Romans 9:6-13 - Children of Promise

© 2004 Tony Garland - contact@SpiritAndTruth.org

COURSE

9:6 - Israel Rejected Messiah

• Promises and Failure
  Israel had all these privileges:
  1. the adoption,
  2. the glory,
  3. the covenants,
  4. the giving of the law,
  5. the service of God,
  6. the promises,
  7. the fathers,
  8. the Messiah.
  Yet she rejected her Messiah!

9:6 - God's Word Hasn't Failed

• "it is not that the word of God"
  "It is not" is Ouk hOIon de = "but not such as" or "but not in a similar way." In other words, the Word of God has not stumbled in a similar way as Israel when she rejected her Messiah.
• "has taken no effect"
  "Has taken no effect" is ekPEPtōken : having fallen away ( Gal. 5:4 ) , to drift off-course and run aground ( Acts 27:17 ) .
• The Question
  Can the church of Jesus Christ--God's people--rely upon God's Word when it failed the Jews?

9:6 - Not All Israel

• "they are not all Israel who are of Israel"
  A strict superset / subset relationship:
  1. Superset: those who are "of Israel" (Jacob's physical descendants).
  2. Subset: those who are "of Israel" , but who are "not Israel" (the faithful remnant among the Jews).
• The Believing Remnant from among National Israel
  
  

9:7 - Seed of Abraham

• "nor are they all children"
  Why is God the God of "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" ( Ex. 3:6 ; Mat. 22:32 ), but not the God of "Abraham, Ishmael, and Nebajoth" (Ishmael's firstborn, Gen. 25:13 )? Because the line of promise started at Abraham ( Gen. 12:3 ) , went to Isaac ( Gen. 17:19 ; 21:12 ), and then to Jacob ( Gen. 28:13 ) .
• "In Isaac your seed shall be called."
  Paul quotes Genesis 21:12 where God promises to build a nation called by God through Isaac. (Ishmael will also father a nation, but not a called nation.) The calling of the Jewish nation is similar to the calling of the individual believer ( Rom. 8:30 ) , but differs in that it involves a physical line of descent which individual salvation does not.

9:8 - Flesh vs. Promise

• "children of the flesh"
  This refers to the physical descendants of Abraham who were not party to the promise, including the offspring of Ishmael and Esau.
• "children of the promise"
  These are the physical descendants of Abraham in the line of promise through Isaac and Jacob.

9:8 - Children of God

• Not a comparison between Spiritual and Physical
  Paul is making a comparison between two physical lines of descent to illustrate God's sovereignty. He then uses this analogy to illustrate a difference among individuals within a physical line (the Jews). The believing remnant are the "children of God," the others are the "not all Israel" ( Rom. 9:6 ) .
• An Analogy
  The physical line of promise from the line of Abraham is analogous to the spiritually faithful remnant within the line from Israel.
• "counted as the seed"
  "Counted" is loGIZetai : "to think according to logical rules," "to look on as."

9:9 - Word of Promise

• "Sarah shall have a son."
  Although Abraham longed for Ishmael to be recognized by God ( Gen. 17:18 ) , the promise--initiated by God--identifies Sarah's offspring, not the offspring of Hagar ( Gen. 18:10 ) .

9:10 - By One Man

• "And not only this"
  The connective phrase indicates that Paul is giving another, more powerful example to illustrate his point.
• "by one man"
  "Man" is not the typical anthropos or andras (man, husband), but KOItēn . This is extremely significant. Unlike Ishmael and Isaac who were of a single father, but two mothers, Esau and Jacob had the same mother and father. More than that, they were twins -- conceived in the same act of union ( Gen. 25:21-24 ) .

9:11 - According to Election

• "the purpose of God according to election might stand"
  "Purpose" is PROthesis : "setting forth," "putting out," "presentation."
  
  "Election" is ekloGEN : "divine selection for a purpose or task."
  
  "Stand" is MEne : "to abide," "continue," "remain."
  
  That the visible divine purpose according to God's divine selection might continue.
• "not of works, but of Him who calls"
  "Him who calls" is tou kalOUNtos from kalEō , which recalls the "glory train" which applies to every believer ( Rom. 8:30 ) .
• Paul's Examples Compared
  
  

  Attribute	Isaac and Ishmael	Jacob and Esau
  Father	Abraham	Isaac
  Mother	Sarah and Hagar	Rebecca
  Sexual Union	Two events.	One event.
  Election Declared	After Ishmael born.	Before birth.

9:12 - Older Serves Younger

• "the older shall serve the younger"
  Not only is the blessing of Jacob over Esau determined before birth, but it also involves a reversal of the norm (normally the firstborn has precedence). This is true of both of Paul's examples--further emphasizing the sovereignty of God.

9:13 - Jacob I Have Loved

• "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
  "Loved" is from agaPAō . "Hated" is from misEō .
• Comparative Use: Favor vs. Disfavor.
  These two terms often appear together in a comparative way ( Deu. 21:15, LXX ) . Jesus said those who would follow Him must "hate" their father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and their own life ( Luke 14:26 ) . Yet we are clearly to honor our mother and father ( Ex. 20:12 ) and sacrificially love our wife ( Eph. 5:28-33 ) . The election of Jacob over Esau occurred before their birth ( Gen. 25:23 ; Rom. 9:12 ). The statement that God "hated" Esau refers to his offspring, the nation of Edom ( Mal. 1:1-4 ) and occurs in response to their sinful actions. Here again, we see the juxtaposition of divine sovereignty and human responsibility .
• Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
  God is fully sovereign over history and man is fully responsible for his actions. Examples:
  1. Judas' betrayal of Christ ( Mat. 26:24 ) .
  2. Crucifixion of Jesus by men according to the purpose of God ( Acts 2:22-23 ; Acts 4:27-28 ).

Application

1. God is Sovereign We can do nothing of substance without His involvement ( John 15:5 ) .
2. The Word Cannot be Broken The Word of God is absolutely dependable. He knows the future. He cannot lie. It will come to pass! We can trust our lives to it.	3. Elect within Israel Even now, as at all times, God is working with a believing remnant within national Israel. Although they are part of the body of Christ, the Church, His promises to the nation continue in them.