1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Paul’s fervent affirmation, repeated in Romans 10:1, dispels any suspicion of prejudice from the Jewish quarter, for this chapter cuts to the heart of Israelite pride. While the Gentiles were Paul’s main target of ministry (Rom 11:13), his constant yearning for the salvation of his countrymen cannot be denied. Indeed, his method of evangelism was to seek out first a Jewish synagogue upon entering a new village and begin preaching there. Some notable Jews were converted under the evangelism of Paul, but the general response of Judaism was to reject the Messiah of their own Scriptures.
The next three chapters form an emotional plea to the Jewish people to find their place in the plan of God for salvation. He has already made a strong case for them to recognize the plan of God for the salvation of all men, but here the arguments find their culmination in an earnest, final effort to persuade them to choose faith in Christ. He cites more than two dozen passages from their own Scriptures to solidify the message into a single clarion call for the Jews to turn from their blindness and be saved. And in the process, he makes an impressive argument for God’s wisdom, mercy and righteousness in adopting the Gentiles into His family.
The so-called doctrine of election is largely drawn from several verses in this chapter, yet the general theme in which they are found should not be ignored. The Apostle is not speaking about personal salvation, but about the world-changing events which ratified the coming of the New Covenant. In truth, he is breaking some hard news to his Jewish readers! “God has rejected you as His chosen people and has elected the Gentiles because you did not seek Him in righteousness.” And then he shows from the Old Testament Scriptures that the Gentile inclusion was fore-ordained by God long before the world began.
Paul’s virtual willingness to die in the place of his Jewish kinsmen parallels Moses’ remarkable intercession before God on behalf of the children of Israel (Ex 32:31-32). Yet, remember the Lord’s response, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book (Ex 32:33).
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
In the Old Testament, the Jews were blessed above all nations (Deut 7:6) and the Gentiles were excluded from the Covenant (Eph 2:12). They alone were favored by the adoption (Exod 4:22; Isa 1:2; Jer 31:9; Hos 11:1) and the glory, which refers to the supernatural, visible symbol of God that guided them in the wilderness and dwelt under the wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies (2Chr 7:1-2; Ex 40:34; Num 14:14; 1Sam 4:21). The Jews had received the covenants, first those to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then to Moses, David, etc. Furthermore, the Law of the Old Testament had been given to their keeping by special covenant with the tribe of Levi, who were also tasked with holy temple service (Heb 9:1, 6). Israel had been entrusted with the very oracles of God (Rom 3:2) and possessed the eternal promises given to the fathers (see Acts 3:13).
Their greatest blessing however, was in receiving the Messiah of God, so long-promised unto Abraham (Gen 22:18) to come through the seed of Judah (Gen 49:10) and of David’s royal lineage (Is 9:6-7). And so it came to pass (Luke 1:32).
Christ is over all, God blessed for ever. The false-doctrine teachers who believe that, somehow, Jesus Christ is not God struggle mightily to explain away this simple, direct statement. See Col 1:15.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
In spite of her many blessings, Israel according to the flesh has fallen from God’s grace. The Jewish branches were broken off the Lord’s olive tree as Jesus had said: the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Mat 21:43). Have the great promises and prophecies upon Israel contained in the Word of God failed? No! For in the New Covenant, a child of Abraham (and so a true Jew) is identified by internal, spiritual qualities instead of physical genealogies. The real Jew and man of God is revealed inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart (Rom 2:28-29).
God’s Word concerning Israel has not failed and the promises to Abraham have not been voided; they continue valid as always. Yet a big change has taken place. The Gentiles have been offered a place in the family of Abraham by adoption, and the criteria used to be acceptably adopted is faith. This is explained at length in Galatians 3, and illustrated in the one olive tree of the Lord in chapter 11.
The heirs of the promise then, are not the physical Jews but the spiritual children of Abraham (Gal 4:28; Eph 3:6). This we saw in the earlier chapters of Romans also, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Rom 4:13-16). It is a stunning fact that some famous Bible teachers reject the idea that the promises of God to the Jews have come also upon the Gentiles. Using their words, this is “the dangerous heresy of replacement theology.” It reminds me of early Protestantism’s rejection of the “Anabaptist heresy.” Many, many of our humble, Scripture-believing Anabaptist fore-fathers were tortured and murdered by Protestants in the very name of God. The Protestants were on the wrong side of Scripture then and they are on the wrong side again here.
