Romans 10

Why Was Israel Rejected?

Introduction

To answer this question of rejection can be found in the last couple of verses in chapter 9 and continue through verse 21 of chapter 10.

Verses 1-4

When writing to the church at Galatia, Paul reflected on his preconversion days — Galatians 1:14 “14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”

Paul did the same thing with the crowd who arrested Him — Acts 22:3 “3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.”

They would not submit to God’s plan!

Quote: It is important to see that Israel’s failure resulted from its determination to achieve its objective in its own way. God would have to come to terms with them. Their lack of knowledge was self-inflicted. Refuse the truth and God will give you up to your own foolishness. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 207.

Quote: (A.M. Toplady) “Nothing in my hand I bring; eimply to the cross I cling.”

Verses 5-8

Paul contrasts two kinds of righteousness:

Of the law — Leviticus 18:5 “5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.” & Galatians 3:12 “12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.”

Of faith — Deuteronomy 30:12–13 “12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?”

Moses was telling the people they didn’t have to climb up to heaven in order to know God’s will.

Paul applied this to the message of the gospel. God has made it available. Christ is here (incarnation).

Deuteronomy 30:14 “14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.”

The promise concerning faith is “in reach!”

Verses 9-11

These verses have been some of the most helpful portions of scripture to help us understand the necessity of believing from the heart and making a public confession from the mouth!

The key to receiving Christ is believing (trusting) Jesus to be Savior and Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:3 “3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”

Philippians 2:11 “11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

However, these same verses have been used is a none beneficial way by way of having people repeat the sinners prayer.

This describes a testimony of Jesus’ authority (absolute, unlimited, and universal).

Quote: Those who come to Christ by faith are acknowledging that they have placed themselves entirely and without reserve under his authority to carry out without hesitation whatever he may choose for them to do. There is no such thing as salvation apart from lordship. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 209.

Illustration: Sometimes those in college are there to primarily have a good time. You will often find them on the back row. NO BACK ROW SEATS in heaven.

(v10) Paul was not talking about two different processes to salvation.

“Righteousness” & “Salvation” are two words Paul is using interchangeably.

To believe with one’s heart means to commit oneself at the deepest level to the truth as revealed and experienced. Confession is giving expression in words to that conviction. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 210.

Confession always stems from inward conception.

Illustration: It is useless to claim there is a fire without a visible flame or heat.

The resurrection is the epicenter of Christianity!

Christianity would be nothing more than a ethical system.

(v11) Anyone with an authentic trusting on Christ as Savior and Lord will not be ashamed.

Ref. Isaiah 28:16 “16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, A tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: He that believeth shall not make haste.”

Verses 12-13

The Lord is rich with saving grace to anyone who “calls” (invokes; i.e. faith placed in Christ).

God’s universal scope for salvation isn’t seen any clearer than here!

(v13) This is a quote from Joel 2:32 “32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, As the Lord hath said, And in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”

Verses 14-15

Paul quote from Isaiah 52:7 “7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

Paul applied a message given to Israel to the apostolic messengers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Acts 13:2 “2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.”

Here is a chronological breakdown:

Christ sends heralds, heralds preach, people hear, hearers believe, believers are born-again.

Verses 16-21

(v16) Quote from Isaiah 53:1 “1 Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

(v17) Faith is awakened by hearing the message of the gospel.

Any and all effective preaching must be accomplished by the Holy Spirit.

The human messenger is strictly the instrument by which the Holy Spirit uses His words to preach to the unbelieving heart.

It is not the hearld’s voice that brings conviction, it is the voice of God!

Romans 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

(v18-21) Paul poses two questions on behalf of the unbelieving Jew.

First Q — Have they had opportunity to hear?

Refer to Psalm 19.

Colossians 1:23 “23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”

Colossians 1:6 “6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:”

Second Q — Did they understand?

Isaiah 65:1–2 “1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, Unto a nation that was not called by my name. 2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, Which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;”

Paul gathered words from Moses’ testimony in Deut 32.

Deuteronomy 32:21 “21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; They have provoked me to anger with their vanities: And I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”

Israel’s rejection had nothing to do with any lack of opportunity to hear or ability to understand. It rested solely upon the nation’s willful disobedience. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 213.

Chapter 11

Verses1-6

2 Corinthians 11:22 “22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.”

Philippians 3:5 “5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;”

Paul strengthens his case by referencing the account of Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal and then due to Jezebel’s threats, he flees for his life to a cave on Mount Horeb. There he starts complaining.

1 Kings 19:18 “18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”

chaps. 9–11 is less the fate of Israel than a warning to the Gentiles not to presume on their fortunate position as a wild branch that had been grafted into a historic tree of Jewish origin. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 218–219.

(v15) Paul was speaking of here was a great spiritual awakening of Israel to take place at the end of human history. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 219.

(v16) Numbers 15:17–21 describes an offering made from the first grain harvested and ground. The cake presented to the Lord consecrated the rest of the batch. Paul wrote that if the dough offered as firstfruits was holy, then the entire batch was holy. In this metaphor the “dough” represents the Jewish believers who had accepted Christ (the remnant of v. 5), and the “whole batch” would be those who would come to believe. The metaphor changes to a tree with its branches. If the root is holy, so are the branches. In this case the “root” represents the patriarchs (esp. Abraham); and the “branches,” the nation that follows. The point is that if the patriarchs were holy (and they were), so also were the Jewish people (in the sense that the positive effects of the patriarchs reached to them (cf. 1 Cor 7:14). God’s rejection of the Jewish nation was neither complete (Rom 11:1–10) nor final (11:11–24). Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 220.

(v25-26) “And so all Israel will be saved.” It was only in this way that Israel as a whole would be restored to favor with God. Obviously this was not some unilateral action of God on behalf of his people. Israel’s salvation would be on the same basis as anyone else’s, that is, by responding in faith to the forgiveness made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Earlier commentators tended to take “all Israel” to mean “spiritual Israel,” that is, all believers, Jew and Gentile alike. But throughout this entire section Paul had been comparing Gentile and Jew as separate ethnic groups. It would have been highly unlikely for him to have blurred this crucial distinction when it came time for a summarizing conclusion. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 224–225.

Isaiah 59:20–21 “20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. 21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, And my words which I have put in thy mouth, Shall not depart out of thy mouth, Nor out of the mouth of thy seed, Nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, From henceforth and for ever.”

Paul was saying that beyond the current period of Israel’s unbelief there would come a time when believing Jews would turn to Christ in faith. They would join the faithful remnant and believing Gentiles to complete the family of God, which stretches throughout all of redemptive history. From the standpoint of the twentieth century, that time is yet future. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 225.