Faith The Evidence - Bible Studies: November 2020

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Romans Session 12- God's Eternal Plan Cont'd 9:23- 10:8

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is now in a detailed study of Paul's epistle to the church in Rome. These are the notes for Session 12.

Romans 9–11 is one of the most fascinating passages in the New Testament, filled with essential and very practical doctrine and focused on Israel, God’s chosen people. With profound wisdom and holy reason, Paul demonstrates that our sovereign God will be faithful to keep all His promises and that Israel still has a future in the purposes of God.

This Jewish apostle to the Gentiles, however, wanted to clarify some truths regarding Israel and her people as well as contradict some prevailing false-hoods over which many Christians (especially Jewish believers) were stumbling. Specifically Paul wanted to address the question of whether, in light of Christ’s offer of salvation to all Gentiles, the Jews had been forsaken by God as a people. Did they still have a unique place or purpose in God’s plan of redemption?

Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles. So he explains how God’s plan for the Jews agreed with his plan for the Gentiles too.

Click below to read my notes.

Romans 9:22‭-‬23 NLT In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.

Verses 22-23 God has the right to show his anger and his power. But he has been very patient with the people who oppose him. He has delayed the time for judgement. He has given them more opportunity to repent.

II Peter 3:8‭-‬9 NKJV But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

But God is preparing for glory for the people who have received his mercy. These people will see God’s glory. And they will share it themselves. We read about that week before last.

Romans 8:17‭-‬18 NKJV and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:17‭-‬18 NLT And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

Verses 24-26 Paul includes himself with the Jews to whom God has shown mercy. But Paul then says that Gentiles have become God’s children too.

Romans 9:24‭-‬26 NKJV even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

Paul uses words from the prophet Hosea. You remember our study of Hosea.

Hosea 1:3‭-‬9 NKJV So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the Lord their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen.” Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God.

He named the second child Lo-ruhamah. This name For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. Hosea named the third child Lo-ammi, which means ‘not my people’.

These children were signs that Israel had not been loyal to God. But in the future, God would be able to call Israel ‘my people’. And at that time, God would show real love to them.

Hosea 2:23 NKJV Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

Hosea was speaking about Israel in his time. Paul saw Hosea’s words as a prophecy. The Gentiles would also be people whom God loved. And Paul could see that this was starting to happen by means of his own work among the Gentiles.

Romans 9:27‭-‬29 NKJV Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.” And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”

Verses 27-29 God has promised many wonderful things to the Jews. And he will do the things that he has promised to do.

Isaiah 10:20‭-‬23 NKJV And it shall come to pass in that day That the remnant of Israel, And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, Will never again depend on him who defeated them, But will depend on the Lord , the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts Will make a determined end In the midst of all the land.

Verses 27-28 Isaiah wrote at the time when an army from Assyria was attacking Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel. God had promised to Abraham that his descendants would be very many. Nobody would be able to count them, like the sand by the sea, but because of their sin, God was using Assyria to punish the people in Israel. So only a few of them would remain

Verse 29 When God destroyed the wicked cities called Sodom and Gomorrah, their punishment was total. Nothing remained in those places. Everybody from those cities died (except for Lot and his two daughters). So the people from Sodom and Gomorrah had no descendants. Their punishment was sudden and final.

But God did not deal with the Israelites in the same manner. Their evil deeds had become very severe at the time of Isaiah. And Isaiah warned them that they would suffer a terrible punishment. But God still had a plan for the Israelites. So the punishment would not be total or final. He would allow them to have descendants.

Isaiah 1:9 NKJV Unless the Lord of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.

Isaiah gave his son the name, Shear-jashub.

Isaiah 7:3 NKJV Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field,

This name means ‘those who remain will return.’ The name was a sign to the king and to the people. If they trusted God, some Jews would remain free to return to their country.

For Paul, Isaiah’s words were a prophecy that many Jews would not trust God. Only a few would accept his son and avoid judgement. These few would ‘return’ to God to obey him. And by them, God would carry out his promise to save the Jews.

Romans 9:30‭-‬33 NKJV What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Verses 30-31 Paul contrasts Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles had not been looking for a way to have a right relationship with God. But when they discovered the gospel, they accepted it by faith. But most Jews thought that they could earn their way to heaven by obeying the law. So they tried to obey the law. They thought that God would accept them because of their good deeds. But because they could never be perfect, they could never receive a right relationship with God. They ought to have accepted the gospel by faith, as the Gentiles were doing. The gospel is for everyone, both Jews and Gentiles. Nobody can earn salvation by means of their own efforts.

