WHEN ALL JEWS BECAME GENTILES
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Romans 11:32, "For God hath concluded them all in
unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all" It is comonly believed that Israel
is a viable, everlasting nation, cherished and protected by God, and that belief is reflected
in modern translations, and also modern interpretations. The translations read something like this:
"For God had shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all."
(Romans 11:32, NASB). How is this verse to be understood? It seems as if God imprisoned all men into
some kind of wicked environment wherein all are prompted to sin, just so that He could show mercy to
everyone. However reasonable that may seem, the fact is that it contradicts other Scripture.
James 1:13 "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man":
It is no secret that many good Christians, for reasons known only to themnselves, prefer modern Bibles. See how a famous radio Bible teacher once interpreted this verse:
However, the nation, as a whole, was disobedient to God and His commandments. In each generation, there would be a remnant of those faithful to God, but by and large, Israel was an apostate nation. To make a long story short, God gave up on His people. He would disposses them of their priesthood kingdom, and turn it over to others. He took their kingdom away from them, and He also took away their special status as priests. He would make them Gentiles, just like all other Gentiles, so He concluded them all in unbelief. We must remember that the term "Jew" is not an ethnic term, it is a religious designation. There is no such thing as a Jewish nationality. Their nation was Israel, so they were Israelites. Their religion was Judaism, so they were Jews in Israel. That is much the same as Christians in America. If we were born in America, we are Americans by nationality; we are Christians by religion. We can change our religion, but we cannot change the fact that we were born in America. God did not change the fact that they were Israelites, He only changed the fact that they were Jews, and returned them back into status of the Gentile. In the beginning, Abraham was a Gentile.
WHOM DID GOD CONCLUDE IN UNBELIEF? To believe, as some do, that God concluded all men, Jew and Gentile, in unbelief, is wrong. Examine the context of this passage. In the few verses just before verse 32, Paul speak of Israel and Israelites. In verse 32 he says that God concluded "them all" in unbelief. With the word "them," he isolates the Jews as the ones God concluded in unbelief. That makes sense. God did not concluded Gentiles in unbelief; there would be no point. All Gentiles are born in unbelief to begin with. Jews were not.
Some scholars seem to have missed what Paul was talking about. And they got the order reversed. Contrary to the JFB, i wasn't the Gentiles first. In fact, it wasn't the Gentiles at all. It was the Jews first. God concluded "them all" - meaning the Jews, of whom Paul had been discoursing - in unbelief. As mentioned above, this is easily recognized by reading the whole of chapter 11. Jews had been, since the beginning of the nation, born into a special covenant relationship with God the Father. Paul, who was a Jew, writes, "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles"(Galatians 2:15). This reveals that Jews were born different, they were born spiritually alive, not spiritually dead and in unbelief, as the Gentiles. That is why it is unbiblical to say that God concluded both Jews and Gentiles in unbelief. He concluded only Jews in unbelief, Gentiles have always been born that way. After God concluded all Israel in unbelief, all Jews, everywhere, became "unbelievers," and lost, just like Gentiles. Whereas they once were spiritually alive, now they were spiritually dead. Peter hints at this: "Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"(1Peter 1:3). He says that God had "begotten us AGAIN unto a lively hope..." If God had begotten them again, in other words, had brought them to spiritual life AGAIN, then obviously they were alive before, then became dead, and afterwards, God brought them back to life again through faith in Jesus Christ. They were "born again." We Gentile Christians have appropriated that expression, "born again," to ourselves, thinking that by receiving Christ we are "born again." That is not quite true. We Gentiles have never been spiritually alive before, and the Scripture does not mix the spiritual with the physical (being born physically is a truism that Scripture does not feel the need to repeat). But when God concluded all Israel in unbelief, He spiritually "killed" all Jews, and they needed to be brought back to life again. That happened partially when Jesus came, and the Jews received Him as Saviour. At that point the Lord Jesus Christ gave them power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (John 1:12). Notice that at that time they didn't become the sons of God, they only received power to become sons of God. They would have to endure a time of testing first. But that's another story (see Baptism of Fire). The point of concluding "them all," all Israelites, was to open the way for all humanity to come to the Father alike, and on equal terms, and only through faith in Jesus Christ. There would be no other way. After that, Jews were no longer spiritually superior, or on a higher spiritual plane, than Gentiles.
