Romans 9 and the Nation of Israel

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Romans 9.7
August 29th 2021

As a preface to our verse-by-verse study of Romans chapter 9 last week, we talked about Adam and Eve, and their sons Cain and Abel. We talked about Abraham and his sons Ishmael and Isaac, we talked about Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob, and we talked about how they all were pictures and types for being people of the flesh or people of the Spirit. Perhaps more important to our subject today, we talked about how God knew and established them to be and do what they would be and do.

We know this by and through the promises that he gave to both Abraham and their mothers who bore them prior to them being born. So let’s re-read our text for today, remembering that Paul is reassuring the reader (and maybe probably the Jewish convert reader) that he is a friend to the nation of Israel. Okay, so beginning at verse one…

Paul's Intention for the Nation of Israel

Romans 9:1 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:
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.
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's Role in God's Promise

As stated, it appears that Paul, after writing what he had to write in chapter eight, might have been concerned with the way the Jewish converts in Rome would have interpreted his heart toward them, and so he starts off in verses 1-5 explaining his real intentions for the nation of Israel.

And he says in verse one:

Romans 9:1 “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.”

The opening two passages seem to appeal to his sincerity for the house of Israel and the things he has been saying relative to them. And as we said, it may be that his words and the doctrines that he has been teaching have led some to believe that he was an apostate and that had lost his love for his countrymen. So, he opens professing otherwise.

Additionally, what he was about to write (and what we are about to read) was going to continue to challenge them, and as a preemptive strike, Paul might have been affirming his love and loyalty to the Nation of Israel beforehand. The way he describes his heart toward his “brethren in the flesh” is to say he has “great heaviness and continual sorrow” for them. Along with a few other things.

The Mourning Heart of Paul

Why? Why would Paul have such mourning in his heart for them? We know that Jesus too had extreme mourning over the Nation and stood over her city Jerusalem before going to the cross and cried:

Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (And then He adds) 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed

The Dilemma of Self-Sacrifice for the Salvation of Others

Here Jesus bemoans the state of Israel telling them then, “Your House is forsaken.” Forsaken by whom? By God. He had forsaken them – a fact many people overlook and Jesus bemoaned this fact before going to the cross. Here many years later, Paul continues to mourn for her. Why? Because the punishment that Jesus mourned over for her being forsaken was headed her way.

We’ve all experienced these feelings for those we know and love who have yet to come and understand the Love of God. Some of us have spouses, children, siblings, parents, neighbors, and/or people whom we were once associated with whom we too carry “heaviness and continual sorrow.” We want them to know the truth because the truth will set them free, change their lives, give them liberty. And with this heart, Paul goes on (verse 3) saying something really revealing if we think about it. He says:

Understanding Paul's Words

3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

Now that is what we read in the King James. And that passage has philosophically troubled the heck out of me for years because, on the one hand, it actually sounds like Paul is saying that he would gladly be separated and even “accursed from Christ” if his brethren could be saved. I used to think, especially when I was LDS, that such an attitude was noble. But that view was based in egotistical flesh.

Let’s first look at the Greek and at other translations of the passage. The (RSV) says, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race.” Young Literal says Ro 9:3 (YLT) for I was wishing, I myself, to be anathema from the Christ–for my brethren, my kindred, according to the flesh,

The Imperfect Idiom

The best way, in my opinion (which is also the consensus of some of the best Greek scholars) is to read Paul as saying “I was once at the point of thinking, ‘why, I might even be willing to find myself accursed from Christ for Israel’s sake . . .’” The reason for this interpretation is first, in the Greek the word used is, in the language of linguists, written in the “idiomatically imperfect, first person singular” which translated into something I can understand means that the line should be read like this, “the thought even passed through my head.”

I get that, I can relate to such a thought passing through the head of Paul. What I can’t relate to is Paul actually meaning this sentiment. Let me explain because in and through this little situation we discover the incomprehensible value of freewill and individual choice for all people. All of us have all probably thought at one time or another that we would gladly suffer alienation from God if another person we love would receive him in our place. It’s truly a romantic idea, right? “I would give my eternal life if only my child or loved one would believe,” type of thing.

The Futility of Sacrificial Love

It is really a fascinating confrontation in our minds isn’t it as we pair our love for family members and friends to our personal love and devotion to God. It also presents us with the idea of true love being sacrificial (of giving our eternal lives for another, right) but is it really a solid concept? Not at all. First of all, let’s take that emotionally driven idea and extrapolate it out over real time – out into the eternities – when we do it actually proves itself to be utterly regrettable in light of what God has established. And His ways are always the best ways.

So really try and think about this for a moment because when we do the absolute wisdom of God will be revealed to you. Ask yourself: “Would I really have it in myself to embrace an eternity – an eternity, mind you – (How long?) an eternity in a dark state of alienation from the God of love and light and life if such a sacrifice would ensure the salvation of another – and I don’t care who it is? Child, parent, friend? Now, in our flesh, and in the romance of Hollywood we might say, ‘Absolutely. Why, I’d die for you, Jimmy?’ Right? This is the stuff great romances are made of, right? Life for another? Physically

The Concept of Selfless Sacrifice

It works – it can be the highest form of love. But not spiritually. Not spiritual life for spiritual life – which is what the King James suggests that Paul was offering. Because what at first glance seems like a truly selfless act would actually wind up being something that would become totally meaningless in the eternal scheme of things, and therefore regrettable. We can say this because there is NO real virtue in the action because the action cannot ever be balanced or satisfied in the future.

It’s really a mind bender if you sit down and try and figure it out but let’s take it to the extreme as a means to strip the emotionality out of it and ask – would you be willing to suffer in darkness for an eternity absent any connectivity to real life and light and love IF you could save the entire world from the same fate? Now really think about this. In your selfless act everyone on earth would get to enjoy the glory and light and peace of heaven for an eternity while you eternally sat in dark misery alienated from it all forevermore.

The Dilemma of Everlasting Sacrifice

The failure of the romantic reply is found in the fact that while you are suffering in the dark misery forevermore (of which there would be no end) you would have done something for others for which there would be no end, and because there would never be a solution or reprieve from the results of your action, there would never be any satisfaction for having done it. On either sides part!! That’s the point. On either sides part. Ever.

After a week you might still be proud of your sacrifice, or a month, or a year. But at some point in the eternities you would realize you did something for people who were not willing to do for themselves, something that in time they too will forget about because it is a condition that will never change, a condition in which they had no part, so what the decision would become is something you will never forget and something that they ultimately will. In other words, because there would never be a justifiable reward for the sacrifice made there would never be any ultimate satisfaction for the sacrifice given. Therefore, there would only be a regret (on your part) and a forget on the part of the recipients.

Understanding Sacrifice Through Christ

I mean even in the case of our Lord and His offering what makes His sacrifice for sin tenable and viable is the fact that we will be with Him after this life, and all power and glory was placed in His hands as a result of His offering and the opportunity to reject it remains in play. See, God has made it so that the value of His sacrifice is found and discovered and rejoiced over in the fact that every single person must choose to receive it for themselves. There is the true value!

Our spouses, our children, whomever – that is the value and beauty of it and it this fully shows the wisdom of God in bestowing freewill upon us to make that choice. Without each individual person choosing to receive His offering – including our beloved children and grandchildren, the value of redemption could never be understood or appreciated. Therefore God did not establish the vicarious saving of souls. He established the victory being had by one then every individual having to choose to receive that victory themselves, of their own freewill, or to not, because any other means of salvation would be regretted by the giver and forgotten by the receiver.

So we know that what Paul is saying here is that he cared so deeply for the nation of Israel that “the thought once passed through his mind” that he would even be “accursed from Christ to save them.” But I submit to you that this thought left him. Other scholars suggest otherwise but philosophically I cannot help but see their view as anything but absurd.

