Romans 11:1-11:5 - God Has Always Preserved a Remnant

Calvin (2/8/02-2/10/02)

11:1: Another objection is countered. Perhaps it seemed from what Paul had said so far that the Jews were now utterly and permanently cut off, that God had cancelled His covenant with Abraham. This is not the case, and so Paul will show. If salvation is a gift of grace, then the actions of man, no matter what they may prove to deserve, cannot cause His salvation to fail. So, with Israel. Their actions had been such as to justify a total rejection, yet God's covenants will stand because they are God's. These things do not depend on the worthiness of man, but on the will of God. Paul's own life stands as proof that Israel's rejection is not total, for he is a Jew as much as any in Israel. To ensure that his status as a true Israelite is established, he declares himself to be a descendant of Abraham, and also states his tribe. (Php 3:4-5 - If any cause for confidence were to be found in the flesh, I would have greater confidence than any. After all, I was circumcised in accord with the Law, born of Israel in the tribe of Benjamin, a true Hebrew, and a Pharisaic observer of the Law.) Some have thought Paul seeks to magnify God's mercy by identifying himself with the tribe that was all but destroyed, but there is no sound basis for this.
11:2-11:3: Paul answers the question in the negative. God has not utterly rejected His people. There remain those He foreknew. By this qualification is God's providential privilege preserved. It is foolish for us to seek to know the number of the foreknown. The history found in Scripture serves ever to assure us that the things we go through are not new or unique. They have ever been the case for God's Church. The degree of Elijah's care to honor the LORD by his life can be seen in his willingness to become an enemy of his own people for God's sake. The concern of Elijah is one likely to be felt in many places today: that true religion has utterly perished from the land, and we stand as the sole remaining believer. Footnote: The quotations Paul makes are loosely based on 1Kings 19. However, neither the Hebrew nor the Septuagint is followed exactly by his wording. (1Ki 19:10 - Elijah said, I have been most zealous for the LORD, God of hosts. All Israel has broken covenant with You, destroying Your altars and killing Your prophets. Only I remain, and they are seeking my life as well. 1Ki 19:18 - But I will leave 7000, among whom not one has bowed to Baal, nor any mouth kissed that idol.) Paul does not change the sense, but it remains a loose quotation.
11:4: This should serve to remind us that we are in danger of overstepping our bounds when we turn over to the devil those whose piety doesn't seem satisfactory to us. We don't know, and cannot accurately judge the heart. We also ought to be reminded by this example that no matter how things may seem, we never stand alone. There are always those God has secured unto salvation along with us. Footnote: It is interesting to note that these 7000 had no public ministry, and yet were preserved by the Word. Such public ministry as still existed at that time was fully idolatrous, and devoid of God's truth. Yet the Word prevailed in their hearts. Note well that this example leaves no room for a false sense of security for those who continue in their sins. Those God marked as saved were those that had kept both heart and body pure and undefiled.
11:5: The example is brought forward to Paul's day. His use of 'remnant' to describe the Church is a reference to the prophecies of Isaiah. This also serves to remind of God's election. The 7000 were preserved by God's election against all odds. So, the Church in Paul's day, and our own. Note well that few are truly saved, when compared to the number that think themselves chosen. Note also that such as are truly saved are saved by His sovereign choice without regard to their merit.

Matthew Henry (2/8/02)

11:1: Will God, then, finally and utterly reject Israel? Has He totally cast aside His chosen and peculiar people? If it were so, there would seem to be room for complaint against His justice, but such is not the true case. Paul makes three points to counter this argument. First, not all the Jews have been cast off. Secondly, even though so many among the Jews have been cast off, the Gentiles have been taken in, so God's people remain. Finally, the casting off of the Jews was for the present. In God's time, they would be returned to His church. It is, indeed, unthinkable that God would fully cut off the people He had wooed for so long. No, there is still a remnant who believe, whom He foreknew in His love. These he predestinated, as Paul has said, and called His elect, His chosen ones. If all Israel were rejected, Paul's own claim to God would have to be abandoned. (Ac 9:15 - But the Lord told him that he was a chosen instrument of God's, chosen to bear His name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.) His credentials as a Jew were clear. His credentials with God were equally clear.
11:2: As was true in Elijah's day, the chosen remnant in Paul's day was larger than it might seem. History showed that for God to confine His favors to a few among Israel was nothing new. (1Ki 19:14 - He said that he was zealous for the LORD; that Israel had forsaken God's covenants, destroyed God's altars, and killed God's prophets, leaving only Elijah, and that because they had not yet succeeded in killing him. Ac 25:24 - Behold this man about whom the Jews have appealed to me, with loud declarations that he ought not to live. Jas 5:17 - Elijah was a man like ourselves, and when He earnestly prayed against the rain, it didn't rain for 3-1/2 years.) Prayer is conversation with God, often on matters of business dealings with Him.
11:3: Often, the visible face of religion may seem completely gone from the land, even to the wisest observers. So few are left who are faithful to God that they are both obscured and driven into hiding by the idolatrous majority. (Pr 28:12 - When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise up, men hide themselves.) It was not just neglect on the part of God's people, but active rebellion against Him. Where men turn to idols, they cannot but tear down God's altars, for they cannot bear the constant reminder of truth when they would pursue lies. It is a terrible thing to have God's chosen praying against you, declaring you beyond help. God will hear their prayers, and He will act upon them.
11:4: Yet, as wise as Elijah was, he required God's correction. Things often seem worse to good men than they truly are. Even in the most apostate times, a remnant remains with integrity. Those that so stand in their integrity through such times, stand by God's election, by God's power. Left to their own, they would have fallen with the rest. Grace makes the difference. Though such a small portion of the whole, the Church, when it comes together in the final days, will be seen a 'great and innumerable multitude.' (Rev 7:9 - After that I looked, and there was a multitude beyond counting, from every tribe and nation, standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white and carrying palm branches.) "The best evidence of integrity is a freedom from the present prevailing corruptions of the times and places that we live in, to swim against the stream when it is strong." (2Pe 1:12 - I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you know them, and are established in the truth that is with you.)
11:5: As God has been with Israel, so with the Church. There was a remnant then, and there is one now. That remnant is ever a matter of God's choosing, a choice established from all eternity by His grace, and for His glory. The difference is purely a matter of His gracious election, and so is as certain as God Himself. "Whatever God does, he does it according to the counsel of His own will."

Adam Clarke (2/10/02)

11:1: Paul prophecies of the rejection of the Jews, which had yet to be accomplished in his time. That his prophecies have been fulfilled confirms the claim of the Church to be God's chosen, as well as showing Paul to be truly an apostle of Christ. All the more reason to pay attention to this chapter describing the extent of Israel's rejection. It is to be noted that the rejection is not total, some have converted. Nor is that rejection final. A time of restoration will come. This, Paul discusses both in hopes of inducing the Jews to come to Christ, and to guard the Gentile Christians from treating the Jews poorly, thinking them eternally lost. At the end of this chapter, we will find a comparison of the dispensations of God. Clearly, given that Paul is a Jew himself, God has not completely rejected the Jews. "The rejection is only of the obstinate and the disobedient."
11:2: Whom God has loved for so long, He will certainly not abandon now. (Ro 8:29 - Whom He foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, making Christ the first-born of many brothers.) Paul turns to 1Kings to support his assertion. In that time, in spite of the situation, God did not utterly cast off His people. The promise to Abraham stood for all those whom God intended in that promise. As then, so now. A remnant remains.
11:3: In Elijah's day, men would not tolerate being spoken to in the name of the LORD, and killed all who faithfully fulfilled the office of God's prophet. All signs of true religion were gone. Elijah felt himself alone amongst a fallen nation.
11:4: Yet God assured him that many thousands remained. (7000 is not to be taken as a literal, here, but as standing for many.) Those He preserved had not worshiped Baal, but were hidden away because of persecution. Baal was then the state religion, but there remained many who refused to partake.
11:5: In Paul's day, Israel's state was much the same, largely irreligious. Yet, a large number had accepted the Gospel. "These are saved just as God has saved all believers from the beginning; they are chosen by His grace, not on account of any worth or excellence in themselves." The election of grace is God's gracious design in Christianity, saving all who believe in Christ, and none who don't. By this law do we inherit the blessings, and by this law, those who attempt the justification of works are rejected.