We may have been taught to believe that Jews were blinded to open they way of salvation for the Gentiles. To spiritually blind the Jews so that salvation for them is more difficult is an absurd, and totally ungodly concept. How would making salvation more difficult to Jews help, in any way, the salvation of the Gentiles? Instead, the Jews were concluded in unbelief, so that the way of salvation of all, Jew and Gentile, would be made equal, through faith in Jesus Christ. Many Jews accepted Christ, but many refused steadfastly to the end, expecting to "make it" the old way, without Christ, by keeping the Law, and such. They were the ones who were blinded. "What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."(Romans 11:7). The "election" were those who accepted Christ.
So, if there were no Jews, there was no nation of Israel. The blindness ended in the war of AD70, when all the blinded Jews were destroyed. Today, there are no Jews, and there is no Israel. Many Bible scholars believe that 1948 was the year when God regenerated Israel. Not true at all. According to Scripture, which says that all Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled by the end of the war of AD70, 1948 was as insignificant a year as any other. The satanic United Nations chartered a nation into being and called it "Israel." They could as well have named it anything else, like "Popeye," or "Bugs Bunny," and the consequence, as far as Scripture is concerned, would have been the same --- nothing at all. It is a Gentile nation of unbelievers. The true Israel, never having been blinded, is in heaven, raised up 2000 years ago.
It is no secret that many good Christians, for reasons known only to themnselves, prefer modern Bibles. See how a famous radio Bible teacher once interpreted this verse:
Both Jew and Gentile are in the stubborn state of rebellion and aggravated unbelief. Because of this, by grace we are saved, through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any of us should boast..." (Thru The Bible, Vol 4 page 726)This is a short salvation message, and quite excellent, but it obviously is taken from reading a Bible version liuke the NASB, and really does not explain Romana 11:32. Another interpretation which is difficult to understand:
"Verse 32 shows the relationship of God's mercy to all. Jew and Gentile alike must realize that both are undeserving sinners and the expression of the love of God on their behalf is an act both of mercy and grace."That is another little salvation ditty being substituted for a solid, comon sense interpretation of Romans 11:32. The Jamieson Faussett, and Brown Bible Commentary has this to say:
"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief These scholars profess to use the King James Bible, and even quote the verse from it, but the interpretation comes from something like the NASB, or the NIV, and is quite difficult to understand. -'Hath shut them all up to unbelief.' - that he might have mercy upon all' - i.e., those all of whom he had been discoursing: the Gentiles first, and after them the Jews...Certainly it is not 'all mankind individually' for the apostle is not here dealing with individuals, but with those great divisions of mankind, Jew and Gentile. And what he here says is that God's purpose was to shut each of these divisions of men to the experience first of an humbled, condemned state, without Christ, and then to the experience of His mercy in Christ."There is no way to make sense of the verse as given in the modern translations, so we return to the KJV. "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all" What do the Scriptures mean by "concluded"; who are the "all" that God concluded; and what does it really mean to be "concluded in unbelief?" Jews, even from the beginning of the nation, were a "chosen" people. They were a peculiar people. they were assigned the job to show the Gentiles around them the mercies of God. The Gentiles were, for the most part, heathen people, sinners who didn't know God. Israel was to be a priesthood nation. Now, it makes sense that Jews could not be heathens on the same ungodly level as the Gentiles. So God made them different. He made them special members of a Godly Family, and every Jew was born into that Godly Family. He did not have to grow up, and "get saved," as we Gentiles do today. So all Jews were born "saved," they were born in a condition of "belief" so to speak. If they sinned, they had the temple, and the sacrifices and oblations, and so forth, to get right with God.
However, the nation, as a whole, was disobedient to God and His commandments. In each generation, there would be a remnant of those faithful to God, but by and large, Israel was an apostate nation. To make a long story short, God gave up on His people. He would disposses them of their priesthood kingdom, and turn it over to others. He took their kingdom away from them, and He also took away their special status as priests. He would make them Gentiles, just like all other Gentiles, so He concluded them all in unbelief. We must remember that the term "Jew" is not an ethnic term, it is a religious designation. There is no such thing as a Jewish nationality. Their nation was Israel, so they were Israelites. Their religion was Judaism, so they were Jews in Israel. That is much the same as Christians in America. If we were born in America, we are Americans by nationality; we are Christians by religion. We can change our religion, but we cannot change the fact that we were born in America. God did not change the fact that they were Israelites, He only changed the fact that they were Jews, and returned them back into status of the Gentile. In the beginning, Abraham was a Gentile.