The Jews by blood erred greatly in thinking they would receive ‘carte blanche’ the promises that God gave to Abraham and his seed! They thought, “God has specially chosen us to bless and multiply us exceedingly in the earth and has given us the land of Canaan forever (Gen 26:4; 13:14-16). He promised Abraham with an oath! (Gen 22:16-18). We alone are His peculiar people above all nations (Deut 14:2) and He will never break His covenant with us (Jer 33:20-26). We are eternally, unconditionally elected to be saved.” O foolish ones! God ways and mind are far beyond the limits of Man! He foreknew and pre-destinated this plan of determining who is a Jew by looking inwardly at the heart instead of at bloodlines and genealogies. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:29).
The Apostle gives the account of Abraham to demonstrate the validity of this method. For God had determined to exclude seven of Abraham’s children from the promises and extend the blessing of sonship upon the lineage of Isaac only. These were counted for the seed, even though there were other blood children of Abraham. God however, had planned to call only Isaac’s seed, “the children of Abraham.” The word of promise was to Sarah’s son (v9). And the scenario repeated in the case of Isaac’s children, Jacob and Esau. Both were sons of Isaac, yet God chose Jacob only to be the lineage of the promise. Esau and his children, although not a whit less a Jew by blood than Jacob and his children, were not counted as children of Abraham according to the promise. From Jacob onward the genealogy is inclusive, while before him it was selective.
Later in this chapter we will see that God had deeper plans for those early blood-Jews who were not chosen, but here the point is well-made. If blood alone were indeed the only criterion in determining who is a Jew, then how could God exclude the seven sons of Abraham who each became mighty nations? The answer is obvious. Blood alone was not the way God determined who was a child of Abraham in the past and so there is no infidelity in Him for deciding that now He will determine the child of Abraham by evaluating them according to the Law of Faith (Gal 3:7-9). And that is consistent with His character, for He has always looked internally, weighing the intents and thoughts of the heart. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Just as He had with Abraham’s children so God did with Isaac’s sons. He called Jacob, but rejected Esau. Even before the children were born, God knew their character and works, such that He could perfectly inform Rebekah of facts that would be thousands of years yet future: Two nations are in thy womb…and the elder shall serve the younger (Gen 25:22-24). God’s election of Jacob and rejection of Esau in the past demonstrates His wisdom in now electing that the children of the promise will be the spiritual children of Abraham, without respect to genealogies. For if God could include Jacob and eliminate Esau (no less a Jew than Jacob) from the promises, then He could eliminate this wicked generation (Mat 12:45) and include the Gentiles through adoption.
Unfortunately, some teachers have extracted these verses from their context to formulate a doctrine that is foreign to the Word of God and injurious to the character of God. We refer to the Calvinist idea of Election; that Man has no choice nor free-will and that God decides who He will save without evaluating the hearts of men. He simply chooses one and rejects the other, with no thought even to a man’s desire to be saved. That idea flies in the face of many other Scriptures, although inattentive reading of this passage might lead to said pre-mature conclusion. A diligent student of the Word will read it all, so as to rightly divide the Word of Truth (2Tim 2:15). The story is told of a Calvinist disputing his theology with a non-Calvinist, with neither being able to persuade the other. Finally the Calvinist said, “So shall I just tear Romans 9 out of the Bible?” Replied the other, “Only if you want to walk around with just one page of the Bible.”
The book of Romans is a masterpiece in persuasion, wherein the Apostle uses the Jews’ own Scriptures to convince them that the old Covenant works-based religion had its place and purpose, but that now God has chosen a new nation and covenant based on faith in Christ. Before Jacob had a chance to prove that he was worthy, God chose him because He knew beforehand that Jacob’s good works would follow and that Esau’s sinful choices would too. Now God’s blessing falls upon a new Covenant people made up of Jews and Gentile. Those Jews who argue that God is obligated to bless them forever are hereby silenced.
It has always been that God chooses a man by looking at his heart. So it was that God chose David when Samuel was ready to anoint Eliab. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (1Sam 16:6-7).
And so David counselled Solomon: My son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever (1Chr 28:9).
So also did Jeremiah give God’s warning to all: I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jer 17:10).
Let us admit to a Bible “doctrine of Election” if it be demanded of us, but we will define it by using the Scriptures and not by using men’s narrow logic and flawed wisdom (1Cor 3:18-21). According to his own writings, God fore-ordained and created us to perform good works (Eph 2:10; Tit 2:14; Heb 10:24); would the Apostle here affirm the opposite? May it never be! Allow these verses their proper meaning in this context and the sense becomes clear: God’s good purpose in calling, election, covenants and all human interaction, is based on His perfect wisdom and foreknowledge. He knows exactly what is best and He will perform it. There is no unrighteousness in Him!
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Here, Jacob and Esau are symbols for their respective descendants. God favored the Israelites with the covenants and the Law (v4-5), but excluded the nation of Esau. Calvinists mistakenly make Jacob and Esau personally the topic of discussion to build their doctrine of election. Yet Esau himself never served Jacob, who lived in fear of his brother for most of his life! Hear the full Scripture: I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness (Mal 1:2-3). For centuries, Jacob’s descendants were chosen and blessed while Esau’s descendants were laid waste. Jacob’s descendants had the covenants, the promises and the Law, but Esau’s descendants were aliens and strangers to God.
Adam Clarke presents a strong case for reading this chapter with this important distinction, that Jacob and Esau are representative names for the two nations they engendered. He points out that “the children” (v11) is not in the Greek and that even in the original OT passage the subject was not Jacob and Esau, but their posterity: And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger(Gen 25:23). Thus, Paul uses this example to explain God’s choice of the nation of Israel. The idea of God choosing Jacob personally is a false inference. Furthermore, that perfectly fits the topic of chapters 9-11, which is not a lesson on personal salvation, but of God’s rejection of Jews by blood and His calling and election of Jews by Faith (v24).
Hate seems a strong word in light of verses like 1John 3:15, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: any ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. On the other hand, Jesus warned in Luke 14:26, If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. Note however, that the word hate is the natural opposite of love. There is no in-between ground here! Either our works demonstrate that we love God, or they demonstrate that we hate Him (Mat 6:24). God loves righteousness but hates evil. He hates even the excellency of Jacob if it be wicked (Amos 6:8).
Any theology or doctrine that depicts God as unfair or capricious in loving Jacob but hating Esau must be rejected immediately. Is there unrighteousness with God? Never. He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He (Deut 32:4). We argued in the previous chapter that our time-less God is perfect in knowledge and wisdom; of course He knows all things before they happen! (see Rom 8:29).
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
The Apostle quotes this passage to prove his answer in the previous verse, that there is no unrighteousness with God. In that occasion, God gave to Moses a sign of His highest benevolence, saying: I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy (Ex 33:19). He is all-wise and all-good, so He will always bestow mercy and compassion judiciously and fairly. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful (Ps 116:5); for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He doeth (Dan 9:14). His judgments are true and righteous (Rev 16:7). Always! His mercy and compassion is ready to be poured into the hearts of those who sincerely search for Him. He is actively looking for people who humble themselves to seek His grace (1Pet 5:5).
Willingness of heart and full effort to win the prize are essential characteristics found in every saved person, but there is no work of Man that can earn him the grace of God. No force of will, no strength of effort is sufficient enough to acquire salvation. This we saw in chapter four. By doing good works no man (or nation) will be justified before God (see note Rom 4:5), and that’s because Man’s righteousness, being always mixed with unrighteousness, is never strong enough to obligate God to act mercifully. He decides, and nobody else (Is 40:13-14). Salvation depends entirely on God’s mercy and grace, and not upon justice or merit (Rom 11:6). No man can say, “God owes me salvation.” Or justice, or mercy. God is entirely free to bless whomsoever He chooses.
According to the Scriptures, God is very longsuffering and patient with Man. He receives all who come to Him for spiritual healing and forgiveness of sins (John 6:37). Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom 10:13). If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1John 1:9). So while God alone decides when and to whom He will extend mercy, we know that He is moved by humility and faith. God’s introduction to Moses at Mount Sinai is noteworthy: And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation (Ex 34:6-7). This is how He wanted to be known. Very gracious, yet fully just. He will not clear the guilty (those who refuse to seek forgiveness and obey Him), but will show mercy and forgive the iniquities of every humbled heart.
