Romans 9:6-18 (6-9)

Has God’s word failed?

So, our homework was reading Romans 9:6-18 with lots of prayer. We won’t get through the three parts of these 13 verses today. Let’s read the whole section in one go just to have it in our mind as we go forward.

Romans 9:6–18 ESV

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

The sentence is an answer to a question Paul must have been asked many times. Remember how we talked about Paul’s experiential preparation to be writing such a letter. He’s already spent so much of his time going from place to place, city to city, preaching at the synagogues and answering objections. He’s already heard every objection and has written in the answers to these objections in this letter. Has God’s word failed? Didn’t God promise redemption to the chosen people of Israel? How could there be so many Israelites that reject the messiah? How could and Israelite not be saved? Many thought that wasn’t even possible because they were Israelites, that’s just how it works right? Paul clarifies in the next verse here that not everyone descended from Israel belongs to Israel. Not all children of Abraham are saved just because they are descended from him.

Let’s actually go back and look through this story of the promise to Abraham.

Genesis 15:1–6 ESV

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Now we skip down through some time to Gen 16.

Genesis 16:1–4 ESV

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

at least another 13 years and a name upgrade from Abram to Abraham go by and get to

Genesis 17:15–21 ESV

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

Then over the next year with a war in the middle Isaac is born.

Genesis 21:1–7 ESV

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

In this story we see that God had a purpose planned out. Abraham and Sarah worked to accomplish God’s promise by their hands. This oppressed the immigrant (Hagar) who was their servant and it did not at all accomplish God’s plan. God is the only one that accomplish His plans. So to answer the question we started with, did this promise that God made to Abraham about blessings to all nations and a covenant get broken when so many of the descendant of Abraham are not going to be part of this new covenant? Me Genoito of course not, it was never a blanket covering for everyone descended of the flesh of Abraham. We can see it right in the story of Abraham the covenant doesn’t go to Ishmael!

Now homework again is to read the same 13 verses 6-18 in prayer meditating on the Word of God.