Romans 2:1-16 Adonai Judges Unrighteousness
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We finished up last time by going through the first few verses of chapter 2; today lets read: Romans 2:1-16
Therefore you are without excuse, O man—every one of you who is judging. For by whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. We know that God’s judgment on those who practice such things is based on truth. But you, O man—judging those practicing such things yet doing the same—do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you belittle the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience—not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? But by your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. He will pay back each person according to his deeds. To those who by perseverance in doing good are seeking glory, honor, and immortality—eternal life. But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—wrath and fury. There will be trouble and hardship for every human soul that does evil—to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But there will be glory, honor, and shalom to everyone who does good—to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned outside of Torah will also perish outside of Torah, and all who have sinned according to Torah will be judged by Torah. For it is not the hearers of Torah who are righteous before God; rather, it is the doers of Torah who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the Torah, do by nature the things of the Torah, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the Torah. They show that the work of the Torah is written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts switching between accusing or defending them on the day when God judges the secrets of men according to my Good News through Messiah Yeshua.
Without Excuse, O Man
Without Excuse, O Man
In the previous chapter, Paul had discussed the Gentile world, and how, after denying God, they end up doing what they know to be wicked. Now Paul turns his attention to the Jewish people. This chapter is divided into two parallel section: Rom. 2:1-16 and Rom. 2:17-29. Both sections are covering the same issue but from two different directions.
Paul’s style changes and:
The apostle shifts to the second person and enters into dialogue with an imagined interlocutor who has absorbed what was said up to this point and shows by his attitude that he is in hearty agreement with the exposure of Gentile wickedness. This type of dialogue with an imaginary opponent, known as a “diatribe,” was a common rhetorical device in the Greco-Roman world.
Not only that, Paul seems to be using a similar discussion as the prophet Nathan used with King David in 2 Sam. 12:5-7
Then David’s anger blazed hot against the man and he said to Nathan, “As Adonai lives, the man that did this deserves to die! So he must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did such a thing and showed no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: It is I who anointed you king over Israel, and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
Paul uses the same wording to wake up the Jewish audience to the reality of Adonai’s fair judgement. Just because we know the Torah’s commands and can recognize the sins in other people, does not automatically mean that we are following them. David was known as a man after God’s own heart, but in 1 day found himself breaking at least half of the 10 commandments. David recognized the righteous judgement and what needed to be done in the story that Nathan shared with him, however he could not see that his own actions, were what was being described.
Last week we also pointed out that what Paul is speaking of here, is similar to the teaching of Yeshua in Matt. 7:1-5
“Stop judging, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the beam is in your own eye? Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
All too often we are blinded by our own pride, and we don’t even recognize that we are doing the same sins that we are pointing out in others. If anything, reading the righteous requirements in the Torah, should make us more humble, and more repentant. And what does this repentance look like?
There is a quote from the Talmud that points this out:
We learned there in a mishna that Rabbi Eliezer says: Repent one day before your death. Rabbi Eliezer’s students asked him: But does a person know the day on which he will die? He said to them: All the more so this is a good piece of advice, and one should repent today lest he die tomorrow; and by following this advice one will spend his entire life in a state of repentance. And King Solomon also said in his wisdom: “At all times your clothes should be white, and oil shall not be absent from upon your head” (Ecclesiastes 9:8), meaning that a person always needs to be prepared.
And John, the beloved talmid of Yeshua, writes it this way in 1 John 1:5-10
Now this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you—that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and keep walking in the darkness, we are lying and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of His Son Yeshua purifies us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
So at the end of the day, if I spent as much time every day on repentance and forgiveness as I do on complaining and blaming others, I would be a lot better off.
Hard Unrepentant Heart
Hard Unrepentant Heart
Hardness of heart is not something that Adonai desires. When Adonai called Ezekiel he said to him in Eze. 2:3-5
He said to me, “Son of man, I send you to Bnei-Yisrael, to rebellious nations that have been rebelling against Me. They and their fathers have rebelled against Me to this very day. The children have hard faces and stubborn hearts. I am sending you to them, and you are to tell them, ‘Thus says Adonai Elohim.’ Whether they listen, or whether they will refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet was among them.
And then again in Eze. 3:4-9
Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. For you are not sent to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult tongue, but to the house of Israel, nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult tongue, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel has a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. I will make your forehead like adamant, harder than flint. Do not fear them. Do not be dismayed by their faces, for they are a rebellious house.”
So Ezekiel prophesied at the same time as Daniel, and saw the exile of Judah to Babylon. And just as Ezekiel had foretold the events, the prophet Zechariah 7:11-12 recalled that the sin of Judah was that they refused to pay attention to the words from Adonai, and instead made their hearts hard.