WHOM DID GOD CONCLUDE IN UNBELIEF? To believe, as some do, that God concluded all men, Jew and Gentile, in unbelief, is wrong. Examine the context of this passage. In the few verses just before verse 32, Paul speak of Israel and Israelites. In verse 32 he says that God concluded "them all" in unbelief. With the word "them," he isolates the Jews as the ones God concluded in unbelief. That makes sense. God did not concluded Gentiles in unbelief; there would be no point. All Gentiles are born in unbelief to begin with. Jews were not.
Some scholars seem to have missed what Paul was talking about. And they got the order reversed. Contrary to the JFB, i wasn't the Gentiles first. In fact, it wasn't the Gentiles at all. It was the Jews first. God concluded "them all" - meaning the Jews, of whom Paul had been discoursing - in unbelief. As mentioned above, this is easily recognized by reading the whole of chapter 11. Jews had been, since the beginning of the nation, born into a special covenant relationship with God the Father. Paul, who was a Jew, writes, "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles"(Galatians 2:15). This reveals that Jews were born different, they were born spiritually alive, not spiritually dead and in unbelief, as the Gentiles. That is why it is unbiblical to say that God concluded both Jews and Gentiles in unbelief. He concluded only Jews in unbelief, Gentiles have always been born that way. After God concluded all Israel in unbelief, all Jews, everywhere, became "unbelievers," and lost, just like Gentiles. Whereas they once were spiritually alive, now they were spiritually dead. Peter hints at this: "Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"(1Peter 1:3). He says that God had "begotten us AGAIN unto a lively hope..." If God had begotten them again, in other words, had brought them to spiritual life AGAIN, then obviously they were alive before, then became dead, and afterwards, God brought them back to life again through faith in Jesus Christ. They were "born again." We Gentile Christians have appropriated that expression, "born again," to ourselves, thinking that by receiving Christ we are "born again." That is not quite true. We Gentiles have never been spiritually alive before, and the Scripture does not mix the spiritual with the physical (being born physically is a truism that Scripture does not feel the need to repeat). But when God concluded all Israel in unbelief, He spiritually "killed" all Jews, and they needed to be brought back to life again. That happened partially when Jesus came, and the Jews received Him as Saviour. At that point the Lord Jesus Christ gave them power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (John 1:12). Notice that at that time they didn't become the sons of God, they only received power to become sons of God. They would have to endure a time of testing first. But that's another story (see Baptism of Fire). The point of concluding "them all," all Israelites, was to open the way for all humanity to come to the Father alike, and on equal terms, and only through faith in Jesus Christ. There would be no other way. After that, Jews were no longer spiritually superior, or on a higher spiritual plane, than Gentiles.
We may have been taught to believe that Jews were blinded to open they way of salvation for the Gentiles. To spiritually blind the Jews so that salvation for them is more difficult is an absurd, and totally ungodly concept. How would making salvation more difficult to Jews help, in any way, the salvation of the Gentiles? Instead, the Jews were concluded in unbelief, so that the way of salvation of all, Jew and Gentile, would be made equal, through faith in Jesus Christ. Many Jews accepted Christ, but many refused steadfastly to the end, expecting to "make it" the old way, without Christ, by keeping the Law, and such. They were the ones who were blinded. "What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."(Romans 11:7). The "election" were those who accepted Christ.
So, if there were no Jews, there was no nation of Israel. The blindness ended in the war of AD70, when all the blinded Jews were destroyed. Today, there are no Jews, and there is no Israel. Many Bible scholars believe that 1948 was the year when God regenerated Israel. Not true at all. According to Scripture, which says that all Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled by the end of the war of AD70, 1948 was as insignificant a year as any other. The satanic United Nations chartered a nation into being and called it "Israel." They could as well have named it anything else, like "Popeye," or "Bugs Bunny," and the consequence, as far as Scripture is concerned, would have been the same --- nothing at all. It is a Gentile nation of unbelievers. The true Israel, never having been blinded, is in heaven, raised up 2000 years ago.
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