Romans. The Position of the Israelites ~ Part 3 Chapter 9:27-10:4

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Randolf Williams
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1 Romans The Position of the Israelites ~ Part 3 Chapter 9:27-10:4 HE WHO TOUCHES ISRAEL TOUCHES THE APPLE OF GOD S EYE. That s what the prophet Zechariah said twenty-four hundred years ago. And it s still true. New York, headquarters for the United Nations. Geneva, center of numerous worldwide organizations. Tokyo, largest city in the world. Moscow, never center of communism. Peking, mysterious city of the Orient. Jerusalem, shaky capital of a tiny nation. But Jerusalem is the city to watch. Jerusalem is the place where the history of this age will climax. Why are the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem so important? Because they present a problem to the world that no one has ever been able to resolve. Dictators have tried in vain to destroy the Jews. While the dictators come and go, the Jews remain with us. Hitler liquidated 6 million Jews during World War II, but almost that many are still alive today in the United States alone. Less than one hundred years ago there were only about 24,000 Jewish people in Palestine. Today the number approaches 3 million Jews residing in Israel (in 1976 when this was written). No person or nation can hope to destroy the apple of God s eye. Say that Again, Zechariah Listen to that prophet Zechariah again: Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured (Zechariah 12:2, 3 NAS). Why should the world be so bothered about a relatively insignificant people like the Jews? Because God chose them to enjoy a very special relationship with Himself, and because God promised certain blessings to the Jews, blessings which they have yet to experience. 1 I Introduction II God and Israel Verses A God Preserves Israel Verses B God, a Stumbling Block to Israel Verses III Israel s Need for a Savior Verses 1-4 IV Conclusion Functioning as a Christian certainly has its struggles. These aren t limited to the fallout from walking in obedience and the world s attacks. We also have the battle between the Law of Sin in our flesh and the Law of the Spirit in our Mind. But these should not overwhelm or defeat us. Paul has been showing us how we can take comfort and strength in the fact God s Spirit intercedes for us in prayer and Christ intercedes for us against those who would bring charges against us. Also, Paul has explained how God has elected us to salvation and promised to carry us through justification to glorification. 1 Ryrie, Charles Caldwell, The Living End, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1976, p. 75.

2 There is another aspect to what Paul teaches here. In speaking of Israel he hints at prophetic issues found in the Old Testament, primarily Israel s suffering through the Tribulation and her acceptance of Jesus as Messiah, leading to her salvation and restoration. In answer to those who may struggle with Paul s teaching on election, he turns to the Old Testament to demonstrate that God has always chosen who will become people of promise. Also, He has always kept those whom He has called. Examples include Isaac being chosen over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. Israel was chosen, not because she deserved to be, but because of God s mercy. And having chosen her, He will never let her go. In the last few verses we considered, Paul quoted Hosea, who stated God would call out a people from among the nations (Gentiles). Using Hosea to speak to God s electing Gentiles would not have exactly pleased Paul s Jewish readers. But this doesn t mean Paul, or God had given up on Israel, and that is where we pick up this morning. Verses 27-29: Having shown scripture teaches God will call out a people from the Gentiles, Paul also uses it to speak to the place of Israel. Just because God has chosen Israel to be a special people doesn t preclude his judgment reducing the nation to a remnant. This is a sad state of affairs. Yes, Israel will survive, but at a high cost. Witmer explains it this way: Paul quoted Old Testament verses to support the fact that God in His sovereign choice and calling always includes a Jewish segment, though it is a minority. The passages quoted (Isa. 10:22-23 and 1:9, both from the LXX) make it clear that in God s judgment on rebellious Israel He by sovereign choice preserves and saves a remnant. Those promises were fulfilled in the Captivity and Exile of both Israel and Judah and in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and will also be fulfilled in the national endtime deliverance of Israel (Rom. 11:26-27). Even today the same principle is true. Jews who become members of the church, the body of Christ, are what Paul later called a remnant chosen by grace (11:5) which included himself (11:1). 2 Paul in quoting from Isaiah 10:22, which is part of 10:20-23, a passage that speaks to the restoration of Israel. Implicit in this is the promise that while the nation will suffer more devastation, the day will come when it will turn to the Messiah and be saved. The initial judgment will come through Assyria as demonstrated in Isaiah 10:5 Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land (Isaiah 10:20-23). Mills analyses the promises of Israel s restoration this way: 2 Witmer, John A., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Volume 2, Romans, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL., 1986, p ) 164 (

