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The epistles written by Paul before his imprisonment were Galatians,
Hebrews, Romans, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and 1 and 2 Corinthians. We are sure
that any well-instructed reader who was asked to choose from this set of
epistles the one giving the most recent as well as the most fundamental
teaching of the apostle for this period, would unhesitatingly choose the
epistle to the Romans. In this epistle we have the solid rock foundation of
justification by faith, where `no difference' can be tolerated between Jew and
Gentile. When, however, we leave the sphere of doctrine (Rom. 1 -8), and enter
the sphere of dispensational privileges, we discover that differences between
Jewish and Gentile believers remain. The Gentile, who was justified by faith,
was nevertheless reminded that he was at that time in the position of a wild
olive, graft into the true olive tree, from which some of the branches had been
broken off through unbelief. The grafting of the Gentile into Israel's olive
tree was intended (speaking after the manner of men) to provoke Israel to
jealousy. When, in the days to come, these broken branches shall be restored,
`All Israel shall be saved'.
These statements from Romans 11 are sufficient to prevent us from
assuming that, because there is evidently doctrinal equality in the Acts
period, there is also dispensational equality. This is not so, for Romans
declares that the Jew is still `first', and the middle wall still stands,
making membership of the One Body as revealed in Ephesians impossible.
In Romans 15 we have a definite statement concerning the hope entertained
by the church at Rome. Before quoting the passage, Romans 15:12 and 13, we
would advise the reader that the word `trust' in verse 12 is elpizo, and the
word `hope' in verse 13 elpis. There is also the emphatic article `the' before
the word `hope' in verse 13. Bearing these points in mind we can now examine
the hope entertained by the church at Rome, as ministered to by Paul before his
imprisonment:
`There shall be a Root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over the
Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles hope. Now the God of that hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost' (Rom. 15:12,13).
Here we are on firm ground. Paul himself teaches the church to look for
the millennial kingdom and for the Saviour as the `Root of Jesse' Who shall
`reign over the Gentiles'. How can this hope be severed from `the hope of
Israel'? How can it be associated with the `Mystery' which knows nothing of
Abraham, or of Israel, but goes back before the `foundation of the world', and
reaches up to heavenly places? In case the reader should be uncertain of Paul's
references to the millennial Kingdom, we quote from Isaiah 11:
`And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse ... He shall
smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His
lips shall He slay the wicked ... The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb
... And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign of the people; to It shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest
shall be glorious' (Isa. 11:1,4,6,10).
The reader should consult the note on Isaiah 11:4 given in The Companion
Bible, where the reading, `He shall smite the oppressor' (ariz) is preferred to
the A.V. `He shall smite the earth' (erez). This reading establishes a link
with 2 Thessalonians 2:8: