Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice (cont’d from 9:15-18)
“You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?” (Rom. 9:19-24, ESV).
Paul returns to second person dialogue.1 Using the potter-clay analogy (cf. Isa. 29:16; Jer. 18:6), he responds to someone who might be spiritually short-sighted and oblivious (like the misguided Jew), having the audacity to question the Creator’s sovereign purpose and work (vv. 19-20). God’s thoughts and ways are much higher than ours (Isa. 55:8-9). The Lord could have created each person as a pre-programed robot, unconditionally predestined for either honor or dishonor (the Calvinistic reading of the text). Or God could have designed each person as a free moral agent and predetermined that the submissive and obedient ones are destined for honor and the rebellious and disobedient ones are destined for dishonor (same “lump,” different results).
The fact that God “endured with much patience vessels of wrath” (v. 22) indicates that sinful persons are afforded sufficient opportunity to repent and alter their destructive course (cf. 2:3-4). God “prepared beforehand” condemnation (“wrath” and “destruction”) for the defiant and “glory” for the compliant (2:4-11),2 regardless of Jew/Gentile ethnicity (vv. 22-33; cf. 2:1–15:33; Acts 10:34-35; 2 Pet. 3:9).
“As indeed he says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God’” (Rom. 9:25-26).
God’s blessings were always meant to include every ethnic group among all nations (cf. 2:17-20), as foretold by the ancient prophets. Quoting the prophetic words of Hosea 1:10 and 2:23, the counting of Gentiles among God’s “people,” “beloved,” and “sons” is fulfilled in Christ (cf. 1:7; 8:14-23, 37; 15:10).
“And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.’ And as Isaiah predicted, ‘If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah’” (Rom. 9:27-29).
Now quoting Isaiah 10:22 and 1:9, it was also foretold that “only a remnant” of the people of Israel “will be saved” or delivered from divine wrath (5:9), with the rest cut off according to God’s righteous judgment (cf. 2:5-6). This lays the groundwork for and qualifies what will later be affirmed, “in this way” [οὕτως]—“through faith … if they do not continue in their unbelief”—“all Israel will be saved” (11:20-26). Sadly, not all, only a remnant, qualify (cf. vv. 30-32; 11:5, 14).
Israel’s Present Condition
“What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame’” (Rom. 9:30-32).
On the rhetorical question, “What shall we say?” – see also v. 14; 3:5; 6:1. The fundamental issue that has been addressed all along is that “righteousness” is obtained “by faith” (cf. 1:16–5:2) rather than pursuance of “a law” and its “works” (cf. 3:20–4:16). Following a number of OT citations, the chapter ends with a blended quote from Isaiah 28:16 and 8:14, wherein the “rock of offense” is Yahweh, applicable here to Christ (v. 5a; 10:4).3 Paul sees in the Hebrew Bible the distinction between the law of Moses and the gospel of Christ, “manifesting his concern to prove that the gospel that has proved a stumbling block for so many Jews and a foundation stone for so many Gentiles is in continuity with the OT.”4
The phrase “whoever believes in him” (ESV) is lit. “the one believing upon [the ground or supporting basis of] him” [ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ], descriptive not merely of what saved people have done to get saved but essentially who we are, penitent baptized believers (6:1-18) who have submitted to “obedience of faith” (1:5; 16:19).
Conclusion
Thus far in this three-chapter discourse, Paul has biblically established that the divine plan, including the current state of affairs, has long been foreseen by God and foretold by his writing prophets. Demonstrated through the ages by his profound forbearance (cf. 2:4; 3:25), God is perfectly righteous, never arbitrary or unfair. Paul is gradually developing a case that continues through the end of chap. 11. Therefore, before drawing definitive conclusions about doctrinal peculiarities, we should allow context, flow of thought (incl. the first eight chapters), and awareness of different aspects of the subject matter to clarify what has been affirmed so far.5
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Note Rom. 2:1-5, 17-29; 3:1-9; 9:19-21; 11:17-24; 14:4, 10; 1 Cor. 6:12-20; 15:29-41; Gal. 2:17-19; 3:1-9, 19-22.
2 E. F. Harrison points out the ambiguity of the expression “prepared for destruction” (v. 22), which does not necessarily implicate God in the action (in contrast to v. 23). Harrison comments: “The preparation for destruction is the work of man, who allows himself to deteriorate in spite of knowledge and conscience” (“Romans,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary [Ed. F. E. Gaebelein] 10:107).
3 Cf. 1 Peter 2:4-7. See K. L. Moore, “The Exegetical Challenge of Romans 9:5b,” Moore Perspective (1 May 2024), <Link>.
4 D. J. Moo, Romans 644.
No comments:
Post a Comment