Barnes' Notes (2/10/02)

11:1: Is it truly to be thought that God, having made such promises and covenants with Israel, having given them so many blessings, having chosen them from among all nations, would truly reject the whole nation? This is a serious objection to the Gospel, but it hinges on the concern that the entire nation would be rejected, and the promises of God thus brought to nothing. Paul's answer shows this not to be his message. Some are saved, as he himself is evidence. Such a reduction in the number saved has occurred before in the history of God's people, and Scripture declared that it would occur again. Yet, the rejection is not final, but only a door through which to bring in the Gentiles. The time would come for the reinstating of the Jews, so as to show God's promises firm and true. Yet, they had lost their exclusivity, and large portions of the nation were indeed rejected, renounced by God and no longer His people. They having broken the covenant, the covenant no longer holds for them. But the utter loss of Israel to God remains unthinkable, and certainly was not Paul's doctrinal stance. He holds himself up as proof. He is a Jew, yet he is also a Christian. If Jews were indeed so thoroughly excluded from God's grace, his would be a hopeless faith. He makes full his claim as a Jew to show that all that fell to the Jews must fall to him also, the blessings and the curse. (Mt 3:9 - Don't think that just because you can claim Abraham as father, you are anything special. If need be, God could as easily make sons for Abraham from these stones you walk on. Php 3:4-5 - If any might have confidence in the flesh, I, too could be confident. For I was circumcised properly by the Law, born of the tribe of Benjamin, a true Hebrew, and a Pharisee.) Benjamin was the tribe closest to Jerusalem, and the temple was built on the border of Benjamin and Judah. It is not unthinkable that to be of one of these two tribes was considered a greater honor. At any rate, genealogy was important to the Jew, including tribal and familial associations.
11:2: God has not rejected His people. God's foreknowledge implies that He has had a purpose or plan in all this. Whom He had declared His chosen people, He had chosen with a reason, and He has not changed. His purpose stands. "God makes no covenant of salvation with those who are in their sins." The rejection of the wicked does not make God's promise to the nation void. God will not reject His friends. The truly renewed will persevere. Paul turns to 1Ki 19:10-18, relating the story of Elijah to back his point. The Jewish Scriptures had nothing resembling our chapter and verse, but were instead divided by subject. (Lk 20:37, Mk 12:26 - In the book of Moses, where it speaks of the bush, God spoke to him as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said He is, not He was. Clearly the dead rise again.) Elijah pled his cause before the court of God. The same word used here is that which describes Christ's function as our intercessor in heaven. (Heb 7:25 - He is able to save forever those who approach God through Him, for He ever lives to intercede for them. Isa 53:12 - Because of this, He will have His portion with the great and strong. Because He gave Himself even to death, numbered with sinners. He Himself bore the sins of many, and interceded for them.) One may intercede for or against. Context determines. In this case, the context indicates accusations against the nation.
11:3: Paul quotes 1Ki 19:10, but not precisely. Elijah's complaint was true, as regards the prophets. (1Ki 18:4 - Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the LORD, but Obadiah hid a hundred from her. 1Ki 18:13 - This, Elijah knew, and Obadiah was concerned that Jezebel might also know of his actions.) However, the conclusion Elijah reached based on the facts was not true. God had commanded that His altars be made of unworked stone (Ex 20:24-25 - The altar you make for Me shall be of earth, and upon it you shall make your sacrifices. This shall be done in every place I determine to see My name remembered, and there I will come and bless you. If you make My altar of stone, you shall not use cut stone, for in using your tools upon it, you will profane it.) These rough altars had been thoroughly destroyed. The great altar was in front of the Temple, but they were not forbidden to make other altars. (1Sa 7:17 - Samuel returned to his house in Ramah, and judged from there. He also built an altar to the LORD there. 