Verses 32-33 Most Jews did not accept God’s offer to forgive them, although Christ died for them. Paul says that the message about the cross was like a stone.

I Corinthians 1:25 NKJVBecause the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

A large stone can be useful. It can become a strong base for a building. But that stone is not useful to a person who does not recognise its value. That stone may cause trouble. Someone may trip over it. And so the person who believes the message about the cross benefits from that message. But the same message causes trouble for the person who refuses to believe it.

Paul combines two prophecies in Isaiah.

He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:14 NKJV

Isaiah 8:14 describes God as a rock that could provide Israel with a place of safety. But if they refuse his offer of security, they will suffer. They will be like someone who falls over a rock.

Isaiah 28:16 speaks about a stone that is the most important stone in the building. It is the corner stone that joins two walls together.

Isaiah 28:16 NKJV Therefore thus says the Lord God : “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Psalm 118:22 speaks about a stone. The builders thought that it had no value. But it became the most important stone in the building.

Psalms 118:22 NKJV The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

Jesus used these words about himself in the parable of the wicked vinedressers Matthew 21:33-42

Matthew 21:42‭-‬44 NKJV Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord ’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’ ? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

Peter combined the words from Isaiah with Psalm 118:22 when he wrote about Christ and his church.

I Peter 2:4‭-‬8 NKJV Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

Christ will never disappoint those who trust in him. Another translation of Isaiah 28:16 is: ‘Those who trust in God will not be in a hurry.’ They will not rush about in fear when other people are afraid. Instead, they will trust that God will carry out his plans.

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Romans Session 11 - God's Eternal Plan 9:1-22

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is now in a detailed study of Paul's epistle to the church in Rome. These are the notes for Session 11.

Paul’s primary purpose in writing Romans was to teach the great truths of the gospel of grace to believers who had never received apostolic instruction. Unlike with some of Paul’s other epistles, his purpose for writing Romans was not to correct detestable theology or rebuke ungodly living. The Roman church was doctrinally sound, but, like all churches, it was in need of the rich doctrinal and practical instruction this letter provides.

Romans 9–11 is one of the most fascinating passages in the New Testament, filled with essential and very practical doctrine and focused on Israel, God’s chosen people. With profound wisdom and holy reason, Paul demonstrates that our sovereign God will be faithful to keep all His promises and that Israel still has a future in the purposes of God.

In these chapters, Paul explains God’s future plans for the Jews (in other words, the Israelites). God had prepared the Jews during their history, but most Jews had refused to accept their Messiah. Because Paul was a Jew too, he felt great pain in his spirit. His own people had not accepted their Savior.

Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles. So he explains how God’s plan for the Jews agreed with his plan for the Gentiles too.

Click below to read my notes.

For an audio recording of the session click on the YouTube icon.

Background of the Passage Romans 9–11 is one of the most fascinating passages in the New Testament, filled with essential and very practical doctrine and focused on Israel, God’s chosen people.

Some have argued that these chapters are a parenthetical body of teaching, largely unrelated to the rest of the epistle. Clearly if Paul had left out chapters 9–11, the overall argument and flow of the letter would be unbroken. His beautiful song of praise, hope, and assurance at the end of chapter 8 flows naturally into chapter 12.

Romans 8:28‭-‬39 NKJV And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 12:1‭-‬2 NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

With profound wisdom and holy reason, Paul demonstrates that our sovereign God will be faithful to keep all His promises and that Israel still has a future in the purposes of God.

Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles. So he explains how God’s plan for the Jews agreed with his plan for the Gentiles too.

Paul had explained the gospel in chapters 1-8. Now he discusses why his own people, the Jews, did not accept the salvation of the gospel. Also, Paul may have wanted to explain the situation in Rome. There were now many Gentile Christians in Rome. Jewish and Gentile Christians may have had wrong ideas about each other’s importance to God. Paul needed to write about this.

Israel’s Rejection Of Christ

Romans 9:1‭-‬5 NKJV I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Verse 1 Paul wants his readers to understand that he is sincere. So he makes three statements that will persuade them. He is speaking the truth because Christ is with him. He is not lying. Paul has the Holy Spirit as a witness. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.

