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The Rest Were Hardened | Romans 11:7-10

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  1. “The Rest Were Hardened”

  2. ROMANS 11:7-10

    Romans 11:7–10

  3. MARCH 24, 2024

  4. PASTOR BRIAN SMITH

  5. WILDWOOD CHURCH

  6. EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS

  7. AT A GLANCE

  8. What began on Palm Sunday with shouts of celebration and triumph ended with unbelief. Sadly, not

  9. much had changed for Israel over the few decades that would follow. In today’s passage in Romans

  10. 11, Paul sheds light the unbelief of Israel in his day and in ours.

  11. INTRODUCTION

  12. John 12:12 and following captures the triumphal entry on what we call Palm Sunday. It is called this

    John 12:12

  13. because a great crowd of people following Jesus laid palm branches and cloaks along the road as

  14. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. This fulfilled what was written, “behold, your kind is coming,

  15. sitting on a donkey’s colt.” Triumph. Celebration. Hosanna! – All initially mark this day in the final

  16. week of Jesus.

  17. But it was not all cheer and glee when the Son of Man entered that city. Jesus began to rebuke the

  18. crowd almost immediately because they were following Him as a spectacle, because He raised

  19. Lazarus from the dead. But when He told them He would die, they couldn’t wrap their heads

  20. around that.

  21. John narrates the scene, “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that

  22. the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom

  23. has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, ‘He has blinded their

  24. eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal

  25. them.’” John 12:37-40

    John 12:37–40

  26. What began on Palm Sunday with shouts of celebration and triumph ended with unbelief. Sadly, not

  27. much had changed for Israel over the few decades that would follow. In today’s passage in Romans

  28. 11, Paul sheds light the unbelief of Israel.

  29. ROMANS 11:7-10

    Romans 11:7–10

  30. 7  What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the

  31. rest were hardened,  8  as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not

  32. see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” 9  And David says, “Let their table

  33. become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10  let their eyes be

  34. darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

  35. WHAT THEN?

  36. 7  What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. God’s righteousness is based on grace

  37. but Israel was seeking to establish a righteousness of their own based on works. Thus Israel failed

  38. to obtain what it was seeking.

  39. Paul continues, The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. The elect, whom Paul

  40. referred to as “the remnant chosen by grace” in verse 5, have obtained righteousness with God

  41. because it was imputed to them through faith, not works. They were chosen by grace, not because

  42. of any virtue or works on their part. Why? Paul says elsewhere, “Lest any should boast.” Where

  43. righteousness is based on works, man is the hero, man gets the glory. The elect of God recognize

  44. they have obtained what they have because of grace, thus God gets the glory.

  45. A HARD SAYING

  46. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. This reminds me of Romans 9 where Paul

  47. quotes Exodus 33:19, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have

    Exodus 33:19

  48. compassion.” Romans 9:15 And a few verses later Paul says, “So then He has mercy on whomever He wills,

    Romans 9:15

  49. and He hardens whomever He wills.” Romans 9:18 Remember, O man, not to talk back to God.

    Romans 9:18

  50. Instead, we ought to say with Paul, “How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!”

  51. Romans 11:33 Whenever we come to a difficult passage, we should recognize it is we who are limited

    Romans 11:33

  52. in our understanding, not God, in His justice.

  53. If you recall, the context of Exodus 33 was God hardening Pharoah’s heart. However, that

  54. hardening came after Pharoah hardened his own heart five times. Likewise, Paul has made the case

  55. that Israel hardened their own hearts by seeking to establish their own righteousness, by failing to

  56. submit to the righteousness of God, by being disobedient and contrary to God, and by stumbling

  57. over the rock of offense – a sterile way of saying they crucified the Son of God.

  58. God hardened them, rendering them even more insensitive to the Holy Spirit and sealing their

  59. unbelief, but we read this only after we read of Israel hardening themselves.

