Chapter 9:19-29
The Reshaping of Israel

 

Romans 9:19-29

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

 

(Vs 19)  In this chapter, Paul is answering the question, why did Israel not receive their kingdom promises (as listed in verses 4-5)?  If God’s word did not fail (verses 6-13), and if God is not unrighteous or undependable (but is merciful and accomplished another purpose instead, verses 14-18), then why still delay Israel’s destiny? As we saw with Pharaoh in verse 17, God can accomplish His purpose, even when people resist Him, so no one can stop Him.  Then why the delay?  See what Peter says about this in II Peter 3:3,4,9,10,15,16.

 

(Vs 20)  “The thing formed” is Israel.  In Jer 18:1-12, Israel is “marred in the hand of the potter” by their own unbelief, so they cannot blame God if He re-forms them to use them differently.  (Is 10:15;   45:9,10;  Hosea 4:7)

 

(Vs 21)  Notice God makes different vessels out of the same lump of clay. The lump is Israel.  When Israel followed Him, God made them honorable.  In other times, when they were in unbelief, God used them as a vessel for dishonorable use.  Be sure to read Jer 18:1-12 and Is 64:7-10.

II Tim 2:20,21 shows that God works similarly with us today.  If we purge ourselves from false religious ideas (II Tim 2:16-19), God can use us for honorable purposes, “prepared unto every good work.”

 

(Vs 22-24)  Just as in Egypt in verse 17, God is willing to warn people of His coming wrath.  So instead of bringing on the tribulation period, and coming back in wrath to judge the earth in the early Acts period as prophesied (Acts 2:16-21;  3:19-26; Is 13:6,9,11), He has delayed His judgment and interrupted prophecy.  Instead of destroying all the unbelieving “vessels of wrath”, He patiently endures them so that He can form the body of Christ of the “vessels of mercy” to display His glory. (Eph 1:12;  2:7;  Col 1:25-27)  The vessels of mercy are both Jews and Gentiles who believe Him in this age.  (I Cor 12:13;  Eph 2:11-18)  This interruption in prophecy was not expected, or revealed until Paul, (Rom 16:25;  Eph 3:1-6) but God had “afore prepared” for us before the foundation of the world. (Eph 1:4;  I Cor 2:7,8)

 

(Vs 25,26) Osee is the Greek spelling for the Hebrew name Hosea in the Old Testament.  Read these quotes in Hosea 2:23 and 1:8-10.  Paul uses these verses to demonstrate verse 21, showing how God reshaped Israel from honor to dishonor, and then will shape them back to honor again.  When God formed the nation Israel by bringing them out of Egypt, they were His people and He demonstrated His glory in them to all other nations. (Deut 4:5-8;  Ex 34:10)  As Israel fell into unbelief, God demonstrated His wrath on them before the other nations. (Jer 22:8,9;  40:2,3)  Right now, God has shaped Israel to not be His people, just like He did in Hosea’s time.  But Hosea prophecies that, in the future, God will reshape Israel back to being His people and displaying His glory again.  I Peter 2:9,10 describes this and also refers back to Hosea 2:23.

 

(Vs 27)  Esaias is Isaiah in the Old Testament.  Verse 27 and 28 are from Isaiah 10:20-23.  Only a small percentage of the population believes God’s word.  So it was with Israel. (Rom 2:28,29;  9:6) Through their many past judgments, God always saved a believing remnant, and when He deals with them again in the future tribulation period, He will again save a remnant. (Is 4:2-4;  Zech 13:8,9)

 

(Vs 28)  To God, a thousand years is like a day, so His program, to regain the earth from Satan and to rule it righteously through Israel under Christ, is just a “short work” which will come to a definite completion.  (II Peter 3:7-13;  Ps 90:4.  “Consumption” in Is 10:23 means an ending.    - Strongs’s Concordance)

 

(Vs 29)  This verse  is from Isaiah 1:4-9 and 65:8,9.  Sodoma and Gomorrha are the cities that God destroyed in Genesis 19 because of their sin. (Gen 18:20;  Jude 7;  Mat 11:23,24). Unlike Sodom and Gomorrha, God will save “a seed out of Jacob”, so that Israel will never be totally eliminated, and will grow again.  (Is 37:31,32;  66:22)

Sabaoth is a military term.  “Lord of Sabaoth” means Lord of armies.

 

In summary……….

Israel did not received her kingdom back in the time of Peter in Acts 1-7 because:

1. God was showing mercy by delaying judgment and giving people warning. 

2. God  reshaped Israel to not be His people so that He could form the body of Christ of both Jews and Gentiles during our present age.