Not All Israel

I tell you the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

When Paul declares that nothing can separate us from God's love, an inevitable question follows: what about Israel?

An Inevitable Question

Before we step into Romans 9, let us not forget the victorious closing of Romans 8: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers... shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." What a good truth! Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

But those words of assurance leave a wide-open door for an inevitable question. Throughout Romans, Paul anticipates and answers objections—he was, after all, a Jewish lawyer by training as a Pharisee. So the objection comes: if nothing can separate us from the love of God, what about God's chosen people, to whom He said, "I have loved you with an everlasting love"?

At the time Paul wrote, most descendants of Abraham had not received the redemption that comes through Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. If anyone should be certain of their position with God, you would expect it to be the nation of Israel, the children of promise. Yet Paul himself had already undermined that expectation back in chapter 2: "he is not a Jew who is one outwardly... but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit." Being a descendant of Abraham was no shoo-in for grace; something internal must take place.

Why Romans 9–11 Is Here

So Paul anticipates the response in chapter 3: "What advantage then has the Jew, or what profit is circumcision?" Romans 9 picks up right where chapter 3 left off. Many have asked why Paul returns to this subject at all—the book of Romans would read perfectly well without chapters 9, 10, and 11.

But there is a reason. Romans was written by Paul in the mid-fifties AD from Corinth, at the end of his third missionary journey, as something of a discipleship manual for a young church. Chapters 1 through 8 are among the most doctrinally focused words in the New Testament—what a Christian is to believe. Chapters 12 through 15 are practical exhortations—how a Christian is to live. In the middle stand chapters 9, 10, and 11, where Paul speaks frankly about God's relationship with His covenanted people, the descendants of Abraham.

From the earliest days of the Christian movement there was a clear division within the body of Christ between Jewish and Gentile believers. Paul's aim is to mitigate that division, because it is God's aim that there be one body in Christ. As Ephesians teaches, God has torn down the middle wall of partition; in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but one baptism, one faith, one Lord, one hope.

The Gospel to the Jew First

Christ came as a descendant of Abraham in the flesh—fully God, yet fully man. The Gospel came to the Jewish people first, but it was never God's aim that it stay there. Jesus told His disciples they would witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. God's goal has always been for all peoples.

We see this division throughout Acts. Until Acts 10 there was no problem, because the Gospel was spreading among Jews. Then Peter was invited to the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion—Gentile territory. This was such a big deal that God prepared Peter's heart with a three-fold vision: "Call nothing common or unclean." While Peter preached, the Spirit fell upon those Gentiles, and they believed. God revealed that He is not a respecter of persons. How many today rejoice that God is not a respecter of persons? We should—because by our fallen nature, we are respecters of persons.

When Peter returned to Jerusalem, this caused a stir: "You would go and be with Gentiles?" But Peter said, "The same Spirit that fell upon us came upon them. What was I to do?" So they baptized them. The division grew sharper when Paul and Barnabas planted churches in Gentile cities like Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe, and the Gospel was received among non-Jews. That led to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, where it was recognized that God was doing the same work among Gentiles as among Jews.

Everywhere Paul went on his missionary journeys, this problem persisted. Just after one of his sharpest encounters with it in Corinth, he writes to Rome and says, in effect, "This is not to be a problem."

A Word for Us Too

Do not miss that God used Saul of Tarsus, a super-orthodox Pharisee, as the vessel to proclaim these words. There may not be a great divide today between Jewish and Gentile Christians, but there are still cultural, racial, and generational divides—and God says, "I want My church to be one body. I don't want schism and division." These chapters apply to us. We also learn that although the Jewish nation en masse does not follow Jesus today, God still has an aim and ambition for His people that we are not to be ignorant of.

Paul's Great Sorrow

Paul opens by affirming his sincerity both positively and negatively: "I tell you the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing witness in the Holy Spirit." He wants us to know this is not hyperbole but the sincerest truth in his heart—"that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart."

What is so heavy? "For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ"—that he would give up his own eternal salvation—"for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh." I don't know a single person who would honestly say, "I would relinquish my eternity in the presence of God for the salvation of another." Some might give their lives for a spouse or children, but to give up eternity itself?

This is rivaled only by one other in Scripture. In Exodus 32, after Israel made the golden calf, God told Moses His plan was to judge them. Moses interceded: "God, blot me out of Your book," if it means You will not bring judgment upon them. Paul has that same heart: "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren," that they might come to faith.