The Calvinist idea is that the will or disposition to be saved is foreign to all men; they are utterly depraved beasts with not even a sense to choose right or wrong. They think that God indiscriminately and randomly chooses to save certain men, and within these He puts the desire to be saved. And these cannot do else but be saved! They are irresistibly drawn and forcibly saved. These ideas do not come from the Word of Truth, but are pressed upon it.
Abraham had made his own plans to become a father of many nations, praying, O that Ishmael might live before Thee! (Gen 17:18). But God had willed something different. Isaac too made his own plans to bless Esau when God had willed something different. God shows mercy according to His own good purpose and will. Jacob, for instance, wrestled with the Angel and refused to let go without a blessing. He was rewarded for his tenacity and perseverance!
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
The example of Pharaoh exhibits God’s foreknowledge and predestination, but also how He accomplishes His will even while allowing Man to act according to the freedom of his will. Pharaoh was a remarkably cruel and obstinate individual, ignoring God’s signs, miracles and divine proclamations again and again. Every time Pharaoh would humble himself and ask for mercy, God would relent, but his constant rebellions led directly to his death in the Red Sea. While God did harden Pharaoh’s heart, he did so indirectly, bringing events and experiences into his life that led him to the decision point. If Pharaoh would have humbled his heart as the king of Nineveh did (Jonah 3:4-10), surely God would have had mercy. Yet, He knew from the beginning that Pharaoh would not listen.
In that way God extended mercy to Moses and the Israelites (v15), but hardened Pharaoh and the Egyptians (v17). And the next chapters describe a similar case, how that God blinded physical Israel and accepted the Gentiles because of the Jew’s constant unbelief and wickedness (Rom 11:7-8). Again, He did not hardened their hearts directly, but brought events and experiences into their lives that would either cause them to serve Him more fully, or would provoke them to reject Him more and more. Jesus taught this principle in Mat 13:12 and Mat 25:29. God doesn’t want half-hearted followers (Rev 3:15-16). In His infinite wisdom and power, He ever acts with Man. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on [the Jews] which fell, severity; but toward [the grafted-in Gentiles], goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off (Rom 11:22). This is Paul’s point here.
The Calvinistic view of God’s interaction with Man is fatalistic and spirit-crushing. God becomes an ogre who saves arbitrarily, extending forgiveness to men who have not asked for it and damning others who seek His favor. Read in a certain way, these verses could be used to support Calvin’s theology, but there is a far better and Scripturally-consistent view which we have advanced throughout these notes. Rather than creating human robots that move at His command, God’s technique is a masterful, undetected maneuvering of events and experiences to construct a marvelous, spiritual Edifice. In this life we will never completely understand the multi-fold manners and designs whereby God directs human affair, but we can glimpse His hand at work in the history of the world! Why did God warn Joseph in a dream to take Jesus into Egypt instead of simply ending the wicked Herod’s life a few years early? Why did He allow John the Baptist to languish in prison and then suffer a sudden and ignominious death? We don’t have the answers. Shall we that are formed say to Him, Why hast thou made me thus?
I imagine God looking down from His heaven and building an eternal temple with human souls (Eph 2:19-22). He chooses this stone for one purpose and another stone for that particular place. He always selects the correct stone for its best-suited purpose because He knows each one intimately. He considers beforehand every mark of imperfection and nobility, every character weakness and strength. For while those features are unknown to beings confined to time, they are openly clear to Him who is outside of Time. Some stones are hard and unworkable, others He can shape and sand such that they shine even better in their God-given place in His temple.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Some argue that they are not accountable for their actions: “If God sends events into my life that result in me doing what He wished, then how can He blame me? He knew what would happen! Who can resist His will?” See this flawed argument in Rom 3:5-7 also. The point is dead-ended, for God does extend mercy to every person who asks in humility. If He finds fault with a man, we are sure it is for good reason. God will not act contrary to His character. He cannot lie (Titus 1:2) nor deny Himself (2Tim 2:13), so if we ask He will forgive (1John 1:9).
