Romans 11:11 : I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid: but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy: Commentators usually make Paul's question mean something like this: Did they stumble so as to fall away completely and finally, never to be restored? But that is making Paul say more than he really said. Now, in classic Greek the conjunction here translated that introduces a final clause of purpose, but we are told that in the New Testament it "ranges in its use from definite purpose to simple result." Let it here have its primary meaning, and Paul's question would have this meaning: Did they stumble in order that they might fall? Was that their purpose? Certainly not, but it led to their fall; that much is certain. Was it their final doom? As a nation, Yes. Whether any of them as individuals were brought back into favor with God depended on their own choice in the matter. Now, the only way to favor with God is through Christ, and that is an individual matter. So long as the law stood, Gentiles as such could not have covenant relationship with God. The law stood as a barrier, a wall, between Jew and Gentile but that wall was taken out of the way that God might make of Jews and Gentiles one new man, one new church (Ephesians 2:13-18.) The Jews broke the covenant, and it was abolished (Hebrews 8:7-9). Jews and Gentiles then stood on an equal footing; God makes no difference between them now. In fact, it had been God's purpose all along to offer the blessings of salvation through Christ to the Gentiles. To Abraham God said: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18). This promise refers to Christ (Galatians 3:16). Read the Great Commission, "Make disciples of all the nations," "Preach the gospel to the whole creation," and learn that the prophets had said that "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." Because of the hardness of the,Jews at Antioch of Pisidia, "Paul and Barnabas spake out boldly, and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge youselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46). This spreading of the gospel among the Gentiles did provoke the Jews to jealousy; but it was jealousy for Judaism, not for the gospel. Yet some commentators think Paul meant that the Jews would become jealous of the great blessings the gospel brought to Gentiles, and would, therefore, become Christians but that view is not in line with Paul's argument nor with the effects preaching to Gentiles had on the Jews. When Paul was rescued from a mob by the Roman soldiers, from the stairway of the castle he made a speech to the angry Jews, in which he said: "And it came to pass, that, when I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem because they will not receive of thee testimony con-cerning me. . . . And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles" (Acts 22:17-21). These last words of Paul sent these Jews into an insane rage. In Romans 10:19 Paul quotes this from Deuteronomy: "I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, with a nation void of understanding will I anger you."