Christ Already Accursed for Us

Yet this wish was neither possible nor necessary—because One was already accursed for our salvation. Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us... 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'" Paul did not need to be accursed for Israel's sin, because Jesus was accursed for all humanity. The sad reality is that the people from whom Jesus came rejected the salvation in Him.

Not all of them—Paul, Peter, Bartholomew, Thomas, and many others were Jewish. Not all stumbled or rejected. There is a remnant, exactly as God said there would be. But notice Paul says "according to the flesh," speaking of those from whom he descended, not his brothers in Christ.

This challenges us. Is there in our hearts this kind of pain and grief for those we are connected to—family, friends, co-workers, countrymen—who have not bowed the knee to Jesus? The life of Paul reveals a man so driven by the lostness of humanity that he was compelled to bring the Gospel. Are we burdened that so many in our nation are lost without a Savior, to the point that the love of Christ compels us? It is my prayer that God would stir that kind of love in us.

Israel's Great Privileges

Beginning in verse 4, Paul lists who these people are. They "are Israelites"—direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel.

To them pertain the adoption—not the spiritual adoption that comes only in Christ (Ephesians 1:5), but a national adoption as God's chosen people. In Deuteronomy 7, God told them, "I didn't choose you because you're the greatest; you're the least. I chose you because I loved you and set My purpose upon you."

They had the glory—the privilege of possessing the manifested glory of God: the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, the Shekinah glory dwelling in the Holy of Holies. To no other nation did God reveal His glory this way.

They had the covenants—a special covenantal relationship made by vows before witnesses: the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Davidic. The greatest of all, intended for all peoples, was the New Covenant Jesus established the night He was betrayed.

They had the law—the direct revelation of God's will and nature. They had the service of God—the priestly and sacrificial ordinances. They were called to be a nation of priests, though after the golden calf only one tribe was so called, where before, every firstborn son had been. An unfortunate consequence of sin.

They had the promises. The old covenant is filled with great and precious promises. One was that they would be more numerous than the stars and sand—a promise ultimately fulfilled spiritually, not physically, in those who are children of Abraham by faith. They also had the promise of a great possession, the Promised Land. And they had the fathers: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David—men and women who followed God by faith, as listed in Hebrews 11.

The Greatest Advantage: Christ Himself

The greatest privilege of all comes in verse 5: "according to the flesh, Christ came." Every other advantage pales beside this—the Messiah descended through Israel. Notice what Paul says of Him: "who is over all, the eternally blessed God." This is one of the only places in Scripture where it is explicitly stated that Jesus is the eternally blessed God. Our English punctuation sometimes obscures it, but in the original language it is clear. To that we should all say, "Amen."

Privilege Brings Opportunity

These blessings afforded Israel opportunity like no other nation—opportunity to draw near to God and to declare God to all the world. What did they do with it? This is no anti-Semitic tirade; they simply missed their calling, hoarding what was given them instead of declaring it. Called to be priests to the nations, they became an exclusive group.

We are in real danger of doing the same thing. We can become an exclusive club: "You have to walk this way, look like this, be baptized by this church to meet with God." We are guilty of the very same thing. By God's grace Israel was afforded great blessing; by God's grace we have been too. How are we using it? Are we taking advantage of it, or taking it for granted? Paul's exhortation is clear: we must bring the grace of God to all peoples.

The Promise to Abraham

Although the Redeemer came through Israel, most of the descendants of Abraham have not partaken of the blessing—a sad reality for over 2,000 years. Look at Genesis 12:1: "Now the Lord had said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.'" Abraham was 75, married to Sarah, 65. God called him to uproot and follow by faith.

God gives a conditional promise: "I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you shall be a blessing... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Notice He does not say, "You shall make yourself a blessing." Everything God would do would make Abraham a blessing by default. And at 75 with no children, the promise of a great nation meant the promise of descendants.

Why would Abraham become a blessing to all peoples? Not because of who he was—follow his life and you find him quite a bonehead. He told his wife in Egypt, "Say you're my sister, so they won't kill me." That may have been a compliment, since she was in her sixties! And after being kicked out, he did it again. Many of us can identify with Abraham's boneheadedness. He became a blessing not because of himself, but because of the One who would come through him—Jesus is the blessing.

When verse 3 says, "I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you," that speaks primarily of the Blessed One that would come from Abraham. Bless the Messiah, and you will be blessed; curse Him, and you will be cursed eternally. Abraham, once an idolater, followed God by faith, and through him came the Messiah.

