Is God Unrighteous?

Introduction

Last week, we talked about the fact that God has kept his promises to a remnant that he has chosen to carry on the promises of God as the people of God. We mentioned that the corporate election of a people is a decision God made unconditionally, not based on man’s merit. In that process, the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Esau were excluded from the promises made to Abraham. The conclusion that Paul is making is that some Jews have been excluded from being part of the people of God because of their unbelief. No one likes to be excluded from things that we want to partake in. Paul begins with the question Is there unrighteousness with God? Let me put that in modern day English for you: Is God unfair?

As a parent you probably have experienced this response at some point in your parenting. I remember a time when I decided that I was going to take one of the kids with me on a trip into town. When the other kids heard about it, some of them started crying because they wanted to come to. When we talked with them, what they had to say was something like this: its not fair that I don’t get to go. You always take that child with you. Now most of the time they are forgetting all the times that they have gotten to do something the others didn’t. But what they often times don’t know or understand is that maybe daddy needed to have some one on one time with that kid or there was something we needed to talk about. But that accusation from those excluded is that it isn’t fair.

This can be taken to the extreme as well. You remember the story of Anne of Green Gables; there were quite a few smart kids in the class and yet the teacher had a particular student that he favored. Mr. Phillip’s teachers pet was Prissy Andrews. Prissy wasn’t the brightest kid on the block. This favoritism seemed an injustice because the teacher had an obligation to teach and foster learning in all of the students. It was unjust because some students were not getting the attention they were owed by the teacher.

So when it comes to corporate election, is unjust for some to be excluded? Is it unjust for unbelieving Jews to be excluded? Was it unjust for Esau’s descendants to be excluded? How about Ishmael’s descendants? Is God unfair to choose a people to represent Him in the earth and receive the promises made to Abraham? Paul’s answer to this is God forbid, Certainly Not, By no means. We know that this is true, but sometimes there is this nagging doubt that maybe God hasn’t been fair. Just like last week Paul is going to give two examples that demonstrate the fairness of God in choosing a people.

The Freedom of God to Choose

Romans 9:15–16 “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”

The first example is a positive example from the life of Moses. This passage is a quotation from Exodus 33:19 “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

Let’s think about the context of this passage. If you look back at the chapter titles in chapter 32, you will have some idea what has happened. Moses is up on the mountain receiving the 10 commandments meanwhile Aaron creates the golden calf and all the people rise up to play and worship the calf. Moses comes down off the mountain and sees what is going on and breaks the tablets. Judgement comes to the camp. Afterwards In Exodus 33:1–3 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.”

Israel did not deserve God’s blessing. They did not deserve God’s presence among them, but God is going to be faithful to his promise. He just won’t go with them. This lays the foundation for the entire passage. God was justly angry at the Israelites; they all justly deserved to be cast off. Think about what God had just done: he had delivered them from one of the most powerful nations on the earth, he had parted the red sea, brought them out on the other side and killed Pharaoh’s army. It hasn’t been many days since and they have already begun to worship false idols and commit sexual sin. Israel in the wilderness was one failure after another. The author of Hebrews warns: Hebrews 3:15–19 “While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

God had every right to wipe them out and start over with someone else. But God showed Mercy. Mercy is God having compassion on us and not giving us the punishment that we deserve. It reminds us that none of us are worthy of God’s mercy. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” We ought to have the mindset of Jacob in Genesis 32:10 “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.”

If none of us are worthy of any of the things we receive from God, then god is free to choose whom he will to receive the blessings of being the people of God. Jacob never deserved to be chosen; just like Esau didn’t deserve to be chosen. The Jews were not special to God because they were good. Their status as the people of God was mercy and grace alone.

When we here the word mercy, we automatically think salvation, but mercy is not always synonymous with salvation. Mercy is God not letting me bear the full front of my sin when he chastens me. Mercy is God choosing to do good to me when I don’t deserve it. Mercy was God going with the people into the land even though they didn’t deserve his presence. If you consider the context of the quotation, mercy was a special blessing God wished to grant to the people not entry into covenant relationship with Him. (Israel was already in covenant relationship with God)

Mercy underlies all of God’s plan. Even though it seems harsh that some of Israel would be cast out of the olive tree, mercy is seen in that many more Gentiles would be grafted in. Mercy is also seen in that by grafting in the Gentiles, all Israel would eventually be saved.

vs 16 Not of him that willeth- Some take this to mean that free will is not involved, but let me point out two reasons this is not the meaning of the passage:

This entire passage is still talking about God’s corporate election of a people and not primarily individual salvation.

willing here refers to human plans or desires to be part of the people of God by establishing their own righteousness- Romans 10:2–3 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” John 1:12–13 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Notice that man still has a responsibility to receive and yet it is not of the will of the flesh or of men. Man’s plans to save Himself will never succeed. God has established a way for mankind to be made righteous and enter into the people of God and that way as Paul will point out at the end of the chapter is faith.

Nor of Him that runneth- It isn’t working harder, or running faster that is going to get us in either.

But God that shows mercy- Mercy isn’t earned. You can’t wish yourself into God’s people; nor can you work for it. Mercy is God’s gift. Those Jews who did respond in faith and are part of the remnant are only there because of God’s mercy. You my friend are only here because of God’s mercy.

God Justly Hardens those who Resist

Romans 9:17–18 “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

Paul then gives a negative example: Pharaoh This passage is a quotation from Exodus 9:16 “And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”

vs 17 for this same purpose have I raised thee up- Mercy and corporate election are unconditional, but notice that God has a reason for dealing with Pharaoh the way he does.

Reason’s for hardening Pharaoh:

show His power

his name would be declared through the earth Joshua 2:9–10 “And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.”

Exodus 4:21 “And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.”

It might seem as if Paul has switched from talking about corporate election to talking about individuals here since he gives individual examples, but remember that Pharaoh and Moses both were representatives of nations. God here was not trying to save Israel spiritually, he was trying to deliver them from the bondage in the nation of Egypt. This verse tells us about God’s right to choose who gets mercy and who is hardened and it tells us why Pharaoh was hardened, but it does not tell us how Pharaoh was hardened. Next week we will look at that hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in more detail. God had a plan for Israel that necessitated hardening Pharaoh’s heart, but as we will see next week. God didn’t harden the heart of an unwilling innocent man. God justly hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Vs 18 concludes that God is sovereignly right to choose to show mercy and to harden for judgment whom he wills. God in the examples given was not deciding to save some individual Jews and condemn Pharaoh himself alone. Rather he delivered a people and judged another. God is sovereign over what he does with national Israel.

Conclusion

Let’s bring this back around to our first question: Is God unfair? I mentioned last week that if God can’t keep his promises to Israel then how can I trust Him to keep them to me. This week, the question is if God was unfair to some of the Jews; how can I trust God to be fair with me?

Why is it that some Christians seem to have nice houses and cars while I don’t? Why is it that some people are naturally recognized and get all the attention? Has God withheld something that I rightly deserve? Paul has given us two reasons not to question the fairness of God:

Everything that I have is mercy. Do you really want God to give you what you deserve? If you truly wrestle with the fact that you are a sinner deserving God’s righteous condemnation, it changes your perspective. Everything is now a mercy and a grace.

When God deals with us harshly like Pharaoh, there is a reason behind it. When the Chastening of the Lord is grievous, we should ask the Lord to make it clear what needs to change in our lives. At times God was pretty harsh with Israel too and it was just. but God loved Israel and stayed true to His promises.

When you heart cries that’s unfair Lord, stop and consider these two points. The mercy of God and the just judgment of God.