Chapter 9:6-18
Why has Israel not received her promises?
Romans 9:6-13
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 Sara shall have a son.
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;)
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.
Israel did not believe God the Holy Ghost in Acts 1 to 7, so they failed to
get the blessings listed in verse 4, as we saw in the last class.
(Vs 6)
Was that because the word of God failed to produce faith in them?
But only those in Israel who believed God were real Israel. As Rom
2:28 says, "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;.....But he is a Jew,
which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and
not in the letter;.."
(Vs 7-9)
Just being a descendent of Abraham did not make a person a child of God.
(John 8:39-44) God promised Abraham a son
named Isaac when he was old and his wife, Sara, was barren. But before the birth
of Isaac, Abraham had Ishmael by another woman. But only Isaac’s
descendants were chosen to fulfil God’s purpose. (Gen
17:15-21; 21:12) Likewise there were many Jews, but God only called those
who believed His word to be His children.
(Vs 10,11)
Isaac’s wife, Rebecca, had twins. Theirs names were Esau and Jacob.
(Gen 25:21-26) God elected (chose) Jacob’s
descendants, and not Esau’s, to fulfil His purpose. What was
God’s purpose? In Gen 3:15, God promised that the seed of the
woman would triumph over Satan. That promise passed down through Seth, Noah,
Shem, then through Abraham and Issac to Jacob, who became Israel.
(Gen 32:28) His 12 sons produced the 12 tribes of
Israel. Jesus, the final promised Seed (Gal
3:16), came from the tribe of Judah. (Mt 1:1-17; Lk
3:23-38) In the future kingdom, the whole world will be blessed through
that promised Seed (Gen 12:2,3), which is Christ
and the nation Israel that will represent Him on earth.
(Zech 8:13,22,23)
*Notice that God’s election is to fulfill His purpose, it is
NOT to determine who gets saved.
(Vs 12)
Read Genesis 25:21-26 where God said this to Rebecca. This is a prophecy
about her sons’ decedents, not the boys themselves. In the future kingdom
on earth, not just Esau’s descendants, but all nations will serve
Jacob’s descendants. (Is 60:12)
(Vs 13)
This quote is from Malachi 1:1-5. Long after Jacob and Esau were gone,
Malachi wrote about the fulfillment of the prophecy quoted in vs 12. Again this
is obviously about the nations that came from Jacob and Esau, not the
individual boys. .
*Notice: God did not elect individuals, rather He elects a
group of people as His agency to fulfil His purpose. Christ is the only
individual elected apart from a group. (Is 42:1).
Back to verse 6, did the word of God fail? No. The word always
produced faith in a few people and God elected that group to accomplish His
purpose. But Christ, the Seed, came, and yet the little group of believers
in Israel still did not inherit the earth as promised. Why?
(Vs 14)
Was it because God is unrighteous? Is He undependable?
NO It is because (1) God was being merciful to Israel
(vs15), and (2) God had another purpose
to accomplish, (vs 17).
Romans 9:14-18
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid.
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.
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.
(Vs 15)
This is quoted from Ex 33:19. Moses had just come back from speaking with
God on Mt Sinai and found the people of Israel in a religious celebration to a
god of their own making. Moses expected God’s judgment, and he pleads with God
for their lives. God had mercy and did not kill them.
(Ex 32:1-14) Some 2000 years later, Israel had
committed the unforgivable sin after the Holy Ghost came in Acts 2,
(Mt 12:31,32; Acts 7:51,55), and the next thing in
their program was God’s wrath - the tribulation period.
(Mt 3:7; 24:21,29; Is 9:19; 13:6-13; Zeph 1:14-18)
But instead of killing that generation of unbelieving Jews, God in mercy
delayed His judgment and gave them another chance by introducing a new program
through Paul. (Eph 3:1-9; Rom 11:14; I Cor 9:20-22)
(Vs 16)
Men don’t set the terms in God’s program. No one can speed up the
fulfillment of His promises. God will show mercy as He chooses.
(Rom 11:32-35) This verse is not talking
about individual salvation.
(Vs 17)
In this example, from Ex 9:16, God delayed Israel’s promised
deliverance from Egypt in order to accomplish another purpose. God
put Pharaoh in a position of power, knowing he would not let Israel go
immediately, for a purpose - to display His power with the plagues and in the
Red Sea. Likewise, God did not give the believing remnant of Israel the promised
kingdom in Peter’s time, because the body of Christ (that’s us) would not then
exist to fill the heavenlies. God has delayed Israel’s promises, as He
did in Exodus, to accomplish this goal.
Verse 17 is a good example of how God can use men who oppose Him.
(Vs 18)
God’s word always has an effect on people. (Is 55:11)
If people believe it, it saves and works in them.
(Rom 1:16; I Thes 2:13) If they do not believe it, it hardens
them. (Pr 29:1) It is the same word, but causes a
different effect due to a different response.M. Dent
24