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God also gave them the Law of Moses. It failed because man was weak, but it still was a blessing to have God's Law among them. They also had the Ordinances of Worship, the Temple, the Alter, the Priests, the Feasts and the Sacrifices. While other nations were worshipping idols, the Israelites were ,for the most part, worshipping the one true and living God.
Also they had the promise of the Messiah. This brought hope and expectation to life in Israel, even if they did not understand His mission. Paul also considers their fathers, the Patriarchs, as a blessing to Israel. These men were close to God and because of them, Israel enjoyed many blessings they would not have otherwise have received.
But Paul says that the greatest honor that Israel ever received from God was that from them, came the Christ. This was Israel's greatest privilege. God humbles Himself and became a man, a Jew. We all have been blessed because of God's dealing with the Jews.
In spite of all this, the Jews failed to recognize the Messiah and lost out on
God's plan of salvation. The question is why? Because they did not pursue it, the
Law or the Christ, through faith. They rejected the "building stone" that was
prophesied in the Psalms. "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men
stumble." "A rock that will make them fall." "And he who believes in Him, will
not be put to shame." God foreknew that Israel would not accept Christ. Did the
Law of God fail?
God's Sovereignty
["Click here for Romans 9:6-13"]
The second part of this section on Israel's problems and promises is about the sovereignty of God and will answer the question posed at the end of the last section. Paul could not understand why Israel had not accepted Christ knowing how they had been blessed in the past. This condition grieved Paul very much and he asked the question, who failed, what failed? Did God's word, with all of its prophecies, fail? How can we reconcile the rejection of the Jews with all the enlightenment that they had in the scriptures?
Paul attempts to explain this in four ways. All four have to do with the sovereignty or the prerogative of God. First, he explains the true intent of "the promise". Lets establish what the "promise" was. God, when He called Abraham, said that He would be a God to him and his seed. Now there are those who will use this statement to say that God encompassed only the Jews in this promise. Lets look and see if this assumption is true.
This would say that God makes choices between people. Well didn't He choose Isaac and not Ishmael? Didn't He choose Jacob and not Esau? (Deut. 21) "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." God has exercised His prerogative from the beginning of time. This He still does, the promise is to the believer, Jews and Gentiles, those who, by the Grace of God, are able to believe in Christ. Verse 6 says that not all who are descended from Jacob belong to the saved remnant spoken of in Rev. 7. God did not automatically choose all blood ancestors of Abraham or Jacob. Some were chosen, some were not. He did this according to His own will and prerogative.
The question most asked, why Isaac and not Ishmael? God was free to choose on what head His blessings would fall. Ishmael was a child of the flesh, he believed because he was Abraham's son that he deserved salvation. He represents those today that expect to ride into heaven on the merit of their parents and those who expect to be saved on their merit.
Why Jacob and not Esau? There is a much stronger case here than in the preceding one. Ishmael was the son of Sarah's handmaid Hagar. Hagar was arrogant toward Sarah because she had no children. When she finally had Isaac, Ishmael was arrogant toward him. Even though Ishmael was the first born, the linage of Christ went to Isaac.
The situation with Jacob and Esau was a little different. They were both children of the same parents and they were twins, however, in the birth process, Esau was born first, thus to him would go the birthright. But notice with these 4 boys, the choice was made before they were born, before any of then had done anything good or bad. Why? Verse 11 says that this was done that God's purpose might continue, not because of works, but because of His calling.
Notice how this is received and interpreted by different denominations. Three basic doctrines have grown out of this scripture:
All of these doctrines are based on the sovereignty of God and His prerogative.
Maintaining God's Sovereignty
["Click here for Romans 9:14-24"]
Matthew Henry describes these verses as "maintaining the absolute sovereignty of God" in disposing of the children of men. In these verses, Paul anticipated two questions relative to the doctrines of predestination or election.
The first question is the most asked and even when it is not asked, many consider it in their mind. Does the doctrine of "election" mean or suggest that God is unjust? This is the chief objection of those who object to the doctrine of election. Let me, at this point, explain that there are two "degrees" of this doctrine. One, called "Double Predestination", says that God saves some and condemns others. The second, simply called "Predestination", says that God chooses some and simply allows others to go their own way.
If we believe either one of these, does that mean that God is unjust. Paul is angry and concerned that any one would think the God was unjust. He answers, "By no means" and I am sure it was said with a great deal of authority. He answers the question by showing that all men deserve to die, that there are none that deserve salvation, and if there are any saved it will be by the great mercy of God.
