(20) God’s plan for Israel, past – Romans 9:1-12

¹ With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. ² My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief ³ for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.  I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. ⁴ They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.  God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. ⁵ Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

 ⁶ Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! ⁷ Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. ⁸ This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. ⁹ For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

 ¹⁰ This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. ¹¹ But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; ¹² he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.”

It grieved Paul to know that there are so many of his Jewish brothers and sisters that clung to the Jewish faith for their salvation.  I believe it pained him so badly because he was one of them.  He said in verse 3 that he would be willing to give up his own salvation if it would save the people of Israel.  But he knew it didn’t work that way. 

Before his conversion, Paul was so convinced that being a Jew was the only way to God, that he set out to end this Jesus movement – rid the world, once and far all, of these “Followers of the Way” – these rebels of the Jewish faith.

But then his eyes were opened.  He now saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies.   Jesus is their long awaited Messiah.  As promised, the Messiah came and conquered their greatest enemy.  The problem was that the Jews thought the Romans were their greatest enemy.  But, God knew that it was sin.

Paul wanted so badly for all of mankind to realize this truth.  And it broke his heart to know that so many of God’s chosen people would never see it.  It was never about being a Jew.  It was about faith in God.  God promised that the entire world would be saved through the Jewish Messiah – not just the Jews. 

But in our human, legalistic, point of view, we concentrate on the superficial, and forget about the meaning.  When God said that Abraham’s descendants would be blessed, the Jews truly believed that the key word was “descendants”, when in actuality; the key word is “blessed”.

So, what exactly was this blessing?  In Genesis 12, Abraham (then called Abram) stepped out in faith and did what God asked him to do.  And, in doing so, God promised him,

“I will cause you to become the father of a great nation.  I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others.  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.  All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3 NLT

God’s ultimate promise was that all of the families of the earth would be blessed through this covenant with Abraham.  But, there was one big problem:  Abraham and his wife Sarah were already old, and they had no children. So in Genesis 15, God reaffirmed His promise to Abraham by declaring that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars, and that God would give him a son that would inherit all of God’s blessings.

Isaac was their promised child, and through Isaac, God’s promise would be delivered.  Once again, the Jews focused on the first part of the promise, that is, “that God would make them a great nation”.  But God’s plan was to bless the entire world by delivering His Son, their Savior, through the descendants of Isaac. 

It was never about being a Jew.  It was always about being a blessing.  Abraham had other children, but it was Isaac by whom the promise would be delivered.  Isaac had two sons, but it was Jacob by whom the promise would be delivered.  It was up to God to decide how He would make it happen.

Study Questions

How much are you willing to sacrifice so that others would be saved?

Paul was willing to give up his own salvation if it meant that his Jewish brothers and sisters could be saved.  He knew it didn’t work that way, but his heart still burned for them.  As modern Christians, we are often more concerned about our own salvation then that of others.  We make sure that we are right with God, and that our spouses and children are right, but how often do we step out into the world with concern for others who don’t know Christ – for complete strangers?  Are you wiling to sacrifice your time, money, energy, comfort, and safety as Paul did?  Jesus said, “Go out into all of the world and make disciples…”  He never said, “Stay at home and save yourself.”  Make it a point to speak to someone about Christ.

Has God’s plan for Israel changed?

The nation of Israel was trusting in God’s promise to make them a great nation.  But, God’s idea of a great nation was to bring the Messiah, the Savior of the World, as a blessing to the entire world through them.  They didn’t trust God.  They were trusting in their interpretation of His promise.  They wanted so badly to be free from Roman rule that on Palm Sunday, they welcomed Jesus as their conquering king.  But, when Jesus didn’t fulfill their expectations, the same crowd shouted, “Crucify Him” less than a week later.  God’s plan and purpose for Israel has never changed.  He knew that they would reject Him.  Yet, His plan for Israel is still alive today.  Israel will play a key role in the second coming of our Lord.