People of the Promise

Introduction

Last week we continued our study of Romans, we left off at Romans 8 where we found that We are free from the law. The law is powerless over us because we are dead to it. The problem we have is that sin still is living and active in our bodies, and while our Spirit and Soul may be dead to sin and the law, our flesh is weak and must be put in submission to God. We do this by allowing His precious Holy Spirit to fill us up and lead us and help us in our weaknesses. This week we pick up where Paul left off. The title of this message is “People of Promise”. So go with me to Romans chapter 9:

Romans 9:1–5 TLV

I tell the truth in Messiah—I do not lie, my conscience assuring me in the Ruach ha-Kodesh— that my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart unending. For I would pray that I myself were cursed, banished from Messiah for the sake of my people—my own flesh and blood, who are Israelites. To them belong the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Torah and the Temple service and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs—and from them, according to the flesh, the Messiah, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.

It’s pretty clear from this passage that Paul has a great deal of concern for the nation of Israel. It is also very clear that he still believes that the children of Israel are still the people of promise. “4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”

There is a growing trend in the church – a trend that has reared its ugly head through the ages – a belief that says the nation of Israel is irrelevant now, and that the church is now the spiritual heir of the promises. This is not biblical.

To whom does Paul say the adoption, the glory and the covenants pertain? What is the adoption?

Galatians 4:3–5 TLV

So also, when we were underage, we were subservient to the basic principles of the world. But when the fullness of time came, God sent out His Son, born of a woman and born under law— to free those under law, so we might receive adoption as sons.

Who gets adopted? Right! We who were once under bondage – those who are now Christians are the ones that were adopted. But look at what Paul says. To whom does that adoption pertain?

Romans 11:16–21 TLV

If the firstfruit is holy, so is the whole batch of dough; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off and you—being a wild olive—were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who support the root but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” True enough. They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear— for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.

Who are the firstfruit? The nation of Israel – the lump and the root – they are all the nation of Israel, and they are all holy. We are merely wild branches that have been grafted in and so are recipients of the grace of God out of His mercy, and only because the promise was obtained first by the nation of Israel. If we as a church ever forget this and begin to follow along in the anti-Semitism that is becoming more and more obvious daily, look at Paul’s warning: “Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.”

There is something else to consider from the narrative in the book of Acts. Do you remember what Paul’s big problem was when he first started preaching? He was abrasive – he kept causing problems for the church. In fact, he caused so much trouble they kicked him out of the city, and what’s really hilarious is that after they kicked Paul out of Jerusalem, the Bible says there was peace.

Acts 9:26–31 TLV

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he made attempts to join up with the disciples—but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him in and brought him to the emissaries. He described to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and the Lord had spoken to him, and how he had spoken boldly in the name of Yeshua. So Saul was with them, going in and out in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He was speaking and arguing with the Hellenists, but they were trying to kill him. When the brothers found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. So Messiah’s community throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had shalom and was built up. Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, it kept multiplying.

So Paul was trying to smooth things over by acknowledging the place of Israel in God’s grand scheme of things; because although Israel enjoyed the favor of being the children of the promise, they were also the ones that rejected the promised Messiah. Paul then, was getting ready to bring a very harsh word to the Israelites – the kind of message that had previously gotten him into much trouble. Notice that Paul has learned his lesson! He now starts – not by arguing, but by pleading. This is important to us as believers when it comes to evangelism; we must always be ready to reason with someone regarding the faith, but our motivation to do some must come out of a deep concern for the well-being of the individual and not out of an arrogant need to win an argument. You will never argue someone into heaven. The best you will do is beat them into silence, and humiliate them, thus leaving them with a very sour taste of Christianity in their mouth. Is that what Jesus is all about? You know, as Christians, we should strive for this not only in our behavior in evangelism, but in our communication in general. No matter how strongly we hold to a belief, arguing about it is never a godly reaction. I’ve stated many times before that I have a weakness for political debate, I enjoy it and believe me, I am good. I can tie people up in Kierkengaardian knots and leave them in stunned silence. The trouble is that this sort of behavior is antithetical to being a good evangelist. It is not the loving way of dealing with unbelievers and therefore God has had to teach me to separate the two. And in fact, He forbade me to engage in political debate for a very long time because it was creeping over into how I dealt with evangelistic efforts.

1 Timothy 3:1–3 TLV

Trustworthy is the saying: “If any man aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work.” An overseer, then, must be beyond criticism—the husband of one wife, clear-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money,

“Bishop” in this case is same Greek word that can also be translated as “office of a church leader” or “supervisor”. But pastor – that applies to you because you’re a pastor – I’m not!

Well then, let me ask you this question. Do you consider yourself a servant of God? You should – you can serve either God or the World.

If so, then this one’s for you.

2 Timothy 2:24–25 TLV

The Lord’s slave must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, tolerant. Let him give guidance with humility to those who are in opposition—perhaps God may grant them a change of mind, leading to the knowledge of truth.

So it’s pretty clear that quarreling, is not something we as Christians should do. But Paul had to deliver some very strong words here – he’d delivered this message before, and it got him into all kinds of trouble, but here he was again, having to deliver the message to the Jews in Rome. How could he accomplish it and not cause the kind of uproar he had caused so many times before? Well, he started it out by making his compassion and respect known up front. If we are going to minster the gospel – or really discuss any issue about which we have a strong conviction, we must first check our ego at the door. Remember, arguing doesn’t win you anything except the argument – in fact, you lose much more than you can ever hope to win.

Having then, shown his affection for his countrymen, Paul then lays out the charge against them.

