Not all Israel are Israel
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
To begin, I will quote from David Stern:
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 Romans 9:6-29
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s seed; rather, “Your seed shall be called through Isaac.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God; rather, the children of the promise are counted as seed. For the word of promise is this: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only this, but also Rebecca having twins, from one act with our father Isaac. Yet before the sons were even born and had not done anything good or bad—so that God’s purpose and choice might stand not because of works but because of Him who calls— it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For to Moses He says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who strives, but on God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up—to demonstrate My power in you, so My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But who in the world are you, O man, who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Does the potter have no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for common use? Now what if God, willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath designed for destruction? And what if He did so to make known the riches of His glory on vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory? Even us He called—not only from the Jewish people, but also from the Gentiles— as He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ and her who was not loved, ‘Beloved.’ And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.” Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of B’nei-Israel be as the sand of the sea, only the remnant shall be saved. For Adonai will carry out His word upon the earth, bringing it to an end and finishing quickly.” And just as Isaiah foretold, “Unless Adonai-Tzva’ot had left us seed, we would have become like Sodom and resembled Gomorrah.”
Paul Explains Adonai’s Plan
Paul Explains Adonai’s Plan
Paul’s argument is summarised by David Stern as follows:
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.
Now in verse 6, in a very Jewish way, Paul begins to answer the argument and explain God’s plan. Paul does this from Rom. 9:6 to Rom. 10:21, by asking a series of questions. The questions go something like this:
Is God to blame? No! Rom. 9:6
Has God’s word failed? Rom. 9:6
Is God unjust by whom He choses to work through? Rom. 9:14
If it’s based on God’s choice, can we still choose? Rom. 9:15-18
Why does God find fault? Rom. 9:19-23
Since God choose the Jewish people, is there hope for the Gentiles? Rom. 9:24, Hos. 2:1,25, Isa. 10:22-23, Isa. 1:9
Is Israel to blame? Yes! Rom. 9:30-33
Gentiles attained righteousness, how? by a trusting faith Rom. 9:30
Israel did not reach the Torah, why? works without faith Rom. 9:32, Isa. 28:16
Is this a new thing? No, it is the same from Moses’ day. Rom. 10:5-10, Deut. 30:12-14
How does any person trust God? Rom. 10:11
How can you trust in someone you have not heard of? Rom. 10:14
How can you hear if someone does not proclaim? Rom. 10:14
How can someone proclaim if they are not sent? Rom. 10:15
Did the world hear? Yes, Ps. 19:4
Did Israel understand? Yes, Deut. 32:21, Isa. 65:1-2
In chapter 11 Paul will go on to show that Israel’s rejection is not permanent, but for today let us focus in detail on the first set of questions we just covered.
Has Adonai’s Word failed?
Has Adonai’s Word failed?
The question of whether or not God has failed may sound self-evident, but I think that the way someone will answer this question comes from the experiences that they have had. In the days that Paul is writing the letter to the believers in Rome, it was already evident that only a minority of the Jewish people were coming to faith in their Messiah, Yeshua. Adonai had made many promises through the Hebrew prophets about how the Messiah must suffer and atone for sin. Just one example of this is found in Daniel 9:24-27. This is the prophesy that Gabriel the angel spoke to Daniel concerning the next 490 years.
“Seventy weeks are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to put an end to transgression to bring sin to an end, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. So know and understand: From the issuing of the decree to restore and to build Jerusalem until the time Mashiach, the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be rebuilt, with plaza and moat, but it will be in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. Then the people of a prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. But his end will come like a flood. Until the end of the war that is decreed there will be destruction. Then he will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed annihilation is poured out on the one who destroys.’ ”
The angel Gabriel is telling Daniel, that there is an anointed Prince who is coming, who will be killed, but that through these things, Adonai would: Daniel 9:24 “put an end to transgression, to bring sin to an end, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.”
And just so that there was absolutely no confusion, Yeshua quotes from Daniel in Matt. 26:63-64 as a part of his defence before the Sanhedrin.
But Yeshua kept silent. The kohen gadol said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God, tell us if You are Mashiach Ben-Elohim!” “As you have said,” replied Yeshua. “Besides that, I tell you, soon after you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The problem that Paul and his readers were experiencing in their day, was that they had not seen all of Beni Yisrael turning to Adonai. It is estimated by historians that by the time of the expulsion of the Jewish people in 132 A.D. almost 25% of the Jewish people had put their faith/trust in Yeshua as the Mashiach. But that is still not a majority.
So, Paul’s question remains, Did God’s word, his promises through the prophets, fail? Or asked in another way, “Does God have the ability to fulfill His promises, when we see so many people rejecting Him?”
Now we live in a day where we have seen Israel re-established as a nation in the world. This means that the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, at least seem possible. But why do you think so many Jewish people turned away from Adonai after the Holocaust? After what they had just experienced, do you think they were asking if God’s promises were even possible?
