January 5, 2025 – Romans 11:17-36

Lesson Date: January 5, 2025

Focal Scripture Passage: Romans 11:17-36

AIM: To lead students to discover God’s future plans for the Jews, and to pray for the safety and salvation of Jewish people everywhere.

Before class: Read the notes on Romans 11:17-36 found in the Sunday School Teacher Book.  Write the words, “God’s Plans for the Jews” on the board.

INTRODUCTION (Create Learning Readiness): Wish everyone “Happy New Year.”  Tell them that many people use the beginning of a new calendar year as a time to make new commitments and plans.  Ask: “What are your plans for 2025?”  Allow time for some responses.

Direct everyone’s attention to the words “God’s Plans for the Jews” written on the board.  Tell the students that today we will study the second of two passages that reveal some of God’s plans for His chosen people, the Jews.  Tell them last week’s lesson was about God’s Current Plan for the Jews, and we learned how God is working in and through the Jews today, including the following:

• God has not thrown away or rejected the Jews.
• God is still calling and saving a remnant of Jewish people today (Rom. 11:5 says, “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace”).
• Most Jews today are spiritually blind to salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, but God is using this time to save many Gentiles (including us!).
• God is still calling Jews to receive Christ as their Messiah, which assures us that many more Jews will be saved in the future.

Ask: “Have you prayed this week that Jewish people will come to faith in Jesus Christ?”

Tell the students the title of today’s lesson is God’s Future Plans for the Jews.  Tell them we will learn some of God’s plans for the Jews in the future.

HEART OF THE LESSON (Bible Study):

