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Is God Finished With Israel?
March 8, 2026 · 45 min
Drawing from Romans 11, Pastor Jeff powerfully unpacks how God's covenant with Israel remains unshakeable.
Series God's Plan for Israel March 8, 2026 · 45 min · God's Plan for Israel
Drawing from Romans 11, Pastor Jeff powerfully unpacks how God's covenant with Israel remains unshakeable. ...more Show the full description Show less Drawing from Romans 11, Pastor Jeff powerfully unpacks how God's covenant with Israel remains unshakeable.
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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Has God Rejected Israel? 0:00 But take heart. I've overcome the world. Amen. Well good morning. Would you help me welcome all our campuses today? So great to worship with each and every 1 of you. Just wanna echo, the sentiments0:12 for this Easter, 7 9 11. That's different than what we normally do. Encourage you to try to go to an earlier service if you can. As many times, we have visitors who come to the later services. Also, what you heard,0:24 bring a friend. People are looking to find answers this time of year. They're more likely to go to church than any other time during the year, so make sure you invite people and come, and let's have a great day that day.0:34 Secondly, I want you to know, today we have an opportunity here after services if you would so desire. My good friend, a friend of our church, Victor Marx, who's running for governor of the state of Colorado, is here0:43 with his wife today. Eileen, he'll be here afterwards if you want to sign a petition to get him on the ballot so that the people of Colorado can decide who to vote for. You'll have0:55 the opportunity today and the opportunity to meet him, so I encourage you to do that. And with that, let's continue our worship as we go before the Lord and get ready to hear his living and active word among us. Would1:04 you pray with me? Our Father in heaven, we give you great praise and thanks. Lord, we celebrate with you that we can come into your house. We can worship you. We can pray to you. We can seek your face. We can fellowship1:16 with other believers, and we specifically are encouraged this morning, Lord, because we're ready to hear you speak to us. Because, Lord, we as a people believe that every time your word is faithfully and accurately1:26 proclaimed, that it is you who are speaking. So our prayer this morning is speak, Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you,1:38 who will believe what he tells you, and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, Amen. Amen. Last week, we started a series1:49 on God's plan for Israel. And I told you at the time that I did the sermon last week that this is the key issue in the church today, and how we land this issue has implications2:02 everywhere. And I told you, I talked to a New York Times reporter about a year ago and told her that. She called me on Monday. And I said, I was just talking about you yesterday. This is the key issue. How we2:13 land this is important. And last week, we went over several different things. We said, God initiated the relationship with Israel. God chose Israel by his grace. God made an everlasting covenant with Israel. And2:25 God promised to restore the people of Israel to their land, and he's gonna redeem them. And then we saw how God brought salvation through the Jews. It's all over the2:37 old testament, and yet there's many people today that are like, yeah, that's old testament stuff God's done with Israel. So my question today is, is God finished with Israel? Stop. You can't answer2:49 yet. We haven't had the class. I'm gonna ask you 3 questions about that, because it's really important to me that you see in the word what God says. It's not so much your opinion. It's not my opinion. They don't matter.3:00 It's what does God have to say on this issue? It is interesting to me that after Jesus Christ had been crucified, and rose from the dead, and his disciples had seen him, they'd3:12 spent 40 days with him post resurrection. So now they spent 3 plus years with Jesus. In Acts chapter 1, before Jesus ascends into heaven, there's 1 recorded question we have that the disciples are asking3:24 Jesus. Do you know what it was? I mean, my question would have been, when are you coming back? My question might have been, why are you leaving now? That's not the question. You know what their question is? Is it at this3:33 time that you are ready to restore the kingdom to Israel? Now after spending 3 years with Jesus, 40 days after his resurrection, why would that be their question if they weren't talking about it? And if they3:45 weren't talking about it, it would be the perfect time for Jesus then to say, what are you talking about? That's never gonna happen. It's gonna do something totally different. We're we're done with the Jews. That's not3:56 what he says. He said, it's not for you to know the times or dates set by my father who is in heaven, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And that's what we've been studying in the book of4:06 Acts. So even Jesus doesn't say that he's done with Israel. And so I want to see in God's word, what does it say? And why is this important for us as believers to know? Because no matter who you listen to, I said4:17 last week, very rarely will you hear somebody open up the scriptures and say, this is what God says and this is what we must believe. So it's either opinions on love Israel or opinions on, for most people,4:29 hate them. But what does God have to say? Wouldn't it be good to know what God has to say? Because if God's finished with Israel, we need to be finished with Israel too. And if God's not finished with Israel, then