Sorrow for Israel (Part 1)
Notes
Transcript
Intro to a New Section
Intro to a New Section
Unfortunately, many believers seem to skip this next section of Roman chapters 9 to 11 as if it is only a parenthetical insertion or a side note. In reality, however, this section is the most important discussion of the relationship between the Jewish people and the Gentile believers. Not only does this section explain that one day “all Israel will be saved” but it also tears apart any idea of replacement theology, warns Gentiles of what their attitude and response should be (a warning that was completely ignored throughout history), and explains how Adonai is and will be faithful to fulfill His own promises to the physical seed of Abraham, the Jewish people. David Stern puts it this way:
The Jewish New Testament Commentary Romans, Chapter 9
Chapters 9–11 of the Book of Romans contain the New Testament’s most important and complete discussion of the Jewish people. In them God promises that “all Israel will be saved” (11:26) and commands that Gentile Christians show the Jews God’s mercy (11:31). In the face of what these chapters teach, every form of Christian antisemitism stands condemned; and every claim, whether by Jews or Christians, that the Gospel is not for Jews must collapse.
So let’s go ahead and read the first few verses of Romans 9:1-5
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.
Paul’s Anguish
Paul’s Anguish
While it is true that Paul was called to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, every place he traveled, he always went into the Jewish Synagogue first. We can see an example of this in Acts 13:5
When they arrived at Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as a helper.
In fact even after Paul declared in Corinth that, “From now on, I will go to the Gentiles”, what was the first thing he did when he got to the next town? Let’s read in Acts 18:18-20
Paul, having stayed many more days, said farewell to the brothers and set sail to Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea Paul had his hair cut off, for he was keeping a vow. When they arrived at Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila there. But he himself went into the synagogue and debated with the Jewish people. When they asked him to stay longer, he declined,
Not only does he demonstrate his own Jewishness by taking a Nazerite Vow, but at his first opportunity he goes into the synagogue at Ephesus. Paul lives by what he told the believers in Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who trusts—to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
This was not just a statement, but it was Paul’s way of life.
Now, in Romans 9, Paul is declaring that he wished that he could go to hell if that would mean that the Jewish people would accept Yeshua. I hope that that feeling is also in our hearts. This anguish was also in the heart of Moses just after the Golden Calf incident at Mt. Sinai. We pick up the story in Ex. 32:30-35
So it happened the following day, Moses said to the people, “You have committed a horrendous sin. So now I will go up to Adonai—perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to Adonai and said, “Alas, these people have sinned greatly, and made gods of gold! Yet now, please forgive their sin. But if not, please blot me out of Your book that You have written.” Adonai said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book. Now go, lead the people to the place that I told you about. My angel will go before you. Nevertheless, on the day when I take account, I will hold them accountable for their sin.” So Adonai struck the people because of what they did with the calf that Aaron had made.
We see here that Moses is begging that Adonai would forgive, and that his own life would make atonement for the sins of Beni Yisrael. But Adonai states that we are individually responsible for our own sins.
Paul is saying that in the same way that Moses interceded for Israel, Paul himself is also interceding for his brothers and sisters in the flesh.
Paul’s Argument
Paul’s Argument
After just telling the believers in Rome that nothing can separate them from the love of God, he now goes to the next question/concern that may be on their mind:
The Jewish New Testament Commentary Romans, Chapter 9
The problem: by rejecting the Gospel, Israel, with her many advantages, makes it appear that God’s promises have failed.
Paul is actually continuing the discussion that he had started in Rom 3:1-4
Then what is the advantage of being Jewish? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Much in every way. First of all, they were entrusted with the sayings of God. So what if some did not trust? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? May it never be! Let God be true even if every man is a liar, as it is written, “that You may be righteous in Your words and prevail when You are judged.”
Paul expands this list of benefits as follows:
They were made God’s children,
The Sh’khinah,
The covenants,
The Torah itself, and the giving of the Torah,
The Temple service,
The promises,
The patriarchs,
The Messiah.
Let’s have a closer look at each of these benefits of the Jewish people.
Jewish People are God’s Children
Jewish People are God’s Children
When we speak of the Children of Israel, we are specifically talking about the physical descendants of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. But when Adonai is speaking to Moses in Exodus 4:22-23
You are to say to Pharaoh, “This is what Adonai says: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I have said to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me, but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will slay your son, your firstborn.’ ”
Time and time again, we see that Adonai is calling to the Children of Israel lovingly drawing them back to Himself.