3 This stupendous event is the great moment in prophecy when Israel reaches her extremity and turns to God and accepts the Messiah whom they have pierced and rejected in ignorance (Zechariah 12:9-10; Acts 3:17). 3 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But it is only a remnant that God pardons (Jeremiah 50:20). 4 In those days, at that time, declares the LORD, search will be made for Israel s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare. This saving of the remnant is what Paul states in verse 27. Although Israel has become a multitudinous nation, it is only a remnant that will be saved only those upon whom the spirit of grace and of supplication is poured. Zechariah 12:10 and Isaiah 10:22 are other ways of stating the truth of Romans 9:6, For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel. Only after Israel has experienced the hell of tribulation and has been through the fires of trials and testings, and is refined and purified by these fires, as gold and silver are refined, will the remnant of that nation turn to God and His Messiah (Malachi 3:1-6). 5 Finally Paul notes, that God is the one who will preserve this remnant. If He didn t, then the end result would be the total destruction of Israel, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. And this was want Israel deserves. But what it got was, is, and always will be, mercy. Verses 30-33: Paul now returns to the present, identifying the differences between the Gentile and the Israelite. The Gentiles came to God by faith, whereas the Jew was depending on works of righteousness. Paul states that the Gentile wasn t really looking to be righteous, but when offered salvation through the Messiah they accepted it. He obviously isn t speaking of all Gentiles, but only those who have accepted salvation as a gift, not depending on works. These are contrasted with Israel who has depended on God s laws, or works, as a basis for being made righteous. The problem isn t with God s laws. The problem is with the expectation that the Jew can be made righteous by keeping the law. The real problem is that the fallacy of depending on works caused them to stumble over the real source of salvation, the Messiah. Speaking of the Messiah Paul quotes a combination of verses from Isaiah. and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jeru- 3 Mills, Sanford, C., A Hebrew Christian looks at Romans, American Board of Missions to the Jews, New York, NY, 1971, p Ibid. 5 Ibid. ) 165 (

4 salem he will be a trap and a snare. So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed (Isaiah 8:14; 28:16). And Paul reflects on this sad truth in his letter to the Corinthians. but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23). Verses 1-4: But Paul, having noted that Jesus is a stumbling block to the Israelites, wants us to understand that his heart is broken for his people. He is an Israelite and will always be one. While they are blinded for now, his desire is their blindness will be lifted and they will be saved, turn to the Messiah. He has constantly demonstrated this by making them the first phase of his outreach. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 13:46, 18:5). I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:16). Paul reminds us of what Christ once said. These people are zealous for God. The problem is like many of the cults, their zealousness is based on ignorance. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are (Matthew 23:15). So the Israelites took that they had received from God and tried to earn their own righteousness, not accepting God s final gift, their Messiah. Paul is back to where he started. The Israelite tries to earn righteousness by keeping law, as the righteous Gentile tries to earn righteousness by following his conscience. And so, Paul tell us, that Christ is the end of the law, for believers. Now this is an easy one to misunderstand. Barnhouse gives the following illustration: The opening verse of our passage is a trumpet shout of triumph that a revolution has taken place and that an entirely new manner of life has been set before men by God. I go back to the illustration of human law and government. The colonists in America felt themselves aggrieved under the colonial administration from England. A great revolution took place. There was war. George Washington led the movement to destroy colonial power and establish an entirely new government that was based on a new constitution. We might say that Washington was the end of English law for government to everyone abiding in the colonies. So we may understand that Christ was the end of the Mosaic law and all its bondage in order to bring the New Testament as an entirely different constitution from which true liberties could flow in the lives of those who believe. The righteousness of God, which He wished to make effective in the lives of men, is made available under the new conditions of the risen Christ coming to live His life in the hearts of those whom He has redeemed, and in whom He is working out His purposes. ) 166 (