we're4:40 not finished with them either. Amen? And so we're gonna be in Romans chapter 11 today. I'm gonna invite you to turn there. Romans chapter 11. And as we walk through that chapter today, I'm gonna ask you 3 different4:51 questions to figure out if God is finished with Israel. Now as you're turning to Romans 11, you'll know if you've been a Christian for a while, that this is the Christian manifesto on salvation. I mean the first 85:02 chapters are laced with all sorts of great information about how the gospel works. And then as Paul gets into chapter 9, he talks about God's purpose. It's based on his choice and not on merit. We don't5:14 get saved because we do good. We get saved because God selects. And his choice was for Israel to be the promised nation to bring light into the world. That's what chapter 9 is about. Chapter 10 is5:26 about that Israel tried to gain this blessing by works and not through faith, and so it didn't work. So it leads us to the question in chapter 11. Therefore, since they tried to earn it by5:37 works and it was really by faith, is God done with them? So I'm gonna ask you 3 questions. Here's the first question this morning. Don't answer it till we read this aloud. But the first question is, has God rejected5:48 Israel? Has God rejected Israel? This is what Paul's gonna answer. See what the text says. I say then, God has not rejected his people. Has he? May it never6:00 be. For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew? Or do you not know what the scripture says about the passage6:12 about Elijah, how he pleads with the God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets, they've torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life. But what is the divine response to him?6:23 I have kept for myself 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Are you starting to see some answers here? I mean, it can't get much clearer. Now, in the in the Greek language, when6:35 questions are asked, there's 2 different participles that can be used. 1 is asked that's always expecting a positive answer and 1 is used that's always expecting a negative answer. The Greeks talk a little bit like6:45 Brits, don't they? I mean, do you know how Brits answer ask questions at the end of every sentence? Like, that's a good dinner, isn't it? Or do you believe that? You know, blah blah blah. I mean, they always ask6:55 questions at the end. This question that he's asking at the beginning is based upon the fact that God chose Israel, but Israel failed for their lack of belief. His first question is, I say then, God has not7:07 rejected his people, has he? And you know what his answer is? No. May it never be. It's the words of Meganoito. It means, God forbid it. It means, absolutely not. It means, by no means. A7:18 colloquial way of saying it would be heck no. He hasn't forgot them. It's the same words that are used in Romans chapter 6. What shall we say? Should we go on sinning so grace will abound all the more? Heck no. God's not7:30 teaching us to sin. Has God rejected his people Israel? No way. Absolutely not. It's it's beyond even fathoming. That's what Paul's saying. And why does he say that? He says, because I too am7:42 a Jew. I'm in Israelite. I'm part of the promises of God. If God's rejected all Israel, he would have had to reject me, and I'm part of the plan of God. He he hasn't rejected it. That's why when7:54 you see Paul in, in, Philippians chapter 3, talks about how he's of the nation of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin. He's proud of his Israel heritage just like everybody should be. Why?8:06 Because the covenant came through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, Genesis 26, Genesis 28. God established a8:18 covenant with the patriarchs. An everlasting, which means never ending covenant. So Paul says, no way. Even in Acts chapter 22 that we'll get to in a few weeks when we get back in the book of8:30 Acts. In Acts chapter 22, Paul talks about his Jewishness even when he's going to the Gentiles. Acts 22 verse 3. I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Sicily, but brought up in this city, educated under8:41 Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all see today. He still talks about his Jewishness even after his conversion. He's proud of it. Paul himself says, I'm8:53 a Jew. Now you have to understand something about God's covenant. When God makes a covenant, a covenant means promise. And promise for this covenant, according to Genesis9:05 chapter 17, is an everlasting covenant. An everlasting promise. If God breaks his promise to9:17 the Jews, why would you think that your eternity is secure? Everlasting is the same word that's used in John chapter 3 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that9:29 whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life, everlasting life. That's how Well, how long is that? It's forever. How long is the covenant with Israel? It's forever. It's the9:41 same thing. You can't pitch it. You can't throw it away. God has not rejected Israel. Let me just give you some verses and you can look these up later, but I think it's important that you hear them. So you know that it's9:51 not me making this up. This is right out of the word of God. How about first Samuel chapter 12 and verse 22. First Samuel 12 22, for the Lord will not abandon his people on account of his10:03 great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for himself. So why won't the Lord abandon Israel? Because he's awesome. Because of his great reputation. Because of his great10:14 name. Because of who he is. Or how about Psalm chapter Psalm chapter 94. Psalm chapter 94 and verse 14. Hear the word of the Lord. For the Lord will not abandon10:26 his