In this sermon on Romans 11:28–32 titled “Conversion of the Jews,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones provides insightful teaching regarding Israel and how to interpret certain genres of Scripture, such as prophecy. The true Israel, he says, is a spiritual Israel. While this true Israel has sometimes been a remnant, there will come a time when this will no longer be the case, as Paul writes in this section in Romans. But when will this be? How is one to analyze passages of Scripture that have a prophetic aspect to them? First, one cannot read prophecy and expect to be provided with incredible detail every time. Jesus told this in Acts about the future date of His second coming, saying that it was not for the disciples to concern themselves with figuring out the precise timing of His arrival. Sometimes just a general prophecy is provided and the specific details are not given. Secondly, Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns that the greatest danger is reading things into the text that simply are not there. Those in Christian circles have probably seen examples of this as some claim that certain prophecies are being fulfilled when, in fact, the passage doesn’t address that. Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes by reminding of the ultimate message and purpose behind this section of Paul’s writing and what it was not intended to communicate.
