I was asked concerning Romans 9 and Paul's affection for the Jewish people. Apparently this passage is used by some Dominionists to justify ethno-nationalist agendas or forms of patriotism, suggesting that Paul effectively endorsed such thinking by his expressions for the Jewish people.
As I told the person who asked, I found this interesting as I
have not previously encountered the use of Romans 9 as a justification for
patriotism and the like. I would contend that Paul's sentiments are not about
race, tribe, or nation but covenant. And Paul's affections are rooted as such
if one takes the time to read the passage.
I don't believe Luke or Timothy would have spoken in similar
terms regarding their respected Gentile peoples in Asia Minor, but I could be
wrong. However, if such affections were expressed they would not be in national
terms – hoping for their independence from the Romans, or for national or
cultural flourishing. Rather, their burden would be (like Paul's in the end) a
gospel burden – a desire to see these people saved, not to affirm them in their
cultural identity and all that goes with it, as indeed in Christ there is no
Greek, Jew, or Scythian. And thus even this hypothetical line of discussion
falters and proceeds from a false premise.
The Jews were not like other peoples. Even in their apostasy
and unbelief they were still intimately connected to the context of the New
Testament and the background and foundations of the gospel. This was not true
of the Gentile peoples.
I don't believe Romans 11 teaches some kind of large-scale
national revival, it simply describes the nature and means by which either the
remnant of Jewish people are saved throughout the Church Age or possibly the means
by which the True Israel (Jew and Gentile) are saved. I have gone back and
forth on this passage and while the latter point regarding the New/True Israel is
true and part of the larger discussion of the Romans passage (echoing Paul's
redemptive-historical development in Galatians), the immediate Romans 11 context
is probably more focused on the remnant of Jewish believers entering the Church
throughout this age - as Christians they are True Israelites.
In other capacities the New Testament speaks of the Church
(Jew and Gentile) as the true Commonwealth of Israel and inheritor of the
promises.
Once again Dominionism is revealed as failing to understand even the broad strokes of Scripture and the nature of apostolic doctrine. Rooted in flawed assumptions, it is guilty of misreading the Scriptures on a massive scale.