THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD Israel's Election in the Past Chapter 9

Paul's Genuine Love for Israel and for the Religion of Judaism

Ordained by God for Them

Chap. 9:1-3 – As mentioned, the Jews misunderstood Paul's message in the gospel. They saw him as a traitor and imagined that he hated Israel, disrespecting their God-ordained religion, Judaism. They thought he was teaching that they should “depart from Moses”, which to them was “apostasy” (Acts 21:21).

To correct this misunderstanding, Paul begins by affirming his great love for his nation and his appreciation for the privileges that were theirs in Judaism. His love for them was such that he had great sorrow and grief because of the unbelief and rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah. He even went so far as to say that he “could wish” that he himself were “separated from Christ” if it meant his countrymen would be saved! This is an astonishing statement, comparable only to Moses himself (Ex. 32:31-32). This was clear proof that the Jews had mistaken ideas about Paul; he truly loved them and respected Judaism.

Chap. 9:4-5 – To prove that he had no intention of belittling Israel's privileges, Paul lists eight things that made Israel the most favored nation on earth (Deut. 4:7).

• “The Adoption” – The nation had been placed in a favored position with God (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 7:6-8).

• “The Glory” – The Shekinah glory, which was visibly the sign of God's favor upon them (Ex. 13:21-22; 2 Chron. 5:14).

• “The Covenants” – made with the fathers on behalf of the nation (Gen. 15:18-21, 17:7, etc.).

• “The Law” – The five books of Moses were given to them. (Ex. 20)

• “The Service of God” – The divine Levitical order of sacrifices instituted by God, by which they drew near to God in worship and praise, belonged to them (Lev. 1-7).

• “The Promises” – A bright future in the millennial kingdom was assured to them (Isa. 30:23-26, 32:1-20, 35:1-10, etc.).

• “The Fathers” – A great heritage of spiritual ancestors.

• “The Messiah” – They were favored by God in that the Savior and future Ruler of the world emerged from their nation (Isa. 9:6-7).

By adding his “Amen” to this list of things, Paul was indicating that he greatly appreciated these advantages and privileges that had been given to Israel, and he approved of them. He valued these things as much as any Jew and did not diminish them in his preaching and teaching, as the Jews mistakenly thought. In fact, he could argue that it was not he who disrespected Judaism and Israel's hope, but they did! For the greatest of these favors promised to Israel was that the Messiah would come into the world through that nation (Matt. 1). It was around Him that all the privileges of Judaism centered, and through Whom the promises would be fulfilled. But when He came, they rejected Him! They “stumbled over the stumbling stone” (chap. 9:32; John 1:11), and their stumbling hindered the fulfillment of their national “hope” (Acts 26:6).

The True “Israel of God” Is Not Every Natural Descendant of

Abraham

Chap. 9:6-33 – Paul then turns to show that the Jews' rejection of their Messiah did not mean God broke His promise to Israel. He says: “Not as though the word of God hath failed” (AIBB). That is, God promised by His Word to bless the children of Abraham, and that promise has not become null or invalid (Heb. 6:13-18).

He goes on to show that, although these promises will definitely be fulfilled, the Scriptures do not teach that they will be attained by all the descendants of Abraham. He says: “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children”. In stating this, Paul shows that Abraham has two kinds of descendants: there are those who have his lineage (kinship) but not his faith, and there are those who possess both. This means that not all who are “of Israel” by natural descent are necessarily the true “Israel” that has faith. A true Israelite whom God considers has both the blood of Abraham and the faith of Abraham. Accordingly, Paul carefully distinguishes “descendants” of Abraham (natural descent) and the “children” of Abraham (those who have the blood and faith of Abraham). He touched on this distinction in chapter 2:28-29. Thus, the Scriptures make a distinction between an Israelite and “a true Israelite” (John 1:47). God's promises, therefore, will certainly be fulfilled for “all Israel” (chap. 11:26), but this refers to those who are true Israelites, having the blood and faith of Abraham.

Four Examples from Israel's History in Relation to the Sovereignty of

God

Paul then shows that God operates according to the principle of sovereign election, and since He is God, He can sovereignly call the Gentiles in this present time, just as He sovereignly called the nation of Israel long ago. The Jews were really the last people in the world who could allow themselves to question divine sovereignty. Repeatedly in their history, it was exercised in their favor. Paul turns to the Scriptures to prove this point.

