‘I Will Not Forget You’

Three critical, frequently misinterpreted chapters in the book of Romans reveal Paul’s tender heart for Israel.

Romans 9—11 is often misunderstood. Some pastors have told me they wish they could skip chapters 9—11 and go directly from chapter 8 to chapter 12. Others have told me they view chapters 9—11 as a “parenthesis” and don’t see its relevance to the rest of the apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans.

I understand their positions; but without Paul’s discussion concerning Israel in Romans 9—11, the key points of Romans 8 and the beginning of chapter 12 would be impotent—and Paul’s heart for Israel would be lost.

What About the Jews?
Paul wrote this marvelous letter around AD 58 to the church in Rome, which was composed of Gentile believers in Jesus Christ. The Romans had come to faith from paganism, where people worshiped a plethora of mythological gods and goddesses and bowed down to a multitude of statues. These believers likely had little knowledge about Israel or God’s relationship with His covenant people.

Nero became emperor four years earlier, in AD 54; and according to the British Museum, he was “one of Rome’s most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty, debauchery and eccentricity.”¹ In 10 more years, he would unleash a merciless and severe persecution on Christians.

Paul taught about the one true and living God whose love for these believers would never cease, no matter what happened to them: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35). Paul concluded chapter 8 by telling them that absolutely nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39).

The Roman Christians probably relied heavily on this encouragement when Nero began feeding them to the lions and impaling them on stakes, smearing them with oil, and lighting them on fire to light his gardens.

But what about the Jews? Someone could make the case that God made some heavy-duty promises to Israel that He seemingly did not keep. What if the Roman believers disappointed Him? Would He then abandon them as He appeared to be abandoning Israel?

‘Certainly Not!’
Paul then bared his heart for Israel: “I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites” (9:2–4).

His heart was broken for his kinsmen because he genuinely loved them and wanted them to come to salvation in Christ. After all, they were God’s people, “to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen” (vv. 4–5).

Then Paul explained Israel’s complex relationship with God due to centuries of disobedience, rebellion, and hardheartedness. It certainly looked like God had forsaken them.

Yet, despite everything Israel had done to displease and dishonor God, the Lord was not finished with His ancient people.

Wrote Paul, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (11:1–2).

Then he added, “Have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles” (v. 11). The fact that God still promised Israel a glorious future should have given the Romans immense confidence in God’s faithfulness to them in the face of growing persecution.

Romans 9—11 is a stupendous treatise on the faithfulness of God. It encapsulates Paul’s clear teaching to this Gentile church and to all of us today that God can be trusted. He is not merely a man. He will not renege on His promises to the Jews or to the Gentiles “for His great name’s sake” (1 Sam. 12:22; cf. Ezek. 20:44; 36:22).

Later, in a letter to his protégé Timothy, Paul declared, “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim. 1:12).

God’s Faithfulness and Love
Paul’s deep love for Israel should be the heart of every believer today. Commenting on Romans 11, Bible scholar Dr. Charles Ryrie wrote,

When Israel rejected Jesus Christ, the nation lost her favored position before God, and the gospel was then preached also to Gentiles. Hopefully the Jews would become jealous and be saved (v. 11). But the casting off is only temporary. When the Lord returns, the Jewish people will be regathered, judged, and restored to favor, and redeemed (v. 26).²

Salvation went to the Gentiles because Israel stumbled at the gospel message of its Messiah. Because of Jewish unbelief, Gentiles have been “grafted in” (v. 17) to the root system that Paul taught goes all the way back to the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The root system is Jewish; and Gentiles constitute the wild olive branches (vv. 17, 24) grafted into the Jewish promises.

The church does not replace Israel; rather, through Israel’s Messiah, it enjoys the promise God made to Abraham that, through him, “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:3).

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (the only Bible that existed when Paul taught the Romans), God promises He will never forsake or forget His Chosen People: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (Isa. 49:15–16). Through the prophet Jeremiah, God told Israel, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3).

Paul’s love for Israel mirrored God’s own love for the Jewish people. Paul knew what forgiveness entailed because he had experienced it himself. He knew Israel played a huge part in God’s plan of redemption for mankind and that Israel had a beautiful future that was secure and forever settled in the heavens. And he knew that, based on God’s faithfulness to Israel, God would be faithful to the believers in Rome.

During this Church Age, God calls people to Himself one at a time, be they Jewish or Gentile: “The same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ‘For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’” (Rom. 10:12–13; cf. Joel 2:32).

Romans 9—11 is God’s declaration of intent to keep His promises to His people Israel, no matter what. These chapters also reveal Paul’s tender heart for his brethren and his steadfast belief that because of God’s faithfulness to Israel, we don’t have to be afraid to submit ourselves to Him as living sacrifices. He is worthy of our complete trust.

ENDNOTES

1. 1. 1. 1. Francesca Bologna, “Who was Nero?” The British Museum, April 22, 2021 (britishmuseum.org/blog/who-was-nero).
         2. Charles C. Ryrie, The Ryrie Study Bible, NKJV (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1985), 1,750, n Romans 11:15.

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      Tom Simcox is the Church Ministries training coordinator and a Bible teacher for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry and Word of Life Bible Institute.