ROMANS 11:11

“I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Far from it! But by their wrongdoing salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”

Have you ever been jealous of something someone else had and you wanted? Not me, Carl. I’m more spiritual than that. Right! We have all had that tinge of jealousy at some point in our lives. Maybe it was for a new car or new home. Maybe you longed to be married and were jealous of your friends’ relationships. Jealousy can destroy you, as we will see today, but it can be a motivating force for change.

We have seen Paul make his case for the rejection of the Jews and the inclusion of the Gentiles over the past few chapters of Romans. He has shown us verse after verse from the Old Testament that foretold this. In today’s verse, he does a little backpedaling. Look at the first part of the verse. “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Far from it!” It’s important to look at the words used by Paul for “stumble” and “fall.” Stumble means to trip up, to err, to sin. Fall means to fall so that you cannot recover. Paul clearly means to say that the Jews were not completely cast off by God. His plan was to make them jealous for the simple faith that the Gentiles had found in Jesus.

APPLICATION

I am reminded of a parable told by Jeus in Matthew 22. Jesus tells a parable about a king who held a wedding feast for his son. But the invited guests did not come and made excuses for their absence. They even treated his messengers poorly and killed some. So he sent his army against them. Then Jesus says the king did this in verses 8-9. “‘8 Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.”’” God indeed allowed judgment to fall on the Jewish nation because of their continual rejection of His message. This wasn’t a new thing. They had been doing this for generations.

But now, God has redirected His message to include the Gentiles which Jews could not understand. In Acts 13:46 we read, “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.’” This was Paul’s mission. He had been instructed by God to reach the Gentiles. However, he still had a desire to see his fellow Jews come to Christ.

Are you jealous of anything today? Let that go. But are you jealous of someone’s walk with Jesus? If so, ask them how they walk so closely. Ask them to show you their secret to holy living. Discipleship involves holding others’ hands and leading them down that path. We want to build disciple makers who are jealous for God, who desire Him about all else. Is that you?

We know You are a jealous God and will not tolerate us worshipping other things. Make me jealous for You.

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