1. Review.
   • Remind everyone that we are studying the New Testament book of Romans.
   • Ask if anyone would recite last week’s memory verse (Rom. 10:17).
2. Saved Gentiles Must Not Boast or Be Proud.
   • Tell the students that last week’s lesson ended with Romans 11:16, and that is where we will begin today.
   • Ask a volunteer to read Romans 11:16-17.
   • Explain the following:
     • Olives were a very important crop in ancient times.
     • Olive trees might live for hundreds of years, but sometimes a branch would stop bearing fruit.
     • In such cases, the old branch was broken off and a branch from a younger olive tree was grafted into the old trunk, so the tree could continue producing fruit.
     • The branch couldn’t live by itself; it needed the root.
     • God’s Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use this imagery concerning Jews and Gentiles.
     • In terms of salvation, some of the natural branches (representing the Jews) were “broken off” because of their unbelief.
     • Branches from a “wild olive tree” (representing the Gentiles) have been grafted in by faith in Jesus Christ.
     • Gentile believers, therefore, are made partakers of the “root and fatness” of the original olive tree (a special covenant relationship with God).
   • Read Romans 11:18-20.
   • Ask: “What warning does God give Gentile believers?” (don’t boast or become proud about your new position in the Lord).
   • Ask: “According to verse 18, which is more important, the branch or the root?” (the root; life flows from the root out to the branches).
   • Ask a volunteer to read Romans 11:21-22.
   • Ask: “The end of verse 20 warns us not to become haughty, but to fear; why must we be humble and fearful?” (lest we also be “cut off”).
   • Explain the following:
     • The illustration of the olive tree and the branches DOES NOT teach that someone who is genuinely saved can lose his or her salvation.
     • Rather, it is a warning not to become proud or boastful about our salvation, lest we lose close communion and fellowship with the Lord.
     • We must always beware of pride; 1 Corinthians 10:22 says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
   • Summarize: Since the Jews rejected Jesus as their Savior, God graciously grafted Gentile Christians into His family. We are grateful for that fact, but we must never become proud or boastful about it.
3. God Will Save Many Jews in the Future.
   • Ask a volunteer to read Romans 11:23-24.
   • Tell the students that the words “they also” at the beginning of verse 23 refer to the Jews.
   • Ask: “What do these verses tell us about the Jews?” (if they don’t remain in unbelief but turn to Jesus for salvation, God will graft them back into the root (the family of God).
   • Read Romans 11:25.
   • Ask: “This verse speaks of a mystery; what is that mystery?” (partial spiritual blindness has fallen on the Jews until God saves all the Gentiles He plans to save).
   • Explain the following:
     • Jesus said we are living in the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24), during which most of those who come to Christ are Gentiles.
     • Blindness has befallen most Jews ever since Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah.
     • This state of spiritual blindness will continue until God has saved all the Gentiles He plans to save.
     • When that happens, the times of the Gentiles will come to an end and God will redirect His attention to the Jews (during the Tribulation and Millennium).
   • Ask a volunteer to read Romans 11:26-27.
   • Ask: “Who will be saved at that future time?” (all Israel).
   • Explain the following:
     • This does not mean that every individual Jew who has ever lived will be saved.
     • During the Tribulation, God will save and seal 144,000 Jews and send them throughout the world preaching about Jesus.
     • Many Jews will be saved during the Tribulation (many of whom will be martyred).
     • When Jesus returns to earth at the end of the Tribulation and defeats the Antichrist and his forces at the battle of Armageddon, all the Jewish people living at that time will recognize Jesus as their Messiah and trust Him for salvation.
     • This is when “all Israel shall be saved.”
     • This is the high point of God’s future plans for the Jews.
   • Summarize: Most Jews are currently in spiritual blindness, but God is still saving some Jews now and all Israel will be saved when Jesus returns.
4. God’s Plans Do Not Change.
   • Read Romans 11:28-32.
   • Ask: “According to the beginning of verse 28, what are most Jews today?” (enemies of the Gospel).
   • Ask: “What does the rest of that verse say about how God feels about them?” (they are loved by God because of the promises He made to their fathers).
   • Ask: “According to verse 29, has God changed His mind about the Jews being His chosen people and heirs of His promises?” (no).
   • Ask: “According to verse 30, what have we (Gentiles) received from God?” (mercy).
   • Ask: “What does verse 31 say God wants to give the Jews?” (mercy).
   • Tell the class verse 32 says that since all Jews and Gentiles are sinners, God’s mercy is the only hope anyone has for being made right with Him.
   • Summarize: God set His affection on the Jewish people millennia ago and promised to bless them. God’s plans do not change, so He still plans to save many Jews in the future.
5. God’s Ways Are Beyond Our Understanding.
   • Ask a volunteer to read Romans 11:33-36.
   • Tell the students that Paul was overwhelmed by the depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge.
   • Ask: “According to verse 33, can we fully understand God or His ways?” (no).
   • Ask: “What does verse 36 say about everything that exists now or will come in the future?” (God is the Creator and source of it all).
   • Ask: “What does God deserve?” (glory forever).
   • Stress the fact that everything God does brings Him glory, including His future plans for His chosen people, the Jews.
   • Summarize: God’s ways are beyond our understanding, but we can confidently trust Him to do everything right, including how He deals with Jewish people now and in the future.

PERSONAL APPLICATION: Remind the class that the title of today’s lesson is God’s Future Plans for the Jews.  Tell them the four key truths we have discovered today are:

• We must never become proud or boastful about our salvation (v. 18-20).
• Spiritual blindness has come upon the Jews now while God is saving all the Gentiles He plans to save (v. 25).
• When Jesus returns to earth to defeat the Antichrist and establish His earthly kingdom, all the Jewish people living on earth will turn to Him for salvation (v. 26).
• God’s ways are beyond our understanding, but He always does everything right (v. 33-36).

Tell the class that as long as the Jews have been God’s chosen people, the devil’s forces (Pharaoh, Haman, Hitler, and Muslim terrorists, for example) have tried to destroy them.  Tell them as believers, we have been commanded to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 122.6).  Tell them that speaking of the Jews, God told Abraham, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3).  Stress the fact that this is one reason we must love, pray for, and bless the Jews.

Urge everyone to humbly pray for the safety and salvation of Jewish people everywhere.  Voice a closing prayer.

CONCLUSION: Ask everyone to memorize Romans 11:25.  Tell them to thank God daily for grafting them into His family.