Глава XI

Only part of Israel was rejected (1–10). The rejection of Israel has a special purpose and is not final (11–24). Israel's rejection is only temporary, and eventually Israel, like everyone else, will be pardoned (26–36). Rom.11:1. So, I ask: has God really rejected His people? No way. For I also am an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. Although Israel was rejected by God, this rejection affected only part of the people. And now, as in the days of Elijah the prophet, there is a significant number of believers from Israel, whom God, with His gracious help, strengthened in faith in Christ, while the Jewish people, as a whole, fell into the bitterness that was foretold to them by the Old Testament prophets... "And I am an Israelite". The Apostle points to himself as proof that God did not reject the Jews as a people, as a tribe incapable of becoming Christian. If he, Paul, became a Christian, a member of the Kingdom of the Messiah, then it means that other Jews can become members of this kingdom: their origin does not hinder them in this even now. - “From the tribe of Benjamin.” This tribe, together with Judah, formed the theocratic core of the Jewish nation after the captivity (1 Ezra 4:1, 10:9). Rom.11:2. God did not reject His people, whom He knew in advance. Or do you not know what Scripture says in the story of Elijah? how he complains to God about Israel, saying: “I knew in advance.” Here is another reason why the possibility of Israel's rejection as a nation cannot be tolerated. God knew in advance what the people who were to become His people would be like—and yet He called them. This means that God provided for the possibility for Israel to turn to the true path - otherwise He would not have called them. The point is, as Art. 1st, about fate, about turning to God and Christ the whole people, and not just part of it. Rom.11:3. God! They have killed Your prophets, They have destroyed Your altars; I am left alone, and they are looking for my soul. The Apostle quotes a passage from 1 Kings XIX: 10, 14 freely, according to the text of LXX. “One” – that is, according to the Apostle, one of all those faithful to Jehovah. Rom.11:4. What does God's answer tell him? I have reserved for Me seven thousand men who did not kneel before Baal. “Seven thousand” – that is, very many (the number seven means a large number, cf. 1 Samuel II:5). - “Before Baal”. It is remarkable that here, as in some other places (Zeph 1:4; Hos 2:8), the LXX prefixes the name Baal with a feminine member. In all likelihood, LXX, like the Jews, did not want to pronounce the name of Baal and replaced it with the word shame, disgrace (boschet - αισχύνη). Thus, we got a strange designation for a male deity - ή Βααλ. Rom.11:5. So at this time, according to the election of grace, a remnant has been preserved. "According to the election of grace". The Apostle refers to the new, recently accomplished grace-filled election or calling to Christ of a part of the Jewish people 34 . Rom.11:6. But if by grace, then not by works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. But if it is by works, then this is no longer grace; otherwise the matter is no longer a matter. The expression: “what if on business,” etc. is not read in the best codes. Rom.11:7. So what? Israel did not receive what it sought; the elect received it, but the rest were hardened, The apostle draws a conclusion to what has been said about the fate of the people of Israel. “What was he looking for” - more precisely from the Greek: what is he looking for. Israel did not abandon its intention and continues to strive for righteousness - for that righteousness that supposedly can be earned by a person’s own deeds (Rom. 10:3). – “They became hardened” (έπωρώθησαν) – more precisely: they were hardened (by God). They developed a certain hostility toward Christ and the righteousness He offered, and for this the Lord allowed them to reach the extreme degree of bitterness in their unbelief (see Gal. 1:23). In this bitterness, the Apostle sees God's judgment on the stubborn Jewish people. Rom.11:8. as it is written: God gave them a spirit of slumber, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear, even to this day. “Spirit of slumber” – more precisely, from Heb. text, the spirit of intoxication, a state of complete insensibility, immunity. Rom.11:9. And David says: let their table be a snare, snares and a noose for their retribution; Rom.11:10. let their eyes be darkened so as not to see, and let their back be bent forever. By meal one can understand the law of Moses, which was the pride of the Jewish people. This law, which the Jews did not understand as it should, in which they did not want to see the teacher of people to Christ, will cruelly take revenge on them for this misunderstanding. He, like a tyrant, will torment them, frighten them and judge them (net, snare, noose). Serving the law will now bring only a curse upon the Jew, and the law will become an unbearable yoke for them, a burden under which the back of the captive bends. This is how the Jews were punished for rejecting Christ! However, this judgment on the Jewish people began during the