How unreasonable for the clay to question the potter and refuse to accomplish the purpose for which it was created! Equally unreasonable it is for a man to question God’s reasons for creating us the way He did (read Is 45:9-11 in the LXX). The Creator deserves our reverence and meekness. But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand (Is 64:8). Can the clay understand the Potter? Does He not have the right to make of the clay whatsoever vessel He wishes? A house contains a large variety of vessels, each with special design and purpose; some are made of gold and silver, others of wood and earth, some are used in formal settings, others fulfill menial tasks (2Tim 2:20). Everyone who humbles himself to be shaped and purged by the Potter shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work (2Tim 2:21).
The Potter and clay analogy is particularly relevant to the Apostle’s larger subject of God’s plan for Jews and Gentiles in the New Covenant of grace. God was patient with the vessels of wrath (v22) and did not re-mold the clay immediately, even though He had fore-ordained to bestow the riches of His glory upon the vessels of mercy (v23). It is a not-so-subtle reminder to the Jews of an unmistakable prophecy concerning the nation of Israel. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel….If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them…But if it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them (Jer 18:1-10). Yet Israel did not obey, and the clay was marred in the hand of the Potter: so He made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the Potter to make it (Jer 18:4).
We must remain within the analogy’s domain of good purpose and application. While the picture of God shaping a man (or people) to His purpose is beautiful and inspiring, Man is much more than clay. Clay has no mind, so it is impossible for it to talk back to its maker, much less refuse the work it was created to do. Rather, the analogy intends to demonstrate the impropriety of Man questioning the designs and plans of the Creator, yet this is a common human tendency across all people groups! The atheist/agnostic impugns God’s character by criticizing His creative hand and the Christian is often tempted to question/doubt God’s goodness when he encounters difficulties and strife (see Rom 8:35). It is an important lesson to learn. Allow God to be in control of your life and He will wisely administer events and circumstances so that your character and being are shaped to His good pleasure. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1Pet 5:6; James 4:10). He wants to make of us a name and a praise among all people of the earth (Zeph 3:20). Will we let Him?
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
For long years God “waited” for the right moment to make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, those foreknown, predestinated and called children of Abraham according to Faith (Gal 3:7). He endured with much longsuffering the rebellions of the children of Abraham according to the Flesh – those vessels of wrath fitted to destruction – even though He was minded to act in righteousness immediately. Perhaps God could have arranged a different plan, but should we the clay be questioning the mind of the Potter? The beautiful truth is, the Gentiles in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy (1Pet 2:10).
The New Covenant people of God are the called according to the law of Faith, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Together they are one people (Eph 2:14), branches of the same olive tree (Rom 11:24), a chosen generation and an holy nation (1Pet 2:9), children of the living God (v26). This did not just happen, it was foreknown and predestinated by God and that should testify powerfully to Jews and Gentiles.
25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
This tremendous prophecy from the book of Hosea foretells the Gentile inclusion into God’s Covenant with Man. There are many similar foretellings in the Old Testament. See especially Isaiah 54, which is an intricate prophecy of the barren woman (the Gentiles) rejoicing at being accepted at last.
The larger prophecy in the first chapter of Hosea parallels Paul’s theme in these chapters. God told Hosea to prophecy of the imminent end of the kingdom of the house of Israel, for He would no more have mercy upon them. He would show mercy to the house of Judah and save them, but Israel? I will utterly take them away. Yet (He continues) the number of the children of Israel (not Judah) shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God (see Hos 1:4-11).
Historians have long speculated what happened to the people of Israel, the so-called “ten lost tribes” who the Assyrians defeated in battle and carried into captivity about 150 years before the fall of Judah to the Babylonians. Whatever their story, they were so completely dispersed among the surrounding nations, and their blood so inter-mingled with them, that they ceased to be a people. They must be called “Gentiles.” Yet, the Word of the Lord by the prophet Hosea says these same people, the children of Israel, would become like the sand of the sea for number and be called the children of the living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
This prophecy from Isaiah 10:20-23 foretells a great and thorough purging in the land of Israel, which was fulfilled in John the Baptist (see Mat 3:7-12). While Hosea prophesied a tremendous increase in the children of God, Isaiah says that only a remnant shall be saved. The establishing events of the New Testament demonstrate the veracity of both prophecies. For in truth, the great majority of Jews rejected Jesus the Nazarene and only a small remnant emerged out of Israel and believed on Him unto salvation (Rom 11:5). The larger field of converts were Gentile children of Abraham, which have grown to far outnumber the Jews.