Sh’khinah (Manifest Glory)
Sh’khinah (Manifest Glory)
When Paul is speaking of this Glory that was with Beni Yisrael, he is referring to the tangible presence of God that went with them throughout the wilderness as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (see Ex. 13:21, 33:9, Num. 12:5, Deut. 31:15). This was the same weighty, glory that filled the Temple during the days of Solomon as we read in 1 Kings 8:10-13
Now when the kohanim came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of Adonai, so that the kohanim could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Adonai filled the House of Adonai. Then Solomon spoke: “Adonai said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. I have surely built You a magnificent House, a place for Your dwelling forever.”
The visible manifestation of Adonai. I also remember story of a Rabbi. After hearing about Yeshua, He exclaimed, “So what you are saying is that Yeshua is a walking, talking Sh’khinah!” Paul would agree, and wrote in Col. 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created— in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him. He exists before everything, and in Him all holds together. He is the head of the body, His community. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead— so that He might come to have first place in all things. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross— whether things on earth or things in heaven!
The Covenants
The Covenants
Now we have spent a lot of time going over the multitude of Covenantal Promises that Adonai has made with Beni Yisrael. So we will not go into detail, but I will rather list them here:
Covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12 - 17)
Covenant confirmed with Isaac (Gen. 26)
Covenant confirmed with Jacob/Israel (Gen. 32, 35)
Covenant with Moses & Israel (Ex. 19-34)
Covenant with David & descendants (2 Sam. 7)
New Covenant with Israel & Judah (Jer. 31 & Eze. 36-37)
All these covenants are with Beni Yisrael, even thought we know that part of the mystery of the New Covenant is that Gentiles could be grafted into that covenant.
The Torah
The Torah
One of the greatest gifts to the World is that Adonai chose to speak to Beni Yisrael and have faithful men and women write these words down. God’s guidance, His law, His heart are all expressed to us from what has been written. We get to understand who God is by what makes Him angry, and what makes him happy, by how he chooses to bless and what he chooses to curse. David Stern explains it this way:
The Jewish New Testament Commentary Romans, Chapter 9
But second, and more important, is the actual giving of the Torah. This was the formative event which, together with the Exodus from Egypt, has shaped the destiny of the Jewish people through history. In that moment when God gave the Torah to Moshe on Mount Sinai, the divine and eternal met the human and temporal in a way equalled only by the incarnation, death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah himself (see Yn 1:17&N).
The Temple Service
The Temple Service
Paul mentions the temple service, as a good gift that was given to Beni Yisrael. This services included the daily offerings for sin, transgression and thanksgiving, the monthly reminders of the cost of sin, and the willingness of Adonai to forgive, as well as the annual Festivals and Memorials. Through these ceremonies the Children of Israel were constantly reminded that God had provided a way of forgiveness through the blood of the innocent animals.
Now this sacrificial system was maintained until the time of Messiah. This is described in great detail in the book of Hebrews, specifically Heb. 9:21-28
And in the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And nearly everything is purified in blood according to the Torah, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore it was necessary for the replicas of these heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices—but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah did not enter into Holies made with hands—counterparts of the true things—but into heaven itself, now to appear in God’s presence on our behalf. And He did not offer Himself again and again—as the kohen gadol enters into the Holy of Holies year after year with blood that is not his own. For then He would have needed to suffer again and again from the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has been revealed once and for all at the close of the ages—to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this judgment, so also Messiah, was offered once to bear the sins of many. He will appear a second time, apart from sin, to those eagerly awaiting Him for salvation.
The Promises
The Promises
These promises would be in addition to the specific covenental promises that we mentioned before. They are the promises of redemption, of reconciliation and ultimate victory through Messiah. These would be all of the supporting benefits that Adonai declared that He would accomplish because of His faithfulness to His own name. It reminds me of Ps. 103:1-5
Of David. Bless Adonai, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy Name. Bless Adonai, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: He forgives all your iniquity. He heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the Pit. He crowns you with lovingkindness and compassions. He satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like an eagle.
All of these promises and more were made to the Jewish people and demonstrate the character of Adonai to the world.
The Patriarchs
The Patriarchs
We have already mentioned the covenantal promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but we are also reminded of the faithfulness of Adonai to them, and from that we can see that Adonai will be faithful to keep his promises to us. I would not go as far as to say that the faithfulness of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gives us a free pass into the presence of Adonai, but we can certainly see that Adonai is still faithful to this day. This is what Adonai states in Jer. 31:34-36
Thus says Adonai, who gives the sun as a light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars as a light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name: “Only if this fixed order departs from before Me” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “then also might Israel’s offspring cease from being a nation before Me—for all time.” Thus says Adonai: “Only if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then also I will cast off the offspring of Israel—for all they have done.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
We still have not measured the heavens, and the sun is still shining, and behold Israel is still a people in the world. The very existence of the Jewish people is evidence of Adonai’s faithfulness to His word!
