“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:14-17, ESV).
The Requisite of Gospel Obedience
Israel’s Defiance
“But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for ‘Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’ But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, ‘I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.’ Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.’ But of Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people’” (Rom. 10:18-21).
The people of Israel cannot make the excuse that they have not heard or understood (cf. v. 8), a fallacy preempted by successive scripture citations that reaffirm the first three chapters of this letter. Paul quotes Psalm 19:4, a poetic description of the global dissemination of natural revelation (vv. 1-6), while also extoling God’s special revelation (vv. 7-11). Next is Deuteronomy 32:21 and Isaiah 65:1 prophetically confirming the Lord’s intention all along to include Gentiles in his overall plan. Finally, Isaiah 65:2 is a reminder of Israel’s sordid history of defiance as a “disobedient and contrary people.” Such a sad state of affairs is “not because of God's unfaithfulness or injustice, not because of want of opportunity, but because they are a rebellious people—a people who refuse to be taught, who choose their own way, who cleave to that way in spite of every warning and of every message.”11
Conclusion
Paul’s sincere desire is for Israel’s salvation (9:1-5), but for the most part they have stubbornly rejected God’s plan through Christ (9:6-32). Like all others in need of divine grace, Paul’s ethnic kinsmen must believe and confess Jesus as Lord in obedience to the gospel (10:1-17). They have been afforded sufficient opportunity and are without excuse (10:18-21). But such a regrettable situation does not have to be final, as explained in the next chapter.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 See K. L. Moore, “What Must I Do To Be Saved?” Moore Perspective (30 Jan. 2015), <Link>.
2 Rom. 10:16; 2 Thess. 1:8; 1 Pet. 4:17; cp. Heb. 4:2, 6.
3 Rendered “report” (ASV, NASB, N/KJV) or “message” (CSB, NIV), ἀκοή in this passage refers to “the announcement heard.” Cf. John 12:38.
4 Cf. Matt. 13:13-17; 1 Thess. 2:13; Jas. 1:22-25.
5 Cf. Ex. 24:7; Deut. 6:4; 31:11-13. See W. Wilson, OT Word Studies 211-12.
6 Cf. Mark 4:23-24; Acts 2:22, 37; 3:22.
7 Cf. Eph. 4:21, 29; Phil. 4:9; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29.
8 Only one other time employing ῥῆμα (Eph. 6:17); most often λόγος (1 Cor. 14:36; 2 Cor. 2:17; 4:2; Col. 1:25; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 4:5; 2 Tim. 2:9; Tit. 2:5).
9 Elsewhere Paul speaks of “the word of Christ” [ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ] (Col. 3:16) and “the word of the Lord” [ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου] (1 Thess. 1:8).
10 See B. M. Metzger, Textual Commentary 525.
11 W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 293.
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