Paul is speaking prophetically in this part of his letter to the Romans. In Romans 9, 10. and 11 he speaks about the rejection of the Jews, but at this time he wrote this epistle, Israel as a people politically and physically were still standing. It wasn’t until 10-12 years laters that the temple was destroyed, the Jewish political system was overthrown, and the Jews were expelled from the Promised Land. Paul is in mourning for this before it happened.

To chart the information in Romans 11, I chose three questions that Paul posed, then answered:

• Has God rejected His own people? Paul answers this question repeatedly in this chapter.
• What about the Gentiles? Israel’s stumble opened the way for my salvation.
• What do we learn about God? How can God be both kind and severe? Does He keep His promises?

I find often that God puts challenges before me in groupings of things I read, discussions I have, studies I am involved in, and even a child’s comment. Those preceding prompts from God made His message for me just jump off of the page when I read Romans 11. What did God have here for you?

The image of a tree, with roots and branches that are designed to bear fruit is one that I understand. So you can guess what my picture will be. What is yours?

I invite you to join me again tomorrow as we go through this chapter together. And please feel free to share with me in the comments or send me an email.