "Are they Hebrews? so [am] I.  Are they Israelites?
so [am] I.  Are they the seed of Abraham?  so [am] I." And we, also,
read in Paul's writings Philippians 3:5 "Circumcised the eighth day,
of the stock of Israel, [of] the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the
Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;"  Paul is very proud that he
was of the physical house of Israel as well as the spiritual house of
Israel.

     We, also, see that God never completely gives up on the physical
house of Israel even if they have walked away from Him. Jeremiah 33:24
"Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two
families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus
they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation
before them." Jeremiah 33:25 "Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant [be]
not with day and night, [and if] I have not appointed the ordinances
of heaven and earth;" Jeremiah 33:26 "Then will I cast away the seed
of Jacob, and David my servant, [so] that I will not take [any] of his
seed [to be] rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I
will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them."  God is
long-suffering and is always ready to forgive them and receive them
back.

     Romans 11:2 "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," Romans 11:3 "Lord, they
have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left
alone, and they seek my life."

     I Kings 19:10 "And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD
God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant,
thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and
I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
I Kings 19:11 "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before
the LORD.  And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong
wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the
LORD; [but] the LORD [was] not in the wind: and after the wind an
earthquake; [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake:"  I Kings
19:12 "And after the earthquake a fire; [but] the LORD [was] not in
the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." I Kings 19:13 "And
it was [so], when Elijah heard [it] that he wrapped his face in his
mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And,
behold, [there came] a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here,
Elijah?" I Kings 19:14 "And he said, I have been very jealous for the
LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy
covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the
sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take
it away."  We can see from this that God is interested in just one
prophet that belongs to Him. God will not forsake His own. Just as any
parent will not forsake their children, God will not forsake His own.

     Romans 11:4 "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."

     I Kings 19:18 "Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel, all
the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath
not kissed him."  We see something very distinctive here. This is
established by two, an Old and a New Testament book.  God will save a
remnant as we said in a previous lesson. I believe the 144,000 who are
sealed with the Father's seal in Revelation are the remnant. Remember
once again that they have the seal of the Father God and the large
number around the throne in heaven at the same time have on the white
garment of righteousness and belong to God the Son. They have been
washed in the blood of the Lamb.

     Romans 11:5 "Even so then at this present time also there is a
remnant according to the election of grace."  Romans 11:6 "And if by
grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more
grace. But if [it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise
work is no more work."

     Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:" Ephesians 2:9 "Not of
works, lest any man should boast."  We see from this that we can not
work our way to heaven. Salvation is a free gift. Truly even the Holy
Spirit must woo you, or the desire to come to Jesus would never be
there. Our part in all of this is to reach out and take what God has
offered to us. Truly we have nothing to do with who we are as we read
in this next Scripture. I Corinthians 15:10 "But by the grace of God I
am what I am: and his grace which [was bestowed] upon me was not in
vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me."

     Romans 11:7 "What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he
seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were
blinded" Romans 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.

     Matthew 13:14 "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,
which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and
seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:" Matthew 13:15 "For this
people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
[their] eyes and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with
[their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
These Scriptures leave no doubt that God first must call us and the
Holy Spirit has to reveal to us the meaning, or we, too, would be
blinded. It is God that opens our ears of understanding to His Word.
He is our source, we must depend on Him. The beginning of wisdom is to
fear God. This fear is to reverence Him or to hold Him in awe. Unless
God reveals Himself to us, we do not truly know Him. He loves everyone
and wants us all to love Him, but if we choose not to follow Him, He
will stop up our ears and eyes and we will not be able to understand.
He does not want us to come to Him with our mind, He wants our heart.
Ezekiel 12:2 "Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious
house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear,
and hear not: for they [are] a rebellious house."  Mark 4:11 "And he
said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the
kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are
done in parables:"  Mark 4:12 "That seeing they may see, and not
perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any
time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven
them." This is because of their evil heart that Jesus does not reveal
Himself to them.

     Romans 11:9 "And David saith, Let their table be made a snare,
and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:" Romans
11:10 "Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down
their back alway."

     Recompence means to quit like men.  I Timothy 6:17 "Charge them
that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in
uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all
things to enjoy;" I Timothy 6:18 "That they do good, that they be rich
in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;" I Timothy
6:19 "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the
time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."  We see from
these 3 Scriptures that to whom much is given, much is required. This
does not mean just wealth of money, but has to do with knowledge of
the Bible, as well. To know God and His Word and then to sin is much
worse than to sin in ignorance. In the 23rd Psalm, we see the opposite
of this table. Psalms 23:5 "Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup
runneth over."  David's table was a blessing and theirs was a curse.
They did not have their heart right with God.

     Romans 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."

     Acts 13:42 "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the
Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next
Sabbath."  We see that the Gentiles readily accepted the Lord Jesus
Christ when the Jews rejected Jesus. God still loves the Jew [the
physical house of Israel] and, as we have been reading, He will save a
remnant of them.

