Romans 11:11-16 (#41.2026.03.22)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:00

Hi, if you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock-solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:48

Well, have you ever had somebody say to you, oh, just trust me, and yet you have history with them? They've said they would do things before and they didn't do them, and now they're saying, hey, just trust me, saying I'm going to do what I said I was going to do. Have you had that before? Yeah, many times, right? So one of the key questions here in the book of Romans is God made promises to the nation Israel who seem now to be far from Him, very few coming to Him. They're rebellious and disobedient. Is God's Word faithful? Is He faithful? Is He faithful to the promises that He has made despite what Israel is doing at the moment? So that's what we're looking at here in Romans 11. And you may ask, why so much time on this issue? Because this, this relates really to the righteousness of God himself, the righteousness of God himself. So stand with me, if you will, as we read God's word here, the end of 10 and then into Romans 11. What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. I say then They did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:27

Now if their transgression is riches for the world, and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. If somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen, save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. So it's answering the question Israel's rejection of God— what's up with that? Israel's rejection of God— what is up with that? There's a large blank there because it's really speaking about three components of God. Before you write them down, just listen as I speak to them, because they, they deal with each other back then. First is acting— is God righteous, right? Or the righteousness of God in the midst of Israel's unbelief, his very righteousness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:49

And of course, if God is not righteous, then the entire history, universe, everything falls apart. Why? His throne is a throne built upon righteousness and justice. To the very righteousness, which also will speak to his faithfulness to his word, his faithfulness to his word. If God speaks promises, right, and it does not come to pass, he is not faithful, and therefore he is not righteous. And so at the very core of his nature, and this also speaks to the sovereignty of Almighty God. The sovereignty of Almighty God, his providence over all things. If he is not righteous, if he is not faithful, then he is not sovereign. And the sovereignty issue comes in, and we talked about this in 9 and 10.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:47

Okay, is God sovereign despite man's unbelief? Is God sovereign despite man's unbelief? And challenged with the whole idea of God's election, God's choice, God's predestination, all words that stir up all kinds of emotion among people. Is God sovereign despite individuals' unbelief? And is God sovereign despite Israel's unbelief? How does God maintain His righteousness, His faithfulness, and His sovereignty in the midst of Israel? That's the question that's going on here. And so you wonder, well, does— what does that have to do with me? Well, it has everything to do with you because it has everything to do with the nature and the character of God, which has everything to do with the promises that God has made to you and to us as Gentiles and to the entire church. Does that make sense? In all of history. So you can put whatever word you want in there. But it is the righteousness, the faithfulness, and the sovereignty of God in the midst of Israel's unbelief. You can put the righteousness of God, certainly. You can put the faithfulness of God, certainly.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:00

You can put the sovereignty of God. Had that become clear when I did the sheet, I would have given you a whole lot more room. Sometimes the Spirit is unfolding partly because the ink is drying. Humor. So for the last— I don't know, since '91, '92, what is that, how many years? I don't know. By the grace of God, right, on Saturday and then Sunday morning, right, Beth, uh, allows me and supports me and encourages me to, uh, put it in. Sometimes I miscalculate the amount of time and we're literally— the ink is drying as we walk out the door. Oftentimes that's the case.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:42

Now, you all may not understand how that is, right? You're always well ahead of time. Everything is prepared in advance. You allocate and manage your time. That's not always the case with us. So sometimes the Spirit of God is unfolding things even as I'm driving here. So he asked the question, have they stumbled And have they fallen in such a way, Israel, that it is total, right, totally and permanently? That's really the question. Have they, Israel, stumbled and fallen totally and permanently? That is a good question, isn't it? Like, what's up? Why is it— so we get it right now— why is it that the majority of those who are coming to Christ are Gentiles? Not Jews. The birthing of the church was the majority Jews, not Gentiles.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:42

What's going on, right? Has God become unfaithful? Has God become unrighteous? How is God sovereign in the midst of that? So it lays out in 9, really 9 and 10, the foundation that Israel has privilege Right, there were privileges given to Israel. They have a distinction amidst that. Their failure has been clear. Their condition is they're zealous without knowledge, right? And then rejection. So he kind of lays this foundation that here's Israel, here's the history of Israel, if you will. They have a privilege. They're unique, right? They have a distinction within them, which we'll talk about. They, they have failed in the midst of it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:32

Their condition is they're zealous without knowledge, and their rejection— what are they rejecting? They've stumbled because of the stumbling stone. What's the stumbling stone? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ to Jews is a stumbling block. It's the stumbling stone, right? We preach Christ crucified to Jews, a stumbling block, a stumbling stone. So he says, okay, is God done? Has God rejected them permanently? And then he says, not no, not kind of no. He says in the most emphatic Greek way, absolutely not. That's what it means. Absolutely not.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:23

Emphatically, no, no, no. He's used that phrase a couple of times before. Absolutely not. So in, in the beginning of, of 11, he says God has not rejected Israel, and then he explains there's a remnant. There's a remnant. The remnant exists, meaning that God is faithful despite Israel's rejection. And there the majority is hardened. The majority is hardened.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:59

And we talked about the fact that that hardening is a judicial and righteous consequence for continual rejection, continual rebellion. It is a righteous and judicial consequence So again, he's going to say there's a remnant that are saved now, right? A remnant among Jews. The majority is hardened now. God has a purpose in the remnant and the hardening. God has a purpose now, which we're going to look at. And then he says there's a future that remains. So there's the remnant, the majority, the purpose, and the future. Let's see that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:54

We're speaking about Israel right now. What's interesting is there are 3 terms for Israel, if you will. Same word, but 3 ways to use it. First of all, ethnic or national Israel. Ethnic or national Israel. These are Jews who are born Jewish. Anyone who, with a mother who's Jewish, is born Jewish, right? So Israel will refer to ethnic or national Israel, physical descendants of Abraham. Then there's the elect, or true Israel.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:43

Scripture calls them the elect, the chosen. These are the believing, saved remnant within. So there's a— right, there's an ethnic category, and then there's a— use the dollar So this is all ethnic, ethnic Jews. Then within that, there, there are the elect. Of course, we're going to see that there are those who are ethnically Gentile And you're going to have the same category, right? And this is the church, right? The church. So he's speaking right now about ethnic Jews. So he's saying ethnic Jews, right? National Jews, ethnic. Then it's also going to refer to corporate Israel in redemptive history.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:57

In other words, that's the nation as a whole, the nation as a whole in God's redemptive purpose. So you say, well, okay, how's that all fit together? So let's take a look at it. Think about it. Here's, here's Abram. He's a moon worshiper. He's an idol worshiper. God calls him, calls him out of nowhere seemingly, and he says, I'm going to bless you, and through you I'm going to bless all the nations of the earth. I'm going to bless you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:40

I'm going to give you a land. There was a set of promises, a covenant to Abram, Abram, and then Abraham, right? Covenant. So let's walk through how these are used, because this is really, this is really important for a number of reasons. They will ultimately determine thoughts, right? How you, you interpret Israel's future. You say, in, in light of today, that's a hot topic, isn't it, right? What's happening? And that, you know, the national and the land is very different than this, God's redemptive purpose. But they are intertwined. So in Romans 9:3-4, he says, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites. So what would that be? That's ethnic or national Israel.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:29

These are born Jewish. He said, to whom belongs— what does he say? These are physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So he's referring to physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And of course, Paul is one as well, right? Physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But then he says something belongs to this group. What belongs to them? To whom belongs? Glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, right? So this is corporate Israel. This is corporate Israel. This is the people that God has entrusted with his redemptive purposes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:22

You see that? We'll stop before we go on because we're going to walk through where these show up. Any questions on that? Yes, like Ruth, Tamar, and all those people are doing. So God is, is showing into the future what would happen, and that is salvation will go beyond just Jews, right? His redemptive purposes were going, but fundamentally in the Old Testament, who's coming to, right? There's the ethnic group, the corporate group that have been given this redemptive purposes. And in the midst of that, right, Abram believed, and it was reckoned to him for what? Righteousness. Ruth believed even though she was not Jewish, right? So he is— he is a precursor to the fact that salvation is not just Jews alone. So we have this ethnic by birth, right? Then we have a corporate Israel. Where they've been given the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law. In 9:6-7, it says, it's not as though the word of God has failed, because they start to ask that question there.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:38

Well, what's going on here, right? For they are not all Israel or descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they're Abraham's descendants. Oh, now we have two uses of Israel in one sentence. Two uses of Israel in one sentence. Two uses of Israel. Well, what are they? Well, first of all, he says they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. In other words, there's an ethnic national Israel, those who are descended from Israel. Who are those? Abraham's descendants. But he's saying there's an elect, right? They are not all Israel who were descended.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:30

