The divine purpose in it

111.1: 1 Sam 12.22; Jer 31.37; 33.24-26; 2 Cor 11.22; Phil 3.5.I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 211.2: Ps 94.14; 1 Kings 19.10.God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Eli'jah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3“Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thy altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 411.4: 1 Kings 19.18.But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Ba'al.” 511.5: 2 Kings 19.4; Is 11.11; Rom 9.27.So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 611.6: Rom 4.4.But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

711.7: Rom 9.18, 31; 11.25.What then? Israel failed to obtain what it sought. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 811.8: Is 29.10; Deut 29.4; Mt 13.13-14.as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear,

down to this very day.”

911.9: Ps 69.22-23.And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a pitfall and a retribution for them;

10let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and bend their backs for ever.”

1111.11: Rom 10.19; 11.14.So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

1311.13: Acts 9.15.Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 1411.14: Rom 10.19; 11.11; 1 Cor 9.22.in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 1511.15: Lk 15.24, 32.For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

The grafted tree

17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness11.17 Other ancient authorities read rich root of the olive tree, 18do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. 19You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 2011.20: 2 Cor 1.24.That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. 23And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

2511.25: 1 Cor 2.7-10; Eph 3.3-5, 9; Rom 9.18; 11.7; Lk 21.24.Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, 2611.26: Is 59.20-21.and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,

he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

2711.27: Jer 31.33; Is 27.9.“and this will be my covenant with them

when I take away their sins.”

28As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may11.31 Other ancient authorities add now receive mercy. 3211.32: Rom 3.9; Gal 3.22-29.For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.

3311.33: Col 2.3.O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

3411.34: Is 40.13-14; 1 Cor 2.16.“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counsellor?”

3511.35: Job 35.7; 41.11.“Or who has given a gift to him

that he might be repaid?”

3611.36: 1 Cor 8.6; 11.12; Col 1.16; Heb 2.10.For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.