Why Israel Stumbled

Why did Israel not largely receive this redemption? Because they stumbled. First, they stumbled that they were not saved by their lineage or good works. Second, they stumbled that the redemption would come also to Gentiles—that they were not its exclusive recipients. Third, and biggest of all, they stumbled at the Redeemer Himself. Jesus did not fit their expectations of the Messiah.

Romans 9:31-33 says it plainly: "Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written, 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone... and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'" Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness, but many of his descendants sought righteousness by their own works—and stumbled at Christ.

We sit here as some of the most blessed and privileged people in the world. One great blessing is access to the Scriptures, freedom to worship, and abundant opportunity to learn and share our faith. May it never be that we fail to take advantage of it.

Not All Israel Who Are Israel

Romans 9 builds upon the sovereignty of God we saw in chapter 8—not to the negation of man's responsibility, but to reveal that God, through His power, by His promise, and according to His foreknowledge, brings salvation.

Paul illustrates this in verses 6-9: "But it is not that the word of God has not taken effect. For they are not all Israel who are Israel." This is an important play on words. They were descendants of Israel—Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, whom God named Israel—but not all of them were Israel. The name Israel means governed of God. Though descended from Israel, they were not all governed of God, for that requires submitting to His governance by faith.

Isaac, the Son of Promise

"Nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called.'" When ten years passed with no child, Sarah, now 75, said, "This isn't working. Go in to my handmaid Hagar." So Abraham fathered Ishmael by his own flesh.

Thirteen years later, God reaffirmed His covenant: Sarah herself would bear a son. Abraham said, "What about Ishmael?" God said no. Galatians tells us Ishmael was the son of Abraham's flesh—his own work, ingenuity, and power. God said, "I will make you a great nation, according to My promise and My power, not yours." Salvation is never according to our power, but always according to His promise and His power. God blessed Ishmael and made him a great nation, but the promise—the Messiah—would come through Isaac.

So at 99, Abraham heard again that he would have a son. Sarah conceived and at 90 bore a son they named Laughter—that is what Isaac means—because they were so blown away. "In Isaac shall your seed be called."

Verse 8: "Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed." By the time Jesus came, Israel thought privilege with God was purely by heritage. John the Baptist exposed that fallacy in Matthew 3: "Bear fruits worthy of repentance... and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones." Your lineage is nothing to God.

Jacob and Esau: Salvation by Foreknowledge

Salvation is also according to God's foreknowledge. Verse 10: "when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac." Isaac married Rebecca, who was barren until God enabled her to conceive—twins, in a hard pregnancy. She cried out, and God said, "There are two nations in your womb."

"For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls, it was said to her, 'The older shall serve the younger.'" The first son came out red and hairy, so they named him Esau—hairy. The second held his brother's heel, so they named him Jacob—heel catcher. The promise that the older would serve the younger meant the Messiah would come through the younger, Jacob.

Verse 13 is hard for many: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." People struggle with "Esau I have hated," but I have a harder time with "Jacob I have loved"—Jacob was a rascal. God had to wrestle him and dislocate his hip, then rename him Israel, "governed of God."

This was written 1,400 years after Jacob and Esau lived. Never in their lifetimes did the older serve the younger. But over time, looking at the two nations, it would appear God loved Jacob more and Esau less. "Hated" here should be understood as loved less—the same idea Jesus uses when He says one cannot be His disciple without "hating" father and mother, meaning loving them less by comparison. In Malachi 1, God says, "I have loved you," and when Israel asks how, He answers, "Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Yet Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated"—because through Jacob came the Messiah, while the Edomites who came from Esau did not receive the same blessing.

God's Sovereign Plan

The ultimate point of Romans 9:1-13, through all these illustrations, is that God in His sovereignty brings salvation by His power, through His promise, and according to His foreknowledge. He knew Jacob would be the one through whom the Messiah would come. Israel was not a perfect people, but God had a perfect plan.

The question is whether we will respond to His promise and His power by faith. The sad reality is that Israel, the descendants of Abraham, has largely rejected God's promise of redemption in Jesus Christ. But that is not the end of the story. We'll look at more of it next week.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for this good word. It is a tough passage, but I pray that You would help us comprehend it, understand it, and walk in the truth of Your grace—and share it with those we know in our families, neighborhoods, and workplaces, wherever we meet people who have yet to respond to Your grace. God, give us boldness to share it and not be fearful. Help us not to be hoarders who think this grace is only ours, but to recognize that just as You called Israel to be a nation of priests, You have made us a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, to declare Your praises in this world. So use us as Your priests, we ask, in Jesus' name. Amen.