Romans 11:25-27 (Part 2):  Spain, the Fullness of the Gentiles, and the Mission of Paul

Copyright © Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr.  (September 10, 2024)

All Rights Reserved

Eric Ogea (Editor)

In our previous article, we discussed how the prophecy pundits’ approach to this passage puts a monkey wrench in their approach to Bible prophecy overall. Then, we left off by mentioning how the key to understanding Romans 11:25-27 is understanding the mission of the man himself who penned those words.  Like the rest of the Bible, this passage was written by a real person, to a real audience, in real time. And that real person’s real-life mission was driven by a real and burning desire to get to Spain (Rom. 15:24, 28). This burning desire brings the text to full life and fully illuminates the meaning of the phrase “the fullness of the Gentiles.”

From Saul to Paul   

The story of Paul is familiar to all. Saul of Tarsus had no intention of becoming the Apostle Paul. But a trip down the road to Damascus changed everything (Acts 9:1-16), and the newest ambassador of Christ would bring sweeping changes to the world (Acts 17:6).  Earlier, Jesus had commissioned His Apostles to “preach the Gospel to all creation” (Mk. 16:5) and to the “remotest parts of the earth” (Lk. 1:8). But this massive undertaking really didn’t get off the ground until a blinding light knocked the soon-to-be former Pharisee to the ground (Acts 9:4-5).  And with a change of name and a change of heart, Paul hit the ground running in the Book of Acts.

In Acts 13:1, the Holy Spirit instructs the teachers and prophets to set Paul and Barnabas apart for the work to which He has called them. That work would not focus solely on the nation or people of Israel as with the other Apostles. Instead, as Jesus told Ananias, Paul was His “chosen instrument” to “bear” His “name before the Gentiles” (Acts 9:16). And as Paul says of himself in Romans 11:13, “I am an Apostle to the Gentiles.”  Nonetheless, Paul needed a push, and that push came by way of a strong pushback from his own people.  After initially taking the Gospel to the Jews and being met with fierce resistance, Paul shifts gears:

“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46).

 

This corresponds to the “partial hardening” of Romans 11:25. As Kim Burgess writes, “Paul had come to realize that God, in His sovereign providence, had hardened much of Israel so that He could start turning to the Gentiles with the Gospel.”^[1]  In short, some but not all of the Jews were hardened to reject eternal life, consequently, forcing Paul to turn his attention to the Gentiles.

From Jerusalem to Spain

As a result, Paul understands passages like Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6 in light of his own vocation along with Barnabas (Acts 13:47). They are to be the light that Isaiah spoke of bringing salvation “to the end of the earth” (Acts 13:47c). This mission is expressed in Romans by Paul’s desire to take the Gospel to places where Christ had not been named (Rom. 15:20) and to reach as far west as Spain (Rom. 15:24, 28).  And this is where the mission of Paul, the echoes of Isaiah, and the message of Romans all come together.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul continues to take his cue from the prophet Isaiah as Spain dominates his horizon.  Isaiah 66:19 is a snapshot of the original 70 nations divided up at Babel (see: Gen. 10-11).[2] In that passage, Isaiah speaks of God’s “fame” and “glory” being spread among those nations.^[3] “It is important to note that Tarshish is the first of the nations mentioned to whom the ‘saved’ are to declare the Lord’s fame and glory,” says Roger Aus, “because it is most distant.”^[4] With that said, the trajectory of Paul’s missionary journeys follows an east-to-west pattern culminating in the farthest point west, i.e., Spain (Tarshish).  As Aus observes:

“The parallel to Paul’s ‘missionary career’ should not be overlooked. The general direction of Paul’s missionizing was Arabia, probably the area east and south of Damascus, west and north to Damascus; from there to Antioch on the Orontes (Syria and Cilicia); from there to Asia Minor (the so-called ‘first journey’); from there a re-tracing of the Asia Minor route via Antioch in Pisidia to Troas, then Macedonia and the Peloponnesus in Europe (the so-called ‘second journey’). During his ‘third journey,’ which embraced western Asia Minor and Greece again, Paul wrote to the Romans, saying that he hoped to visit them in passing as he went to Spain (xv 24, 28), the extremity of the west. The general direction, east to west, thus corresponds to a combination of those nations found in Isa. lxvi 19, Tarshish being equated with Spain.”^[5]

From Accretion to Completion

In other words, a trip to Spain would complete the mission and bring the salvation message “to the end of the earth,” so to speak.^[6] The Gospel seed would then be planted among all the original 70 people groups from which we all descend. This is the driving force behind Paul’s endeavors, his life’s mission, and his literary backdrop in Romans.  As James Jordan explains,