     Romans 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?"

     This is just God's way of allowing the Gentile believers to be
saved. We Gentile believers have been grafted in to the family of God.
We are His adopted children. Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

     Romans 11:13 "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the
apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:" Romans 11:14 "If by
any means I may provoke to emulation [them which are] my flesh, and
might save some of them."

     Paul was actually commissioned of God to bring the salvation
message to the Gentiles, but he could not quite ever give up on his
brothers, the Jews. Acts 9:15 "But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way:
for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:" You can see from
this that his first call was to the Gentile. I will give you one
Scripture of many that shows that Paul was aware of his call to the
Gentiles. II Timothy 1:11 "Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an
apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles."  Paul in verse 14 above is
saying that, perhaps, while he is bringing this message to the
Gentiles, some of his Hebrew brothers will hear and understand, as
well.

     Romans 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?

     There is no better example of this in all the Bible than in
Ezekiel where the story of the dry bones is found. In this account we
will see, that at the end God will bring back to life the natural
Israelite, and they and the spiritual house of Israel {Christians}
will all be part of the family of God. The 2 sticks that come together
are the spiritual and the physical houses of Israel. Jesus Christ
{their Messiah} saves us all. Ezekiel 37:1 "The hand of the LORD was
upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down
in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones," Ezekiel 37:2
"And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were]
very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry." Ezekiel
37:3 "And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I
answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest." Ezekiel 37:4 "Again he said unto
me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear
the word of the LORD." Ezekiel 37:5 "Thus saith the Lord GOD unto
these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye
shall live:" Ezekiel 37:6 "And I will lay sinews upon you, and will
bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in
you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD."
Ezekiel 37:7 "So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied,
there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together,
bone to his bone."  Ezekiel 37:8 "And when I beheld, lo, the sinews
and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but
[there was] no breath in them."  Ezekiel 37:9 "Then said he unto me,
Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe upon these slain, that they may live." Ezekiel 37:10 "So I
prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they
lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." Ezekiel
37:11 "Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole
house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope
is lost: we are cut off for our parts." Ezekiel 37:12 "Therefore
prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my
people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your
graves, and bring you into the land of Israel."  Ezekiel 37:13 "And ye
shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my
people, and brought you up out of your graves," Ezekiel 37:14 "And
shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you
in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it],
and performed [it], saith the LORD."   In verse 11 above, the word
whole is used meaning the physical and the spiritual house of Israel.

                                 Notes







































                             Questions 24

1.  In verse one Paul asks, Has God cast away His people, has He?
2.  What 3 things does Paul call himself in verse one?
3.  He wrote that he was an Israelite in other books, name them.
4.  God is ______________ and is always ready to forgive.
5.  Who had Elias made intercession for?
6.  In verse 3 what 2 things had they done that made Elias think that
    he alone was left?
7.  In 1 Kings chapter 19 what mighty things were mentioned that God
    was not in?
8.  What was God in?
9.  Elias in Romans is the same person as ______ in 1 Kings.
10. God will not _______ His own.
11. In chapter 11 verse 4, how many had God reserved who had not bowed
    their knee to Baal?
12. What Old Testament Scripture is the second witness of this which
    makes it absolute?
13. This remnant is according to what in verse 5?
14. Quote Ephesians ch.2 v.8.
15. Why is it not of works that we are saved?
16. Paul says by what {I am, what I am}?
17. In verse 7, we see that who obtained while all others were
    blinded?
18. Describe the eyes and ears of those who did not receive it.
19. Who opens our understanding to God's Word?
20. What is the beginning of wisdom?
21. God does not want our mind, He wants what?
22. Why does Jesus not reveal Himself to some people?
23. In verse 9 David said for those who reject the truth to have their
    table be what?
24. In verse 10, what will happen to their eyes?
25. What does recompense mean?
26. In 1 Timothy ch.6 v.17, what are those who are rich in this world
    to do?
27. Quote Psalms ch.23 v.5.
28. In verse 11, we see that their fall came for what purpose?
29. In Acts ch.13 v.42 when the Jews had gone out of the synagogue who
    asked that the message be brought to them on the next Sabbath?
30. Who is the physical house of Israel?
31. In verse 12 we see that the diminishing of them be riches to whom?
32. In Romans ch.8 v.15 we have received what spirit?
33. When we have been added to the family of God, what should we cry?
34. Who was Paul commissioned to bring the salvation message to?
35. Who did Paul desire to save whatever it took?
36. In verse 15, what does the receiving of them bring?
37. In Ezekiel chapter 37, what does the story of the dry bones bring?
38. Who are the dry bones mentioned in Ezekiel ch.37 v.11?
39. What causes these dry bones to live in Ezekiel ch.37 v.14?
40. Why is the word whole used in verse 11 of Ezekiel 37?

                       Notes