Paul is simply reiterating what the prophets said before him, just because someone is Jewish, does not mean that they are right before Adonai. Adonai will judge fairly and will give eternal life to those who are “seeking glory, honour and immortality”. But Adonai will bring “wrath and fury” on anyone who is self-seeking and refusing to obey the truth, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Notice. Just as the Good News of Salvation through Yeshua has come “to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles,” so also will judgement, trouble and hardship come “to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles.”
This is also why the prophet Ezekiel would later speak of how Adonai would give a new heart as a part of the New Covenant that He would write with Israel, Eze. 11:17-21
Therefore say, thus says Adonai Elohim, “I will gather you from the peoples and collect you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove all of its detestable things and all of its abominations. Then I will give them one heart. I will put a new Spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My laws, keep My ordinances and practice them. They will be My people and I will be their God. As for those whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their ways upon their heads.” It is a declaration of Adonai Elohim.
Think about this: Ezekiel prophesied about the regathering of Israel back to the land after their exile in Babylon, and then Adonai would give the people a new heart. I believe that we are watching a second fulfillment of this prophesy. The first fulfillment happened when Yeshua established the New Covenant and the Ruach HaKodesh filled all of the Talmidim on Shavuot. Today we have seen a second regathering of Israel back to the land, and are beginning to see Jewish people returning to Adonai by trusting in the atoning death of Yeshua the Righteous One!
Several more times, Ezekiel would prophesy about how Adonai would give a new heart, a soft heart to follow after Adonai. One of the most significant is in Ezekiel 36 and 37. Now I can’t read the whole passage, but let us read the section that specifically relates to a soft heart in Eze 36:24-38
“ ‘For I will take you from the nations, gather you out of all the countries and bring you back to your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. Moreover I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the stony heart from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep My rulings and do them. Then you will live in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be My people and I will be your God. “So I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful. I will not bring a famine upon you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will no longer bear the disgrace of famine among the nations. When you remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake will I do this”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel!” Thus says Adonai Elohim: “In the day that I pronounce you clean from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt. The land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being a wasteland in the sight of all that passed by. They will say, ‘This land that was a wasteland has become like the garden of Eden. The waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left all around you will know that I, Adonai, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted what was desolate. I, Adonai, have spoken it. So I will do it.” Thus says Adonai Elohim: “I will again be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them—I will populate them with people like a flock. Like the holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem during her moadim, so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am Adonai.”
So let me ask you all a question. Did this come to pass after the return from Babylon? I would say, “Well, yes and no.” Yes we see Israel re-established as a nation, and we see through atoning work of Yeshua, and the outpouring of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh that this happened. But did it happen to the whole land? Well, no. So we see that it is mostly fulfilled, but not completely fulfilled. But will Adonai completely fulfill His words? Absolutely!
And we are beginning to see in Israel, a return to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Ruach of Adonai being once again poured out on those who have put their trust in Adonai.
Torah: Outside vs According
Torah: Outside vs According
The final section that Paul speaks of is around the reality of who was given the Torah. The Torah was given specifically to Israel. But because the Torah/the Law describes the eternal nature of Adonai (what Adonai likes and what He does not like) there are expectations that are upon all nations. Paul is pointing out that Gentiles, who were not given the Torah, have a conscience/heart and all know that certain things are good and certain things are wicked. Those who have sinned outside Torah (the gentiles) will also perish outside of Torah. And those who know the Torah and have broken the commands of Torah (the Jewish people) will be judged according to the Torah.
Unfortunately this paints a very bleak picture. Because although some people may thing that they are good, very few people think that they are perfect, regardless of how much of Torah they know.
One other point from this section is the reference to the Torah being written in their hearts. This is a direct quote from Jeremiah 31:30-33
“Behold, days are coming” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they broke My covenant, though I was a husband to them.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “I will put My Torah within them. Yes, I will write it on their heart. I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “For I will forgive their iniquity, their sin I will remember no more.”
The writing of the Torah on our hearts is an integral part of the New Covenant that Yeshua established. The life changing power of Yeshua can not be underestimated! Only through the atonement accomplished by Yeshua’s death, and through the ongoing work of the Ruach HaKodesh in our lives are we able to be made righteous before God. And this is the Good News!
Application
Application
The application is simple, just as Peter said in Acts 2:38
Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua for the removal of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh.
So that’s it.
Now next week we will take a break from the letter of Romans and we will talk about Hanukkah which starts on the 25th. And after that we will be taking 2 weeks off so that we can all spend time with family.
