Romans 9.4b-The Israelites Received The Privileges Of Adoption, The Shekinah Glory And The Covenants
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday February 22, 2009
Romans: Romans 9:4b-The Israelites Received The Privileges Of Adoption, The Shekinah Glory And The Covenants
Lesson # 295
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 9:1.
Thursday we began a study of Romans 9:4-5 where Paul lists eight privileges that were given to the nation of Israel by God and in this passage, he ascribes deity to Jesus Christ.
As we noted we will study this passage in five classes due to its content.
This past Thursday we noted that in Romans 9:4a Paul identifies himself and his fellow Jewish countrymen as Israelites.
This morning, we will study the first of three privileges given to the Israelites that appear in Romans 9:4b.
Tuesday we will note Romans 9:4c, which presents the four, fifth and sixth privileges given to Israel by God.
This Wednesday we will study Romans 9:5 where Paul presents the final two privileges and then lastly next Wednesday we will complete this verse by noting that Paul ascribes deity to Jesus Christ.
Let’s read the first paragraph in the chapter and then concentrate on verse 4-5 for the rest of the morning.
Romans 9:1-5, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
Corrected translation of Romans 9:1-5:
Romans 9:4-5, “I am speaking the truth in accordance with the code of Christ. I am by no means lying, while my conscience does confirm to me in accordance with the code of the Holy Spirit, that, as far my feelings are concerned, there is always great sorrow as well as unceasing anguish in my heart. In fact, I could almost wish that I myself could be accursed, totally and completely separated from Christ as a substitute for my brothers, specifically, my fellow countrymen with respect to racial descent who indeed by virtue of their unique and privileged character are, as an eternal spiritual truth, Israelites. To them belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the service and the promises. To them belong the fathers and from them, the Christ with respect to human racial descent, the one who is, as an eternal spiritual truth, God over each and every living and non-living thing, worthy of praise and glorification throughout eternity. Amen!”
Let’s now concentrate on verses 4 and 5.
Romans 9:4-5, “Who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
The eight privileges listed by Paul in Romans 9:4-5 are as follows: (1) “To whom belongs the adoptions as sons” (2) “The glory” (3) “The covenants” (4) “The giving of the Law” (5) “The temple service” (6) “The promises” (7) “The fathers” (8) “From whom is the Christ according to the flesh”.
The term “Israelites” serves to identify who are Paul’s fellow countrymen with respect to racial descent and as a heading for the list of eight privileges that identify Paul and his fellow countrymen.
Like Romans 3:1-2, these two verses list the spiritual privileges of the Jews.
Romans 3:1-2, “Therefore, what is the advantage of being a Jew? Or, what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect! Indeed, the primary one that they were entrusted with the declarations by God.”
Now in Romans 9:4-5, Paul lists more spiritual privileges of the nation of Israel that are directly tied to the Old Testament Scriptures which were mentioned as the first and foremost privilege of the Jews.
The reason why they are related is that from these Scriptures is God’s revelation to the nation of Israel of the spiritual privileges bestowed upon her, which are listed in Romans 9:4-5.
Romans 9:4-5, “Who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
“The adoption as sons” is the articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun huiothesia (ui(oqesiva) (hwee-oth-es-ee-ah).
This is the third time that we have seen this word in the Roman epistle.
We saw this word in Romans 8:15 and 23.
In both instances, the word refers to the Christian’s Roman style adoption into the royal family of God.
This is how the word is used in Ephesians 1:5 and Galatians 4:5.
Romans 9:4 is the only instance in the Greek New Testament that huiothesia is used in relation to members of the nation of Israel, the majority of whom rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah.
Thus, it is surprising that Paul would attribute this word to unregenerate Israel.
Furthermore it is never used in the Old Testament or in Judaism for Israel.
Some erroneously conclude that this indicates that the nation of Israel remains the children of God just as church age believers, i.e. Christians are God’s people.
However, this interpretation totally contradicts Paul’s teaching in the first eight chapters of Romans where he teaches that it is only through faith alone in Christ alone that one becomes a son and child of God.
Furthermore, we cannot explain Paul’s great sorrow and unceasing grief for the nation of Israel in verses 2 and 3, if we interpret huiothesia as referring to Israel as the children of God.
Also, Paul teaches in Romans 9:6 that not all who have descended from Israel constitute spiritual Israel or those whom God recognizes as His covenant people.
Therefore, we can conclude that Paul’s use of huiothesia in Romans 9:4 means something totally different when the word is applied to Christians in Romans 8:15, 23, Galatians 4:5, and Ephesians 1:5.
