ROMANS 11
To answer a question my son asked about Romans 11, Abba’s Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--took me through this chapter in detail, explaining what Sha’ul was really saying to the House of Israel. So, taking it verse by verse, using The Scriptures version of the Bible, I want to make this chapter understandable to others. So many through the centuries have twisted this chapter to make it say what their denomination’s theology says it means, which has led to wrong thinking about other parts of the Word. (II Peter 3:15-18) Let us look at it as it is, in context of the whole Word from Genesis to Revelation. Allow the Spirit of Yahuweh to give you further insight as you compare these truths with the whole Word, under His tutelage.
In Appendix A, I include my son’s revelation understanding, given to him by Abba, of how John 17 is Messiah’s prayer for the fulfillment of Ezekiel 37. His understanding opens our spirit to hear the heart of Father and Son, and gives us insight further into what They are doing quickly in these last days.
Rav Sha’ul is addressing the House of Yisra’el/Joseph/Ephaim among the nations. He is explaining that Elohim has brought victory out of their punishment, not only for the House of Yisra’el (Yisra’el), but for the House of Judah, and for “whosoever will” among the gentiles (those not of the House of Ya’cob--not of the twelve tribes).
“Gentile” means “heathen, barbarian, pagan”; it refers also to a person who is a “foreigner, alien, and stranger from the Covenant that Yahwueh made with the sons of Abraham, Yitzak and Ya’cob, renewed in the blood of Messiah. The word “new” in Jeremiah 31:31 in Hebrew, and the same word in Matthew 26:28, means “renewed/refreshed”--not “new” as opposed to “old”. The same word is used for the “new moon”, which is renewed each month. There is no such thing as an “Old Testament” and a “New Testament” – for the Word is one complete Book from eternity past to eternity future, telling of the plan of salvation by a loving Creator.
Sha’ul was called to spread the Good News among the House of Yisra’el in the nations, thus also bringing the Good News to those among whom they lived.
Yahuweh never calls His people “gentiles”. He always says that He scattered the House of Yisra’el (10 northern tribes, and later Judah) “AMONG the gentiles”. He says that the passion of His heart is to restore a remnant of all the tribes back from AMONG the gentiles. He says that He will destroy all “gentiles”. No one in Messiah is a gentile! (Ephesians 2:11-22; I Corinthians 12:2; II Thessalonians 4:3-5). [Refer to the article: “Are You a Gentile?”]
The “one new man” is the fulfillment of Ezekiel 37:15-28. The “one new man” is the coming together of a remnant of the House of Yisra’el and the House of Judah. Judah cannot be brought together with “gentiles”, who reject His Covenant and His Messiah. So this, Jew-Gentile in Messiah” hoax of the Messianic Jews and some religious Jews too, is just that--a preposterous hoax! The repentant remnant of the House of Yisra’el in Messiah is coming to live out the Torah from a contrite and humble heart! This hoax is no less than a monstrous lie to subject the House of Yisra’el beneath the biological Jews – an “elder brother” move of animosity. But, in the days to come Judah will need Ephraim, and the two will join in harmony to defeat a common enemy (Isaiah 11:12-13).
The promise of the restoration of a remnant of the whole House of Ya’cob is the major theme of most of the prophetic Word of the end times – the restoration of a remnant of the whole House of Ya’cob together back in the land of Judea and Samaria. (Micah 2:12-13; refer to “The Aliyah Scriptures”)
Messiah only came to restore the ten tribes who broke Covenant with He and His Abba – Matthew 15:24. He only sent the Apostles, including Sha’ul, into the nations to find the “lost sheep of the House of Yisra’el” (Matthew 10:5-7) living AMONG the gentiles.
He had to break the engagement with the ten tribes, the engagement that began at Sinai with the giving of the terms of the marriage covenant (Torah and Witness). According to the Torah, because the House of Yisra’el whored against Him--embracing other gods--He could not marry those of the ten northern tribes in the future. The engagement covenant in ancient times was as binding as the marriage. Judah, while more vile at times, did not as a whole forsake the Torah--the marriage covenant—therefore they were exiled only for 70 years in Babylon for not guarding the “shmittah years” (II Chronicles 36:19-21) along with misusing the Torah for their advantage, then scattered into the nations around 70 CE when Titus took Jerusalem. But, the Jews pretty much stayed together wherever they went, and so preserved the bloodline much purer than the House of Yisra’el who intermarried among the nations – intermarried with gentiles (those not of the House of Ya’cob/Yisra’el). The House of Ephraim/Joseph/Yisra’el was punished 2, 730 years for their sins. That punishment ended September 12, 2007/2008, Yom Teruah, which began the last seven-year cycle before Messiah’s return. That day was the seventh year of the previous cycle—a “shmittah year”. (Refer to: “The Smittah Year Prophecy” and “The Forty-Eight Hour Transition”) The instructions for the “shmittah year” are in Leviticus 25. The first year of this last cycle—the “seventh week of Daniel”--began the following Yom Teruah—2008/2009. Now, the restoration of a remnant of the whole House of Ya’cob (Yisra’el) is taking place. The only place in the Word where Abba says He does something “with all My heart and all My soul”, is the restoration of the House of Yisra’el (Jeremiah 32:41) with the House of Judah.