earthly life of Christ the Savior (John 12:37 et seq.). Rom.11:11. So I ask: did they really stumble in order to completely fall? No way. But from their fall the salvation of the Gentiles is to arouse jealousy in them. But the bitterness of the people of Israel was not the final goal of God, but only a means for the salvation of the pagans. This latter will also awaken in the Jews competition in achieving salvation in Christ; and now, when the Jewish people turn to Christ, Christian life will become even more enlivened. And that the Jewish people can turn to Christ is evidenced by their origin from patriarchs who deeply believed in God. Because of this, the Apostle advises Gentile Christians not to despise the branches that were broken off from the tree - the people of Israel, rejected for a time, because these branches can again be grafted into the tree from which they were cut off. Was not this hardening of the majority of the Jewish people the real purpose that God had when he offered the Jews a new means for achieving righteousness, for which they did not feel any sympathy? Did they stumble (cf. Rom. 9:32) in order to stand no more (to fall completely)? No, God did not intend to destroy the Jewish people. The fall of the Jews had another, higher purpose 35. It was the fall of Israel or its rejection that opened the doors to the Kingdom of Christ for the pagans. (The Apostle does not yet explain how one thing led to the other, but he could have been presented here with the parable of those called to the supper (Matthew 22:1-14), in which Christ the Savior predicted that due to the refusal of the Jews to take part in the Lord’s feast, the pagans would be invited in their place). At the same time, God also had another goal - to arouse competition for salvation in the Jews, who, seeing how well the pagans who turned to Christ lived in the Kingdom of the Messiah, had to repent of their unbelief and also rush into this bright kingdom. Rom.11:12. If their fall is wealth to the world, and their lack of wealth is wealth to the Gentiles, then how much more is their fullness. “If... their fall” (i.e., the entire people of Israel) or the deprivation of messianic salvation gave wealth to the world (i.e., made it possible for the pagan world to enter the Kingdom of Christ) “and impoverishment” (ήττημα) or, more correctly, their unhappy state (in the moral sense) gave wealth to the pagans, then what great significance will the opposite of their fall have for the life of mankind? condition! ("Completeness" (Russian translation) is a literal translation of the Greek word πλήρωμα found here, but this word here, as can be seen from the context of speech, corresponds to the expression impoverishment - ήττημα and should mean a state of vital fullness; πλήρωμα here πλήρωσις and indicates for Israel’s final fulfillment of its destiny and together for its assimilation of salvation in its entirety). Rom.11:13. I'm telling you, pagans. As the Apostle of the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry. Rom.11:14. Will I not arouse jealousy in my relatives according to the flesh and save some of them? Spreading the Gospel among the pagans, Apostle. Through this, Paul indirectly contributed to the conversion of his fellow tribesmen to Christ. - “I glorify”, that is, I praise, I am proud of my service, since it has such great benefit both for the pagans and, indirectly, for the Jews. Rom.11:15. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, then what will there be acceptance if not life from the dead? "Life from the dead" (ζωή έκ νεκρών). Some (Origen, Chrysostom, Theodoret, etc.) understand by this a new life in the “future age,” which will begin with the resurrection of the dead; but we cannot agree with this explanation. In Ev. Matthew (Matthew 24:14) and in 1 Cor 15:23, which talks about the beginning of a new age, nothing is said about the conversion of Israel as a signal for this “beginning”. And then, why would the Apostle put the word ζωή here when he uses another word to denote the concept of new life - ανάστασις (resurrection)? Others understand (Theophylact) by life from the dead that flourishing of Christian life that will take place with the entry into the fold of the Church of the fullness of the Jewish people. But at Ap. Paul there is no trace of the idea that the state of the Christian Church preceding this great fact should be some kind of deadness. On the contrary, everywhere he has the idea that even among pagan Christians spiritual life is in full swing... It is simpler and more correct to see here the designation of a completely complete revelation of the salvation brought by Christ. The acceptance of the Jewish people into the bosom of the Church of Christ forms the conclusion to the history of the economy of human salvation, just as the glorification of the body, which will happen to people upon the resurrection from the dead, forms the conclusion of God’s gracious providence for them. Rom.11:16. If the first fruit is holy, so is the whole; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Israel itself has the right to receive salvation. After all, it represents a well-known whole mixture or mass of dough (φύραμα), from which several loaves have already been baked, which, like firstfruits (Num. 15:19–21), are offered to God as a gift. These firstfruits are the patriarchs of the people of Israel, already accepted into communion with God. The Apostle also means them by the holy root, from which the branches grew, that is, the people of Israel. Rom.11:17. If some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive tree, were grafted into their place and became a sharer of the root and juice of the olive tree, Rom.11:18. then do not be arrogant before the branches. If you are arrogant, then remember that it is not you who holds the root, but the root of you. Since among pagan Christians there was probably some pride in their new position, which they occupied in the Kingdom of Christ, having taken the place of God's chosen people, the Apostle exhorts his readers - pagan Christians - to remember that they actually receive salvation, which has long been preparing for discovery among the Jewish people, who have long been the bearer of this idea of ​​salvation (the Apostle speaks about the grafting of trees, according to Opigen, in disagreement actual techniques of gardening art). Rom.11:19. You will say: “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Rom.11:20. Fine. They were broken off through unbelief, but you hold on by faith: do not be proud, but be afraid. Rom.11:21. For if God did not spare the natural branches, then see if He will also spare you. The plight of the Jews should teach Gentile Christians to be especially attentive to their situation. After all, they are not as close to the holy root as the Jews, and it is even easier for them to fall away from the true faith and for this be subject to the wrath of God. Rom.11:22. So you see the goodness and severity of God: severity towards those who have fallen away, but kindness towards you, if you continue in the goodness of God; otherwise you too will be cut off. Rom.11:23. But even those, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God is able to graft them in again. Rom.11:24. For if you were cut off from the olive tree that is wild by nature, and were not grafted into the good olive tree by nature, much more will these natural ones be grafted into their own olive tree. The Apostle repeats at the conclusion of his speech about the attitude of pagan Christians towards the Jewish people that God, on the one hand, is good, and on the other, is strict towards sinners. Let the readers of the message try to secure the goodness of God for themselves through their good behavior. On the other hand, the Apostle promises the Jews that God will turn His wrath towards them into mercy as soon as they overcome their unbelief towards Christ. This change in the position of the Jewish people is all the more likely because there is an internal affinity between this people and the Kingdom of God (the olive tree). Rom.11:25. For I do not want to leave you, brethren, ignorant of this mystery, so that you do not dream about yourself, that the hardening has happened in Israel in part, until the time when the full number of the Gentiles comes in; If until now the Apostle speaks about the future conversion of the people of Israel to Christ based on well-known theoretical principles, now he directly and definitely says that this conversion will certainly take place, since this was communicated to him, Paul, in a special revelation. The Apostle sets the date for the fulfillment of this prophecy to be the moment when the fullness of the pagans will enter the Church of Christ. It is not for nothing that the Jewish people were once chosen by God! At the same time, the Apostle casts a general glance at the plan of God’s economy for the salvation of all mankind. God leads all nations to salvation through His judgments, the greatness and wisdom of which the apostle marvels with all his grateful heart. "About this mystery". The Apostle does not at all mean by this that the bitterness of Israel is something incomprehensible. In the New Testament, the word mystery denotes a truth or event that is revealed to man from above (cf. Eph 3:3–6). The Apostle is speaking, therefore, here about what he knows from special revelation (cf. 1 Cor. 15:51 and 1 Sol 4:15). – This secret, firstly, contains an indication that the bitterness affected Israel only “in part”. The explanation of this word is given in v. 7. ("others became hardened") and in the 17th ("some"). It is clear from this that this word has a numerical meaning: the bitterness affected only a certain number of Israelites (cf. v. 26). – Secondly, this mystery contains an indication that this bitterness will last until “the full number of the pagans” turn to Christ. This concept (τ o ηληρωμα των εθνών) cannot be understood with mathematical rigor. The Apostle simply wants to say that the pagan world as a whole (and he does not pay attention to individuals) will enter the Church of Christ. Rom.11:26. and so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come from Zion, and will turn away wickedness from Jacob. Thirdly, this mystery tells us that Israel as a whole will then be saved. “And so” and then. - “All