Romans 11

Were the Old Testament saints saved? Did they know the Gospel? After all, the Bible says that "Scripture ... preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham" (Galatians 3:8). This teaching, with reference to the ingrafting of the Gentiles in Romans 11, reveals the "gospel reached beforehand to Abraham" to be identical to "Paul's Gospel." 

Paul wants you to understand this mystery: A partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:25) Let's take some time to see if we can solve the mystery with a teaching from Romans 11 focusing on the meaning of the enigmatic phrase, "the fullness of the Gentiles."

In Romans 11, Paul speaks of the Gentile disciples as branches from a wild olive tree, grafted in to a cultivated tree, but the symbolism leaves room for ambiguity. Who is who in the metaphor, and where does the rest of Israel fit in to the picture? Who are the broken branches, who are the roots, and how do they all fit together? This teaching examines the famous "grafted-in" passage in the context of the broader discussion of Romans 9-11 and by comparing it with a similar Talmudic teaching.

Has God rejected his people? Did Israel stumble and fall? Romans 10-11 offers us a crash course on Paul's theology regarding the election of Israel, the Messianic Jewish remnant, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and the final redemption. This Bible study fills in the missing pieces in Paul's arguments to make sense out of these difficult passages:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." (Isaiah 52:7)

Who are the 144,000 "servants of the Lord" in the book of Revelation, and what is their role? In the exciting season finale of the Apocalypse of John, we follow the story up to the brink of the opening of the seventh seal. This teaching focuses on a discusion of the 12,000 sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. (Revelation 7:4)

The release of two stunning new statements, one by the Vatican and one by The Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding & Dialogue (CJCUC) constitutes a Chanukah miracle and a “cease fire” of theological hostility which has characterized the relationship between the Church and the Jewish people for most of the last two thousand years.