That's this. They are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. In other words, there's a subset within the overall group. That's the elect. They are not all Israel were descended. So that's, that's the spiritual Israel, if you want to think about that. That's the spiritual Israel, those who are believing, the remnant it's called, right? In the same sentence. Well, Lord, why is this hard? It's hard, so kind of walk through it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:08

Stay with me. Romans 9:27. So then he goes to the Old Testament, he says, wait a minute, Let's see what Isaiah says. He cries out concerning who? Israel. Israel. So who's this Israel? Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it's a remnant, remnant that will be saved. We see the same thing here. The number of the sons of Israel— who's that? Ethnic.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:38

So he's saying though this group of ethnic Jews right here right, will be like the sands, right? There's a group within that called the elect, which is also known as the remnant, chosen, right? This is the remnant. And he's saying this is— so the idea is this is not a new concept. He's saying, look, this was in Isaiah. So in Isaiah, in fact, right, you'll see it a number of places. So the ethnic or national Israel is a large physical population like the sand of the sea, but the remnant will be saved. We see that physical, a physical large physical group, a spiritual group that's a remnant. Large physical group and a spiritual group that's a remnant. So then in, in Romans 9:31, again he says, but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:57

So again, that's ethnic Israel, but you, you could also say colon religious Israel. Religious Israel, right? They pursued the law. They sought to justify themselves through the law, right? He says there's a group— Israel is pursuing the law. Then in 10:1, the Apostle Paul says, brethren, brethren. So what does brethren mean? Jews. My heart's desire and my prayer to God for them. So brethren is— no, this is that he's saying brethren, Paul, right? That's okay. That's why we're going through this.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:55

It is confusing. When he says brethren, this is true Israel. So Paul is saying brethren as in we are— this is not physical descendants. He uses brethren as these are spiritual, right? And these would be brethren, by the way, when he says brethren, that's this entire group because Paul is writing to both saved Jews and saved Gentiles, elect Jews and elect Gentiles, the remnant of Israel, but also saved Gentiles. Make sense? So he's saying, brethren. Now what's he saying? Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them. Who's them? Yeah, this would be unbelieving ethnic. That— this would be this group, right? This is unbelieving ethnic Jews.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:57

These are unbelieving. So in other words, how are we to think about unbelieving? What Paul say? He says, my heart's desire and my prayer is what? For their salvation. So it gives us how to think about, right? He's saying, brethren, so we think about these are literally ethnic Israel, but it's Israel from the previous one, which means those who are religious, right? He says they have zeal, right? They're following the law, or believe they're following the law, right? They're religious, but they're unbelieving. Think that following the law is going to get them. This entire section's about— what about Israel? It's all about Israel. He's going to flip. Next week we'll go— he's going to flip to the Gentiles. Okay, now I'm speaking to you Gentiles, because Paul is an apostle to the Gentiles.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:09

He's an apostle to the Gentiles. So in this section, there's— because he makes big promises, right, to the church, right? And then he's saying the gospel to believers, the gospel to believers. So this part is about two things. One, are those promises to us as believers true? What about Israel? Like, what about all the unbelieving Israel? How do you, how do you answer that? Because if God is untrue to those promises, he's going to be untrue to ours. That's one of the big questions. Number 2 is, is God sovereign over unbelief? Because you have man— oh, man's got a free will. Yes, individuals do, and a nation does. What is God? Is God still sovereign over unbelief in the world? Right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:57

That's the second question he's asking here. Because he's still sovereign. Does that make sense? It does. Thank you. So this section is specifically about Israel and unbelieving Israel particularly. So just to stop here, because at the end of this section, here's what Paul's going to say, because how many think like we're looking down on— Paul's going to explain all the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. So if you start through here and say, well, this is hard to follow. Yeah, of course.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:30

This is the mind and the purpose of eternal, almighty, everlasting God. He is the blessed and only sovereign. He is the King of Kings. He alone possesses immortality, and he dwells in unapproachable light. Welcome to his plans. Well, they're beyond me. Yeah, they are. Hopefully, hopefully, right? So hang, hang, hang with me here.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:57

So he prays, right? Or he testified they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. That's religious, right? That's religious. They have the zeal, right? They're religious. But that's still ethnic. Then he's going to go to the Old Testament again, but he's going to say, I say to you, Israel Did not know, did they? So then he's going to quote Moses. He says, Moses says, I will make you jealous, right, by that which is not a nation, by a nation which without understanding will I anger you. What nation's that? Gentiles. That is Gentiles right here.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:43

He said, I'm going to make you jealous, right? I am. First of all, he says, I am Jealous. My name, and I'm gonna make you jealous. Who's you? Unbelieving. I'm gonna make you unbelieving. I mean, it's nothing different than my, uh, uh, my Lord said— the Lord said to my Lord, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. How do you explain that one? Yeah, how do you explain that one? You somehow over here, you explain it, right? So when he says, I'm going to make— God's going to make you— the you is unbelieving. But he said, surely, I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? He says, no, this is not new.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:35

This is not new. It's in the Old Testament. And then the Lord says, right, in Isaiah, he says, all day long, all day long, I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient, obstinate people. So he's saying this people over here, right, who have the covenants and the law, right, these people over here are obstinate and rebellious. This group over here is obstinate and rebellious. God says, I'm— I, I, right, I call out to them, I stretch out my hands. They're disobedient. They're in disobedience and rebellion.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:31

So that sets us up for, okay, Has God rejected, has God rejected unbelieving, religious zealots, right? Has God rejected that in the past? He's saying there's a remnant. And particularly, what does that mean going forward? What's that mean for today going forward? So we say then God has not rejected his people. His people, who are his people? He's talking about ethnic Jews, the covenant people, if you will, right? It says, never, for I too am an Israelite descendant of Abraham. That's how I know when he says his people, his people here means ethnic Jews. When he's talking about right there, his people mean ethnic Jews, right? So he's saying this, his people right here means that ethnic Jews. Because these are his people, bought with the blood. He's saying his people mean ethnic Jews. Because how did I know? Because Paul says, because I am one by ethnicity.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:43

You see that? For I too am an Israelite, descendant of Abraham. Ethnic, national Israel is a people group. His people, continuation of unbelief, but also a covenant people. The covenant people, right? It says the covenant people here. In other words, the covenant he made with the nation, right? The ethnic nation of Israel. So he's flipping back and forth here. That's why you got to kind of follow it, because it's who's he talking about. But he reminds us, even though there's this— his people, ethnic people that are mostly unbelieving, unbelieving.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:25

He says, there also come to be at the present time— Romans 11:5— what? Remnant. A remnant. Elect Israel is a remnant right here. This is a subset of ethnic Jews. Again, he's reminding us this is a different group. Everybody see that? The remnant. What does that prove? God's faithfulness. Even in the midst of Israel's unbelief, God always has a remnant.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:01

No matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels like, God's purpose— despite unbelieving Jews, God's purpose has not been thwarted. There's a remnant. A remnant. Within ethnic national Israel. This is coming. And then in 11:7, what did he say? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. So the chosen are the believing subset And the rest were— pardon me— majority. So he's saying these are called elect, these are called a remnant, these are also called— you also called chosen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:08

Chosen. They're seeking their religious zeal through the law. What Israel was seeking to justify— remember, this sits in the context of how can man become the righteousness of God? That's the question in Romans, right? How can man become the righteousness of God? Because if you're not the righteousness of God, You can't have a rest. You can't be at peace with him. So the question is, how can man become the righteousness of God? That's the question. All Romans. Well, he's saying they sought through the law, right? They sought through the law. Not good.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:54

Can't happen. Jews have the law, right? Caused them to come to Christ. They're not. That's the question, right? They have all of these privileges. They have the promises of God. How come they're not? How come they're not? He's going to get to that here. So he says in 11:11, I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall. That means fall permanently.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:18

And he's talking here, again, may it never be. This is ethnic national Israel. They're unbelieving, hardened Israel, right? So they're here. Here they are chosen. That's why you have of God. They're also— God has hardened them. Righteous judicial hardening. Unbelieving hardened Israel, the majority.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:52

So now he's going to go to the purpose. Romans 11:12. If their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be? So again, he's saying this is again ethnic national Israel, right? Their rejection— they've rejected, right? They're unbelieving, they're religious, and they have rejected Christ. And have rejected Christ. So their rejection— God's purpose, what has he done? He brought the gospel to Gentiles. Brought the gospel to Gentiles. As a result of their rejection. He also says in 11:15, same way, if their rejection is reconciliation, reconciliation.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:03

Remember, he says we have, right, we have the word of reconciliation, and it's reconciliation for what? Sin. Yeah, but reconciliation, what's he say there? Reconciliation for the world, the world, which is now ethnic Jews and ethnic Gentiles. He's saying reconciliation for the world. So he says, calls this whole folks, the world, all people, all people. The gospel is now available for all people. He says the world there. Reconciliation of the world means all people. So as we go through here, in all this section, Israel predominantly means ethnic Jews right here, right? Ethnic-born Jewish, except for 9:6 when he says, hey, by the way, there's a subset And those are the chosen, right? This is 9:6.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:10

Those are the chosen, the elect, the remnant. So fundamentally, and this is really important, it's going to tie to— so what does that mean for Israel in the future? And that's the dividing line. That's the dividing line among Protestant belief. It's a dividing line of Protestant belief. What's the future, right? What's the future for Israel? So let's go over here. What do we have? Israel's rejection of Jesus Christ as Messiah. It's called Israel, and when he says Israel, ethnic Jews, Israel's transgression opens, opens the riches of the gospel to Gentiles. The word is their falling away, their trespass, their sin.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:03

So let's look at this. So he says the gospel, when the Israel rejected, right, ethnic Israel rejected over a period of time, opened up the way for large amounts of Gentiles to come in. So in history, we could also say in history up until here Right up until here, the cross, the majority of those who were elect were Jewish by birth. Then the cross came, and now how did this open up so that now more Gentiles are coming to Christ than Jews? More Gentiles are coming to Christ. We can say that there's also a dividing line here where the cross came, opens up. So let's see, does this match with scripture? So he says, yeah, at the beginning he says the gospel is the power of salvation, right, for all who believe, to the Jews first and then the Gentiles, Jew first and then the Greek. And notice what he says in Acts. Paul says it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:15

This is to a group of Jews. To you first, ethnic Jew, since you repudiate it and judge yourself unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. We're turning to the Gentiles. So God, the gospel now goes out, and Paul is an apostle to the Gentiles. Peter was an apostle to the Jews. You see, so in history, God had a redemptive plan. Hey, by the way, he's saying, look, Their rejection doesn't get in the way of my sovereignty.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:51

Their rejection turned out a blessing for who? Raise your hand. For Gentiles. That'd be you and me, right? And he says to stir ethnic Israel, right? Their rejection and to open the gospel to Gentiles was to stir ethnic Israel to jealousy. Just like he said back in Deuteronomy, God's saying, look, I'm sending my grace to a people who are not your people, who are not a people. That should make you say, wait, wait. And salvation to some. So Paul's saying, during this time, during this time when mostly Gentiles are coming to Christ, The purpose is to open to Gentiles, the gospel to Gentiles, hoping that the Jews would become jealous and seek him again. And Paul said, and the salvation of some.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:56

And lastly, he said he points to a future restoration. It points to a future restoration. So the words he used here are fulfillment, right? Fulfillment in the future, right? And this is something about ethnic Jews. There will be a fulfillment. There's also an acceptance by Israel. And he says there will be life from the dead. Life from the dead, huh? But life from the dead That's kind of like the gospel, kind of like the gospel. And see, he's pointing back to Zechariah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:42

He says, I will pour out on the house of David the spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. He's saying there's a future where Israel, ethnic Israel, ethnic Jews, will look upon Christ and mourn, see him as Savior, see him as Savior. Okay, so again, we have ethnic Jews. This is what he's speaking to. What about their unbelief? What about their unbelief? They've been given covenants and the law. They're religious. They zeal, but zeal without knowledge. They've rejected Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:25

They're obstinate, rebellion. Has God's purpose been thwarted? And is he done with Israel, ethnic Israel, for good? He's saying, no, there's always been a remnant. There's always been a remnant. There's an elect. They're chosen, right? He's saying right now, the bulk of those who are coming to Christ are ethnic Gentiles. But even within that, there are, these are, right? These are unbelieving and religious. These are confused. Right? Elect in the midst of it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:00