He quotes scripture from Ex. 33:19, where God said to Moses, "I will have mercy upon whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." God disperses His gifts upon whom ever he will, without the need to justify His actions. These are given at His own discretion, and most important, without anyone meriting them. Thus those who are called are not called because they deserve it, and those who are not called, get what they deserve. In Isaiah we read, "God is found in those that sought Him not."
Now, what about the lost? Here Paul used the example of Pharaoh. God not only used Pharaoh, but He caused him to come into being for the purpose of showing His power. By a demonstration of that power, he hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Matthew Henry says that God's dealings must be resolved as His absolute sovereignty. He is debtor to no man. His Grace is his own, none of us deserve it, actually we have forfeited it a thousand times. Those who are saved by the Grace of God, must thank God only. Those who are lost must blame themselves. So, is God unjust? No, if no one is unjustly treated then God is not unjust.
The second question that Paul anticipated was, "Why then does God find fault with those who do not accept Jesus? Why does He find fault with those to whom He denies his Grace? This seems like a reasonable question, but Paul is very much disturbed with it. He strikes back, "What right, O man, have you to make this objection to your creator?" "Who do you think you are." We are foolish and incompetent to judge divine councils. We are the creation, He is the creator.
In answering this question, Paul used the example of the potter. The potter has complete power over the piece of clay to make of it what ever he wills. He can make a fashionable vessel or he may make a very contemptible vessel. These vessels compare to us. We are either vessels of wrath (contemptible) or vessels of mercy (fashionable). Paul says that in some of us He will show His wrath and in some, His mercy and the amazing thing about this is that He made that decision before the foundation of the world.
God chooses some for His purpose and that purpose is to demonstrate the riches of
His goodness and mercy and to prepare them for glory. All of us have prepared
ourselves for hell but those whom God chooses, He prepares for heaven. So Paul
says that the question is not weather you are of the seed of Abraham but rather
are you called of God, Jew or Gentile.
The Jews Rejection, Prophesied
["Click here for Romans 9:25-29"]
Here Paul shows how the rejection of the Jews and the adoption of the Gentiles was foretold in the Old Testament. The Prophet Hosea said, "The Gentiles have not been the people of God, but, I will call them my people, make them my own despite their unworthiness." Former ignorance and gross sins are no bar to God's Grace. Those whom God calls, He calls beloved.
Then Paul reminds them what the Prophet Isaiah had to say about this. Isaiah said that only a remnant out of Israel would be saved. How many did John see in Rev. 7 and 14 that were saved out of Israel? He saw 144,000, 12,000 out of each of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Paul believed that this age would finish the account with the Jews. God began a work with the Jews with Abraham. He gave them a covenant. The saved remnant will represent the completion of this covenant. He will call as many as belong to the election of Grace and then the account will be closed, and Paul says that He will do it "quickly".
Then Isaiah, like Paul, declares this to be just. It is an act of God's prerogative and sovereignty when he chooses to preserve even a remnant. It is a wonder of divine power and mercy that any are saved, for even with those that He saves, if He had dealt with them according to their sins, they would have perished with the rest.
The next lesson explains why God rejected the Jews and received the Gentiles.
Israel's Responsibility
["Click here for Romans 9:30-33"]
The reason that God rejected the Jews and adopted the Gentiles had to do with the way that each sought salvation. Let us look first at the Gentiles. The Gentiles did not pursue righteousness, thus there was no doubt that their righteousness was a gift from God, which He delights in dispensing in His sovereign way and over which He had complete dominion.
Secondly, even though they didn't pursue it, they did receive it. They understood that if they accepted Christ that they would attain righteousness. So by faith, they were saved.
Now concerning the Jews. First, they attempted to obtain righteousness by following after the Law. Matthew Henry says that they stuck to their old Jewish customs and ceremonies, embracing the shadow after the substance had come, and fell short.
Secondly, they sought righteousness the wrong way. They sought it by the works of the Law, not by faith. They sought to obtain some merit on their own, not relying on the merit of Christ, the one that was to set them free from the Law and make available to them God's Grace which became a stumbling block to them. This was prophesied in Isaiah and in the Psalms, "Behold I am laying, in Zion, a stone that will make men stumble." "A rock that will make men fall and he who believes in Him, will not be put to shame.
The point of these verses is verse 32, "Why did the Jews fail to receive righteousness?" The answer, because they did not pursue it thru faith but as if it were obtainable through works.
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