Elias, the first anti-Semite!
Know you not what the scripture saith of Elias;
how he calleth on God against Israel?
Lord, they have slain thy prophets,
they have dug down thy altars;
and I am left alone,
and they seek my life.
-Romans 11:2-3
No, God did not strike Elias dead as an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew, but instead told him what he would
But what saith the divine answer to him?
I have left me seven thousand men,
that have not bowed their knees to Baal.
Even so then at this present time also,
there is a remnant saved according to the election of grace.
-Romans 11:4
Just warming up the room here.
The point of giving you this verse is to point out that God does not
bless every individual Jew. I'm pretty sure he is ashamed of Michael
Bloomberg.
This concept is crucial as we get into our philosophical arguments here.
And remember in this post, we are going by the Biblical principle that every verse in the New Testament says in effect:
God will Bless those who Bless His Son,
and God will Curse those who Curse His Son
--all verses of the New Testament
God has not forsaken his people
I say then: Hath God cast
away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
--Romans 11:1
If you ONLY read this single verse, then superficially it sure appears
that Paul believes all Jews to be saints worthy of God's blessing.
But remember, Paul is a Christian when he says this, so he is not
speaking of religious beliefs when he states that God has not cast away
His People. Paul is saying that God has not cast him away, for he
is a believer in God's Son, Jesus Christ. Paul is not narrowing the
definition of Israelite to ONLY ones who disbelieve in Christ, as most
interpret this verse
To be sure, we have already covered how God does not condone a Jewish
disbelief in God when referring to Baal worshipers, and God has stated
that he will indeed cast them away.
The point here is that God does not condone a Jewish disbelief in His
Only Begotten Son either. They may as well be Baal worshipers ---
for than any other disbelief -- a Jew cannot call himself a Jew who
disbelieves in Christ. This is a far worst offense to Judaism than a
disbelief in Moses or Abraham, for this exposes a disbelief in God
himself.
It is no coincidence that Paul talks of Baal worshipers, for he apparently sees unbelieving Jews in the same light.
For in context of what Paul states in all of Romans 9 and 10, leading
into this first verse in Romans 11, and then past it in verses 2, 3 and
4, Paul is not so sure that the Jews who reject Christ are going to get
God's blessing at all.
Root, Vine, Branch, Fruit
Now we have arrived at the most profound point.
You do not support the root,
but the root supports you
-Romans 11:18
Theological Question: "What is Paul referring to when he speaks of the root supporting the Gentiles, and not the Gentiles supporting the root?"
Again, at first glance, one could say that Paul is including all the
Jews who reject Christ, and we should support them. (As many misguided
Christians believe.) But nothing could be further from the truth.
Before we discover who is the root, we have to know who is the Vine.
I am the true vine; and my
Father is the husbandman...If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast
forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and
cast him into the fire, and he burneth"
--John 15:1&6
So Christ tells us he is the Vine and his Father is the husbandman.
So to complete the allegory of Root, to Vine, to Branch, to Fruit, we need to have a firm grasp at how plants are grown.
First, God planted the seed into the ground way back in Genesis with
Abraham. Before a Vine appears, there has to be a sturdy root to
support it.
So the root is the rich tapestry of Old Testament Judaism.
God established the Root of Old Testament Judaism firmly in the world to later support the Vine of Christ.
It is important to know that the root of Judaism does NOT come AFTER
the Vine of Christ, it comes before. ONLY through the Vine of Christ
can anything more be built from this point further.
The root is not all the plant nor the end of the plant, but just the beginning.
When the Vine of Christ first appeared on Earth it grew and created branches.
The branches have to be nourished by Christ the Vine, for the Root cannot do that.
Any branches which do not sustain nourishment from the Vine of Christ
wither and die. That would be unbelieving Jews -- withered
branches who do not partake in the life-giving nourishment of Christ.
Now God is the husbandman. And all husbandmen know that a branch
attached to a weak vine in a poor soil will never see its full growth
potential. So God the husbandman, lovingly grafted these Gentile branches to his
strong and vibrant Vine of Christ, so they would bear greater fruit, as
he trimmed the unbelieving Jewish dead branches off to make room.
To be sure, the root is the believing Jews of the Old Testament. the
withered branches on the Vine are the unbelieving Jews of today, while
the vibrant and healthy branches of the Vine of Christ are today's
believing Christians.
IsraHell then is an abomination not worthy of our support.
