Tu’apulelulu Novema 25, 2021
Kuo ‘ikai li‘aki ‘e he ‘Otua hono kakai, ‘a e kakai na‘a ne toka mea‘i
God has not cast away
His people whom He foreknew
Loma 11 (Romans 11)
(v. 1-4) PEA ‘oua leva. Kuo li‘aki koā ‘e he ‘Otua
hono kakai? Molekemama‘o! He ko au foki ko e tangata ‘Isileli, ko e toko taha
‘i he hako ‘o ‘Epalahame, ko ha ha‘a Penisimani. Kuo ‘ikai li‘aki ‘e he ‘Otua
hono kakai, ‘a e kakai na‘a ne toka mea‘i. Tā ‘oku ‘ikai te mou ‘ilo ‘apē ki he
lau ‘a e Tohitapu ‘i he vahe ‘oku kau kia ‘Ilaisiā? ‘A ‘ene hū ki he ‘Otua
he‘ene talatalaaki‘i ‘a ha‘a ‘Isileli, ‘o pehē, ‘Eiki, kuo nau tāmate‘i ho‘o
kau palōfita; kuo nau holoki ho ngaahi ‘ōlita; pea ko au toko taha pē ‘oku toe;
pea ‘oku nau kumi kiate au ke tāmate‘i. Ka na‘e fēfē ‘a e folofola na‘e fai
kiate ia? Kuo u fakatoe ma‘aku ha kau tangata ‘e toko fitu afe, ‘a ia kuo
te‘eki ha‘anau momo‘i tū‘ulutui kia Peali.
(v. 1-4) 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. Or do you not
know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel,
saying, “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I
alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to
him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee
to Baal.”
G. Campbell Morgan's
Exposition on the Whole Bible
This discussion now gives rise to a new
question, "Did God cast off His people?" They were created a nation
in order that through them all the nations should be blessed. Failing to
realize the divine intention concerning their own national life, they
consequently and necessarily failed to fulfil that intention concerning the
nations outside. God, however, does not allow the outside nations to suffer,
but in infinite grace works through the fall of His earthly people toward
enriching the whole world.
Most carefully and solemnly should the
apostle's words be noted, "Behold then the goodness and severity of
God." His severity is manifested in cutting off the natural branches
because of unbelief. His goodness is evidenced in His reception of the Gentiles
on the basis of their belief.
A doxology closes the whole doctrinal
statement of the epistle. The outburst of rapturous praise was the result of
the apostle's consciousness of the wonderful victory of God through Christ over
all the opposing forces of evil, and His solution in infinite wisdom of the
problems that baffle the intellect of man. The notes of the doxology are fist a
recognition of the depth of the riches of God's wisdom and knowledge, and then
of man's utter inability to understand.
At the close of this section it is
important to remember that the only interpretation of the inscrutable wisdom
and operation of God is to be found in the revelation of His grace in Jesus,
which is the foundation doctrine of the whole epistle.
G. Campbell Morgan's
Exposition on the Whole Bible
The principle of a remnant.
God has not cast away His people whom He
foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads
with God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn
down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does
the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men
who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there
is a remnant according to the election of grace.
God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew... at this present time there is a remnant: In Paul’s
day Israel as a group generally rejected their Messiah. Yet a substantial
remnant embraces the gospel of Jesus Christ, and God has often worked in Israel
through a faithful remnant (as He did in the time of Elijah).
“It is just possible that Paul, likewise persecuted by
his own countrymen, felt a special kinship with Elijah.” (Harrison)
He pleads with God against Israel: Things
were so bad that Elijah prayed against his own people!
Lord, they have killed Your prophets:
Elijah thought that God had cast off the nation and he was the only one left
serving the Lord. But God showed him that there was in fact a substantial
remnant – though it was only a remnant, it was actually there.
At this present time there is a remnant: a
lot of people to do a great work, but He often works through a small group, or
through a group that starts out small. Though not many Jews in Paul’s day
embraced Jesus as Messiah, a remnant did and God will use that small group in a
big way.
“It was not the number as much as the permanence of
God’s plan for Israel that mattered in the time of Elijah... He put his trust
in God’s grace, not in numbers.” (Morris)
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