1Sa 16:2-3 - Samuel said, "How can I go anoint David, Saul will kill me for it." The LORD said, "take with you a heifer, and say you have come to sacrifice to the LORD." 1Ki 18:30-32 - Elijah told the people to come near, and they did. He repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down, using twelve stones to represent the sons of Jacob. Around this altar he made a trench.) We know that Obadiah hid a hundred prophets, but it is not unthinkable that Jezebel had discovered them, and had them killed. This would certainly explain Obadiah's comments to Elijah when the met. Because of his actions against the prophets of Baal, Elijah knew himself threatened by Jezebel and Ahab. It seemed as though he were indeed the only one in the whole nation that still cared for true religion. From the leadership to the people, all were chasing idols, and behaving in criminally wicked fashion. Wealth and power had become the gods of the nation, and that last man felt powerless to resist.
11:4: The oracle, or answer of God came to Elijah, bringing comfort, and ending all complaint. (1Ki 19:11-13 - God told him to go stand before the LORD on the mountain, and the LORD was passing by. There was a great wind breaking rocks on the mountain, but this was not the LORD. There was an earthquake, but this was not the LORD, either. There was a fire, and this too was not the LORD. After the fire, came a gentle blowing, which Elijah heard, and wrapped his face, going out to the entrance of the cave. Then a voice came to him asking him why he was there.) God caused the remnant to stand. It was His doing that some remained. It is to His honor, and none of their own. Thus it is for all of us who are saved. The honor belongs only to God. This remnant, He has not allowed to fall into idolatry. A large number remained by His working. "This should lead us to hope that even in the darkest times in the church, there may be many more friends of God than we suppose." When Elijah thought himself alone, there yet remained thousands of true friends standing with him. The bowing of the knee is an expression of worship. (Php 2:10 - At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, whether in heaven, on the earth, or under the earth. Eph 3:14 - For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father. Isa 45:23 - I have sworn by Myself, My word has gone forth in righteousness and will not turn back. That word declares that every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue declare allegiance to Me.) Baal is that same idol known to the Babylonians as Bel, an idol in the shape of a bull or calf, representing either the sun or the moon.
11:5: As it was for Elijah, so it was for Paul. He did not stand as the sole believer in Israel. God had preserved many to Himself. (Ro 9:27 - Isaiah cries out that in spite of the great number of Israelites, it is only the remnant that will be saved.) There remained a portion that was truly pious, and had embraced their Messiah at His coming. All these remained by God's mercy, not by their own merit. None whom God foreknew were rejected, even though the majority of Israel had been. It is nothing new when many grow cold in their love of God, and fall back into sins. Yet, this situation ever causes deep concerns for the true friends of God. (Ps 119:136 - My tears are like a stream because they don't keep Your law. Jer 9:1 - I would that my eyes were stocked by fountains, that my tears might fall night and day for the daughter of my people! Lk 19:41 - Jesus saw the city and wept over it.) Even in such dark times, we mustn't be discouraged. Likely, more piety remains than we think, and God has never yet forsaken His true friends. It is solely God's doing that all are not lost. Only by His grace and election are any saved. He has not changed. He has saved a remnant against the darkness in the past, and He will ever do so.

