¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Reciprocity is in God’s plan to reach the world. As originally presented, God promised to reach the world through Abraham and his descendants (Gen 12:3). Now in the Gospel, God desires to reach the Jewish people (Abraham’s descendants) through the world, that is, the non-Jews. Which was God’s original intention and purpose from eternity past before He created anything? Who knows besides God Himself? That information is infinitely beyond our puny minds to comprehend.

Our inability to understand the twists and turns in God’s plan for the universe only underscores the awe and wonder we have for His infinite wisdom. From a strictly literary point of view, God’s plot line is infinitely more creative than anything Shakespeare or all the other writers of the world could have thought up. The artistic elements, in both details and the broad sweep, are nothing short of amazing, woven together in perfect unity, in multi-dimensional variety. Infuse the story with its reality, and the gap between literature and history (both past and future) disappears. The Bible reflects all existence as it really is, and its world view is accurate.

Certainly it is within God’s sovereign ability to make it all happen. We contemplate at this juncture, however, His unfolding, glorious wisdom. The new twist Paul introduces here is twofold. First, God’s rejection of Israel because of their unbelief resulted in the Gospel of reconciliation going out to the Gentile world. This expands on the spiritual “riches” of salvation that Paul wrote about in Romans 11:12. Reconciliation means being brought back into relationship with God, something the Jews woefully needed. One could say that their un-reconciliation resulted in the reconciliation of the Gentiles to God.

Second, God’s rejection of Israel is not forever. A day is coming when Israel will accept the Gospel message and be accepted by God (that is, reconciled), and this will result in “life from the dead.” In the classical rabbinic pattern of arguing from the lesser to the greater, Paul says if Israel’s rejection brought the good thing of reconciliation, then Israel’s acceptance by God will bring a greater thing, spiritual resuscitation (which verse 12 calls “their fulfillment”). This most likely refers to a massive restoration of people, including the Jews, to the Creator God who breathed life into their humanity. And ultimately, this includes all the physical resurrection of all believers.

Lord, I believe You are not finished with Israel yet because You always keep Your promises. Therefore I rest in Your promise to me of “life from the dead.”