The adoption as sons in Romans 8:15, 23, Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5 is related to the “individual” whereas the adoption as sons in Romans 9:4 is “national.”
In Romans 9:4, Paul’s refers to the Old Testament teaching concerning the nation of Israel that they were “God’s son” in a “national” sense meaning that God had set apart Israel from all the nations of the earth for blessing and service.
Exodus 4:22-23, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.’”
Deuteronomy 14:1-2, “You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
Hosea 11:1, “When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”
Romans 9:4-5, “Who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
“The glory” is the articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun doxa (dovca) (dox-ha), which refers to the visible manifestation of God’s presence that appeared to the nation of Israel throughout her history.
In Romans 9:4, the noun doxa refers to the “Shekinah” glory in the Old Testament.
The Lord Jesus Christ was the “Shekinah” glory in the Old Testament.
The term “Shekinah” is a transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “the one who dwells” or “that which dwells”.
This word is not used in Scripture but the root word shakan (to dwell) and the related word mishkan (tabernacle) are used often and both are associated with the presence of God dwelling with man.
The meaning of the word “Shekinah,” “the One Who dwells” emphasizes that God seeks to live with man and not vice versa.
The term “Shekinah” originally was used in the Jewish Targums (Aramaic translation of Hebrew Bible) and rabbinic literature whenever the Hebrew text would mention the presence of God.
The Shekinah glory appeared to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6).
This visible manifestation of God’s presence appears in Israel’s wilderness wanderings through a pillar of cloud during the day and the pillar of fire at night, which was for guidance and assurance of God’s presence with Israel (Exodus 13:21-22).
The angel of God is associated with this visible manifestation and is a theophany, a visible and auditory manifestation of the preincarnate Christ (Exodus 14:19-20).
The Shekinah glory appeared on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:16-18).
The Shekinah glory appeared in the Tabernacle in Israel (Exodus 33:9-11; 18-23; 40:34-38).
The Shekinah glory would dwell between the cherubim above the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle (2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 13:6; Psalm 80:1; 99:1; Isaiah 37:16).
Ezekiel 8-11 records the departure from Israel of the Shekinah glory.
Therefore, we can see that the glory of the Lord had initially dwelt in the tabernacle in the wilderness (Ex. 40:34 Ex. 30:34-38).
It departed when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, which God allowed because of Israel’s sin.
The glory of God came into the temple of Solomon upon completion and consecration (1 Kings 8:10).
Then, it progressively departed the Temple, in preparation for the destruction of the nation of Israel which had turned irrevocably to the worship of abominable idols (First step: Ezekiel 8:3-4; Second: Ezekiel 9:3; Third: Ezekiel 10:18-19; Fourth: Ezekiel 11:22-23).
The Temple that was rebuilt after Judah’s seventy years of exile in Babylon did not possess the Shekinah glory of the LORD.
Many in Israel wept over this fact that the Shekinah glory had departed (Ezra 3:12).
The Shekinah glory appeared in Israel for thirty-three and a half years in the Person of Jesus Christ but departed when they crucified Him.
It will return to the millennial temple in the Person of the resurrected, glorified incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ (Haggai 2:9; Isaiah 4:5; 35:1-3).
In John 1:14, the apostle John draws the parallel between the Shekinah glory in Old Testament Israel and the incarnation of the Son of God.
John 1:14, “And the Word (Son of God) became flesh (a Man), and dwelt (“tabernacled, pitched His tent”) among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only uniquely born One from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Hebrews 1:3 teaches that Jesus Christ is the “Shekinah” glory.
Hebrews 1:3, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Romans 9:4-5, “Who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
“The covenants” is the articular nominative feminine plural form of the noun diatheke (diaqhvkh) (dee-ath-ay-kay), which refers to the five covenants given to Israel, four were unconditional and one conditional.
The four great “unconditional” covenants to Israel: (1) “Abrahamic” deals with the race of Israel (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18). (2) “Palestinian” is the promise of land to Israel (Gn. 13:15; Num. 34:1-12). (3) “Davidic” deals with the aristocracy of Israel (2 Sam. 7:8-17) (4) “New” deals with the future restoration of Israel during the millennium (Jer. 31:31-34).
The “Mosaic” covenant is the only “conditional” covenant that Israel received from God (cf. Ex. 19:4-6; Deut. 4:4-8 with Ex. 2:24-25; Deut. 4:36-38; 29:31; 1 Chron. 16:15-19).