1. ISAAC CHOSEN INSTEAD OF ISHMAEL (chap. 9:7b-9)

Paul quotes the Lord's declaration to Abraham: “in Isaac your seed shall be called”. (Gen. 21:12). This was said to him when there was some doubt in Abraham's house about who would be his heir – Ishmael or Isaac. By declaring emphatically that it would be Isaac, the Lord clearly ruled out natural descent in Abraham's house, because both Ishmael and Isaac were natural sons of Abraham. If the Jews insisted that natural descent was enough to inherit the blessing, they would have to admit the Arabs into the blessing, because they descended from Abraham through Ishmael! (Gen. 25:12-18) The Jews would never accept that. Paul says, “That is: it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants”. Ishmael, as we know, was a child of the flesh, but Isaac was the child of promise (Gal. 4:23). Because God chose Isaac instead of Ishmael, it is clear that the blessing in Abraham's house did not come from natural lineage. And so it will be when the kingdom of Christ is established on Earth – not all the natural descendants of Abraham will be blessed as his “descendants” and not all will inherit the promises.

1. JACOB CHOSEN INSTEAD OF ESAU (chap. 9:10-14)

Paul moves on to the example of Jacob and Esau. He shows again that the blessing did not come through natural descent, but through the sovereign election of God's grace. Regarding Isaac and Ishmael, the Jews could argue that they had two different mothers, but they could not use that argument here with Jacob and Esau. Rebekah was the mother of both.

In connection with these twins, if the blessing were inherited through the line of natural descent, then they would have to admit the Edomites into the blessing! No Jew would accept that for even a moment. Before the boys were born and had done neither “good” nor “evil”, God said: “The older will serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). Naturally, Esau would have had the place of privilege in Isaac's family, but God's sovereign choice passed over Esau and rested on Jacob. This proves that God's sovereign call does not depend on works, good or bad, but only on grace. Fifteen hundred years later, the Lord said: “I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau” (v. 13; Mal. 1:2-3). This was written after they had lived their lives and proved their true character. Thus, Paul mentions two declarations that the Lord made concerning Jacob and Esau: one made before the boys were born (v. 12), and the other made many years after they had lived and died (v. 13). They conclusively show that God chose one instead of the other.

1. THE LORD CHOSE TO HAVE MERCY ON ISRAEL

WHEN THEY TURNED TO IDOLATRY (chap. 9:14-16) The person who argues about divine sovereignty will say: “If there are really only two outcomes in the choice – to be blessed or condemned

• to go ahead and elect one and not the other, necessarily condemns the one who

was not chosen! How can that be just?” The same skeptic will say, “If everything was settled beforehand, then there is nothing anyone can do about it, and if that is true, then God is unjust for condemning people, because it is not their fault that they were not chosen!”

Paul foresaw that people would oppose the principle of divine sovereignty and responds by saying: “What then shall we say? Is there injustice on God's part?” He answers his own question: “By no means [far be the thought – JND]”. Paul goes on to defend God's sovereignty, but not like some Christian theologians who try to reconcile God's sovereignty with man's responsibility, merging them into just one thing. They will say that God, by His foreknowledge, knew who would believe and who would not, and chose those who would believe. This is the essence of the mistaken ideas of Arminianism, which emphasizes man's responsibility in salvation, excluding God's sovereignty.

Paul cites an example of God's sovereignty from the case of Israel's idolatry – the worship of the golden calf (Ex. 32). When the people sinned against God in this matter, God said to Moses: “I will have compassion on whom I have compassion, and I will have mercy on whom I have mercy”. If God had dealt with Israel according only to the just desert of divine justice, giving them what was due to them, He would have destroyed the entire nation! But the fact that God chose not to judge the nation shows that He sovereignly chose to have mercy on them. The Jews could hardly dare to argue about God's sovereignty on this occasion, for if it had not been exercised favorably toward them, they would have been exterminated! If the Jews wanted to accuse God of injustice, they would be admitting that they deserved to be condemned! And if all men deserve to be condemned, then no one can rightly accuse God of injustice if He does not show mercy to some. Paul, therefore, concludes: “So then, it does not depend on the one who wills, nor on the one who runs, but on God, who has compassion [who shows mercy – TB]”. If God chooses to have mercy on some, no one can find that wrong.

1. THE LORD HARDENED PHARAOH (chap. 9:17-18)