All Israel is not Israel

Romans 9:6-13

So far Paul has argued that the entire world is under the just condemnation of God. The only hope anyone has of salvation is through faith in Christ. He has argued that the Jewish people cannot cling to the Law or their lineage for salvation. Chapter 9 is a detailed teaching on something the Jewish people celebrated and clung to when it came to salvation-election.

He anticipates some objections. Paul is a brilliant man, and he knows what those objections will be. He deals with them in the remainder of this chapter.

1st objection (6) If what Paul is saying is true has the promise of God to Abraham failed?

2nd objection (14) If what Paul is saying is true is God unjust?

3rd (19) If what God is saying is true how can man be blamed?

The Jewish nation rightly saw themselves as an elect nation. The OT makes that clear.

Deut. 7:6-8

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

Paul made it clear that Jews who rejected Christ were lost. Some argued if that were true then the word of God failed. Paul disagreed.

v. 6 “But it is not as though the Word of God has failed.”

Paul quotes the OT at least fifteen times in chapter 9. He quotes from at least five different books as well. He’s not leaning on his Apostolic authority, as he could do. He proves his case with the OT Scripture instead.

“for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.”

The first Israel refers to a person. This was what Jacob’s name was changed to. The nation of Israel consisted of his twelve sons.

“belong to Israel” means they are truly a part of the covenant community. Clearly Paul has more in mind that physical lineage. Israel, in this context, refers to those who receive the promises referring to eternal life.

v. 7-9 “and not all are children of Abraham” Paul backs up further. Abraham was Isaac’s father. Abraham had a child before Isaac, Ishmael. God chose Isaac to be the child of the promise. Salvation is not tied to Abraham. It is tied to the promise. Abraham not only had Ishamel, but he also had six other sons through Keturah after Sara died (Gen. 25:1-2).

The Jewish people knew this. They also knew that only Abraham’s descendants through Isaac were heirs of God’s promise to Abraham.

Isaac was the child of the promise. Therefore, the blessings were reserved for his offspring. Let’s follow Paul’s argument.

All of Abraham’s children did not physically make up the children of God (Israel).

All of Abraham’s offspring do not spiritually make up the children of God.

The children of the promise are counted as the offspring- the children of God. God’s promise to Abraham was that He would bless the world through Isaac. God’s promise today is He will save those who place their faith in Christ.

Galatians 3:28-29:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

It was a common misunderstanding among the Jewish people that they were all elected to heaven simply because of their lineage. Jesus dealt with this.

John 8:39-43

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

Couple of points:

1) We should never believe we are going to heaven because our family is.

2) Just as there was an Israel within Israel, there is a church within the church.

In verses 10-13 Paul deals with another misconception many Jews had. They thought they were saved by the Law.

He moves to another example of well-known people in Jewish history. Rebekah was Isaac’s wife. She gave birth to twins- Jacob and Esau. The previous example of Isaac and Ishmael might be contested because there were two different mothers involved. In this example the children have the same mother and father and are twins.

God chose Jacob over Esau before either of them had done anything moral or immoral. This was done “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue.” (11)

Technically Esau was the firstborn and should have received the better inheritance (12). God did not do what was expected. He chose Jacob instead.

“the older shall serve the younger” From Ishmael came the Edomites. This nation would be subservient to Israel. The Edomites become idolaters and are condemned by the prophets Amos (1:11-12), Obadiah (10), and Malachi (1:2-3).

This is a lesson for the Jews. One should not assume they are chosen by God. Esau should have been the chosen, according to their customs.

This section on election is meant to wake up the Jewish people. It is God who saves. He does not save based on lineage. He does not save based on works. He saved based on grace.

Let’s deal with this difficult verse.

Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated. This is one of the most difficult verses in the Bible. It causes lots of questions and arguments.

“It is written” This is the Word of God.

When were those words written? They were written about 1000 years after Jacob and Esau were born. They are found in Malachi 1:2-3. The context is the two nations: Israel and Edom.

God proves His love for Israel by laying waste the Edomites and their land. God promises to destroy the nation of Edom even if they rebuild and to bless Israel.

I think it’s best to interpret Scripture with Scripture. That means the hatred of God is directed toward the nation of the Edomites.

That being said, we are not used to this kind of language. Does the Bible say God hates people?

Clearly it says it here. What about other places?

Psalm 11:5 - The Lord tests the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Psalm 5:5- The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.

Immediately we begin to wonder. What about John 3:16?

I’ll do my best to explain what I think is communicated here. There are basically two views on what hatred means here:

1) He loves Esau less than He loves Jacob.

2) He hates Esau.

Listen to Jesus words:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Jesus explains what this means in Matthew 10:37:

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Clearly in that context hate means to love less.

There is a general love that God has for everyone.

Matthew 5:43-45

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Be like God. God loves His enemies.

God’s saving (covenant) love is greater than the general love He has for mankind. God loves His children more. That is easy for us to understand because we do as well.

God pours His love into those who are saved (Rom. 5:5).

While God does have a general common love for His creation, that should not be interpreted as His favor. God’s hatred of Esau means that He rejects Esau.

If you are lost, you should not comfort yourself with the love of God. The sinner needs to understand that he/she is under the wrath of God. If you die lost it will not appear that God loves you. You will go to hell. The love of God is not in hell. The wrath of God is in hell.

We sometimes say God hates the sin but love the sinner. That’s true, but you cannot separate the sin from the sinner. What is sin? Sin is not a thing. Sin is a lifestyle. It is who you are if you do not repent.

The statement “Esau have I hated” was a warning to the Jewish people who thought they were saved because they assumed God elected them to salvation.

Listen closely- Election is only made effective through faith in Christ. God never promised to save every Jewish person. Those who had faith in Christ were the elect. Paul is making a distinction within the Jewish race. Not all Jews were elect. Only those who had faith in Christ were.

This is as far as will get tonight. We’ll pick up verse 14 next week. Let’s make some application points.

1) We should not ask the question “Am I one of God’s elect?” The question we should ask is do I belong to Christ?” Who are the elect? Thos who have faith in Christ.

2) We should not assume our children will be saved. We should pray for their salvation, teach them the gospel, and encourage them to come to Christ. (God has no grandchildren).

3) Evangelism should include this truth: God extends His love to you through Christ but without Jesus you are under the wrath of God.