In any case, it is by and through these passages that we turn our attention to thinking about Paul’s brethren, “according to the flesh.” And by the way, I collectively refer to His brethren in the flesh as the Jews, or Hebrews, or the Nation of Israel – which are all technically not the same thing.

Now, beginning in verse 4 Paul begins to describe his brethren, saying:

4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and

The Privileges of the Israelites

the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

Who are Israelites?

Last week we discussed how Abraham had a son who was the son of promise (named Isaac) and how Isaac had a son of promise named Jacob. And then we talked about how Jacob the “heel catcher” wrestled with God and when it was all said and done, God gave him a new name – Israel – which means, “wrestles with God.” And then how Israel had twelve sons, and from these sons we have the Nation of Israel, or whom we call, “the Children of Israel.”

The Seven Blessings

And Paul here lists some privileges bestowed upon all those who descended from Jacob renamed Israel. There are seven privileges all together that scripture mentions and Paul mentions some of them here. They all include:

They were “adopted by God.” They were attended by his Glory. They were recipients of His covenants. They received the Law. They officiated in His temple. They were promised a number of great promises. And, through them both “the written word” (and the living Word, the Messiah) would come.

Let me speak of these quickly:

First, this nation was adopted by God as His own. They were truly regarded as His peculiar people and children.

Deuteronomy 7:6 says:

“For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

That line that God has chosen thee goes a long way in the Calvinist argument for predestination for any who are God’s.

The Special Choice

Many people are confused as to why God chose this nation over others to be His special people. Are or were they better than the rest of us? Are or were they loved more by God? How can He, who scripture says “is not a respecter of persons,” say He has “chosen Israel to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth?”

We have to remember that God didn't actually choose an “existing nation” when he made a covenant with Abraham.

Deuteronomy 7:6 was written by Moses in retrospect.

God actually chose a single man, Abram, and called him out from a world of paganism to follow Him in faith. And paganism was not just some little tin God sitting on a table-top – Paganism was a system of horrific practices perpetrated on others against their will.

Prior to calling Abraham God had judged the entire inhabited world with the Great Flood. In fact, Abraham was born only about 400 years after this flood so the world's population at the time must have been quite small in terms of numbers. I mean, Noah died only two years before Abraham was born. So, it’s possible that there weren’t any people or nations with established and defined borders that we have today. It is believed that in that area there was only a network of city-states and many of them or most of them practiced idolatry. About 250 years before Abraham was born a man named Nimrod tried to establish a system of defensive alliances among these pagan city-states for what would then be ostensibly a “one world order.” His efforts would have a centralized a uniform system of religion, culture, and a world-wide economic geopolitical unity in that day. Again, it is believed that at that time most of these “city-states” were involved in polytheistic paganism. I mean, they even worshipped Nimrod as the manifested Son of God. We witness a similar set up in the Roman Empire as the early Christians moved in toward the end of that age an worshipped Nero. Now among these “city states” that existed at that time were places like Erech, Accad, Larsa, Babel, Fara, Kish, Lagash, Eridu, Nippur, and Ur. And it was from out of the city of Ur that God called Abraham for the purpose of constituting “a nation” that would be separate from all the others . . . and what would truly set this future nation apart from all others was . . . (drumroll please) monotheism. From the start, there was a battle between the single true and living God and those who recognized or thought it was okay to worship “many gods.” Now God could have chosen anyone he wanted to be the Father of a new nation, but he chose Abraham. Scripture says it was because of

The Choosing of Abraham and the Nation of Israel

Who knows, maybe God did in fact call others and they failed to show up? I doubt it, but let’s consider everything. Or maybe nobody could hold a candle to the faith and ways of Abram. Perhaps God gave Him the faith – but because his faith pleased God, I tend to believe he chose it.

But at this point, we have a few more pieces to the picture of God’s dealings with the world. We could have had:

One world (under Nimrod) (OR) a distinct nation (from Abraham).
Polytheism (OR) Monotheism.
Mysticism OR a people of faith.

All we know is in the end, Abraham obeyed God, left Ur, and departed from the pagan world to follow Him, the one true God, and that he did all of this “in faith.” This, of course, is an ancient picture for all Christians who do the exact same thing – to follow Him in faith.

God's Foreknowledge and the Nation of Israel

So, in essence, God did not choose these people called Israel, that we can envy or who can boast, but He actually chose Abram, and Abram chose to accept Him and his commands by faith. And then FROM out of Abraham came several nations – all blessed by God – nations from Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, and Jacob. Among them all God had a preferred line. I believe His line was preferred due to His foreknowledge of what would be NOT by His predestinational power over choice. You have to decide what you believe and how you see it.

Now, did God favor the Nation of Israel preferentially because He was a respecter of persons, or did He choose them because of His foreknowledge? God loved every nation – and cared for them – those that came out of Ishmael and Esau too, every tribe, every family, and every person. But it was expedient, due to foreknowledge, for God to choose the line that He knew would do what was needed to bring forth everything according to His desires. Why? Listen – because through them He would ultimately bless all Nations.

The Role of Israel in God's Plan

Therefore, His calling Abram out was an act of love for the world because, in the end, it would be by and through his preferred Nation that the Messiah would enter this world – and then save it. If God had not chosen someone, somewhere, sometime, and called them out of paganism, then all nations would have remained forever lost in a sea of pagan polytheism. But He called a Nation through a very specific line of sons who would more walk in the faith of their forefather Abraham than others.

But, from the beginning, God foreordained (from before creation) that He would manifest Himself through the human seed pool of those who came through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which ultimately manifested His love for all peoples through the salvation offered (by faith) in His Son, who also had a Kingdom established from the foundation of the world. So, by entering into the covenant with a faithful Abraham, God was, in fact, keeping His word AND showing love for the world!

The greatest mystery (then) is not that He chose Abraham but that He would choose anyone at all! Why did He even care? God is not biased against the Arab nations, or the Palestinians, or anyone else. To the contrary, through the Children of Israel, he has offered even the enemies of Israel his love and salvation. Additionally, and for whatever reason, the Nation of Israel is so constructed that it has had a built-in ability to thrive amidst persecution rather than wilt. This is important because “when God chose the nation of Israel, Satan chose the nation of Israel as well.” Many people think that Israel had been elevated to a status of superiority or preferential treatment because God favored them as a nation, but remember, this “choosing” has amounted to some of the most heinous and horrible suffering directed at them in all the world. I’m sure the reasons why God chose Abraham as the Father of the chosen nation are endless, but don’t ever think they are because He loves or respects any person or nation more than another.

Paul also says that the Children of Israel had “the glory.” As His covenant people, they naturally would bear the glory of God, which attended them in their exit from Egypt and rested over the ark in the first temple. This glory is known as the “Shekinah,” glory in Exodus 13:21 and 25:22.

The Privileges of the Nation of Israel

Paul highlights the glory that all who are His “bear and will bear” eternally. He mentions “the covenants” and “the giving of the law,” reminding us of the time on Mount Sinai when Moses delivered God’s Law to Israel. This law serves as a picture of God’s ultimate plan for the redemption of mankind.

The Jews were also given the priority of “the service of God,” which encompassed their temple work, priestly duties, and their role in keeping the nation holy, illustrating God’s salvific plan with His covenant people. Paul continues with “the promises”—specifically, the promise of the Messiah coming through their line to save the world. Despite not knowing why the Messiah came from the Tribe of Judah, Paul acknowledges the honor of this distinct ancestry through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David.

The Nation as a Type of Christ

The privileges bestowed upon the Nation of Israel are seen as a type of Jesus. They were adopted by God, while He was His literal Son. They were attended by His Glory; He was His glory clothed in flesh. Their covenants led to the New Covenant brought forth by Him. He fulfilled the Law they received and took on His role as our eternal high priest. He met all promised expectations, and as the Messiah was to come through them, in Him, the Messiah was.

Despite being a type of Christ, Israel was a failing picture of His perfection, similar to how humanity fails in its own attempts at salvation. Paul then discusses verse six, where he transitions abruptly, expressing his heavy heart for Israel and the perceived failure of the promises made to them.

Not All Israel Is of Israel

Paul writes, "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel." This indicates that, although he is deeply concerned for the nation, he affirms that the promises of God have not entirely failed. Through this, Paul seeks to reconcile the privileges of Israel with their apparent shortcomings.

Understanding Israel and True Covenant People

Position and explain what he means he says:

“I mean, not all (who are called) Israel, are of Israel.”

In other words, he is saying that even though God’s covenant people and their story haven’t turned out perfectly, we don’t need to worry. (And he adds the thought) “I mean, not all that are known as “Israel” are Israel.” And that is a radical line. What does he mean by this? He means not all the descendants of Jacob have the true Israelite spirit or are genuine Jews in the scriptural sense of the term. He explained this to us back in Romans chapter two, where he said in verses 28-29:

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

This has been a constant point of Paul’s in his letter to the Romans. And he reiterates it here.

Predestination and God's Selection

And he makes the point even stronger by saying in verse seven:

7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, “in Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

Many of the descendants of Abraham were rejected as being God’s covenant people. Remember what we learned about Ishmael, Abraham’s first son of the flesh last week? That he was a son of the flesh and of bondage. Now, again, it’s important to know that they were not rejected in the sense that God did not love them. They were rejected in the fact that, no matter what they did, they were not going to assume the promise He gave.

What I just said – extended out – has ENORMOUS implications in the Calvinistic idea of predestination (which we cannot avoid talking about here in chapter 9). God had His ways, his mind set, His paths clear – from the foundation of the world and all of His purposes remain unknown to us. So while Ishmael and Isaac were all known as Abraham’s seed, Paul says that “only in Isaac shall the children be called.”

Doctrine of Election

Now here’s the big segue into the point at hand relative to Predestination. God promised Abraham that he would have children who would inherit a promised land (and, over the course of time, do actually all the other things we mentioned at the beginning of the hour today) AND GOD made this promise BEFORE Ishmael or Isaac were even conceived.

(Beat)

You got that? Let me repeat it: God promised Abraham that he would have a large number of seed who would inherit a promised land (and over the course of time do all the other things we mentioned at the beginning of the hour today) and He made this promise . . . BEFORE . . . Ishmael or Isaac were even conceived.

And using this fact, Paul is about to enter into a discussion of predestination. Because God selected or chose Isaac (and those who would come from him) as His covenant people/children, we discover that the “doctrine of election by predestination” (based on the sovereignty of God) was present at the very commencement of the history of the Nation of Israel when there was only Abraham without sons.

And since God made distinctions between the very children of Abraham waaaaay back then . . . before Ishmael, Isaac, Esau or Jacob were born then . . . (READY) . . . He might still do the same today when people come to Christ and are adopted as children of God. Taking it even further, just as God rejected even the natural descendants of Abraham (like Ishmael) so (says the Calvinist) does He continue to reject others in this day and age of grace.

To me Paul is pursuing an argument for one purpose but many, many people today use his argument to, in my opinion, sustain the idea that God chooses (ELECTS) some to believe and some to disbelief . . . (or in other words, some to heaven and some to hell). As we read through Romans 9 (and other passages in scripture) the doctrine of election becomes more certain and sure. We cannot get away from it.

But I am of the opinion that in reading the support texts that we have along the way, the doctrine of election has been misinterpreted . . . to our

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