Wycliffe (2/10/02)

11:1: In spite of their obstinate ways, God has still not rejected Israel completely. Paul being a Jew, the very idea was abhorrent to him.
11:2: They remain His people. He had chosen them, and knew all along how disobedient they would be (Ro 10:21 - All day long I have stretched My hand toward this disobedient and obstinate people.) He knew, but it was not His decree that it be so. (Jas 1:13 - Let no one say of his temptations that they are sent by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone with evil.)
11:3-11:5: The charge is repudiated by the evidence that there is a godly remnant preserved, just as had happened in Elijah's day.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (2/10/02)

11:1: Jesus declared that the kingdom would pass from Israel. (Mt 21:41 - God will put an end to those wretches [who so abuse His messengers], and rent His vineyard to other growers who will give Him His due. Ac 1:9 - After saying these things, He was lifted up, and taken out of their sight in a cloud.) But that passing was neither complete, nor permanent. (Php 3:5 - I was circumcised on the eighth day, a proper Hebrew, born to Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, and raised a Pharisee in observing the Law. 1Ki 12:21 - Rehoboam assembled the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to restore the kingdom to the son of Solomon. Ezra 4:1 - It was the enemies of Judah and Benjamin that resisted the rebuilding of the temple of the LORD in Israel. Ezra 10:9 - All Judah and Benjamin assembled on the twentieth day of the ninth month. They sat before the house of God, trembling both because of the grave matter they considered, and because of the inclement weather.)
11:2: No comments.
11:3: Some spare words crept into the Authorized Version here, which NASB appears to have expunged.
11:4: God's answer came as a divine communication. The word here translated does not indicate the means, only the nature. Paul's quote from 1Ki 19:18 is almost verbatim, but not quite. He adds "for Myself."
11:5: Even in this season of Israel's rejection, the apostasy is not total. Not all Israel had rejected their Messiah. Those who remained were not in some way better than the majority, but owed their standing solely to the grace of God, who chose them for salvation. (1Co 4:7 - Who thinks you superior? Do you have anything which was not given to you? If you thus received what you have, why do you talk as though this were not so? 2Th 2:13 - We should always thank God for you, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and by faith in the truth.) So, we see the doctrine of election established. It is not merely a placing of the Gentiles into the privileges formerly belonging to the Jews. It is a matter of God's sovereign choice of a portion, both in Israel and among the Gentiles, to be saved. (Ro 9:6 - God's word has not failed. The descendents of Israel are not the whole of God's Israel.)

New Thoughts (2/11/02-2/12/02)

It is in our nature to choose the path that leads to cursing, but it is in our inherited power to choose the path that leads to blessing. So I said when I was looking at the blessings of the twelve tribes. By the grace of God, we can choose the path of blessing. There was a time when we couldn't. It is only because of God that we are not as lost as those around us. It is only because of God that any are not lost. We cannot credit ourselves for the turnaround, it really had nothing to do with us, with our abilities. It was our abilities that got us into the hole of the curse in the first place. We would prefer to blame Satan for that, but it was our own choice. He really didn't have to force us much.

But, oh the Power by which we have been saved! Salvation is a gift of Him who does not change. His purpose remains, though all around us may shift and swirl like the currents of the sea. Salvation is not subject to our ever changing whims. It is not subject to our frailty. Our actions, no matter what they may deserve, cannot cause His salvation to fail. It's His, not ours. He has determined to bless us by His salvation. We didn't deserve it then. We don't deserve it now. We still won't deserve it when we go to meet Him. That isn't the point, and it never was. The point is, indeed, precisely that we don't deserve it, yet He has made a way to bless us with salvation, in full accord with the demands of justice and righteousness. Truly, He has made a way where there was no way.

At the same time as we note that salvation is not our doing, that our righteousness is not our own, it must be noted that those He saved in Elijah's time were those who had kept pure in heart, body, and mind. Note that I don't say the kept themselves pure, for none has managed that save Christ Jesus. No, just as our salvation was His doing, their salvation was His doing. He did not allow them to fall into idolatry! It is not that we are incapable of falling. There are entirely too many warnings in Scripture for us to believe that we can do what we want, and remain saved. No! it is simply that matter that in those He has chosen, called, and predestined for salvation, He will not allow them to fall. He will not allow them to stumble. His word has gone out for their salvation, and it will not return void!

Here, as elsewhere, Scripture serves to remind us that what we are going through is neither new nor unique. The details may have changed, but the story is the same. In the story of Elijah, salvation came in the form of preventing the worship of idols. It's no different today, except that the idols have changed shape. The Jews were worshiping the image of a bull, bowing down the 'Master' of the surrounding culture. Today, we don't worship statues much anymore. No, we worship wealth and power. This is nothing new, either. Israel in Jesus' day had already shifted allegiance to these more palpable gods.

The details have changed, not the story. The culture around us still worships that which is not god. In all too great a degree, that culture has invaded the Church. Entirely too many stories come out of leaders of the Church fallen to the temptations of wealth and power. We're in a time when Wall Street largely determines what's morally acceptable. We're in a time when entire denominations are falling to criticism, and rightly so, because they have nothing to do with righteousness. Sex crimes run rampant through the priesthood. God's Word no longer guides the choice of the man in the pulpit. In many churches, one cannot hope to worship God. Your very presence in such a church would be no more than idolatry. The god who is declared there is no longer God, but a creation of man's own mind. He is a god who no longer cares about sexual sins and perversions, who no longer cares about holiness, who just wants us to feel good about ourselves. This isn't God, it's an idol borrowed from the culture we're in the middle of!