A short work will the Lord make upon the earth. This quotes the Septuagint version of Isaiah 10:23, a statement which has been seemingly contradicted by time, seeing that the world continues on 2000 years after the Apostle Paul wrote these words. Two facts will give better understanding. First, the prophet’s subject is the Israel of the Old Covenant, a work which God finished with the coming of the Messiah (Heb 9:26). Second, the Greek the phrase, short work, mirrors the earlier phrase, cut it short (both verb forms) and refers to a quick cutting off, or making a sudden end of things. Significantly, it is found in the Septuagint in only two other passages (Is 28:22; Dan 9:24-26), the latter one in Daniel’s remarkable prophecy of the end of the Old Covenant by the Messiah’s hand.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
In the quoted verse, Isaiah was warning Judah of her grave spiritual condition just before Jerusalem fell to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, who carried the surviving Jews into captivity in Babylon for seventy long years. The pattern would repeat some 500 years later. Judah was in such grave and hardened spiritual condition that Jesus said Tyre and Sidon would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if He had done such mighty works in their cities, and that Sodom would have even remained to that day (see Mat 11:20-24). Because of their hardened and unbelieving hearts, the city of Jerusalem was completely destroyed and all survivors were led into slavery twice in the space of 70 years. The pride of the Jews, the Temple on Zion’s hill, would be so utterly demolished that the Roman conquerors ran a plow over the grounds to demonstrate its shocking destruction.
Yet, thanks to God, a very small remnant (Is 1:9) escaped from the house of Jacob (Is 10:20) to become the Messiah’s New Covenant people. A time of great trouble shook the nation of Judah and thoroughly purged it. The honorable and willing were delivered, and the rest were scattered throughout the nations even to the present day (Eze 5:12-15). The end of this Age will see a similar great purging and deliverance of the people of God (Dan 12:1-3).
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Until the coming of Christ, the Gentiles were aliens and strangers from the Law and the Covenant, and without God in the world (Eph 2:12). Nevertheless, without seeking for it (Rom 10:20) they received the righteousness of faith (Rom 4:13) as the spiritual children of Abraham. Israel after the flesh meanwhile, was so engrossed in following their Law of righteousness that they missed their King of Righteousness (Is 32:1; Heb 7:2).
What shall we say then? The Greek phrase occurs six times in the book of Romans, but nowhere else in the Scriptures. It marks the beginning of a new point, a step forward in the argument for the New Covenant people of God. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Is 35:10).
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Israel after the flesh failed to obtain the promises (Rom 11:7) because they did not believe on their Savior, Jesus Christ. They trusted solely upon doing the works of the Law, which they had modified and remolded to their liking. They couldn’t see that it had become to them a broken reed…whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it (Is 36:6). By refusing the Giver of the Law, the Jews stumbled over that Rock of offence (1Pet 2:8; Is 8:14). He did not fulfill their dreams for a Messiah (1Cor 1:23). But a remnant, or seed, did believe on Him, and together with the Gentiles of faith, these received the promises. The very Stone that the Jews had stumbled upon was the cause of Gentile salvation (1Pet 2:6). Simeon prophesied that Mary’s child would cause this great division in Israel (Luke 2:34).
Two prophecies of Isaiah are combined in this quotation. The first is Isaiah 8:14-15, And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. And the second is Isaiah 28:16, Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste (or, be confounded, LXX). These verses must have pricked the consciences of those faith-less Jews who had them in memory. Peter used this passage in his fearless defence of Christ before the Sanhedrim (Acts 4:10-13), and Jesus cited a similar prophecy from Psalms 118:22 (see Mat 21:42).
Paul will return to the subject of the Jews stumbling over Christ in the last of this three-chapter treatise (see Rom 11:11), in which Israel after the flesh is shown to be a work finished and cut short (v28). The new Israel of God is made up of Jews and Gentiles together as one people in the Lord.