Romans 10.2-Paul Testifies To Israel's Zeal For God Though It Is Not According To Knowledge
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday May 6, 2009
Romans: Romans 10:2-Paul Testifies To Israel’s Zeal For God Though It Is Not According To Knowledge
Lesson # 330
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 10:1.
This evening we will study Romans 10:2 and in his passage Paul testifies to Israel’s zeal for God, though he says it is not according to an experiential knowledge of Him.
Let’s read the first paragraph in the chapter, which appears in verses 1-4 and then concentrate on verse 2 for the rest of the evening.
Romans 10:1, “Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
Romans 10:2, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.”
Romans 10:3, “For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”
Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Let’s now look at verse 2 in detail.
Romans 10:2, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.”
This passage presents the reason for Paul’s consuming desire and intercessory prayer to the Father for the salvation of the unregenerate citizens of the nation of Israel.
They have a zeal for God but it is not according to an experiential knowledge of Him meaning that they did not personally encounter God through faith as He was revealed in the person and works of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth and their Old Testament Scriptures.
So in Romans 10:2 Paul is saying that I pray and desire for Israel’s salvation because they are unsaved even though they have a zeal for God but it is not according to personally encountering Him by faith in the person and works of His Son Jesus Christ and their own Old Testament Scriptures.
Romans 10:2, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.”
“I testify” is the first person singular present active indicative form of the verb martureo (murturevw) (mar-too-reh-o), which means, “to testify, give evidence, give testimony, bear record, affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something or provide information about a person or an event concerning which the speaker has direct knowledge.”
It is used of the witness of the apostle Paul concerning the nation of Israel and denotes that he had direct personal knowledge and could testify or affirm that he has personally seen, heard and experienced the fact that Israel has a zeal for God, though it was not according to an experiential knowledge.
He knew firsthand because he too before salvation was zealous for God and had a theoretical knowledge of Him but not an experiential knowledge of Him.
Paul relates this in Philippians chapter three.
Philippians 3:2-3, “Beware of those dogs, beware of those evil workers, beware of the mutilation because we are the circumcision those who are serving (God the Father) by means of the Spirit of God, who are priding themselves in the nature of Christ Jesus, who have no confidence in the flesh.”
Philippians 3:4, “Although I myself having confidence in the flesh, if anyone of the same race (i.e., Jewish) claims to have confidence in the flesh and some claim to have confidence in the flesh, I more.”
Philippians 3:5-6, “With respect to circumcision: eighth day, descended from the nation of Israel, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew (speaking Jew) from Hebrews (Hebrew speaking parents), legalistically: a Pharisee, zealously persecuting the church, self-righteously religious: I conducted myself irreproachably!”
The sixth pre-salvation distinction is noted by the phrase, “zealously persecuting the church” which indicates before salvation Paul belonged to the strictest sect of the Jews, the Zealots and thus reveals his uncompromising patriotism.
He ignorantly and presumptuously thought that he could serve God by zealously persecuting the church of Jesus Christ (cf. John 16:2; Rm. 10:2-5).
“About them” is the dative third person masculine plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (au)tov$), which refers to the unregenerate citizens of the nation of Israel since Paul has been discussing them since Romans 9:1 with regards to their failure to orient to the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone.
Romans 10:2, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.”
“Zeal” is the accusative singular neuter form of the noun zelos (zhlo$) (dzay-los), which is used in a good sense of Israel’s “zeal” for God in the sense of possessing a deep concern for or devotion to God.
It denotes that the Jews had a passionate devotion to God and a great enthusiasm as illustrated by the apostle Paul before he converted to Christianity through faith alone in Christ alone.
As Paul points out in Philippians 3:5, he was a Pharisee and interestingly enough they were known for their zeal for God.
The Pharisees were a strict, legalistic, religious party that arose after Jewish exiles returned from Babylon.
They were very popular and highly respected among the masses during the time of Christ.
The word Pharisaios is most likely derived from the Hebrew word parash, “to separate” or “to separate oneself.”
A Pharisee, then, was a “separated one” or a “separatist”.
The Pharisees looked upon themselves as the ones who were keeping alive the true worship of the Lord.
So in Romans 10:2, Paul testifies that the Jews possess a zeal for God and he should know since he was zealous himself to the extent that he thought that he was doing God a favor by persecuting Christians who he saw as a threat to Judaism and God’s purposes (See John 16:2).
Romans 10:2, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.”
“But” is the adversative use of the conjunction alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which introduces a statement that stands in direct contrast to the idea that Israel’s zeal for God was in accordance with an experiential knowledge of Him as He was revealed through the person and works of Jesus of Nazareth.
“Not in accordance with knowledge” is composed of the emphatic negative adverb ou (ou)) (oo), “not” and the preposition kata (katav) (kat-ah), “according to” and the accusative feminine singular form of the noun epignosis (e)pivgnwsi$) (ep-ig-no-sis), “knowledge.”
In Romans 10:2, the noun epignosis refers to the fact that unsaved Israel did not have an “experiential knowledge” of God in the sense that they did not personally encounter God through faith as He is revealed in the person and works of Jesus of Nazareth.
The word also refers to the fact that unsaved Israel did not have an “experiential knowledge” of God in the sense that they did not personally encounter God through faith as He is revealed in the pages of their own Old Testament Scriptures so as to be affected by this encounter with God.
The preposition kata with the accusative noun theos, “God” denotes conformity to a particular standard or policy.
Therefore, kata specifies that the Israelites zeal was “in accordance with” an experiential knowledge of God.
However, the emphatic negative adverb ou emphatically is used to deny the reality of an alleged fact of this occurring and is the clear cut, point-blank negative, objective and final.
It therefore emphatically negates the idea that Israel had a zeal in accordance with an experiential knowledge of God in the sense that by no means did they personally encounter God through faith as He is revealed in the person and works of Jesus Christ and their Old Testament Scriptures.