5 I am no more under the law of Moses as a Christian than I am under the government of England as an American citizen. There has been a revolution; Christ has died. He is risen again, and He lives. It can readily be seen that the fact that I am delivered from the government of England does not mean that I am no longer governed but rather that I am governed by a new constitution. The fact that I am delivered from the law of Moses does not mean I am lawless but that I have an allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the very righteousness of God. 6 The only answer to salvation though for both Israelite and Gentile is grace not works. For because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:4-9). So, Paul reminds the reader of the source of salvation, but even at this point his primary focus isn t on salvation, but the security of the saved. Conclusion: The thrust of much of what Paul focuses on is our security in Christ. We can have confidence in God because He has and will preserve Israel. If what some in Christendom teach is true, that the Church has replaced Israel, then how can we have to confidence in our own security? If God can replace Israel for disobedience, then can He not also replace us if we don t live up to His standards? Instead we are promised that just as God has and will hold Israel in His hands, He has and will continue to hold us as well. What Paul has shown is we can take great comfort in our security and liberty which comes with salvation, sanctification, and glorification. Through Christ, we finally find true peace with God. Dr. Billy Graham puts it this way: We have already seen that the bible teaches that God was a God of love. He wanted to do something for man. He wanted to save man. He wanted to free man from the curse of sin. How could He do it? God was a just God. He was righteous, and holy. He had warned man from the beginning that if he obeyed the Devil and disobeyed God, he would die physically and spiritually. All through the Old Testament, God gave man the promise of salvation if by faith he would believe in the coming Redeemer. Therefore God began to teach His people that man could only be saved by substitution. Someone else would have to pay the bill for man s redemption. Thanks be to God that is exactly what happened! Looking down over the battlements of heaven He saw this planet swinging in space doomed, damned, crushed, and bound for hell. He saw you and me struggling beneath our load of sin and bound in the chains and ropes of sin. He made His decision in the council halls of God. The angelic hosts bowed in humility and awe as heaven s Prince of Princes and Lord of Lords, who could speak worlds into space, got into His jeweled chariot, went through the pearly gates, across the step of the skies, and on a black Judean night, while the stars sang together and the escorting angels chanted praises, stepped out of the chariot, threw off His robes, and became man! (from Peace with God by Billy Graham) 7 6 Barnhouse, Donald Gray, Exposition of Bible Doctrines, 4 Volumes, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 1973, p Lucado, Max, Life Lessons, Book of Romans, Word Publishing, Waco, TX, 1996, p. 62. ) 167 (

6 Romans The Position of the Israelites ~ Part 3 Chapter 9:27-10:4 I Introduction II God and Israel Verses A God Preserves Israel Verses B God, a Stumbling Block to Israel Verses III Israel s Need for a Savior Verses 1-4 IV Conclusion I Introduction: (Zechariah 12:2-3) II God and Israel, A. God Preserves Israel: (Isaiah 10:20-23; 1:9; Romans 11:26-27; Isaiah 10:5, 1; Zechariah 12:9-10; Acts 3:17; Jeremiah 50:20; Malachi 3:1-6)

7 B God, a Stumbling Block to Israel: (Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; 1 Corinthians 1:23) III Israel s Need for a Savior (Acts 13:46, 18:5; Romans 1:16; Matthew 23:15; Ephesians 2:4-9) IV Conclusion: Personal Application: Once again Paul s teaching should lead us to a response of rejoicing and praise. Let us share the good news with all whom the Lord puts in our path. Prayer for the Week: Lord, thank You for saving me. Lord, thank You for conforming me to the image of Your Son. Lord, thank You for allowing me to participating in the advancement of Your kingdom. And Lord, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. In our Messiah s name, amen.

Romans 9:1-29 (Study 15)

Romans 9:1-29 (Study 15) Opener: What should our response be to the truths of chapter 8? Applying our Tools: Getting the immediate context What came before? Are there any O.T. Allusions? If God sacrificed