Have They Stumbled That They Should Fall?
Romans 11:11
I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? The inquisitive reader will ask, what is meant by the word stumble? The answer is not far a-field. In the ninth of Romans we find the answer; there it is written: “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 9:30-33). The Stumblingstone laid in Sion is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is to the unbelieving Jews a rock of offense. But to the church of God Christ Jesus is the Chief Corner Stone, as it is written: “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22). And the Prophet Isaiah wrote: “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isaiah 28:16). The stumble of the Jewish people was their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as their true Messiah (John12:48). They did not and they do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God, that is, they did not and they do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the True Messiah the Only begotten Son of God.
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? The majority of jewish people in the days of the Apostles, stumbled at the stumblingstone (Romans 9:32), that is they rejected Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah of Israel. The next question is, did they stumble that they should fall? Before an answer can be given to this question we must determine what is meant by: “that they should fall”. By “fall” here is not intended the fall in Adam, but a fall in willful unbelief. For those who do not believe on Jesus of Nazareth as the only begotten Son of God there “remaineth no more sacrifice for sin” as it is written: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:26-29).
The willful sin referenced in Hebrews 10:26 is the sin of unbelief. Having seen the works of Christ, and after hearing His preaching, the men of the day of Christ were without excuse in that they remained obstinate in their unbelief, for no one can raise the dead, give sight the blind, heal the lepers and do the many miracles that Christ did but “God be with him”: as Nicodemus said: “ for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2). Those who openly deny the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ “crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to open shame” (Hebrews 6:4). Therefore it is impossible as long as they remain in a state of unbelief to bring them to repentance for they reject the only remedy for sin and death. The remedy for sin, whether original sin or actual sins is faith in Jesus Christ and His finished salvation. Therefore to fall as signified in the subject verse is to continue in unbelief, and through unbelief to reject Christ Jesus the only Mediator between God and sinners.
Those who reject the Mediator of the New Testament must bear their own sin. That is their sin of an evil nature and their actual personal sins will be imputed to them. That sin and those sins will be counted against them. Sins will be charged to those who have sinned and have no Mediator. Sinners themselves who have no Mediator and no Surety will stand responsible for their offenses and they will face the eternal consequences of their own sin. And for that sin of an evil nature and those sins actually committed by them they must suffer ruin in sin, darkness, and death, to all eternity.
God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. God forbid: this is the Apostle Paul’s usual remark of detestation. This is to him a deplorable and unworthy thought, that the only end of the blinding of the majority of the Jewish people at that time was their destruction. As it is written: “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway” (Romans 11:7-10).
“Isaiah prophesied: “Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that s learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isaiah 29:9-13).
The Apostle John wrote: “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them” (John 12:37-40). It is God’s sovereign prerogative to blind whom He will, and to grant sight to another: this is the lesson of Romans chapter nine, as it is written: “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth” (Romans 9:18).
God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. The majority of the Jewish people had been blinded, and are blinded, from the sight of their Messiah. God forbid, that the reason for this is the destruction of that people as a people. But they are blinded in order that the Gentiles might be partakers of their privileges, as our Lord Jesus said: “Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet” (Matthew 21:33-46).
The Apostle Paul explains our Lord’s parable thus: “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes” (Romans 11:28). The majority of the Jewish nation was cut off in unbelief and some of the Gentiles were grafted into their privileges through faith in Christ which was put in them by the Holy Ghost, as it is written: “ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:10-11). The law of God written on the heart by the Spirit of the living God becomes the law of the heart, and stands opposed to the law of sin in the flesh, as it is written: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7: 22-23). The majority of the Jewish people were given over to be enemies of Christ through unbelief. And some of the Gentiles were gathered out of the nations and given faith in Christ, according as they were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
For to provoke them to jealousy. This is in fulfillment of the word of the Lord: “They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people” (Deuteronomy 32:21). Jealousy may be induced in them either as a motive, or as a punishment or both. In either case they must be convinced they have something to be jealous of. In this instance something they have been bereft of by their rejection of the Christ of God as Messiah. In the apprehension of the writer it seems likely that would be justification before God, and acceptance by God, based on that righteousness which has been established for believers by Jesus Christ.
The unbelieving Jews sought after righteousness and acceptance by God through their own works of the law of righteousness, and in seeking righteousness through the works of the law they stumbled at the stumblingstone. Finding themselves without that righteousness which the Gentiles have attained through faith in Christ Jesus (Romans 9:30). And which they sought after through the works of the law of righteousness but failed to attain. The Jews having fallen in unbelief concerning “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe” (Romans 3:26), and beholding the Gentiles boasting in Christ because of righteousness attained through faith may be liable to jealousy. For Christ Jesus has been to them a Rock of Offense. But to the church of God and to the Gentiles in that church Christ Jesus is the Head Stone of the Corner, as it is written: “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (I Peter 2: 6-10).
AJ Ison
See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.
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