The Messiah
The Messiah
While it is true that Messiah Yeshua is for all peoples, and not only the Jewish people, we would not even know the Messiah without the promises that are in the Hebrew Scriptures. We would not know who is the correct candidate, and what that individual would accomplish. Matthew recounts an event which shows that Yeshua was sent to the Jewish peoplel, Matt. 15:21-28
Now Yeshua left from there and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, O Master, Ben-David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.” But He did not answer her a word. And when His disciples came, they were urging Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” So she came and got down on her knees before Him, saying, “Master, help me!” And answering, He said, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Master, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then answering, Yeshua said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed in that very hour.
The promises of Moshiach were made specifically to the Jewish people, the promises of the Ruach HaKodesh in Joel 3. The beginning of Joel starts out by saying Joel 1:2-3
Hear this, elders! Give ear, all inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it— your children to their children, their children to another generation.
This prophesy was given to the people of Israel, and specifically Jerusalem, on Mount Zion. Peter certainly did not realize that the Gentiles would be grafted in as we learn in Acts 10; I want to read this passage from Acts 11:1-18 because I think that it captures the surprise of the disciples of Yeshua when salvation was given to the Gentiles.
Now the emissaries and brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. But when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision took issue with him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” So Peter began explaining to them point by point, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision—something like a great sheet coming down, being lowered from heaven by its four corners, and it came right to me. I looked inside, considering it carefully, and saw four-footed creatures of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ “But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord! For never has anything unholy or unclean entered my mouth.’ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not consider unholy.’ This happened three times, and then everything was pulled up to heaven. “At that very moment, three men arrived at the house where we were, sent to me from Caesarea. The Ruach told me to go with them without hesitating. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He reported to us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon called Peter. He will speak words to you by which you will be saved—you and all your household.’ “As I began to speak, the Ruach ha-Kodesh fell on them, just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John immersed with water, but you will be immersed in the Ruach ha-Kodesh.’ Therefore if God gave them the same gift as also to us after we put our trust in the Lord Messiah Yeshua, who was I to stand in God’s way?” When they heard this they became quiet, and they glorified God, saying, “Then even to the Gentiles God has granted repentance leading to life!”
I love that last part where Peter says, Acts 11:17 “Therefore if God gave them the same gift as also to us after we put our trust in the Lord Messiah Yeshua, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
My point is, Salvation through Yeshua was seen as a Jewish thing for the Jewish people. This was because Yeshua is the Messiah for the Jewish people. He is the Son of David who fulfills all of the prophesies of the Messiah that needed to be fulfilled before the destruction of the second Temple. And therefore he is the only one qualified to fulfill all the remaining prophesies.
Application
Application
Through Paul’s anguish and his argument we can take a few practical tips. Firstly, we should have the same heart as Paul when it comes to the Jewish people. We long to see our family saved, and trusting in Yeshua for forgiveness, and this is the same longing that Paul has for his family, the Jewish people. We are longing for the day when Yeshua will return, but Yeshua said this in Matt. 23:37-39
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Look, your house is left to you desolate! For I tell you, you will never see Me again until you say, ‘Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
I am longing for the day when the Jewish people will welcome Yeshua as Messiah and Lord. That is why we do what we do, that is why this congregation exists.
We also see from these first few verses that Paul is continuing the argument that was started in Romans 3. This section Chapters 9 to 11 are not some extra parenthetical insert that can be ignored. In many ways they reveal the love that Paul had for the Jewish people, and the Love that Adonai still has for them. We will also see that, to the extent that we ignore Paul’s warning, is the extent that we will find ourselves doing atrocious things and even fighting against God.
Finally, if God is not faithful to the promises that he has made to the Children of Israel, then why would we think that He would be faithful to us? Do we think that God’s faithfulness to us is based upon our own righteousness, or our own faithfulness? Of Course Not! Adonai is faithful because that is His character. So what we can take home is that in the same way that Adonai is faithful to Israel, and the promises He has made throughout history, so also Adonai will be faithful to us.
I need to wrap it up here, but one final note: If you want to know what is promised to us, read John 14 to 16. Yeshua has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. And this is why he has given us the Ruach HaKodesh!