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I will take Romans 11 slowly, so that it makes a complete picture from final dispersion of the House of Yisra’el in 722 CE to restoration, September 12, 2007 (end of Ephraim’s punishment), to the conclusion of it at Yom Kippur after Messiah returns, and the pronouncement by the High Priest that Yisra’el (the united kingdom) is “saved”.
Theme: Romans 11:1a and 2a: “…has Elohim rejected His people? Let it not be! … Elohim has not rejected His people whom He knew beforehand…”
Romans 11:1-4: “For I am also of Yisra’el, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” He does not call himself a Jew. He states his tribe.
In Luke 2:36, we see that Hannah was of the “tribe of Asher”.
In Romans 11:1-4, Sha’ul goes on to say that Yahuweh has always left a remnant who has not bowed the knee to Ba’al, quoting I Kings 19:10, 14, 18.There were millions of Yisra’elites living in the area of the ten northern tribes before their final dispersion in 722 BCE. Yahuweh tells Eliyahu (Elijah) that 7,000 had not bowed the knee to Ba’al. Even here, the remnant of those loyal to Yahuweh was small.
In the day of Sha’ul’s writing, the 1st century CE, Jews still knew where the tribes migrated to. (John 7:33-35) They knew that the Yisra’elites were scattered along the great trade routes of Solomon, and empires like Parthia and Carthage were Yisra’elite empires. This is why Yonah tried to go to Tarshish to run from Yahuweh – it was a major center of world trade, where the Yisra’elites (the 10 northern tribes) had established a port for trading from the time of King Solomon (Spain, the UK). Brazil is “iron” in Hebrew. It is a proven fact that the ten northern tribes joined with the Phoenicians under Solomon’s rule, and together they traveled all around the world getting wealth for the Temple and for Solomon’s house, even going up the rivers of Texas into what is now America. Archeological finds abound.
Judah was easy to trace. Now the sons of Aaron are easy to trace by the DNA of the men, who have a “Y” chromosome that no other men have.
But, in His wisdom, Yahuweh also preserved the tribes scattered AMONG the nations. Today, the great return is in progress, of a remnant of all the tribes of Ya’cob, whose name was changed to Yisra’el. (Genesis 32:24-30)
Letters of the Messianic Writings like Yudah (Jude), Yochanan Alef (I John), Ya’cob (James), and I and II Kepha (Peter) were addressed to those of the “Diaspora” secretly, to avoid being tracked by the Romans. Some had no formal endings for that reason.
Romans 11:5-6: “So, therefore also, at this present time, a remnant according to the choosing of favor has come to be…” He explains that the favor given by Elohim has nothing to do with our performance in outward works, but is because He knows His own from the foundation of the world.
Romans 11:7: “Yisra’el did not obtain what it seeks, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened”. As a nation, the House of Ya’cob did not embrace the Covenant of Yahuweh nor the blood sacrifice that His Son gave for their salvation. Therefore the peace that it sought was lost, and they were scattered throughout the nations for their idolatry and whoredom, and rebellion against Yahuweh and His commands.
Romans 11:8-10, regarding those hardened: “Yahuweh has given them a spirit of deep sleep…let their eyes be darkened…” [Refer to the article: “Royal Secrets and Exclusivity”]
As in II Thessalonians 2:8-12, Yahuweh sends the strong delusion that causes them to be damned, because they “were not given a love of the truth”. Those who do not adhere to His truth -- His Word – and obey it without compromise, are ensnared by deceptions and lies. But, as He said: “My people love it so”. (II Timothy 4:2-4; Jeremiah 5:31)
Isaiah 6:8-13 and Matthew 13:10-17: These passages show that Yahuweh actually hardened the hearts of the masses of His people, because they were not aligned to His nature, ways and thinking, and thus rebelled against His good Torah (teachings/instructions of the Kingdom). He has always chosen a remnant based on His foreknowledge of their relationship with Him – I Peter 1:1-2; Ephesians 1:3-5.
He knew that, as in the days of Noah, only a small remnant would follow Him. This is why He said in Matthew 7:13-14 that only a “few” find the narrow gate that leads to life. He never made things clear to the masses, but told parables to the masses. (Matthew 13:34-35).
Romans 11:11-12: “…by their fall deliverance has come to the nations…”
Because the House of Yisra’el was punished, and dispersed out of the Land into the nations, the nations were blessed.
One can easily see the nations where the Israelites went – always prosperous, lovely lands, lots of fresh water and farmland, places where they built schools, established charity organizations for the poor, established hospitals, and other things for the carry out of a Torah that they lost knowledge of. But, the DNA of the House of Yisra’el can be seen in all the western nations – lovely neighborhoods, trimmed lawns, flower gardens, museums, institutions for scientific discoveries to bless mankind, parliamentary governments that represent the people’s needs, courts of justice that establish laws to protect the citizens of the country. Yet among all of this good, the House of Yisra’el also brought its sin – lust for materialism, for personal advancement over others, power and glory for oneself, and sexual sins that promoted the worship of Ba’al in disguised manners. In some nations, Yisra’el brought their pagan rites of human sacrifice and the building of pyramids, i.e. Mexico, Central and South America. In these countries, still, the high knowledge that they had under Solomon still astounds archeologists today, as with the Maya. Many secular scholars believe that the Maya and other advanced civilizations were from the “lost tribes of Israel”.