Is Adonai unjust?
Is Adonai unjust?
We now come to the passage from which the title of this message comes, in Romans 9:6 “For not all those who are descended from Israel are Israel.” I need to take a moment and state what Paul is NOT saying, before we can go into what he IS saying.
What is Paul NOT saying? Paul is not saying that Gentiles are Spiritual Israel
Now I did an entire sermon on this one question, “Does Paul say that Gentile Believers are Spiritual Israel?” So, I am not going to repeat that here. But in summary, Paul is not,... does not,... and never says that Gentiles are Israel, Spiritual or otherwise.
What IS Paul saying? Paul is comparing unbelieving Jewish people to Born-Again/Spiritually alive Jewish people.
Spiritual Israel, as defined by Paul in this passage, and throughout all of his writings, is known today as the body of Messianic Jews. So, with that in mind, let’s go into the argument that Paul makes.
Paul is answering the question of whether or not the promises of Adonai, made to the children of Israel, have failed, and his response is to demonstrate throughout history, that not all of the Jewish people, have had the same trust in Adonai, or faith in God, that Abraham demonstrated.
Isaac vs. Ishmael
Isaac vs. Ishmael
The first example that Paul points out, is that Adonai choose Isaac instead of Ishmael. I would like to point out that when Abram chose to have Ishmael, it was not in disobedience to God’s word. Adonai had made a promise in Gen. 12:1-3, that Abram would have descendants, but at the time He did not explicitly say that those descendants would be through Sarai. The same is true in Gen. 15:1-4
After these things the word of Adonai came to Abram in a vision saying, “Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “My Lord Adonai, what will You give me, since I am living without children, and the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look! You have given me no seed, so a house-born servant is my heir.” Then behold, the word of Adonai came to him saying, “This one will not be your heir, but in fact, one who will come from your own body will be your heir.
In fact, the very next thing that Adonai says in Gen. 16:9-12, is that Ishmael, whom God Himself names, would be blessed and be too many to count. Gen. 16:10
Then the angel of Adonai said to her [Hagar], “I will bountifully multiply your seed, and they will be too many to count.”
It is not until Gen. 17:15, almost 13 years later, that Adonai explains to Abram that Sarai will be the mother, and that the child, Isaac, would be the heir to the promise.
Paul explains that this is simply to demonstrate Adonai’s choosing. Does this mean that descendants of Ishmael cannot follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel? Of course not, and there are many today and throughout history, that have rejected Islam, and accepted Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, as Lord and Saviour.
Jacob vs. Esau
Jacob vs. Esau
Here is the next historical comparison. In the case with Jacob and Esau, we see that Adonai made the decision before either of them could even make a decision for good or evil. Adonai explains to Rebekah in Gen. 25:22-23
But the children struggled with one another inside her, and she said, “If it’s like this, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of Adonai. Adonai said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from your body will be separated. One people will be stronger than the other people, but the older will serve the younger.”
Paul goes on to explain that this choice had nothing to do with any action that either child had taken, but simply because God had chosen to do it this way. As a side note, when Paul quotes from Mal. 1:2-5 about Adonai loving Jacob, but hating Esau, this was a prophesy made hundreds of years later after a long and painful history between the children of Israel and the children of Esau. By the way, this painful history is still repeating itself in front of our eyes. Two brothers, Jacob and Esau, and their descendants the Israelis and the Edomites (who have since 1964 taken the name Palestinian) have been in conflict over who controls the land West of the Jordan river. The older brother, the Edomites, were given land East of the Jordon in the days of Isaac, but have consistently attempted to take their brother Israel’s inheritance which was West of the Jordan River. Maybe this has something to do with Esau selling his birthright in Gen. 25:29-34, or maybe it is, as Paul points out, simply because Adonai chose to accomplish his promise through Jacob.
Does this mean that the descendants of Edom cannot choose to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel? Of course not! And we know many Palestinians, who have chosen to serve Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, and Adonai has placed a love in their hearts for their Israeli brothers. In fact when I meet someone claiming to be a believer in Jesus who still has hatred in their hearts for the Jewish people, I start to wonder if they are truly following the Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Is it possible to love the Jewish Messiah, but hate His physical brethren? I don’t think so.
What about what Yeshua said in Matt. 5:43-48
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than anyone else? Even the pagans do that, don’t they? Therefore be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
So even if you think someone is your enemy, or maybe they consider you their enemy, are we as believers allowed to hate people? I am not saying that this is easy. In fact, I find these teachings of Yeshua some of the most easy to understand, but the hardest to put into practice. In reality, I think this can only be accomplished by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh working in our lives.
Moses vs. Pharoah
Moses vs. Pharoah
The next comparison that Paul uses to show that Adonai’s choice of Israel does not negate the free-will of others, is the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. In Rom. 9:15-18 Paul recounts how Adonai hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that the glory of Adonai could be demonstrated throughout the entire world. Some people might try and say, “See, we don’t have free-will, because who can resist God’s choice?”
