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Romans 9 "What About Israel?"
Most Christians know the New Testament much better than
they know the Old Testament. After all, the Old Testament is about the
Jews and the New Testament is about Christ. But that is not really true.
The Old Testament is not just about the Jews, it is really about God.
God is the same yesterday, today and forever and so there is much we
can learn about God from the story of the Jews. I hope that you have
been enjoying our weekly reading and memory verse in the Old Testament
and have been getting as much benefit as I have. But you might have
been wondering why as Christians we often read promises that God made
to the Jews and claim them for ourselves. You might have thought, after
all of the promises God made to the Jews, why are they lost now without
Christ? Has God forgotten about them? You might be wondering how we
should think about the Jews and how we should treat them. Should we
reject them as a false religion because they reject Christ, or should
we respect them as our spiritual grandfathers? The Apostle Paul was
in an especially difficult position. He was a Jew, but at the same time
his most violent attackers were also Jews trying to keep him from spreading
the gospel of Christ.
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 were
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 of God. Amen. 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. (Romans
9:1-8)
Paul’s greatest wish was that his own countrymen whom he loved, could be saved. If it would have done any good Paul would have even given up his own salvation to save them. But they would not listen. This was the greatest waste in history. Just think what the world could have been like if the one people of the world who most truly understood God could have been empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, cleansed from the inside out by the blood of the Lamb, turned into new creations and born again! Just think what this world could have been like if God’s chosen people had been ready. Instead Paul was forced to teach the Gentiles about God from the very beginning. He had to explain afresh concepts like adoption that the Israelites already knew about. After all they had been adopted by God as His chosen people. When Paul talked to the Gentiles about glory, all they could think of was the fame of athletes at games, or the praise given to a conquering general, but the Jews knew of Mt. Sinai and of the Holy of Holies and how the glory of God descended upon the temple. The Jews were the people of God’s promises and now when the promises were finally being fulfilled they were missing them. I know Paul’s feeling. Whenever we go for a drive, my wife always falls asleep. We will drive through traffic and city for hours and then just when we start to see some really beautiful scenery, Rie will be curled up in the back seat with her eyes closed. "Wake up, you are missing the best part!" Paul felt like screaming at the Jews, "Wake up! You are missing the best part!" In fact this is what got Paul in trouble because whenever he got close to the Jews he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. How could they not see it? For goodness sake, how could the Jews miss it, when Jesus Himself was a Jew? Of all people they should understand Him the best. And yet they are lost without Christ.
But if the Jews are lost then what about all the promises of God? Is God’s word defeated because the Jews won’t co-operate? Did God simply transfer the promises over to the Christians and leave the Jews behind? No, God’s word stands true. It has to. God never changes His word, never goes back on a promise, never is defeated, never makes a mistake. Paul tells us that we must look carefully to the very beginning of the promises. God’s promises to the Jews are all based on His original promises to Abraham. Whenever God is talking to the Jews He means the children of Abraham. But remember that Abraham had two children. Abraham and his wife Sarah were childless until they were well advanced in years, so finally they took matters into their own hands and Sarah sent in her maid Hagar to Abraham. Hagar conceived a son whom they called Ishmael, but a little while later God gave them the son that He had promised, Isaac. From the very beginning there was a difference between the son of the flesh and the son of promise. God said to Abraham, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." Paul explains that even within those people who call themselves Jews, there are those who are not children of promise. Even within those with a bloodline that goes back to Abraham, there are those that are not children of God. The promises of God were not just to any child of Abraham but to the child of promise. In the next generation we see it again, Isaac’s wife Rebeccah gave birth to twins, but only one was the child of promise, Jacob. Esau was rejected and Jacob was turned by God into Israel, the father of the nation. What was the difference between Ishmael and Isaac? What was the difference between Esau and Jacob? Was God just rolling the cosmic dice and picking one at random? No, the ones who were chosen were the children of faith. Faith is the deciding factor. Without faith it is impossible to please God. God does care not whether your blood is Jewish or Nigerian or Japanese. Just look in the Bible and you will see giants of the faith who did not have one drop of Abraham’s blood. Ruth and Rahab are two foreigners that are in the geneology of Christ Himself. You cannot be a child of promise without faith. So back to our question, is God’s word false? No, however it only applies to those who are children of promise by faith. As Christians we can therefore take all of these promises and claim them for ourselves because we are believing in Christ by faith.
However, please do not fall into the same mistake that the Jews fell into. They thought that because they were Jewish they were pleasing God. Don’t think that just because you are a Christian that God is pleased. Don’t think that just because you are a member of the church that God is pleased. Remember that without faith it is impossible to please God. No matter how many of your ancestors were Christians or that you have been going to church since you were in your mother’s womb. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to please God. The Jews, even though they were diligently keeping the strictest versions of the law could not please God. Why? Paul says, "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 offence, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
Of course God loves the Jews. They are His chosen people. But God does not just want a physical race, but a spiritual one. God’s thoughts for Israel are always thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give them a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:11) So instead of just allowing them to continue on in their futile laws and rituals God put something in Jerusalem that each and every Jew would have to face and make a decision about. Right there in Zion, the city of David, God allowed His Son Jesus to be crucified, to die on a cross. Each Jew when they hear the story of Jesus Christ must make a choice between the law of their fathers and the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For many the choice will be too difficult and it will cause them to fall. For those who fall, we must treat them like all those who don’t believe in Jesus. We must pray for them, love them and hope that God will have mercy on them. But for those who do not fall, but choose to believe on Jesus Christ there is no shame, no condemnation. The same stumbling block is before each of you today as well. And each of you must also make a choice. Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.
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