people, nor will he forsake his inheritance. Or how about Amos the prophet in Amos chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. Hear this word which the10:38 Lord has spoken against you sons of Israel, against the entire family, which he brought up from the land of Egypt. So he's calling Israel his family that he's protected. He says, you10:50 only have I chose have I chosen among all the families of the earth. These are God's words, not mine. And you see this all throughout scripture. I mean, even when you get into Zechariah and it talks11:02 about the second coming of the Lord. In Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10, he says, I will pour out on the house of David and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. So they will11:13 look on me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as 1 mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping of a first born. God says there's coming a day when the Jews will see11:24 the Messiah, the 1 they crucified and they'll mourn and lament and repent and they'll worship him. Zechariah 13 8 and 8 and 9. It will come about all11:36 in all the land. Remember we talked about last week God made a promise? The promise was for a land, which means what? Land. Yeah. It was land. It it was it11:48 was blessing. It was a nation. It was people, and it's everlasting. So here he talks about it will come about in all the land, declares the Lord, that 2 parts of it will be cut off and perish, but a third will be left12:00 in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, they are my people, and they will12:11 say, the Lord is my God. What's gonna happen? He's like, there's gonna be some remnant of the Jews that get saved. 2 thirds gone, 1 third is gonna come in, God's gonna refine them, and they're all gonna worship him. And12:22 even Zechariah 14 verse 4, in that day, talking about Jesus, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east12:33 to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the I've been there many times. If you're going with us in October, you'll stand right there. You'll see12:45 that place where the Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is coming back to step his feet. Everything in the bible testifies to the fact that God made an eternal covenant12:57 with Israel, and nothing will ever change that. He even talks Paul not only says, not only am I a Jew, but you remember Elijah. Remember the story of Elijah in first Kings 18, where he called down fire, God brought the13:08 fire, they killed all the prophets of Baal, and then Jezebel later that day says, I'm gonna kill him. So what does he do? He flees. He's scared, and he calls out to the Lord. He says, hey, I'm the only 113:20 left in Israel. I'm the only 1 that's faithful. And what does God say? You're wrong. I've kept 7000 Israelites that have not bowed their knee to Baal.13:32 Friends, even though you can't see it, it's still true. There's always been a remnant of Jewish believers in every single generation. Even when you can't see what's going on in the13:44 church, it's true. You may not know this, but since 20 21 of the fastest growing churches in the world is, guess where, Iran, China.13:56 Other places that we would say, never choose to live there, don't wanna live there, totalitarian regime, wrong, bad. The gospel will flourish anywhere where God's people rise up for the gospel. Amen?14:11 So what Paul is saying is God hasn't rejected Israel. He's never rejected Israel. He says in verse 5 of Romans 11, in the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's14:23 gracious choice. Paul was part of that remnant. Paul says, I'm a Jew, and I believe Jesus is the Messiah. I'm part of that group. He says, but if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.14:35 Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. We're saved by what? Grace through faith. That's the only way we can be saved. It's the only way anybody can be saved. It's the only way that Jews can be saved. Did you know14:47 that? Just because you're Jewish, you don't get a hall pass into heaven. You still must repent and believe. The whole new testament is about Jewish apostles going out and preaching the14:59 gospel to their Jewish countrymen, in hope that they'd recognize that Jesus is the promised Messiah. So what can we do to love Jews? We can share the gospel with them. We can love them enough to share the gospel, just15:11 like all of the apostles did. He says in verse 7, what then? What Israel is seeking, it is not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. Just as it is written, he15:23 quotes a couple Old Testament passages, 1 from Deuteronomy 29, 1 from Isaiah 29. He said, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.15:35 And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not and bend their backs forever. He says there's been a15:46 hardening. We're gonna see that in the text to come. He's gonna be specific about it. But you know what? They saw the Messiah with their own 2 eyes. They knew that Jesus died on the cross. They knew he was raised from15:57 the dead, and they still didn't believe. There was a hardening in their heart to not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though he was right there before him. And that's what the apostle's pointing out. So here's16:08 the question based upon what you've heard so far. Question number 1. I need a response from everybody out loud and loudly. Has God rejected Israel? No. Not according to the Bible. Not according to the Bible. A lot of16:19 people think he has, but not according to the Bible. So here's my next question. Don't answer this yet. Has God replaced Israel? That's my question. Has God replaced Israel? Because you'll talk to a lot of born againHas God Replaced Israel? 