Romans 15.31a-Paul Requests That Romans Pray For His Deliverance From Those Who Disobey The Gospel In Judea
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 20, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:31a-Paul Requests That Romans Pray For His Deliverance From Those Who Disobey The Gospel In Judea
Lesson # 538
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:30.
In Romans 15:30, Paul requests that Romans pray for him on the basis of their common relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as well as on the basis of the divine-love produced by the Spirit.
He then requested that the Romans fight together with him by means of their prayers in the presence of the Father on his behalf.
In verse 31, he requests that he would be rescued from those who are disobedient to the gospel in Judea and that his service for the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem would prove acceptable to the Jewish believers in that city.
Then, in verse 32, he reveals another objective he wants them to pray for, namely that by the Father’s will he would enter into their company with joy and find refreshing rest.
This evening we will begin a study of Romans 15:31 by noting the first prayer request that Paul presents to the Roman believers, namely that he would be delivered by God from those Jews in Judea who were disobedient to the gospel.
Romans 15:30, “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me 31, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints 32, so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. 33, Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”
Let’s look at verse 31 in detail.
Romans 15:31, “That I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.”
This verse is a purpose clause, which contains two reasons why Paul is requesting that the Romans intercede in prayer on his behalf.
Paul’s purpose for appealing to the Romans to fight together with him by means of their prayers on behalf of him was so he might be rescued from those Jews in Judea who are disobedient to the gospel.
He then presents an additional request that they would fight together with him by means of their prayers on his behalf so that his service to the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem in delivering to them the contribution from the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia would be acceptable to the Jewish saints in that city.
“I may be rescued” is the first person singular aorist passive subjunctive rhuomai (ῥύομαι) (roo-ee-owe-meh), which means, “to rescue from danger, with the implication that the danger is severe and acute.”
The verb rhuomai means “to rescue from a danger, or life-threatening situation caused by one’s enemies” and is used of God the Father delivering Paul from physical harm and death at the hands of the unsaved Jews in Judea who threaten his life.
It is a good thing that he requested this prayer for his personal safety since after delivering the contribution from the Gentile churches in Macedonian and Achaia to the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem, the Roman military had to deliver him from the unsaved Jews in Jerusalem in order to keep them from killing him.
Acts 21:21-36 records the riot that ensued when some of the Jews accused Paul of desecrating the Temple.
In Acts 21:37-22, Paul is rescued from the mob by the Roman military and then presents his defense to the mob.
The hostility of the unbelieving Jews towards Paul is well documented in the book of Acts (Acts 9:23-29; 13:45-50; 14:19; 17:5-8; 18:12-17; 19:9; 20:3, 23).
“From those who are disobedient” is composed of the preposition apo (ἀπό) (ah-poe), “from” and the articular genitive masculine plural present active participle form of the verb apeitheo (ἀπειθέω) (ah-pee-theh-owe), “those who are disobedient.”
The stem of this word apeitheo has the basic meaning of “trust” and is also the basis of the formation with pist-, the root of pisteuo, “to have confidence in, to trust in, and to have faith in.”
The verb peitho is consistently used in the LXX to translate batach, “to trust, put confidence in, inspire trust” (2 Kin. 18:19; Job 39:11; Prov. 11:28) and was selected by the translators of the LXX to describe “putting one’s confidence in” God (Ps. 2:12; Prov. 16:20; 28:25; 29:25).
Therefore, in the Greek New Testament, the verb apeitheo, its cognate noun apeitheia and cognate adjective apeithes do not stand in contrast with the Greek words for “obedience” but rather they stand in contrast with the words that denote faith.
A survey of the verb’s usage in the Greek New Testament indicates that it was connected to unbelief, which demonstrated itself in disobedience to the command found in the gospel of Jesus Christ to believe on Him for eternal salvation (cf. John 3:36; Acts 14:1-7; 19:8-10; Romans 2:8; 10:21; 11:30; Hebrews 3:12-19, 31; 1 Peter 2:7-8; 3:1-2, 18-20; 4:15-19).
The word is used in Romans 15:31 to describe the unbelief of the Jews in Israel in the first century, and which unbelief manifested itself in the rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
“In Judea” is composed of the preposition en (ἕν), “in” and the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun Ioudaia (Ἰουδαία) (you-they-awe), “Judea.”
The noun Ioudaia means “Judea,” which was the Greek and Roman designation of the land of Judah.
Judea comprised the southern half of Palestine in pre-exilic times covering an area of approximately 2000 square miles but this was reduced during the Persian period to the small area around Jerusalem.
The Maccabean state encompassed nearly all of Palestine but was governed by a smaller Judea, along with Samaria and Galilee (cf. 1 Maccabee 11:28, 34; Strabo Geor. XVI.2, 21).
Judea under Herod’s son Archelaus included Idumea and Samaria but not Galilee and Perea (cf. Matthew 19:1; Luke 23;5; Acts 10:37).
After Archelaus, Judea became part of the Roman province of Syria and was ruled by procurators appointed by Rome.
They presided over the same area as Archelaus but from Caesarea.
Josephus uses the term “Judea” in its broad political sense and so does the Greek New Testament (Matthew 19:1; Luke 1:5; 4:44; 7:17; Acts 10:37).
During Christ’s first advent, it continued to be ruled by a Roman procurator who served under the proconsul of Syria who resided in Antioch (Luke 3:1; Josephus Antiquities 17.13.5; 18.1.1).
The economy was pastoral and was supplemented by the production of grapes and olives, which were the principal crops of the highlands.
It was always economically dependent upon the revenues generated by Jerusalem and the concentration of the population in Judea was in Jerusalem.
To summarize, in Romans 15:30, Paul requests that Romans pray for him on the basis of their common relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as well as on the basis of the divine-love produced by the Spirit.
He then requested that the Romans fight together with him by means of their prayers in the presence of the Father on his behalf.
Then, in Romans 15:31a, he presents the first purpose for appealing to his readers to intercede in prayer on his behalf, namely, that he would be rescued from harm and death from those who are disobedient to the gospel in Judea.