So to answer this question, let’s look at the story of the Exodus briefly and see what really happened.
In Exodus 5, we see that Moses and Aaron come to Pharoah and say: Ex. 5:1-2
Afterward, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Adonai, God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast for Me in the wilderness.” But Pharaoh said, “Who is Adonai, that I should listen to His voice and let Israel go? I do not know Adonai, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
Pharoah ends up making it harder for Beni Yisrael and so Adonai sends Moses and Aaron back to Pharoah in Ex. 6:10-13 which is where we see the staff of Moses turn into a serpent. Now, let me ask a question based upon this passage: Does is say, in this instance, that Adonai hardened Pharoah’s heart in this passage? No, it clearly states that Pharoah hardened his own heart. The same is true after the River Nile turned to Blood, the plague of Frogs, the plague of Gnats, the plague of Flies and the Cattle Disease.
In fact it is not until the plague of Boils that we read Ex. 9:12
But Adonai hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so he did not listen to them—just as Adonai had said to Moses.
Here, for the first time in the story, we see that Adonai hardened Pharoah’s heart.
I believe that it is possible to reject the voice of Adonai so much, that you can no longer hear the conviction of the Ruach HaKodesh, when this happens, your heart is hardened to the point that you no longer desire to repent. If fact I have heard people tell me, “I would rather go to hell, then to go to heaven and be with a God like that!” Be careful what you wish for. In some cases, people may say this because they have never been introduced to the true, living God, but in some cases, as is the case with Pharoah, there is a point of no return (no repentance).
For the first plagues, Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and for the latter plagues, Adonai gives Pharoah exactly what Pharoah wants, a hardened heart.
What is interesting to me, is that if you read the rest of the story of the Exodus, you find out that after this point, Adonai gave each of the Egyptians an individual choice to protect themselves, or not, while at the same time, He continued to harden Pharoah’s heart. In fact, there is mention later in the Torah of the multitudes of Egyptians who left Egypt. Adonai gives every single person a choice, but sometimes He decides that a nation must go through judgement, and even the righteous remnant is not enough to stop His anger against that nation.
Since God choose the Jewish people, is there hope for the Gentiles?
Since God choose the Jewish people, is there hope for the Gentiles?
The final question for today, is one that naturally flows, and is extremely relevant to the calling of Paul. Paul was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles, so he now points out in Rom. 9:24
Even us He called—not only from the Jewish people, but also from the Gentiles—
Paul explains this by quoting 3 passages from the Hebrew Scriptures: The first is from Hos. 2:1
“Yet the number of Bnei-Yisrael will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. Instead of ‘You are not My people’ being said to them, they will be called ‘Children of the living God.’
and Hos. 2:25
I will sow her in the land for Myself. I will have compassion on Lo-ruhamah. I will say to Lo-ammi, ‘You are My people!’ and they will say, ‘My God!’ ”
Now I find this interesting, because Paul is using a passage where Adonai is speaking to Beni Yisrael, but he is applying it to the Gentiles who were “Not His People”.
David Stern explains it this way:
The Jewish New Testament Commentary Romans, Chapter 9
Salvation of Gentiles as well as Jews, a major theme in chapters 1–4, is reintroduced in the context of showing how God will fulfill his promises to the nation of Israel in spite of her present apostasy in rejecting Yeshua the Messiah. Just as God in his mercy called people from among the Gentiles, who deserved punishment and were ripe for destruction, so that he might make known the riches of his glory, so, as we will see in chapter 11, he will once again turn to Israel in mercy.
Sha’ul uses these texts from Hoshea midrashically. Hosea was not referring to Gentiles but to Israel itself; he meant that one day Israel, in rebellion when he wrote, would be called God’s people. Sha’ul’s meaning, which does not conflict with what Hosea wrote but is not a necessary inference from it, is that “God’s people” now includes some Gentiles. How this has come about and for what purpose are examined at 9:30–10:4 and 11:17–32, as well as in the book of Ephesians.
Paul then quotes from Isaiah 10:22-23 where the prophet is pointing out that “only the remnant shall be saved.” This was a warning to Israel that not everyone who was physically descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be saved. And by the way, we have seen this to be the case throughout the 2,800 years since Isaiah wrote these words down.
The warning is clear, salvation comes only to those who have not hardened their hearts toward Adonai, and not simply based upon who your parents and grandparents were. Salvation comes only in the way that Adonai describes and prescribes. And what is that way? Peter states it in Acts. 4:8-12
Then Peter, filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are on trial today for a mitzvah done for a sick man, as to how this fellow was healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Yeshua ha-Mashiach ha-Natzrati—whom you had crucified, whom God raised from the dead—this one stands before you whole. This Yeshua is ‘the stone—rejected by you, the builders—that has become the chief cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved!”