His heart's desired prayer. And the gospel and this time of the Gentiles is designed to get jealousy among ethnic Jews and also, right, to cause them to come back to him. And there's a future, he's saying. Future. So what does this mean for us? It's a reminder that God's plans and purposes are sovereign, are sovereign. They are sovereign, faithful, and unstoppable. God's plans and purposes are sovereign, faithful, and unstoppable. So if you stop— see, this goes back to, right, if, if their rejection of Christ, right, means that God is done with Israel, then he is not faithful, he is not righteous, and he's not sovereign over their unbelief.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:00

But yet that speaks to the issue, just like they did in 9. Well, you know, they— man has free will. Yes, he does, absolutely. Yet God is sovereign over it. God is sovereign over unbelief individually, and he's sovereign over unbelief as a nation, and he's using that purpose. He's now opening up Gentiles. There's some future, there's some future which we will explain in depth next week, but there's a future for, for Jews. So what does this remind us? God says, I am the one.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:35

You step back and say, so what does this mean? God says, I'm the Lord, and there is No other. There is no other. There is no other. You may have a choice, you may have a capacity to do what you want to do, but you can't thwart the purposes of God. Man cannot thwart the purposes of God. He nullifies the counsel of the nations, he frustrates the plans of the people. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart from generation to generation. What's he saying? I'm the one declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, my purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:21

So we're saying, I have a purpose in all of this, and my sovereign plan has not been thwarted. It is right on time and on target. So what does that have to do with me? Well, it has a lot to do, because if God is not true to his plans and purposes and promises to the nation Israel, we can't trust him either. And so I put, and his— by the way, if he is sovereign and sure in his plans for Israel, what about his plans for you? Oh, what about his plans for you? So God has plans for all things. God has plans for the nation Israel. God has plans for the Jews and the Gentiles. God has plans for nations. God has plans for times and epochs.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:16

God has plans. Does God have plans for you? Specific plans for you? Scripture says his thoughts for you— I want you to think about this. You can't think about this because he says his thoughts for you are as many as the sands upon the seashore. For you, how many sands are on the seashore? Those are his thoughts for you. Sovereign Lord. And is he sovereign over me and my life despite my sin and my brokenness and my stupidity and my idiocy and my rebellion, all of this, is he still sovereign over that? That's the question here. Is he still sovereign? And I love this. He says, the King David says, Yahweh, the Lord, the Sovereign One, will accomplish what? What? He'll accomplish.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:20

Faithful is he who called you, 1 Thessalonians 5:24. Faithful is he who called you, he will also bring it to pass. He said, and then he says, thy loving kindness, O Lord, is everlasting. Aren't you glad? And I love this last prayer. Do not forsake the works of thy hands. What are the works? The works prepared for you before the foundation of time. Everybody get that? See how it indicates? Just like this is true for nations and people groups, this is true for you. He has plans and purposes for you in the midst of this, and his plans are sovereign, and he is faithful.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:09

And he is unstoppable. All right, write down a question, comment, insight. And that goes back to what he said at the beginning, right? Can you trust what he says? Can you trust what he says for you? And oh, by the way, you look around the world and you wonder what's happening in history. Can you trust the God of history to take care of history? Or is, is he sovereign still? Is he faithful? Are his plans stoppable or are they unstoppable? At the end of Joshua's life, he says, not one good word of all the words which thou hast promised has failed. Not one word has failed. And I think that's what he calls us to do. And, and Joshua says, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, which means we will, we will submit our life. We'll submit our future, we'll submit our dreams and our desires, as well as our decisions, to the God who is faithful and true and sovereign over all things.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:32

So, Heavenly Father, we just bless your holy name today, and we stand in awe of you. We stand in awe of your power, your sovereignty, your purposes. We rejoice that our God reigns. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, your dominion from generation to generation, that no one can stand before you, no one can hold off your hand, no one can say to you, what hast thou done? And by your grace and mercy, you've rescued us out of darkness, out of rebellion, out of obstinate unbelief into the kingdom of your beloved Son, the Lord Jesus. And in him we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And in you all things hold together, Lord Jesus, including the details of our lives. And we can trust you for all of history like we can trust you for the purposes in the world now, as well as our purposes. So we bless you and thank you today that you are worthy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:41

And may the God who is worthy, may he bless you, may he keep you, may he cause his face to shine upon you, may he lift up his countenance and grant you shalom, deep confidence in his sovereignty and providence in all things good, bad, and ugly. Amen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:50:04

Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life, and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you His peace, His shalom, in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.