The story doesn't change. When Elijah walked in Israel, men would not tolerate being spoken to in the name of the LORD. It wasn't the message that so much offended them, but the source. The same message coming in the name of Baal, or the name of the king, or the Pharaoh, or even a dream, would have been far more acceptable. But when men have turned to idols, they cannot bear contact with the truth of God. When men are determined to pursue their lies and fantasies, they cannot but tear down God's altars. You cannot worship God and wealth. You cannot worship God and power. Might I suggest, you cannot worship God and His gifts. His gifts are not the proper object of your worship any more than His angels or His ministers are. He alone is worthy of our praise.

If you married your spouse because of the presents they gave you, I'd say your marriage is in grave danger. It's not your spouse you love, it's the toys. When the toys stop coming, what will you have left? When the gifts are no longer novel, how will your spouse keep your attention, your devotion? If you seek God only because He can give you such wonderful gifts, you are in the same danger, only magnified a thousand fold. When His gifts no longer feel new, how will He keep your devotion? Are we addicted to experience? Do we really need a new 'move of God?' Have we yet to learn to be satisfied with Him? God help us!

I would warn us against becoming bean counters when it comes to church attendance, or when it comes to altar calls. Romans 9:27 reminds us of Isaiah's warning to Israel. It remains a valid warning to us today, the story doesn't change. In spite of the great number of Israelites, it will only be the remnant that are saved. In spite of the great numbers who profess belief at the local crusade, it is only the remnant that will truly be saved. In spite of the vast numbers of people coming to church every Sunday, it is only the remnant that will truly be saved. Many think themselves chosen, but it is only the remnant that truly are. Strive to make certain of your calling! That's Paul's advice to the church. You think yourself chosen? Make certain of it! How, you ask?

Show by your actions that He is indeed present in you. Walk worthy of the calling you say He has placed upon you. Those He reserved to Himself in the days of Elijah were those who kept themselves pure. Not that it was their own doing, yet it was the proof of His working in them. Walk with integrity. Look at the words of Matthew Henry: "The best evidence of integrity is a freedom from the present prevailing corruptions of the times and places that we live in, to swim against the stream when it is strong." This is what it takes. This is what it means to be chosen, to be saved.

Look at the example found in Ezra 10:9. Judah and Benjamin, out of all the tribes of Israel, were the only ones who came and stood before the house of God. Benjamin, the least of the tribes of Israel, all but wiped out for their sins, yet fully repentant and hungry for the God that had kept them from total destruction. Why were they there? Because the situation in their time was dire. All seemed on the verge of being lost. Enemies abounded. Not only were the godless heathens opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem, but where were the other ten tribes? Look also at their determination. They were determined to seek out the God who had called them back to Jerusalem, and they were not going to be turned aside because of the weather. We'll cancel church for a good snowstorm. We'll skip church for a good ballgame. We are all too easily turned aside from our appointment with the King. Do we want revival in our day? It's going to take what Benjamin and Judah had, it's going to take commitment, determination, and integrity. It's going to take us walking what we claim we believe.

But I cannot leave things so dark. Things often seem worse than they truly are. We must beware of putting too much confidence in numbers games. But we must also beware of putting too much effort into despair. The story hasn't changed. The majority, even of those who lay claim to the kingdom of God, may be corrupt, may be deluded. But God has preserved those He has chosen to preserve. However lonely our post may seem, we do not stand alone. Many others stand at their posts, perhaps just beyond our line of sight. God will not suffer His covenant to be voided now, any more than He did in rejecting Israel. His purpose stands. His people, though they are far from Him now, will draw near. Thought they have strayed far from Him, His chosen people are still His chosen people. He has not changed. Restoration will come. Our Redeemer lives, and He still works the will of the Father!