  60. TWO WITNESSES

  61. In verse 8 Paul says as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see

  62. and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” (Isaiah 29:10; Deuteronomy 29:4)

    Isaiah 29:10 Deuteronomy 29:4

  63. It is hard to deny what Paul is saying here. God gave them a spirit of stupor, that is, a mind that

  64. fails to understand, perceive, and believe; symbolically illustrated as eyes that would not see and

  65. ears that would not hear.

  66. Notice, Paul quotes from both Isaiah and Deuteronomy. Isaiah represents the prophets and

  67. Deuteronomy represents the Law. Two witnesses, each from the Word of God, each testifying to

  68. the truth about Israel’s apostacy.

  69. Interestingly, the actual verse Paul quotes in Deuteronomy says, “But to this day the LORD has not

  70. given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” Deuteronomy 29:4 Despite seeing all

    Deuteronomy 29:4

  71. that God had done for them in Egypt and with Pharoah, the great wonders that their own eyes saw,

  72. they lacked hearts to understand and eyes to see and ears to hear. Forty years in the wilderness had

  73. gone by and they had witnessed first-hand God’s miraculous provision and protection. Yet, God,

  74. speaking through Moses, essentially said to them, “You still don’t get it.”

  75. Paul says God gave them a spirit of stupor, a quote from Isaiah 29, “For the LORD has poured out

  76. upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).” Isaiah

    Isaiah 29:10

  77. 29:10

  78. God sent prophet after prophet who called the nation of Israel to repentance and faithfulness, and

  79. they killed them for it. Instead, they closed their eyes and covered the ears, both parts of the body

  80. used to perceive. They would not see and they would not hear. They rejected the messengers

  81. because they rejected the message. Therefore, God poured out on them a spirit of stupor, or deep

  82. sleep, further preventing them from seeing.

  83. WHAT SHOULD THEY HAVE SEEN?

  84. In Luke 10 Jesus helps us understand what they should have seen. Jesus said, “Blessed are the eyes that

  85. see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to

  86. hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Luke 10:23-24

    Luke 10:23–24

  87. Just prior to that, Jesus’s disciples returned from their short-term mission trip the way most of us do

  88. – on a spiritual high! Jesus rejoiced with them, not so much that demons submitted to them in His

  89. name, which is what had the disciples so pumped, but that their names were written in Heaven.

  90. “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding

  91. and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to

  92. me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and

  93. anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’” Luke 10:21-22

    Luke 10:21–22

  94. So, what should Israel have seen? Jesus, their Messiah! What should they have heard? The Gospel of

  95. their salvation! But to do so, they’d have had to approach the Father like a little child. The elite, the

  96. educated, the powerful thought they could establish their own righteousness. In short, they were too

  97. good for grace. What a pity.

  98. A SNARE AND A TRAP

  99. Sadly, their judgment was pronounced 1000 years before. Verses 9-10 And David says, “Let their

  100. table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10  let their

  101. eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.” This is from Psalm

    Psalms 69:22–23

  102. 69:22-23, a messianic psalm, a prophetic psalm about the suffering Christ.

  103. In speaking of why the Jews hated Him, Jesus quoted Psalm 69:4, “But the word that is written in their

    Psalms 69:4

  104. Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” John 15:25 Not only did they hate Him, Jesus said,

    John 15:25

  105. but they also hated the Father.

  106. According to Paul, this prophecy, with its resulting judgment, has been fulfilled in the Jews who

  107. rejected Jesus as their Messiah. If we return to the text in Romans, it becomes more clear to us – the

  108. elect, chosen by grace, were given the righteousness of God through faith, not works. The rest

  109. reaped the due penalty for their hardness of heart – the judgment of Christ forever.

  110. Let’s consider the judgment Paul quotes from Psalm 69. Let their table become a snare and a

  111. trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. Their table is symbolic of their place of

  112. safety, sustenance, and security. It’s a refuge. But David, and here in this context Paul, called for the

  113. refuge to become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. What a

  114. tragic change of fortune.

  115. What Paul meant precisely by their table, is unclear. But we know that the Jews considered God’s

  116. Word, especially the first five books, called the Torah or the Pentateuch, to be their source of

  117. spiritual sustenance and security. The Jews saw the scriptures as their refuge. Here’s what Jesus said,

  118. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life...” John 5:39 I believe it’s a fair

    John 5:39

  119. assessment to understand their table as the Word of God.

