Romans 9.15-Paul Cites Exodus 33.19 To Support His Argument That God Is Not Unjust In His Dealings With Israel And Choosing Isaac And Jacob
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday March 18, 2009
Romans: Romans 9:15-Paul Cites Exodus 33:19 To Support His Argument That God Is Not Unjust In His Dealings With Israel And Choosing Isaac And Jacob
Lesson # 308
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 9:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans chapter nine by noting Romans 9:15 and in this passage, the apostle Paul quotes Exodus 33:19 to support his argument in Romans 9:14 that God is not unjust in His dealings with unregenerate Israel in Paul’s day or in the past when He chose Isaac and Jacob.
Let’s read Romans 9:1-18 and then concentrate on verse 15 for the rest of the evening.
Romans 9:1-18, “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. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: ‘THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.’ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise: ‘AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.’ And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.’ Just 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 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 does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.’ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”
Let’s now concentrate on verse 15.
Romans 9:15, “For He says to Moses, ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.’”
“For” is the “causal” use of the post-positive conjunction gar (gavr), which introduces the “reason why” or the “basis” for Paul’s statement in Romans 9:14.
Therefore, the conjunction gar in Romans 9:15 gives the “basis” or the “reason why” God was never unjust in rejecting unregenerate Israel in Paul’s day and accepting those Jews who had faith in Jesus Christ.
It also gives the “basis” or the “reason why” God was never unjust in the past when He chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau to be members of His covenant people.
God was never unjust in these instances “because” or “on the basis” that God is sovereign and can be merciful and compassionate to whomever He desires.
This passage is an exact quotation of the Septuagint translation of Exodus 33:19.
Exodus 33:18-19, “Then Moses said, ‘I pray You show me your glory!’ And He (the Lord) said, ‘I Myself will make all my goodness (divine perfection) pass before you, and will proclaim the Person of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’”
“I WILL HAVE MERCY” is the first person singular future active indicative form of the verb eleeo (e)leevw) (el-eh-eh-o), which means, “to be gracious towards someone” since it translates the Hebrew verb chanan (/n^j*), which appears in Exodus 33:19 and means “to graciously give.”
The Hebrew term depicts a heartfelt response by someone who has something to give to one who has a need, thus, the verb eleeo in Romans 9:15 refers to God’s grace that is appropriated by those sinners who exercise faith in Jesus Christ.
Now, since Paul is illustrating why God is never unfair in accepting those Jews who have faith in Jesus Christ as Savior as well as accepting Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau, the verb here refers to grace that it is appropriated by those who accept Christ as Savior.
God extended grace to every member of the human race without exception by sending His Son to the cross for all men and expresses His desire that all men be saved by offering salvation to all men through the gospel.
However Paul’s emphasis here is those who appropriate that grace through faith alone in Christ alone.
Romans 9:15, “For He says to Moses, ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.’”
“ON WHOM” is the accusative masculine singular form of the relative pronoun hos (o^$) (hos), which does not have an antecedent and refers to those sinners who appropriate the grace of God through faith alone in Christ alone.
Not translated is the particle an (a&n), which is followed by the subjunctive mood of the second use of the verb eleeo in order to emphasize that “as a rule” or “as a policy” God’s grace is appropriated by those sinners who exercise faith alone in Christ alone.
“I HAVE MERCY” is the first person singular present active subjunctive form of the verb eleeo (e)leevw) (el-eh-eh-o), which again means, “to be gracious to” to any sinner who exercises faith alone in Christ alone.
The present tense of the verb is a “voluntative” present portraying the subject, God the Father as “desiring” to do something.
It emphasizes God’s sovereign will in that He will extend grace to whomever He desires or chooses to extend it to.
The active voice indicates that God as the subject performs the action of being merciful to sinners and emphasizes the sovereignty of God.
Romans 9:15, “For He says to Moses, ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.’”
“I WILL HAVE COMPASSION” is the first person singular future active indicative form of the verb oikteiro (oi)kteivrw) (oyk-ti-ro), which means, “to be merciful” since it translates the Hebrew verb racham (sh^r*), which appears in Exodus 33:19 and means “to be merciful.”
Ephesians 2:1-7 teaches us that God’s attribute of love causes Him to be “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them by withholding judgment when they believe in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, in Romans 9:15, the verb oikteiro is used with God as the subject and means “to be merciful” in the sense that He is compassionate towards sinners and pardons them by withholding judgment when they believe in Son Jesus Christ.
