Page 329 - Demo

ROMANS 
V. JEWS AND GENTILES IN GOD’S PLAN*
Paul’s Love for Israel.*
1I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my
conscience joins with the holy Spirit in 9
bearing me witnessa 2that I have great sorrow
and constant anguish in my heart. 3For I could
wish that I myself were accursed and separated
from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin
according to the esh.b 4They are Israelites;
theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
the giving of the law, the worship, and the
promises;c 5theirs the patriarchs, and from
them, according to the esh, is the Messiah.
God who is over all* be blessed forever. Amen.d
God’s Free Choice. 6But it is not that the word of God has failed. For not all who are of Israel are Israel,e 7nor are they all children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but “It is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name.”f 8This means that it is not the children of the esh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.g 9For this is the wording of the promise, “About this time I shall return and Sarah will have a son.”h 10And not only that,i but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one husband, our father Isaac*—11before they had yet been born or had done anything, good or bad, in order that God’s elective plan might continue, 12not by works but by his call—she was told, “The older shall serve the younger.”j 13As it is written:k
“I loved Jacob
but hated Esau.”*
9:3
Paul longs for his fellow Jews to know Christ, and in the next three chapters he ponders why so many of them have rejected the Gospel. The core of Paul’s re ection is this: God’s plan is mysterious to us, but we do know one thing: God called the Israelites and “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (11:29).
9:13
Paul alludes to the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 27, when Jacob, the younger of Isaac’s two sons, takes his brother’s “birthright,” his privilege as rstborn son.
For Paul, this story reveals that God’s grace is not inherited: it is freely given to whomever God chooses.
a. [9:1] 2 Cor 11:31; 1 Tm 2:7.
b. [9:3] Ex 32:32.
c. [9:4–5] 3:2; Ex 4:22; Dt 7:6; 14:1–2.
d. [9:5] Mt 1:1–16; Lk 3:23–38 / Rom 1:25; Ps 41:14.
e. [9:6] Nm 23:19 / Mt 3:9.
f. [9:7] Gn 21:12; Gal 3:29.
g. [9:8] Gal 4:23, 28.
h. [9:9] Gn 18:10, 14.
i. [9:10] Gn 25:21.
j. [9:12] 11:5–6 / Gn 25:23–24.
k [9:13] Mal 1:3.
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* [9:1–11:36] Israel’s unbelief and its rejection of Jesus as savior astonished and puzzled Christians. It constituted a serious problem for them in view of God’s speci c preparation of Israel for the advent of the Messiah. Paul addresses himself here to the essential question of how the divine plan could be frustrated by Israel’s unbelief. At the same time, he discourages both complacency and anxiety on the part of Gentiles. To those who might boast of their superior advantage over Jews, he warns that their enjoyment of the blessings assigned to Israel can be terminated. To those who might anxiously ask, “How can we be sure that Israel’s fate will not be ours?” he replies that only unbelief can deprive one of salvation.
* [9:1–5] The apostle speaks in strong terms of the depth of his grief over the unbelief of his own people. He would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of their coming to the knowledge of Christ (Rom 9:3; cf. Lv 27:28–29). His love for them derives from God’s continuing choice of them and from the spiritual bene ts that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity (Rom 9:4–5).
* [9:5] Some editors punctuate this verse di erently and prefer the translation, “Of whom is Christ according to the esh, who is God over all.” However, Paul’s point is that God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah.
* [9:10] Children by one husband, our father Isaac: Abraham had two children, Ishmael and Isaac, by two wives, Hagar and Sarah, respectively. In that instance Isaac, although born later than Ishmael, became the bearer of the messianic promise. In the case of twins born to Rebecca, God’s elective procedure is seen even more dramatically, and again the younger, contrary to Semitic custom, is given the preference.
* [9:13] The literal rendering, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,” suggests an attitude of divine hostility that is not implied in Paul’s statement. In Semitic usage “hate” means to love less; cf. Lk 14:26 with Mt 10:37. Israel’s unbelief re ects the mystery of the divine election that is always operative within it. Mere natural descent from Abraham does not ensure the full possession of the divine gifts; it is God’s sovereign prerogative to bestow this fullness upon, or to withhold it from, whomsoever he wishes; cf. Mt 3:9; Jn 8:39. The choice of Jacob over Esau is a case in point.