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  • From: BBurrowes AT aol.com
  • To: corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: The Mystery of Romans: the theme of- restoration of Israel
  • Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 12:03:19 EST


Mark,
There is much in your message with which I agree, but not quite everything.
You stated:

<< What I mean to bring out is that I find it unlikely that Paul meant in Rom.
11 that all Israelites would--in the end--become believers in Jesus as
Christ "because of" the miraculous hand of God, e.g., revealing Jesus at a
parousia after "the full number of (="all" in most interpretations) the
Gentiles have believed in Jesus apart from such a miracle. I believe he
believed the whole of Israel would be restored, but not by that means.
Rather, the part believing in Jesus would turn to the nations (=the fullness
of the Gentiles) as a part of the strategy for demonstrating to the part of
Israel not "yet" convinced that the end of the ages had dawned (=that time
when the nations will turn to Israel's God as the One God of all the
nations). Those Israelites would be "jealous" of the role of Paul and the
other Israelites who were bringing "Israel's" message of restoration.>>

So far I agree that the means of Israel's restoration was not a miracle of
God independent of human action (whether that of Paul and fellow believing
Jews, or that of the Gentiles), but precisely through the ministry of Paul
and his fellow Jewish believers in making the rest of the nation jealous.

Nevertheless I don't agree that a "miraculous conversion perspective" (even
though it is not my perspective) necessarily means that "the Gentiles will
win in the end anyway" and feed into Gentile boasting. Gentile boasting was
over the fact that the majority of Israel was rejected and that Gentiles were
taking the place of Israel, and a miraculous conversion at the end at least
appears to show that Israel has not been rejected and that Gentiles have not
taken the place of the Jews in the plan of God. So a miraculous conversion
at the end could "serve to put the Gentiles in their place," when they saw
that God was temporarily hardening Israel in part not to make space for the
Gentiles, but to give time for the Gentiles to hear the gospel and believe.
After that time, God would turn back to Israel and grant her the repentance
He had granted to the Gentiles. Gentile boasting is undercut because Israel
has not been rejected, only temporarily hardened, contrary to Gentile
boasting. The problem with a miraculous conversion at the end is not that it
feeds into Gentile boasting, but that it deprives the prophecy of its
conditional element, that it is dependent upon certain human responses for
its fulfillment.

So I agree with you that Israel's restoration is not a miracle out of the
blue but is conditional upon the mission of Paul and other Jewish believers
making the rest jealous and upon the Gentiles being obedient to Paul's
warning not to boast. Thus the best way to categorize Romans 11 is not as
failed prophecy but as prophecy whose (implied) conditions have not been met
(as you have argued).

Brett





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