16:29 believers. They'll say this. Yeah. He he had a plan for Israel, but they blew it. And because they blew it, all the promises are in the church. They come through Jesus. They come through the church, but he's done with16:41 Israel. So let's look at the text to see, has God now replaced all the covenant promises to Israel, which he specifically said he was gonna do, which some of them are specifically future. Has he changed his mind, or is16:52 he still for the nation of Israel? Notice what he says. I say then, they did not stumble so far as to fall, did they? May it never be.17:04 But by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous. So what's he saying? Did they stumble so far as to17:16 fall? Did they stumble so far as to be down and never ever get back up? Or are are they done? You know what he gives? He gives them the same answer, Megan Noito, which means, heck no. No. He17:28 absolutely not. There's no way. He hasn't done that. They've stumbled, but they haven't fallen. They they've missed the mark, but they're not he's not done. That's the point he's trying to make. He's not17:40 replacing them. He says, but by their transgressions, salvation has come to the gentiles to do what? To make them jealous. Now you're gonna see in this section that all the promises that we receive17:52 as born again believers come out of the Abrahamic covenant. Come out of all the promises to God, and we've been grafted into those. And we should be thankful for all the ones we have. And what the18:04 gospel should do as the gospel has gone out to the Gentiles, as we believe in the Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, it should cause the hearts of the Jewish nation to be jealous for what18:15 we have because that is intended for them, and we're the ones who have received it by faith. That's what he's trying to say. He says, the the gospel's going out to the world because of their hardening.18:57 Ain't that gonna be incredible? Then he says, but I'm speaking to you who are Gentiles, and as much as I am a I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. I'm a Jew, and I'm taking19:09 the gospel to the Gentiles. I know how blessed I am to be Jewish. I know that all God's promises come through the Jews, but I know it's only found in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah.19:20 And I'm blessed by that. And I still preach the gospel to the Gentiles, but I let them know that when you come to Christ Hey, listen. This is a Jewish book written by Jewish people about the gospel of God, and we get19:32 to experience all the blessings of it. That's what he's saying. Notice what he says. He says, but as much of my speaking to you Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. If somehow I may move to19:44 jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. Paul says, as I'm preaching to the the gospel to the Gentiles, my sincere hope is that my countrymen, the Jews that I grew up with, the ones I19:56 know, would see what the Gentiles are receiving, which was promised to them, but they missed it because they tried to earn it by works rather than by receiving it by grace. And I want them to be so jealous of what we20:07 have that they would come to Christ. That's the Apostle's heart as he's going out and preaching the gospel. Paul is not done with the Jews. God is not done with the Jews. The Holy Spirit is not done with20:19 the Jews. Amen? He says, for if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from the20:30 dead? He's talking about when the Jews accept Jesus. He's saying, that's gonna be like life from the dead. Those who are dead apart from Christ are now gonna be made alive. He's talking about their fulfillment. He's20:39 talking about the life that they're gonna receive. Then he says this, if the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also in the if the root is holy, the branches are 2. Now he's gonna go into an20:51 analogy here, but what he's talking about is from Numbers chapter 15. He's talking about when you set aside, like, in this heave offering, the the first lump of dough, it was set apart, meaning it was defined holy. It21:01 meant that the rest of the the lump was holy too. And what he's gonna get into, he's gonna say, if the covenant made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that's the lump, the the patriarchs,21:13 and all that's true, then the rest is holy as well. We don't throw it away. We don't discard it. We don't get rid of Israel. And now he's gonna go into a metaphor about an olive tree. I'll read it, and then we'll come21:23 back and unpack it together. He says, but if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them21:35 of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. But if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports21:46 you. You will say then branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Quite right. They were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear.21:58 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Behold them the kindness and severity of God. To those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness if you continue in his kindness,22:10 otherwise you will be cut off. Now he's making an analogy of an an olive tree and he's talking about a root. He's talking about the the the tree itself. He's talking about the branches. 