  120. THE WORD OF GOD AS JUDGE

  121. What a shocking thing, then, to hear that the Word of God would become a snare and a trap, a

  122. stumbling block and a retribution for them. We love the Word of God, how could it become a snare

  123. and a trap for someone?

  124. Here’s how: the more people used scripture inappropriately, as a means of securing their own

  125. salvation, the more immune they became to the gospel of salvation. Jesus said, “You search the

  126. Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,   yet you refuse

  127. to come to me that you may have life.” John 5:39-40

    John 5:39–40

  128. The scriptures point us to Jesus. They reveal to us our need for a Savior, the plan of God for our

  129. salvation, and the fulfillment of that plan in Jesus, the Savior.

  130. Listen to the words of Jesus on Palm Sunday, “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not

  131. judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my

  132. words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” John 12:47-48

    John 12:47–48

  133. The scriptures rise up in our judgment as a testimony of our response to Him, just as Isaiah and

  134. Moses served as witnesses against Israel through Paul. Those who believe the gospel and obey the

  135. gospel, the scriptures bear witness that we have eternal life and will be with Jesus forever. Those

  136. who refuse to obey the gospel, the scriptures bear witness that they have failed to obtain what they

  137. sought.

  138. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, appealing to Isaiah 6, saying they had eyes that would not see and ears

  139. that would not hear, because they refused to receive by faith what had been offered to them. They

  140. would not turn to Him for life because they thought in scripture they found their refuge.

  141. A MODERN-DAY WARNING

  142. What a warning to people today who are committed to reading, studying, memorizing, and teaching

  143. the Word but do so as a work of righteousness and refuse to acknowledge the One to whom the

  144. Word directs us. They know all the verses. They know all the doctrine. They know all the trivia. And

  145. there’s certainly nothing wrong with knowing the Word! But they sit down to the table of the Word

  146. of God, thinking they have security from judgment, thinking that in them they have eternal life.

  147. But it will be the very table of the Word that ensares them, entraps them, trips them, and condemns

  148. them because they resist the message of redemption by grace, through faith, in Christ.

  149. Hear the sober words of Hebrews 3, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart,

  150. leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none

  151. of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original

  152. confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’

  153. For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom

  154. was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom

  155. did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?   So we see that they were unable to

  156. enter because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:12-19

    Hebrews 3:12–19

  157. Do you want to enter the kingdom of heaven? Enter by belief! Do you already believe the gospel?

  158. Rejoice, because you have been blessed! “...Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!” Luke 10:23

    Luke 10:23

  159. Palm Sunday was a day of tragic irony. Many people thronged to Jesus to be near the spectacle. But

  160. they would not believe His Word. What began with “Hosanna!” on Sunday ended with “Crucify

  161. Him” on Friday. Hardened hearts, blinded eyes, and deaf ears. Today, if you hear His voice, do not

  162. harden your hearts as in the day of rebellion.

  163. BIBLIOGRAPHY

  164. Bruce, F. F. (2008). Romans: An introduction and commentary. Inter-Varsity Press.

  165. Doriani, D. M. (2021). Romans. P&R Publishing.

  166. Hughes, Kent R. (1991). Romans – Righteousness from Heaven. Crossway.

  167. Kruse, Colin G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

  168. Longenecker, Richard N. (2016). The Epistle to the Romans. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

  169. MacArthur, John. (1991). Romans 1-8. Moody Publishers.

  170. MacArthur, John. (1991). Romans 9-16. Moody Publishers.

  171. Moo, Douglas J. (2018). The Letter to the Romans, Second Edition. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

  172. Mounce, Robert. (1995). Romans. B&H Publishing.

  173. Schreiner, Thomas R. (2018). Romans, Second Edition. Baker Publishing Group.

  174. Sproul, R. C. (2019). The Righteous Shall Live By Faith – Romans. Ligonier Ministries