11:9,10
And just to reinforce the point Psalm 69:22,23 is now quoted. Psalm 69 is largely a Psalm that talks about the suffering of God’s servant, and these two verses are an imprecatory prayer. Israel had crucified the Messiah and so judgement would come upon them.
So all that has happened up to this point is entirely just, entirely in God’s control and plan, and entirely consistent with all that has been revealed in the Old Testament. But the story is not over yet, the plan is not yet completed, and we will now see the unfolding of the rest of the plan.
11:11
So Israel is in a mess, she is rebellious at heart. Is this the end of the matter, does her sin define her future irrevocably? Not at all is Paul’s answer. In fact God has used her rebellion as part of the plan to extend grace to all nations. The gospel has gone out to all nations. Israel never grasped what God’s plans were about. Instead of being a beacon to the world she was an obstacle, so for a time she has been rejected and the gospel has spread freely to all the world. But that too is not the end of the matter. The nations receiving the gospel is meant to make Israel envious, they are meant to see the the nations receiving the blessing of God and to want it for themselves. Now two points that can be made from this. The first is the wondrous way in which God’s plans work. Sin matters and is fully accounted for, yet it does not hinder the outworking of God’s plans. As Paul said earlier, where sin abounds grace abounds all the more. God can bring good out of all situations. The second point is that we must not become proud like the Jews did. There have been periods in history when the church has had an appalling attitude towards the Jews. We need to appreciate that God’s purpose is to bring the Israelites back. Again, the Old Testament demonstrates this pattern in His bringing them back from exile in Babylon.
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