Did Paul still count on Israel’s conversion?

Originally posted on July 03, 2008 – by Andre Piet

Last Sunday, in a talk, I discussed the parallels between Paul’s sea voyage (Acts 27) and the major storyline of the book of Acts. I argued that the ship is a representation of the nation of Israel which, deaf to Paul’s warning, ultimately went down in the sea of the nations.

It is worthwhile to zoom in once more on Paul’s role on board the grain ship. Strictly speaking, Paul did not make an appeal to the helmsman and the shipowner to remain in Fair Havens. Spending the winter there was, incidentally, not a realistic option either, as we read in 27:12. What Paul did was warn of what would happen if the helmsman and the shipowner chose to continue the voyage (27:10). Later this warning turns into a direct prediction of the disaster (27:22). These different phases are highly illustrative when we reflect on the successive phases in the book of Acts.

The door was opened for Israel when “the twelve” in Jerusalem proclaimed that the Messiah would return in their days, that is, if Israel would believe (Acts 3:19–21).
The door was closed when Israel’s unbelief became unmistakable (> the stoning of Stephen by the Sanhedrin) and Saul/Paul appeared on the scene. The message to Israel changed from an invitation into an alarm warning. When this warning, too, was ignored, there was no way back. From Acts 28 onward the drama is inevitable. Then the door fell shut. Israel could no longer repent (Acts 28:26,27). Within ten years the temple would go up in flames, Jerusalem would be razed to the ground, and a ‘definitive’ end would come to Israel’s national existence.

The actual turning point in ‘Acts’ is marked by the commissioning of the apostle Paul. His ministry as apostle of the nations is from the outset based on Israel’s unbelief (see Rom. 11:11–15). Nowhere in ‘Acts’ or the letters do we read that Paul still counted on Israel’s conversion, even though the time frame within which this was possible had not yet expired. Acts 28 is indeed the deadline of Israel’s conversion, but already much earlier Paul knows that through his ministry he would not save the nation but only “some of them” (Rom. 11:14).

Leaving Fair Havens would be disastrous, Paul warned. At the same time he knew that, given the situation, one would not choose Fair Havens. There you have, in a nutshell, the condition of Israel (just) before Acts 28.

Delen: