BUT IT IS NOT AS THOUGH THE WORD OF GOD HAS FAILED: Ouch hoion de hoti
ekpeptoken (3SRPI) o logos tou theou: (3:3;
11:1,2;
Numbers 23:19;
Isaiah 55:11;
Matthew 24:35;
John 10:35;
2 Timothy 2:13;
Hebrews 6:17,18)
Keep in mind that by the time of this letter to the
Romans, the NT church was composed predominantly of Gentile believers and
that Jews had begun
to reject the Gospel in large numbers. In such a setting, it might look as if God's word
had failed in regard to the Jew. What was the problem?
Failed (1601)
(ekpipto from ek = from + pípto = to fall)
literally means to fall from or out and figuratively (as in this verse)
it means to fall away and to to fail, to be without effect or to be in
vain.
Near the end of his life,
Joshua addressed the issue of God's Word "failing" declaring to
Israel...
"Now behold, today I am going the way
of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls
that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke
concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of
them has failed. And it shall come about that just as all the good words
which the LORD your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the LORD
will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off
this good land which the LORD your God has given you." (Joshua 23:14-15)
FOR THEY ARE NOT ALL ISRAEL WHO ARE DESCENDED FROM ISRAEL: ou gar pantes oi ex Israel houtoi
Israel: (2:28,29;
4:12-16;
John 1:47;
Galatians 6:16)
"For it is not everybody who is a
descendant of Jacob (Israel) who belongs to [the true] Israel"
(Amplified)
Earlier in this letter Paul
explained that...
he is not a Jew who is one outwardly;
neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a
Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart,
by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but
from God. (Romans
2:28-29)
Paul explains that God's Word has
not failed because not all of physical Israel (Jew by birth) are
"spiritual" Israel (Jew by new birth).
The natural "Israel" is the national, cultural, political Israel,
all of whom were to be circumcised physically.
The "supernatural" Israel is
represented by a "remnant"
who God in great mercy and grace preserved.
The church is emphatically not
the
continuation of "political Israel" as is taught by a number of
commentators. In fact, even scholars as highly esteemed as John
Calvin arrived at this erroneous interpretation (see the
Israel of God
for why this is an erroneous interpretation).
The point is that God is not finished with Israel or the Jew as
explained later in Romans 9-11.
Now, if God made promises to
Israel as His chosen earthly people, how can this be compatible with
Israel’s present rejection and with the Gentiles being brought into the
place of blessing? Paul explains that this does not indicate any
breach of promise on God’s part. He goes on to show that God has always
had a sovereign election process based upon promise and not just on
natural descent. Just because a person was born into the nation of
Israel does not mean that they are automatically an heir to the promises
of God given through Abraham to Israel. Within the nation of Israel, God
has always had a genuine believing remnant who have had heart
circumcision (related topic
Scriptures on Circumcision)
and not just external physical circumcision. So Paul will show
God sovereignly chose Isaac as the child of promise and the spiritual descendent of
Abraham instead of the first born Ishmael. Then God sovereignly chose the twin Jacob
over the firstborn Esau even before birth, even before they did anything
good or bad to emphasize that it was God's choice who would be shown
mercy and compassion. Remember that God is God and we are not!
Keep the following table in mind
as you study Romans 9-11.
|
Summary of Romans
9-11 |
|
Romans 9 |
Romans 10 |
Romans 11 |
Past
Election |
Present
Rejection |
Future
Reception |
God's Sovereignty
Israel's Election by God |
Man's responsibility
Israel's Rejection of God |
God's Ways Higher
God Not Rejecting Israel |
Gentiles who believe are also of Abraham's spiritual seed ("And
if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs
according to promise" Galatians 3:29) but
in this passage in Romans 9, Paul is not considering the Gentiles but only
the "two kinds of Israelites", the natural and the supernatural
(spiritual) Jew.
Paul now offers to show in defense of God’s word that the inner reality
does not correspond to the outer appearance, for “they are not all
Israel who are descended from Israel” (v6-7), but there is a true
Israel, an born again Israel within physical Israel, that is comprised,
not of “the children of the flesh,” but of the children of the promise.
Jesus made a similar distinction when talking with the
unbelieving Jews in Jn 8:33-39. They said to Him, “We are Abraham’s
descendants ... ” (John
8:33).
Jesus admitted this, saying, “I
know you are Abraham’s descendants” (John
8:37).
But when they said,
“Abraham is our father” the Lord
replied
“If you were Abraham’s children,
you would do the works of Abraham” (John
8:39).
In other words, they were
physically descended from Abraham, but they didn’t have Abraham’s faith
and therefore they were not his spiritual children. In fact Jesus went
on to explain to the spiritually unregenerate Jews...
"You are of your father the devil,
and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature;
for he is a liar, and the father of lies. (John
8:44)