Verses 2-3 Paul is so sad when he thinks about his countrymen, the Jews. Many of them did not not accept their Messiah. Like Moses he was willing to take the punishment for them if he could.

When Moses went up on the mountain to get the law from God the Isrealites got impatient and sinned and made and worshiped a golden calf.

Moses thought that God might not forgive the Israelites so he asked God to punish him instead. He asked God to ‘remove his name from the book of life’

Exodus 32:30‭-‬32 NKJV Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord ; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

Paul, like Moses, would ‘suffer God’s punishment’ if by doing it the Jews could receive God’s salvation.

This statement shows how deeply Paul wanted the Jews to trust Christ. It shows how eagerly Paul was praying for them. Paul loved them so much that he did not even care about himself. But Paul realised and knew that the Jews had to trust Christ in order to receive God’s salvation.

Our prayers are powerful. But they do not change the principles of how God acts. His mercy is great. But he will only save people when they put their trust in him.

Verses 4-5 Paul makes a list of the special ways that God had shown his kindness to the Jews.

Romans 9:4‭-‬5 NKJV who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

1. God had adopted them as his sons. ‘Israel is my first born son’ (Exodus 4:22).

2. The glory was the evidence that God was present with his people. The name for it is the ‘Shekinah’ (is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God). It descended on the tent that the Israelites used for worship in the desert.

Exodus 40:34 NKJV Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Also it descended on the temple that Solomon built.

I Kings 8:10‭-‬11 NKJV And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord , so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord .

In the most holy place in the temple, God’s glory was over the ark. That was the special box that contained the commandments.

3. The main covenant that Paul refers to is the covenant with Abraham.

Genesis 17:1‭-‬8 NKJV When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

God made a covenant with Abraham that Abraham would have a son and many descendants. God would give them the land of Cannan. And God would show his kindness to all nations by means of Abraham and his descendants.

However, Paul does not just mention one covenant, he said covenants. So perhaps he also means the other agreements that God gave to the Jews. When God gave the Law (at the mountain called Sinai), he made an agreement with Moses and the Israelites.

Exodus 24:3‭-‬8 NKJV So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord . And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord . And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

God promised to King David that God would establish his royal family.

Psalms 89:1‭-‬4‭, ‬34‭-‬37 NKJV I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.” “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ‘Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me; It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

4. The Law. God had told his people how to obey him.

5. The worship, or service in the temple. The book of Leviticus gives all the rules for the priests and for the ceremonies. When Paul wrote to the Romans, the Jews were still using the temple to offer sacrifices to God.

6. The promises. God promised to Abraham that by one of his descendants, God would show kindness to all the families on earth. God promised a king who would belong to the family of David.

7. In the original language, Paul simply writes ‘the fathers’. He means Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

8. Christ Himself was born as a Jew.

Matthew 1:1 NKJV The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

God’s Choice

Romans 9:6‭-‬13 NKJV But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Romans 9:6‭-‬13 NLT Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

Verses 6-9 Although they had all these special blessings, many Jews did not accept God’s son. But Paul knows that God’s plan for his people could not fail. Paul uses two examples from the Old Testament to explain this.

The Jews (or Israelites) were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God made a covenant with Abraham. But not all of Abraham’s descendants are Jews. That is because the covenant has a relationship with God’s promise. Abraham had several sons. But Isaac was the only son that God promised to Abraham.

God’s promise has a relationship with the work of God’s Spirit. Isaac was not born in a natural way. Sarah (Isaac’s mother) was too old to have children.

So the real descendants of Abraham are people who receive God’s promise by means of his Spirit. And a person only becomes a child of God when that person receives God’s promise by means of his Spirit.

So, not everyone who has Jacob (Israel) as his ancestor is a true Israelite. A physical descendant of Abraham might not be a real Jew in the spiritual sense. Those who believe God’s promises are Abraham’s real descendants.

We talked about that earlier in chapter 4.

Romans 4:13‭-‬16 NLT Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

God promised to give to Abraham a son, Isaac. Abraham had a son already, Ishmael, who was born to a slave called Hagar. But it was by means of Isaac that God would give Abraham descendants. Paul mentions the promise that Abraham’s wife Sarah would have a son.

Genesis 18:10‭-‬12 NKJV And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?”