“To understand Romans 9-11, we have to bear in mind some background matters that are often overlooked by expositors concerning the origin and purpose of Israel. God called Abraham to be a priest to the nations right after the incident at the Tower of Babel. These two events are intimately related (compare Gen. 11:4 with 12:2). After the call of Abraham, there were two distinct kinds of believers in the world: Hebrew and Gentile (Noahic) — but this was not God’s original purpose. The bifurcation of humanity had a special and limited purpose: to manifest God’s covenant until the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of the world (Ex. 19:6; Dt. 4:6-8).”^[7]

By the time Paul wrote Romans, the Messiah had indeed come, the Apostles were manifesting God’s covenant, and the restoration of the world had begun. Early on in the epistle, Paul appeals to “the promise to Abraham and his descendants” to be “heir of the world” (Rom. 4:13).  Like those who went before him, Paul is endeavoring to make good on this promise.  As Jordan explains further:

“The calling of Israel all along was to minister God’s promises to the Gentiles. That is what Abraham was called to do, and we see him doing it. Joseph did it. Moses married an Ethiopian. Samson offered marriage to a Philistine. David converted the Philistine city of Gath. Elijah went to a Gentile widow. Elisha cured a Gentile soldier of ‘leprosy.’ Thus, it is no surprise that when Jesus appears on the scene, as the True Israelite He ministers to the Gentiles…and sends the gospel to the Gentiles.”^[8]

From Abraham to Paul

As a descendant of Abraham and a chosen Apostle of the True Israel (Jesus Christ) Paul is fulfilling his destiny and reversing Babel. His trip to Spain would complete the mission. Michael Heiser puts it all together:

“Why is Spain of any concern to us, and why did Paul want so badly to go there? In Paul’s day, Spain was where Tarshish was. Tarshish was a Phoenician colony in what was later Spain. The point is profound: Paul was convinced that his life’s mission as apostle to the Gentiles—the disinherited nations—would only be finished when he got to Spain.  As incredible as it sounds, Paul was conscious that his mission for Jesus actually involved spreading the gospel to the westernmost part of the known world—Tarshish—so that the disinheritance at Babel would be reversed.”^[9]

Pentecost “marked the beginning of an unstoppable march across the known world,”^[10] and Paul set out to complete that march by reaching the farthest point of the known world.  As he carried out this mission, he saw himself as “a minister of Christ to the Gentiles” and “a priest of the Gospel of God,” and he wanted his “offering of the Gentiles” to be “acceptable” and “sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:16).

By the time he wrote Romans, He had already “fully preached the Gospel” from “Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum” (Rom. 15:19).  At this point, Spain has now become the sole focus of his attention as he carries out his marching orders and brings the fullness of the Gentiles in.  Roger Aus connects the dots between Romans 11 and Paul’s missionary journeys:

“…the ‘full number of the Gentiles’ in Rom. xi 25 will only ‘come in’ when Paul has brought Christian representatives from Spain to Jerusalem as a part of his collection enterprise. For him this is the fulfillment both of OT prophecy and Jewish tradition concerning Gentiles from all the nations coming in the end time to Jerusalem with their gifts. This thought, in turn, is intimately connected with the ‘offering of the Gentiles’ of Rom. xv 16 11.”^[11]

Along his way to Spain as he completes his mission to the Gentiles, he intends to visit the Romans and come to them in “the fulness of the blessing in Christ” (Rom. 15:28). The word for “fullness” is πλήρωμα (plērōma) – the same word that used in Romans 11:25 for the “fulness of the Gentiles.”  That is to say, he will visit the Romans as he is living out his Christ-blessed mission to reach the full measure of nations (from which we all descend) and bring the “fulness of the Gentiles” into the heavenly and true Jerusalem.

From Disinheritance to Inheritance

The New Testament Writers were living in a time when the nations were separated, and Jacob alone was the Lord’s “portion” and “inheritance” (Deut. 32:8-9; Amos 3:1-2). The Gospel seed being planted among all 70 original people groups from Genesis 10, now part of the Roman Empire of the time, would mark the end of that old age which began at Babel (Matt. 24: 3, 14). “The bifurcation of humanity,” as Jordan calls it, would be over and “the restoration of the world” would begin.[12]  In a nutshell, the “full measure” of Gentile people groups would be exposed to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Once that happened, the partial hardening of Israel would be removed.

In Philippians 4:3, Paul mentions Clement as one who “labored side by side” with him “in the Gospel.”  Later, Clement testifies that Paul had indeed “preached in the East and in the West, he won the genuine glory for his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world and having reached the farthest limits of the West” (1 Clement 5.5-7).[13]

As Kenneth Berding writes, “The ‘farthest limits of the West’ in the mind of a Roman could occasionally refer to Gaul or Britain, but usually meant Spain.”[14]  Travis Drum puts it this way: “Guess where Spain was in relation to Rome. You pull out of Rome, and you head straight west, you’re going to run right into Spain.”[15]  Berding adds that “the Acts of Peter and the Muratorian Fragment” both “affirm a journey to Spain by Paul.”[16]

With that said, scholars do what scholars do, and they debate back and forth regarding whether Paul really made it to Spain or not – despite the evidence.  One thing is for sure, however – someone  made it there by the time Paul wrote Colossians. By then, the Gospel had been “proclaimed in all the world” (Col. 1:6) and “in all creation under heaven” (Col. 1:23). Whether it was Paul himself, Barnabas, or another Apostle, the seed-planting mission was complete.

This being the case, Israel’s partial hardening to the Gospel was removed long ago. This has far-reaching ramifications with regard to the pop-prophecy approach of our day. If the mission was accomplished in Paul’s own day, Israel’s hardening lasted about 20 years. If the prophecy pundits are correct, it’s been going on for 2000 years and counting! This has implications for how we view Jewish people today and what our expectations are when we share the Gospel with them.

In the next installment, we will look at the way all Israel would be saved once the hardened was removed.[17]

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[1] Kim Burgess with Gary DeMar, The Hope of Israel and the Nations: New Testament Eschatology Accomplished and Applied, Vol. 1 (The American Vision, Powder Springs, GA: The American Vision, 2023), p.170. https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-hope-of-israel-and-the-nations

[2] For more information on this, see: Brian Godawa, Psalm 82: The Divine Council of the Gods, The Judgment of the Watchers and the Inheritance of the Nations, (Dallas, TX: Warrior Poet Publishing, 2021), 74-77 https://www.amazon.com/Psalm-82-Judgment-Watchers-Inheritance/dp/194285840X ; Micheal S. Heiser, The unseen realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible (Bellingham, WA Lexham Pres, 2015), 112-115 ; David B. Curtis, The Tower of Babel: Genesis 11:1-9 (Delivered 01/21/24) https://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/genesis/gen-11_11-9_tower-of-babel.htm

[3] In its original context, Isaiah 65-66 is about the blessings that would follow the return from exile (cf. Isa. 51:14). But God’s goals and purposes have not changed. These blessings of the Restoration Period were a foreshadow of the ultimate blessings that flow from Jesus Christ. Paul’s use of the Isaiah texts in his own context is what the Jews refer to as “midrash,” and it was the common hermeneutical approach of the time (See: Martin Pickup,  NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE THEOLOGICAL RATIONALE OF MIDRASHIC EXEGESIS, JETS 51/2 (June 2008) 353–81, https://etsjets.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/files_JETS-PDFs_51_51-2_JETS-51-2-353-381-Pickup.pdf

[4] Aus, Roger D. “Paul’s Travel Plans to Spain and the” Full Number of the Gentiles” of Rom. XI 25.” Novum Testamentum 21.Fasc. 3 (1979): 240.

[5] Aus, Ibid., pp. 240-241

[6] Heiser, Ibid., p. 302.

[7] James B. Jordan, “The Future of Israel Re-examined,” Biblical Horizons, No. 27 July, 1991, p. 8. https://www.biblicalhorizons.com/biblical-horizons/no-27-the-future-of-israel-reexamined-part-1/

[8] Jordan, Ibid., pp. 8-9

[9] Heiser, Ibid., p. 303.

[10] Heiser Ibid., p. 306.

[11] Aus, Ibid., p. 234.

[13] Emphasis added.

[14] Kenneth Berding, Paul’s 4th Missionary Journey (And I Don’t Mean His Trip to Rome) https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2015/paul-s-4th-missionary-journey-and-i-don-t-mean-his-trip-to-rome?fbclid=IwY2xjawFJCARleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHf91vAXlrQ2F1-lupMbuUJN8AMJlF31MnRkTBlQiLL3fWP6iW2B6td4Khw_aem_MDFIGKAkwe4YxdcyJCSLxA

[15] Travis Drum, “1 Timothy 1:1-3 (Part E) Paul’s Fourth Missionary Journey” (9:06- 9:13) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW5vdUbJx2M

[16] Berding, Ibid.

[17] Much appreciation to Jan Logsdon, of Crew Studios, for her content review of this article’s early draft.