So when the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 33:19 that He would have mercy upon whomever He chooses it means that He would be compassionate towards sinners and pardon them by withholding judgment when they believe in His Son Jesus Christ as Savior.
“ON WHOM” is the accusative masculine singular form of the relative pronoun hos (o^$) (hos), which does not have an antecedent and refers to those sinners who appropriate the grace of God through faith alone in Christ alone.
The word functions as an “accusative direct object” meaning that the word receives the action of the verb oikteiro indicating that God’s mercy is extended to those sinners who exercise faith in Christ.
Not translated is the particle an (a&n), which is followed by the subjunctive mood of the second use of the verb oikteiro in order to emphasize that “as a rule” or “as a policy” God’s mercy is appropriated by those sinners who exercise faith in Christ.
“I WILL HAVE COMPASSION” is the first person singular present active subjunctive form of the verb oikteiro (oi)kteivrw) (oyk-ti-ro), which again means “to be merciful” to those sinners who exercise faith in Christ.
The present tense of the verb is a “voluntative” present portraying the subject, God the Father as “desiring” to do something.
It emphasizes God’s sovereign will in that He will extend mercy to whomever He desires or chooses to extend it to.
This passage clearly teaches that God chooses to extend His grace and mercy to whomever He desires to and is not under obligation to do so.
It teaches that He is accountable to no one and chooses to extend grace and mercy towards sinners because as to His nature He is love.
Sinners before a holy God have no rights, thus, God’s grace and mercy is essential to sinners.
Romans 9:15 also teaches that no one in the human race merits His grace or mercy but is rather something He chooses to do for sinners because as to His nature He is love.
The quotation from Exodus 33:19 came right on the heels of the golden calf incident in Israel.
In Exodus 32, God threatened to destroy the entire nation and make a new nation from Moses, which was a test of Moses’ love for his people.
God’s glory was demonstrated in Israel when He extended grace and mercy to those who rebelled against him and worshipped the golden calf.
By not destroying the entire nation and sparing them, God glorified Himself in that His grace and mercy were manifested to the nation.
As we noted in Romans 9:14, Paul emphatically declares that there is never any unrighteousness with respect to God’s judgment in rejecting unregenerate Israel in his day and accepting those Jews who had faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Also, in this passage he indicates that there is never any unrighteousness in God’s judgment with respect to His dealings in the past when He chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau to be members of His covenant people.
In Romans 9:15, Paul supports this argument by presenting the basis for his statement in Romans 9:14 that God is never unfair.
In Romans 9:15, Paul emphatically declares that there is no unrighteousness with respect to God’s judgment in rejecting unregenerate Israel in his day and accepting those Jews who had faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Nor, was there unrighteousness in God’s judgment with respect to His dealings in the past when He chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau to be members of His covenant people.
His reasoning is that God is sovereign and can be merciful and compassionate to whomever He desires.
In Paul’s day, God rejected unsaved Israel and accepted those Jews who had faith in His Son Jesus Christ “because” He is sovereign to do so.
However, we must qualify this by saying that those whom God rejected for rejecting His Son as Savior, God desired for them to be saved but they refused His offer of salvation in His Son.
Therefore, grace and mercy was extended to all men, both Jew and Gentile on the basis that Jesus Christ’s spiritual death on the Cross propitiated the Father’s holiness, which demanded that sin and sinners be the objects of His wrath, i.e. His righteousness indignation.
Thus, those who experienced the grace and mercy of God are those who accepted God’s free gift of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone and those who did not did not were those who rejected Christ as Savior.
Also, God was never unjust in the past when He chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau to be members of His covenant people “because” God is sovereign.
He chose to extend grace and mercy to Isaac and Jacob by making them members of His covenant people since He has that right to do so.
This is not to say that Ishmael and Esau were never extended grace and mercy in the sense that they could not get saved since God desires all men to be saved.
So God extended grace and mercy to these two but Isaac and Jacob not only received grace and mercy in the form of the offer of salvation but also they received it in the form of being made members of the covenant people of God.
Neither earned it or deserved it since no man has any merit with God.
Then, in Romans 9:16, he teaches that experiencing God’s grace and mercy and thus eternal salvation is never dependent upon human desire or effort but rather it is based upon God’s grace policy.
So in Romans 9:15-16, Paul views God’s sovereignty and righteousness from the positive side in that He has every right to accept those into His family who exercise faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Then, in Romans 9:17, he views God’s sovereignty from the negative side to further illustrate why God is never unfair for rejecting those in Paul’s day who rejected Jesus Christ as Savior as well for rejecting Ishmael and Esau.