2 different kinds of22:22 branches. Of this tree is the Abrahamic covenant. It's the patriarchal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's the land. It's the blessing. It's the Messiah. That's the root.22:34 That's God's eternal everlasting covenant. Then you have the the tree, which represents the place of the spiritual blessings that flow from covenant promises. Like, all the covenant promises22:46 that flow from that come right through that tree. And then he talks about some natural branches. Natural branches that were broken off were Jews who refused to repent and believe that22:57 Jesus is the Messiah. So the way God designed it was he made the Abrahamic covenant. That's the root. Then the tree is all the spiritual blessings of that, and the Jews were to experience that. But when the Jews rejected23:09 the Messiah, he's using the metaphor that those branches were cut off. Those those natural branches, the ones that were supposed to be there fell. And then there's a different kind of branch, Wild branches. You know who23:20 that is? That's you. There were wild branches. That's the Gentiles that had been grafted in. Now wild branches means you weren't part of the olive tree. So23:32 to put a branch on that's not part of the olive tree, it took God's provision to make you a part of that. And now that you're a part of that, you need to understand it's the root, the Abrahamic covenant. It's the root.23:43 It's the tree, all the promises of God to Israel that support you. You don't support it. So as a believer in Jesus Christ, I should be grateful23:55 for the Abrahamic covenant. I should be grateful for the Jews. I should be grateful for my Bible that was written by Jews. I should be grateful that I have a Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. I should be grateful24:07 because that's what holds me in place. Amen? So he said, don't get conceited. Don't get arrogant and think, well, we're better than the Jews because we're24:19 don't do that. If the natural branches were broken off, what would God do to you? We're here because of humility and God's selection of us. He brought us in. Praise God. Praise God. It24:31 was by faith and not by works. And he goes on to say that this is how we should see it. Like, to be a born again believer and not have love for the Jewish24:43 covenants is to not understand your I mean, all the blessings that we're receiving, the spiritual blessings that we're getting now, not the future ethnic national blessings that will come to Israel later, but the24:54 spiritual blessings we receive right now are all coming from the Abrahamic Covenant. He's the God of who? The God we say we serve. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's who I serve. That same25:06 God. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen? He said, you're right. They were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by faith, so don't be conceited but fear. Now25:18 notice verse 22. I read it. But when the kindness behold the kindness and severity of God to those who fell severity, but to you kindness. What we read up here, it says, I say then, they did25:30 not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be. Who's he talking about? He's talking about the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel hasn't fallen beyond help, But there are individual Jewish people who have25:40 rejected the Messiah, who have fallen, that will experience the severity of God, who had a Jewish Messiah come die for them and rise from the dead, who wanted them to come to repentance but refused. And there's severity25:52 of the Lord for anybody who doesn't believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. But to you, you who know him, you who have repented, you have believed,26:04 kindness. Kindness, If you continue. Now notice what happens, because he still says he's not done. Because look at this. And they also, if they continue in their if they do26:16 not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. Wait, wait, wait, wait. So there's gonna come a time if Israel stops their unbelief and starts believing that God can graft them26:27 back in. Yeah. Would it be easier to graft in a natural branch or a wild 1? It's gonna be way easier to graft the natural branch back in than it was to take a wild 1 like a Gentile and put26:39 them in. And God says, yeah. They they fawn, but don't get so arrogant, because God's not done with them yet. Let's live in such a way that they're jealous of the promises we have. Let's share the promises. Let's preach26:51 the gospel. Let's see them come. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive27:03 tree, how much more will those who are the natural branches be grafted into their own tree? Listen. What's he trying to say here? He's trying to say God has27:15 not replaced Israel in any way. God still has a plan for Israel. Even though some of the branches, even though there's many Jews that have a hardening of their heart that don't believe in the Messiah, there's coming a27:25 time when their unbelief will end and they will get grafted back in, which is way easier because they're a part of the natural promises of God. I mean, it's amazing what he's saying. I mean, he starts this section by say27:36 by saying, I I say then, did they stumble so far as to fall? They didn't, did they? May it never be. So here's question number 2. I asked you question number 1. I asked you if God rejected Israel. You said no. Here's my27:46 question. Has God replaced Israel? No. He hasn't. He hasn't. There's nowhere in the Bible that shows that he's replaced Israel in any way. Let me ask you a third question. Don't answer yet. Has God revoked his promises27:57 to Israel? Because I think we need to answer these questions because this is what you hear all the time. The God's rejected Israel. He's replaced Israel. He's revoked his promises to Israel. So let's keep reading. For IShow more In this video 0:00 Has God Rejected Israel?16:26 Has God Replaced Israel?27:59 God's Irrevocable Promises to Israel
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