Romans 10.20-Paul Cites Isaiah 65.1 To Demonstrate That The Gentiles Would Find God And God Would Make Himself Accessible To Them
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday June 10, 2009
Romans: Romans 10:20-Paul Cites Isaiah 65:1 To Demonstrate That The Gentiles Would Find God And God Would Make Himself Accessible To Them
Lesson # 349
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 10:1.
This evening we will note Romans 10:20 and in this passage Paul advances and intensifies his statement in Romans 10:19 by quoting Isaiah 65:1, which teaches that God was found by the Gentiles who were not diligently seeking after a relationship with Him.
The Gentiles found God in the sense that they personally encountered and entered into a relationship with Him through faith in Christ.
Romans 10:20 also teaches that God permitted Himself to become accessible to the Gentiles who were not diligently inquiring about a relationship with Him.
God became accessible to the Gentiles in the sense that they experienced fellowship with Him as a result of exercising faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Therefore, in Romans 10:20, Paul cites Isaiah 65:1 to demonstrate that God would save the Gentiles and that they would have fellowship with Him.
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.”
Romans 10:5, “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.”
Romans 10:6, “But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: ‘DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down).”
Romans 10:7, “Or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
Romans 10:8, “But what does it say? ‘THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart’ -- that is, the word of faith which we are preaching.”
Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:10, “For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Romans 10:11, “For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’”
Romans 10:12, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him.”
Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’”
Romans 10:14, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
Romans 10:15, “How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!’”
Romans 10:16, “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?’”
Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Romans 10:18, “But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; ‘THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.’”
Romans 10:19, “But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.’”
Romans 10:20, “And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’”
Romans 10:20 is not only introducing a statement that is presenting information that is addition to the prophecy in Deuteronomy 32:21 that appears in Romans 10:19 but it is also advancing upon this information and intensifying this prophecy.
This teaches that not only did God turn from the Jews and go to the Gentiles with the gospel but the Gentiles who were not seeking after a relationship with Him found one through faith in Christ and they would also have fellowship with God as a result of this faith in Christ!
This echoes Paul’s statement in Romans 9:30, which actually began this section that deals with Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
Romans 9:30, “Therefore, what is the conclusion that we are forced to? That the Gentiles who, customarily and characteristically do not zealously pursue righteousness obtained righteousness, in fact a righteousness, which is by means of faith as a source.”
“Isaiah” refers to one of the three “major” prophets of Israel who served the Lord during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (792-740 B.C.) and whose name means, “Yahweh’s saves.”
In Romans 10:19, we saw Paul quoting from the Law by citing Deuteronomy 32:21 and now here in Romans 10:20 he quotes from one of the prophets by citing Isaiah 65:1.
Romans 10:20, “And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’”
The expression “is very bold” indicates that Isaiah’s prediction and not Isaiah himself was bold in the sense that his prophecy would attract special attention from the nation of Israel since it would indicate that God was turning to the Gentiles and offering them salvation.
“And” is the “ascensive” use of the conjunction kai (kaiV), which introduces a statement that emphatically expounds upon the prophecy in Deuteronomy 32:21, which is quoted by Paul in Romans 10:19.
It also introduces an accessory idea meaning that not only would God provoke to anger and jealousy the Jews for their rejection of His Son by offering salvation to the Gentiles through the gospel but the Gentiles would “even” find Him and He would make Himself accessible to them.
As we noted earlier Paul is quoting from Isaiah 65:1.
Isaiah 65:1, “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ to a nation which did not call on My name.”
As Paul did with Hosea 1:10 and 2:23 in Romans 9:25-26, in Romans 10:20 he quotes from Isaiah 65:1, which is addressed to Israel and applies Isaiah 65:1 to the Gentiles based on the principle of analogy since the Gentiles did not diligently seek after God or inquire about Him.
“I WAS FOUND” denotes that the Gentiles “found” God in the sense that through faith alone in Christ alone, they entered into a relationship with Him.
It means that they personally encountered God as He is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the person and works of Jesus of Nazareth, the Old Testament Scriptures and the apostolic testimony, which now appears in the New Testament.
Romans 10:20, “And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’”
“BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME” indicates that God was found by the Gentiles who always existed in a state of not diligently seeking after a relationship with God.
“I BECAME MANIFEST” means that God permitted Himself to be accessible to the Gentiles in the sense that He would permit Himself to have fellowship with the Gentiles as a result of their faith in His Son.
“TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME” refers to the fact that characteristically, the Gentiles did not diligently inquire about God or the ways of God.
So in Romans 10:20, Paul cites Isaiah 65:1, which teaches that God was found by the Gentiles who were not diligently seeking after a relationship with Him in the sense that they entered into a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
This passage also teaches that God permitted Himself to become accessible to the Gentiles who were not diligently inquiring about a relationship with Him in the sense that He permitted Himself to enter into fellowship with them.