Israel”, i.e. Israelis, as a nation, as a people. - “He will be saved,” that is, he will enter the Church of Christ. The Apostle here does not pay attention to the fate of individuals, which may be different from the fate of the people as a whole. - “He will come from Zion.” The LXX puts here the expression ενεκεν Σιών (Isa. 51:3), that is, for the sake of Zion, according to Heb. text (lezijon). - “Deliverer”, i.e. Messiah. The Apostle here probably means the second coming of the Messiah, when the Lord will forgive the sin of bitterness to the Jewish people, who by that time will turn to Christ. - “And he will turn away wickedness from Jacob,” that is, he will remove all wickedness from among Israel. Here the Apostle obviously means not the moral change that can take place in the souls of the Jews, but the redeeming activity of the Messiah in relation to the entire people of Israel (cf. v. 27). Rom.11:27. And this is my covenant to them, when I take away their sins. “And this is a covenant to them” - that is, in the forgiveness of sins they, the Jews, will see and find the fulfillment of the covenant they made with Me. Forgiveness of sins is the grace that is given by the Covenant. Rom.11:28. In regard to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake; and in relation to election, beloved of God for the sake of the fathers. Rom.11:29. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Rom.11:30. Just as you were once disobedient to God, but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, Rom.11:31. so they too are now disobedient, so that you may have mercy, so that they themselves may receive mercy. The apostle here explains the present condition of Israel and speaks of its future. - “In relation to the gospel” - that is, for the sake of the position that Israel occupied in relation to the preachers of Christ. God began to treat the Jews as His enemies, and cut them off from the olive tree - the Kingdom of God. This served for the benefit of the pagans, who had the opportunity to be grafted into the designated olive tree. - “In relation to election” - that is, for the sake of the fact that the Jewish people were chosen by God in the person of the forefathers of this people to be the people of God. Therefore, even now it has not completely lost its significance in the eyes of God. God continues to have love for him. Rom.11:32. For God imprisoned everyone in disobedience in order to have mercy on everyone. “For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience.” What God did with all of humanity, who were in sin, was that people began to feel as if they were imprisoned, in chains, and began to be extremely burdened by their sinful state. Next, the Apostle does not say that God led people to the sin of disobedience, but that He aroused in sinners a feeling of powerlessness in the matter of salvation and an awareness of their responsibility before God. And He did this by allowing the pagans to wallow in sins and passions, and the Jews to remain in blindness and vain service to the letter of the law 36 . Rom.11:33. Oh, the depth of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways! Rom.11:34. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who was His adviser? Rom.11:35. Or who gave Him in advance that He should repay? Rom.11:36. For all things are from Him, by Him and to Him. To him be glory forever, amen. The Apostle concludes chapters IX-XI, and together the entire didactic part of the epistle, with thanksgiving and praise to God, who, by paths unsearchable for man, leads everything to the goal intended by Him from the ages. Everything is from God, through God and to God - this is the main idea of ​​this doxology. In particular, for example, the people of Israel will be converted. – “Wisdom” (σοφία) is the Divine wisdom that God has and which He manifests in the work of building human salvation. – “Knowledge” (γνώσις) is the knowledge that we acquire about the being and actions of God, reflecting on the great work of salvation. God is the source of light - this is His wisdom, revealed in the Gospel, and in His light we see light - this is the knowledge about God, or the knowledge about God that we receive from the Gospel. About Zanu, at that time the number of Jewish Christians was no less than 70 thousand (cf. Migne, 116 col. 934 rulta milia Judacorum - an expression from the Gospel of the Jews about the number of Jewish Christians). At what point should this stumbling block be attributed to Israel? This moment obviously preceded the bitterness of Israel and led it along. Therefore, it is better to see in this stumbling block the wrong attitude of the Jews towards the Law of Moses. Even before the appearance of Christ in the world, Israel had already stumbled over the law, incorrectly seeing it as a means of justification. His zeal for God was reckless. He could have risen by accepting the Gospel of Christ, but he could have remained lying on the ground (Luke 2:34), unfortunately, the latter happened. For different opinions on the fate of the Jewish people, see N. Rozanov’s brochure “The Future of the Jewish People in the Light of Revelations.” M. 1901 You might be interested in: