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May
Jesus Christ be Praised - Part 4
THE PROMISE OF PRAISE Page
2
V.25 (cont'd.)
** What does Paul do now to further help the Gentiles to understand God's
dealing with Israel?
He explains the "mystery" of the timing of Israel's national
salvation.
** What does Paul mean by "mystery"?
Whenever you see this term, it is referring to some knowledge that
had been hidden in the Old Testament times, but is now revealed in the
New Testament.
cf. Romans 16:25-26, Ephesians 3:4-7 and Colossians 1:25-27
** If the Gentiles failed to understand the mystery of Israel's national
salvation, what additional error
could they make?
They could become "wise in [their] own estimation" and thus
"fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil" [borrowing
from 1Timothy 3:6]. All see - Isaiah 14:12-14, Proverbs 16:18-20
** Back in Romans 11:25, what is the first part of the "mystery"?
"...a partial hardening has happened to Israel..."
** Does that mean that some Israelites had been partially hardened against
God?
No! Those who had been hardened were totally set against God for their
unbelief, but not all were hardened. Remember, God had kept for Himself
a remnant who would believe in the Messiah and thus only part of Israel
had been hardened. (cf. V.5)
** For the second part of the mystery, how long will this hardening of
Israel last?
"...until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in"
The phrase "has come in" is translated from the Greek word
"eiserchomai" and was used by Jesus and the apostle Paul to
describe receiving salvation.
cf. Matthew 5:20, John 3:5, Acts 14:22
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