Verses 10-13

Paul gives a second example of God’s choice.

Romans 9:10‭-‬13 NKJV And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Isaac’s wife Rebecca gave birth to twins, Jacob and Esau. Before they were born, God said that the older son would serve the younger son.

Genesis 25:21‭-‬23 NKJV Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord . And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

Esau was born first, but God chose Jacob.

Genesis 25:24‭-‬26 NKJV So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

His choice made no reference to their character. God made his choice before their birth. He chose before they could act in good or bad ways. Esau’s descendants were called the Edomites (or Edom). Jacob’s descendants were called Israel. The Edomites did serve Israel at times in their history.

II Samuel 8:13‭-‬14 NKJV And David made himself a name when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Syrians in the Valley of Salt. He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

Paul quotes Malachi 1:1-3 to emphasize God’s choice.

Malachi 1:1‭-‬3 NKJV The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the Lord . “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord . “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”

The original words ‘I hated Esau’ mean ‘I did not choose Esau’.

These events show that Jacob did not earn the benefit of the covenant. Jacob received the benefit because of God’s grace (kindness). Paul often emphasises that nobody can earn salvation by their own efforts. Our salvation depends completely on God’s kindness. It is a free gift. We can only accept or refuse that gift.

Israel’s Rejection And God’s Judgement 9:14-29

Romans 9:14‭-‬29 NLT Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?” No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles. Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.” And, “Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality.” And Isaiah said the same thing in another place: “If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.”

Verses 14-16 God does not choose a person merely because of that person’s ancestors. And God does not choose someone because of that person’s deeds. But Paul emphasises that God is not unfair. He is righteous and he is perfect. Paul uses words from scripture to show that God cannot be unfair.

God told Moses that he is kind to people. He acts with mercy and love when he deals with people. He does not deal with them as they deserve. He shows his love to them as he chooses.

Exodus 33:19 NKJV Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

Verses 17-18 The Israelites used to be slaves in Egypt. The Pharaoh (ruler of Egypt) refused continuously to let the Israelites go. God sent Moses as a prophet to Pharaoh, to tell Pharaoh to free the Israelites. But still Pharaoh refused. He was unwilling to change his decision. We often say that such a person has a hard heart. So Pharaoh made his heart hard against Moses and the Israelites. So in the end, God let his heart stay hard.

Romans 9:17‭-‬18 NKJV For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

In verse 17, Paul refers to Exodus 9:16.

God used the situation with Pharaoh for his own purposes. God himself overcame Pharaoh’s strong army. And so God freed his people. And people across the entire region heard what God had done.

The Bible contains many passages that warn people not to have the same attitudes as that Pharaoh. Isaiah knew that the hearts of unbelievers would become hard.

Isaiah 6:9‭-‬10 NKJV And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”

And Jesus used Isaiah’s words when the Jews refused to believe in him.

John 12:37‭-‬40 NKJV But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”

But God is not unfair if he makes a person’s heart hard. The result of sin is God’s judgement.

Verse 19 Paul imagines a person who is complaining about God. That person argues that God should not blame people. Paul will now show that such an opinion is seriously wrong.

Verse 20 Paul reminds people that God is the Creator. People exist because God created them. It would be very wrong for a person to accuse his Creator. Paul is not talking about people who are sincere. They ask questions because they want to know the truth. Paul is talking about people who do not want to obey God. They try to find an excuse to oppose God’s authority.

Verse 21 Paul uses an example from the work of a potter.

Romans 9:21 NKJV Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

Isaiah had used the idea of clay and a potter. A clay pot cannot pretend that the potter has no skill. In fact, the pot is evidence of the potter’s skill.

Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Isaiah 29:16 NKJV

Isaiah 29:16 NLT How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”?

Isaiah 45:9 NKJV “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

Isaiah 45:9 NLT “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’

Paul uses a similar idea. He says that the potter has the right to make different kinds of pot. Some pots may be beautiful. Other pots may be ordinary. Still other pots are for unclean use. So God has the right to deal with people as he chooses. God does not have to explain to people what he does.

Remember when Job wanted an explanation?

Job 38:1‭-‬7 NKJV Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

God continues all the way to chapter 40:2. All Job could say was

Job 40:3‭-‬5 NKJV Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

People should respect God. His decisions are always right. His judgments are perfect.

Romans 9:22‭-‬23 NKJV What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,