Romans 9:6–13 TLV

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s seed; rather, “Your seed shall be called through Isaac.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God; rather, the children of the promise are counted as seed. For the word of promise is this: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only this, but also Rebecca having twins, from one act with our father Isaac. Yet before the sons were even born and had not done anything good or bad—so that God’s purpose and choice might stand not because of works but because of Him who calls— it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Basically Paul is saying that even though the Jews are the children of the promise, and they now find themselves outside of that promise – in fact, Paul was known as the apostle to the gentiles – it is not because the promise was not valid or trustworthy, it was rather because of the unbelief of the Jews. God has given us many promises, but many live their whole life without seeing them come to pass. Why is this? Well, the basic truth is that we often forfeit the promise due to our own disbelief or disobedience. Consider the case of Jacob and Esau. Esau was the child of the promise. As the firstborn, he was entitled to the greater blessing and inheritance, but he sold his inheritance for a bowl of red lentil soup and his birthright was taken from him because he despised it. When he begged his father to bless him anyway, Isaac was unable because the blessing was already given to Jacob. The promise was for Esau, but he himself took himself out of position to receive it. Paul is saying that Israel had done this by rejecting the Gospel.

Romans 9:14–24 TLV

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For to Moses He says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who strives, but on God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up—to demonstrate My power in you, so My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But who in the world are you, O man, who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Does the potter have no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for common use? Now what if God, willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath designed for destruction? And what if He did so to make known the riches of His glory on vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory? Even us He called—not only from the Jewish people, but also from the Gentiles—

Paul goes on to ask a basic question that confronts all of us as believers and that is, how can a God of love send people to hell? God is God, and as such He is willing to show mercy to whomever He will. Does that mean He is unfair? No not at all. See, I used to have a problem with this. How could God create some of us for honor and some for dishonor? Well, I think I have found the answer in the book of Exodus.

See, here is what I have always had a problem with:

Exodus 7:1–3 TLV

So Adonai said to Moses, “See, I have set you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. You are to speak all that I command you and Aaron your brother is to speak to Pharaoh, so that he will let Bnei-Yisrael go out of his land. Yet I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

I just didn’t understand how God could fault Pharaoh when it was God himself who hardened his heart. It seemed unfair until I noticed this:

Exodus 8:15 TLV

So the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them—just as Adonai had said.

Pharaoh hardened his own heart! In this case it was not God who was doing it! See, what the Lord showed me is that like Esau, certain people have a predisposition toward spiritual things. God gives us all free-will. Some of us will choose God, others will not. Regardless, God will place each of us in situations that bring the real us to the surface. See, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart by putting him in a position that would show who he really was. Later on, without the help of God, Pharaoh no longer needed God’s help being who he was naturally.

Paul then tells the Jews that God already had foreseen their rejection of the promise and had made provision for that promise to be received by the gentiles.

Romans 9:25–29 TLV

as He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ and her who was not loved, ‘Beloved.’ And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.” Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of B’nei-Israel be as the sand of the sea, only the remnant shall be saved. For Adonai will carry out His word upon the earth, bringing it to an end and finishing quickly.” And just as Isaiah foretold, “Unless Adonai-Tzva’ot had left us seed, we would have become like Sodom and resembled Gomorrah.”

But look at verse 29! Unless God had left us a seed… God had already provided a way by which the promise would be preserved and that is…

So then Paul here is giving the Roman Jews another opportunity to receive the promise – via the seed which was left in the early church.

Paul ends it this way:

Romans 9:30–33 TLV

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness—that is, a righteousness of faith. But Israel, who pursued a Torah of righteousness, did not reach the Torah. Why? Because they pursued it not by faith, but as if it were from works. They stumbled over the stone of stumbling, just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in Him shall not be put to shame.”

The Jews worked very hard at righteousness. Jesus called them “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” The problem is that no matter how hard they tried, the best they could come up with was filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:5 TLV

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a filthy garment, and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away, like the wind.

Jesus came instead and showed a different way. See, the Jews had made following God a heavy and onerous thing. Because of that, God purposefully excluded the Jews from receiving what He had for them. Not to be mean, but because they had placed themselves way out of position to receive what God had for them. This is what happens when we get too dogmatic about how we do church. There are certain things that we will not tolerate – sin for example, but there are certain traditions of men that cause us to place burdens on people that are not from God. Jesus responded to these types of obstacles by making this call to the people:

Matthew 11:25–30 TLV

At that time Yeshua said in response, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and discerning and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was pleasing to You. “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ‘you will find rest for your souls.’ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

God’s promise is easy, but it must be received by faith. It is given freely and out of the love of His heart. Not only must we be willing to receive it freely, we must never hinder others from receiving it by placing burdens before them, by us making our traditions more important than they are.

Conclusion

Paul was getting ready to preach a very difficult message to his fellow countrymen. Having been a member of the sect of Jews known as Pharisees, He was zealous for the things of God. It was that zeal that led him to persecute first the church, and then after his conversion, his fellow Jews. The problem got so bad that he was kicked out of Jerusalem so that the church could enjoy a time of peace, but here was the very same Paul – with a new sense of maturity and a new message – one inspired out of love rather than pride.

Paul makes it clear that he esteemed the nation of Israel and that God has never abandoned His people and therefore we as a church despise Israel at our own peril! Instead, we should esteem them and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It is the city that Jesus wept over.

Nevertheless, we have become the people of the promise through adoption and faith in Jesus. It is by faith and not by works, so we must be careful not to put stumbling block in people’s way by clinging to the traditions of men. We do this sometimes unintentionally by imposing standards upon ourselves that are over-burdensome. Then, by example we project those standards upon those that look up to us. Instead we need to remember that Jesus came to simplify the law by hanging it on a new commandment:

John 13:34 TLV

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another.

Let us pray,