But, also, because of their DNA from Abraham, Yitzak and Ya’cob, the ten tribes scattered among the nations, though they forgot their roots in the Torah and in the land of Judea and Samaria, embraced belief in “the God of the “Old Testament”. Then when the message of the Jewish Savior/Messiah came to them, though counterfeited by the Greeks and Romans, they embraced “Christianity”. Yahuweh’s hand never left the remnant who accepted a Jewish savior, and read the Word as having come from “God”. This remnant, beginning at different times in different countries, mostly since the 1950s in America, is returning to the Torah--to their Hebrew roots, and understanding finally who they are. Their heart is towards the land. Many are learning Hebrew. Since the late 1990s especially, the call to the House of Ephraim to “come home” has taken center stage. The time of the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Word, and there are hundreds of verses related to it, regarding the restoration of the whole House of Ya’cob is at hand.
Thought Yisra’el forgot who they were, (Hosea 1 – 3) still they received the Messiah of Yisra’el, whereas the House of Judah/Levi mostly did not. The blinders are still on Judah as a whole, though more and more are finding their Savior. The great revival of Judah will take place at the coming of Messiah – Zechariah 12:10-13:1.
Romans 11:13-14: Sha’ul is an Apostle to the House of Yisra’el among the nations, and also to those who are in the nations who cling to the House of Yisra’el. He went to synagogues much of the time to find them, though he also preached in “open air” meetings in pagan cities, like Athens. (Acts 17) He expresses his hopes that the receiving of Messiah by the nations will provoke those of the House of Judah to jealousy. The beginning of this is happening now. It is expressed perfectly in the parable of the “prodigal son” (Luke 15:11-32)
The prodigal represents the House of Yisra’el. The “elder brother” represents the House of Judah. Bringing these two together has to be a sovereign act of the Spirit, and only on a remnant basis. Isaiah 11:10-14 tells us that one way they’ll come together and drop their animosity against each other is for military attacks on the enemies of the modern nation ofYisra’el, re-established in 1948.(Refer to: “How Could I Give You Up Ephraim?”)
But, there are those of the House of Yisra’el who are returning to the land with love for Judah, guarding the Torah, and blessing the nation of Yisra’el by prayer and finances. Those who come with love for Judah are being recognized by Judah as their “prodigal brother”. Orthodox Jews refer to this prodigal as “the Joes” – those of the House of Joseph. In September of 2007, at the end of Ephraim’s punishment, the Orthodox in Jerusalem at Sukkot were overjoyed that the “Joes” were coming home.
Romans 11:15: “FOR IF THEIR CASTING AWAY IS THE RESTORATION TO FAVOR OF THE WORLD, WHAT IS THEIR ACCEPTANCE BUT LIFE FROM THE DEAD?”
This is one of the most powerful statements in the entire Word! The “casting away” of the House of Yisra’el took the sons of Ya’cob into the world outside of the covenant land given to Abraham (Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17), where the world was blessed by their presence. Wars ceased, and peace came, commerce, prosperity and a higher living standard wherever Yisra’el went. But, also, because “Christianity” resorted some of the truth of the Word to them, they launched the great missionary movements that took the Good News of Messiah to the entire world--especially the nations of England and America (Ephraim and Manasseh). Abba had mercy on the House of Yisra’el to the maximum. Now, He is calling a remnant to return to the way of Truth absolutely--to forsake the counterfeit and to embrace the Real Elohim of the Word. Those who come out of the counterfeit to embrace the Truth, must first repent, and cut ties with the counterfeit. (Leviticus 4) Sinning by mistake still requires atonement. Embracing Truth does not mean to embrace another religion, but to come out of all religion, whose base is Lucifer-led man, and to seek the Spirit of Yahuweh for pure Teaching.
Romans 11:16-18a: “…if the root is set-apart, so are the branches…And if some of the branches were broken off, and you being a wild olive tree have been grafted in among them and came to share the root and the fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches…”
The root is Messiah, the living Torah. The root supports the tree.
There are three groups described by Sha’ul in this chapter:
1)The natural branches who were not broken off
2)The natural branches who were broken off
3)The wild branches who were broken off but who are being re-grafted into the cultivated olive tree once again
The House of Ephraim must not boast against the House of Judah, for the same root supports them both.
The natural branches that were not broken offare that remnant of the House of Judah who never left the Torah, who never forsook Yahuweh. These are men like Nehemiah and Ezra, the Essenes of Qumran, Yochanan the immerse, and the followers of the Jewish Messiah who never stopped guarding the Torah of Yahwueh--the followers of the Way, the Nazarenes (followers of the Netzer—the Branch). These were the ones that the pagan Greek and Roman “church”, and Akivah’s rabbinic Jews, went after to kill.