So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no
means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the
Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now 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! 13 Now
I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to
the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my
fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their
rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their
acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as
firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy,
so are the branches.

Before we are done I want to talk about 1) how to make Israel
jealous of the fact that the people of Christ are inheriting the
promises of Abraham, and 2) how the picture of God's sovereignty in
Romans 11 helps you trust in his sometimes very roundabout
purposes.

Who Is "They" in the Question: "Did They Stumble in
Order That They Might Fall?"

But first let's look closely at a couple verses: Who is "they"
in verse 11? "So I ask, did they stumble in order that
they might fall?" To see who it is, we read the preceding
verses:

Romans 11:7-10

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking.
[That's a reference to Israel as a whole—corporate, ethnic
Israel taken as a people who failed to obtain right-standing with
God.] The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.
[So "the rest" are treated by Paul as corporate Israel: they failed
to obtain a right-standing with God; in stead they were hardened.
This is the "stumbling" that Paul wonders about in verse 11: "Did
they stumble in order that they might fall?" This generation of
Israel stumbled, except for the elect. The people as a whole are
lost.]

[Now verse 8:] As it is written, "God gave them a spirit of
stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down
to this very day." 9 And David says, 'Let their table become a
snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for
them." [In other words, let them stumble over their bountiful
table, and let them be bent down for generations, burdened by the
law—until the hardening is removed (11:25)] Let their
eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs
forever."

In other words, the "they" in verse 11 ("Did they stumble in
order that they might fall?") is corporate, ethnic Israel as a
whole in a condition of ongoing hardness and lostness from
generation to generation? As Romans 9:3 said, They are "accursed
and cut off from Christ."

Did Israel Stumble in Order They Might Fall?

So what's the answer to Paul's question in verse 11: "So I ask,
did they stumble in order that they might fall?" He answers: "By no
means!" I take this to mean; the purpose of God in the
stumbling-the hardening-of Israel is not the final abandonment of
Israel as a whole. I think that's the general idea in verse 11:
"Did they stumble in order that they might fall [i.e., for the
purpose of falling]?" Answer: the stumbling led to lostness
and judgment in some generations of Israel, but the final lostness
and judgment on the people as a whole was not the purpose of God.
That was not the purpose of hardening in (verse 7).

This becomes really clear as we read on in verses 11 and 12. "So
I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no
means!" That's not the purpose of their stumbling. What was? Paul
answers in verse 11b, "Rather through their trespass [=their
stumbling] salvation has come to the Gentiles. . ." God's purpose
for Israel's unbelief and hardness and rejection of the Messiah is
that salvation might come to the Gentiles.

Two Biblical Pictures of God's Purpose in Sin, Unbelief, and
Hardening

I know that for many, speaking of God's purpose in sin and
unbelief and hardness is difficult. But keep two biblical pictures
in your mind:

1) The story of Joseph's abuse by his brothers, selling him into
Egypt, because the point of the story in Genesis 50:20 is: "You
meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

2) The crucifixion of Jesus, because this was sinful and planned
by God for our salvation (Acts 4:27). God is always doing more than
one thing. Hardening yes, but Oh, so much more! By means of the
hardening and the stumbling and the trespass, God is guiding
history in such a way that the Gentile nations would receive
salvation.

Jesus' Teaching on the Rejection of Israel and the Salvation of
the Gentiles

Jesus said this several times in his teaching. For example,
after the parable of the wicked tenants, where the owner sends his
own Son to get the Father's fruit, and they kill him, Jesus said
the upshot is that God will remove these tenants, and "let out the
vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their
seasons" (Matthew 21:41). Which Jesus interprets like this:
"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from
you and given to a people producing its fruits" (Matthew 21:43). In
other words, Israel's trespass, in rejecting the Messiah, happened
so that God might give the kingdom—the heritage of
Israel—to those who follow him.

Jesus says it again in Matthew 8:11-12. After seeing the faith
of the Gentile Centurion, Jesus says to those who followed him, "I
tell you, many will come from east and west [that is, Gentiles] and
recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of
heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom [most of Israel] will be
thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth." So Israel is hardened, and the Gentiles are
coming into the kingdom. Salvation is coming to the nations.

It happened all through the book of Acts. For example, in
Antioch of Pisidia the message of Paul and Barnabas was rejected,
and the effect was a powerful mission among the Gentiles: "Paul and
Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, 'It was necessary that the word
of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge
yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the
Gentiles. . . . And when the Gentiles heard this, they began
rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were
appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:46, 48; see 18:6;
28:19-20).

What Paul makes clear in Romans 11, that may not be as clear in
these other texts, is that the spill over of the Gospel to Gentiles
did not just result from Israel's trespass -as though this took God
off guard, and he had no plan in it. Instead there was divine
design behind it. Verse 7: It was God who hardened. And it was the
hardening—the trespass (v. 11b)—that brings salvation
to the Gentiles. "Through their trespass salvation has come to the
Gentiles." This is God's unfathomable wisdom being worked out in
history and shown to us in Romans 11.

The Purpose of the Hardening: Salvation to the Gentiles

You can see the purposefulness of it most clearly perhaps in
Romans 11:30-32.

Just as you [Gentiles] were at one time disobedient to God but
now have received mercy because of their [Israel's] disobedience
[that's the point of verse 11: "through their trespass salvation
has come to the Gentiles"], 31 so they [Israel] too have now been
disobedient in order that [purpose!] by
the mercy shown to you [Gentiles] they also may now receive mercy.
32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that [here is
unmistakable purpose summing up the whole
chapter] he may have mercy on all.

So we ask again, verse 11:

Did they stumble in order that they might fall? [Was that the
purpose?] By no means! [What then was the purpose?] Rather through
their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles.

The divine purpose of Israel's hardening and trespass and
rejection was to save a fullness of the Gentiles. There is a
merciful purpose in the hardening. He consigned them to
disobedience—he hardened them—that he may have mercy
(v. 32).

The Purpose of the Hardening: Israel's Jealousy and
Salvation

God's ways appear even more unfathomable at the end of verse 11.
Was the purpose of their stumbling final rejection? No. The purpose
was so that "through their trespass salvation [might] come to the
Gentiles." And then amazingly he adds, "so as to make Israel
jealous." Purpose upon purpose: The hardening and trespass of
Israel are designed to bring salvation to the Gentiles. And
Salvation to the Gentiles is designed to make Israel jealous. Why?
So that Israel will return and lay claim on her Messiah, and become
part of Church of Jesus Christ.

The Purpose of the Hardening: The Return of Christ and
Resurrection from the Dead

And if we think that's the end or climax of God's
design in
redemptive history (salvation for Gentiles and Israel), verse 12
stuns us again with a further purpose.

Now if their [Israel's] trespass means riches for the world
[which we have seen it does, by God's design], and if their failure
means riches for the Gentiles [which it does, namely, salvation],
how much more will their full inclusion mean!

God's purpose in the trespass of Israel is salvation for the
Gentiles. And his purpose for the salvation of the Gentiles is to
make Israel jealous, so that she wakens to the greatness of Christ
and embraces her Messiah. And then he adds, the purpose of the
salvation of all Israel—"their full inclusion"—is
something even greater.

Something glorious follows the full number of the Gentiles and
the full number of Israel. Verse 15 says what it is:

For if their [Israel's] rejection means the reconciliation of
the world,
what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

I take this to mean that when God's mission to the Gentiles is
complete and the hardening of Israel is removed, then the Lord will
come and the dead will be raised, and we will enter the kingdom
with everlasting joy.

Now this is all very weighty and I am sure seems remote to some
of you. So let me move toward a close with two applications for
your life.

Implications for the Jealousy of Israel Because of the
Salvation of the Gentiles

First, consider the implications that God means to make
Israel jealous by our Gentile salvation. Verse 11:

Through [Israel's] trespass salvation has come to the
Gentiles,
so as to make Israel jealous.

How can we advance this purpose of God?

I think one of the keys is to understand and make much of the
fact that the Church—the followers of Jesus Christ—is
the true Israel and that we Gentile Christians will inherit all the
promises of Israel by faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We have
to see this and make much of this, if our Jewish friends are ever
(by grace) going to feel jealousy that we inherit their promises.
The whole spirit of our interaction should be like the Father to
the elder brother: Come on in to the party. You belong here!

Paul explains the Gentile inheritance of Israel's promises like
this in Ephesians 2:12-13, 19:

Remember that you [Gentiles] were at that time separated from
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to
the covenants of promise . . . 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who
once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. .
. . So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of
God.

By faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, we have become the true
Jews (Romans 2:28-29). Galatians 3:7, "Know then that it is those
of faith who are the sons of Abraham" (see Galatians 3:16).

In this we should revel! Bethlehem, "the Israel of God"
(Galatians 6:16)! All the covenants, all the promises belong to
us— and all who will one day trust the Messiah. All the
promises of God are yes in Jesus Christ. And we are in Jesus Christ
by faith alone. Know your Jewish inheritance and glory in it.
That's what Paul did in verse 13b - 14, "Inasmuch then as I am an
apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to
make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them." Let's
join Paul in the enjoyment of Jewish promises. When you are with
Jewish people this Christmas, say: "I love the descriptions of
Christ in your Bible: 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son
is given; and the government shall be upon his should and his name
and shall be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace' (Isaiah 9:6)."

God's Roundabout Way to Provide Mercy

And the last application I would draw out is that God is
sovereign even in the hardening and trespass and failure of whole
peoples, and his aim in the end—by his own unsearchable
wisdom—is mercy. None of us deserves to be saved. But
God is gathering a people through faith in Christ from all the
peoples of the world. And one day mercy will triumph over the
Israel's hardness, and she will come by faith in Christ to her own
inheritance.

It may seem to us a very roundabout way to bring mercy to Israel
and the nations. But we are not God. He knows what kind of history
must take place to reveal the fullness of his wisdom and his mercy
against the backdrop of his justice and wrath.

The effect this should have on us, I believe is to keep us
faithful and patient, even when it looks as though unbelief has the
upper hand. God is in control-unfathomably, unsearchably. And
everything will work for mercy to those who trust the Christ.