Who are the vessels of Mercy?

Introduction

I was reminded this week of how much the world hates what the bible says. Another pastor in the areas was publicly attacked on facebook over statements that he made. While I don’t perse agree with every conclusion he drew, the attacks were primarily aimed at his biblical stances. The world wants a version of Christianity that conforms to their cultural expectations; they want a God who approves of everything they do and has no moral expectations. In a world like we live in, it can feel like true Christianity is getting smaller and smaller.

Sometimes it feels like Elijah when he fled from Jezebel: “I only I remain,” but God is faithful. He has not forgotten us; nor has he left us alone. Just as Elijah needed to hear that there were 7000 who had not bowed the knee to baal.

The picture for Israel seems pretty bleak in this chapter. God has narrowed down the elect people of God from Abraham through Isaac then through Jacob and now only through those who believe in Jesus Christ. Not many are getting saved and in fact Israel has been the first nation in the world to persecute and kill the Christians. Paul himself can speak from experience as to Israel’s hate for Christianity. So are there truly any Jewish vessels of mercy?

In our text today, Paul is going to begin to bring the chapter to a close. He makes a summary statement in vs 24: Romans 9:24 “Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” God has poured out the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. This verse brings us back to the central discussion of these chapters by answering the question “Who are the vessels of mercy?” The answer is two fold: believing Jews and believing Gentiles. In the remaining verses Paul is going to show that this is exactly what was foretold in the OT scriptures.

Those who were not his people will become his people

Romans 9:25–26 “As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.”

Nearly all of the verses this morning will be quotations from the OT. In this first point Paul joins together two passages from the book of Hosea. If you remember the story of Hosea, God had commanded Hosea to marry a woman who would become unfaithful and sell herself into prostitution. Later God would tell Hosea to go and purchase her back to himself. Hosea’s life was to become a living picture of what God was doing with the nation of Israel. They would abandon their God and commit spiritual adultery against Him, but God would seek them out and bring them back.

The first verse comes from Hosea 2:23 “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; And I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; And I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; And they shall say, Thou art my God.”

The second verse comes from Hosea 1:10 “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.”

When you read these verses about a people who were not God’s people becoming the people of God who do you think this passage is referring to? You probably answered the Gentiles because we were afar off and have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ. We were clearly not the people of God. If you said that you would be in agreement with most commentators since the Protestant Reformation. However, before the reformation a variety of views were held about who these verses are speaking about.

Views about who this verses are applied to in the context:

Both Jew and Gentiles in one corporate body- Corporate view-early view in the church- Ben Witherington III, Leighton Flowers NT Wright

Israel only- Remnant view- predominant view during the middle era of the church- men who hold this view- William Murray and FF Bruce

Gentiles primarily- Majority view-after the reformation Douglas Moo, and Tom Schriener

Paul’s use of Hosea is not directly saying that this is what Hosea prophesied but he uses it as an illustration for God’s freedom to take “not people” and make them “people”

As I look at this text, I see this entire section as referring to the Jews and vs 30-33 adding the Gentiles. I want to propose the remnant view of these passages, that Paul is primarily speaking in vs 25-29 about a remnant of believing Jews. Again I know my position today is a minority position but prior to the protestant reformation it was actually a majority position. I am going to give you five reasons I believe these verses are about Israel and not primarily the Gentiles and then I’ll give you one counter argument to what I say so you can kinda weight the evidence. Most commentators that I read even the technical ones primarily just assumed their position. For some, they believe what they do about these verses because of a predisposition to covenant theology. Since I don’t know of any modern commentators who have written on this in detail, I went back to exegete the text to show why I believe what I believe; so I hope you will atleast consider what I have to say this morning,

Proof of a remnant view:

Paul’s primary focus in the previous section has been about believing and unbelieving Israel. The one lump broken into two pieces of vs 21. When Paul spoke of the potter and the clay, all of those illustrations in the OT dealt with the nation of Israel; so when he speaks of one lump, he is speaking of a group of people who come from the same origins. Their source is the same Father Abraham, but they have now been broken into two vessels.

The original context of all these passages is speaking about Israel. Each of the verses in Hosea are applied to Israel in their original context. In Hosea 2:1–2 “Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; And to your sisters, Ru-hamah. Plead with your mother, plead: For she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts;” Hosea is speaking to his children about their mother who represents adulterous Israel. When he names his child Lo-ammi in Hosea 1:9 “Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” he is speaking of the people of Israel. Here in Romans, while Gentiles are included in this passage from Romans 9-11, the Jews are definitely his primary audience and topic of discussion. So it does not make sense that Paul would take the passages out of context seeing the original context fits with the current context.

Vs 24 serves as a summary statement for the rest of the chapter and it begins with Jews and ends with Gentiles- As I mentioned vs 24 gives us a summary of who the vessels of mercy are: the rest of the verses are a detailed explanation of that answer. But notice the order they start with Jews first, Gentiles second. I believe this is somewhat of an outline for the rest of the chapter. vs 25-29 deal with the Jews while vs 30-33 deal with Gentile inclusion.

The word also in vs 27 clearly links the Hosea prophecies to the clear reference to Israel in Isaiah’s prophecy. Nearly everyone is agreed that vs 27-29 are talking about the Jews, but notice the word also. Also is linking the sets of verses. It implies that what Isaiah is saying is related to what Hosea is saying. So a sharp contrast between the two sets of verses can’t be made.

The phrase in the land in vs 26 refers to Israel. Why bring up this phrase about the land of Israel if you are not talking about a restored Israel in the land. All the commentators who take a Gentile approach to this text allegorize the words in the place.

The only real evidence that I found for interpreting this as the Gentiles is that 1 Peter 2:10 “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” might possibly include the Gentiles. This depends on who you think the book was written to. It is possible that this passage is primarily to Jews though not likely, but notice Peter doesn’t quote Hosea. Here he uses phrases from Hosea and applies them to the church in general. He isn’t making the claim that the church fulfills Hosea’s prophecy by bringing the Gentiles in, but he is applying the principle that we who were not the people have now become the people. It is also possible for Peter and Paul to apply the same passage two different ways; so Peter’s use of it in this way does not mean we must interpret, Paul’s passage to mean the Gentiles.

With that out of the way, what is Paul trying to say here.

Jewish hardening and being cast off is only temporary. Someday God will bring them back in again. Romans 11:23 “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.”

those who were rejected because of their sin and unbelief will become the people of God once again. Do you see how both of these principles are consistent with what Paul has been arguing this entire chapter.

A Remnant will be saved

Romans 9:27–29 “Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.”

But there is a second lesson that Paul wishes to drive home. Here he quotes two passages from Isaiah.

Isaiah 10:22–23 “For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, Yet a remnant of them shall return: The consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, In the midst of all the land.”

Isaiah 1:9 “Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, We should have been as Sodom, And we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”

The key word that links both of these passages together is the word remnant. A remnant is a small portion that remains after the main part no longer exists. We use the words left-overs kinda in a negative connotation to describe this picture. When you have pizza for dinner, you open the box and there is a whole pizza in there unless the delivery driver got hungry and ate that piece of pepperoni. But if you don’t finish the pizza, you might stick it in the fridge for tomorrow. The pieces that remain we call left-overs. Here it is called a remnant.

In Isaiah, God had promised that even though Israel had been as numerous as the sands of the sea, only a remnant would return from captivity. Vs 28 continues by saying that God’s going to finish his judgment on Israel, but he will cut it short. Notice why? in righteousness. This phrase reinforces that God’s dealings with Israel are not random but are based in his righteousness. He is righteous to judge and to show mercy. Their judgment would be a short work- it would not be so long as to obliterate them. Matthew 24:22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

Earlier in the book, Isaiah had said that if God hadn’t left a remnant then they would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. Think back to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. How much was left after God destroyed them? nothing. Without a remnant, Israel would have been destroyed. Nothing would have been left. And God’s promises would have failed. God was able to judge Israel for the sin and unbelief while being faithful to his promises by leaving a remnant of the faithful.

Conclusion

These words ought to have been an encouragement to the Jews because God had not cast them all off, but maintained a remnant among them. For us today, it also is an encouragement. Christian, I want to encourage you: We are not alone. Even when our world is the darkest, there are other believers out there who have remained faithful to God’s word. Sometimes I hear about this pastor who fell into sin, or this church that has compromised. Or feel ostrasized because of our theological beliefs and I feel alone.

Maybe when you are at work, you see how everyone is acting; how so few car about what is right or wrong. Your boss treats you unjustly. Then you come home and turn on the TV and all the agendas of the world are being pushed down your throat. Traditional Biblical Christianity is mocked, hated, slandered and you feel alone.

It seems as if Christianity is losing the culture war and maybe God’s word isn’t as powerful as we thought it was. What we really need are all these new fangled methods to get people into church. But God is not failing. He will not lose. He still has his remnant and someday Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

For many though those words will come to their lips too late. Jesus said not many mighty, not many wise are called. Broad is the way to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to everlasting life. You can follow the crowd as they meander to hell or you can find yourself in the remnant on the narrow road. Which will it be?