Romans: The Glory of the Gospelಮಾದರಿ

All Hearts in God’s Hands

We come now to what is for some the most difficult portion of Romans. Here in chapter 9, Paul goes back to where he began—reaching out to his fellow Jews. Having embraced Jesus as Lord, Gentiles have come flooding into the church. At the same time, a large number of Jews, God’s people Israel, have rejected Jesus. Because of this rejection, Paul says, these Jews are now the outsiders, and therefore, to their way of thinking, God has failed to keep his covenant promise. But the truth is, they have misunderstood that promise, and that’s what Paul explains here in Romans 9. Let me urge you, before we begin, not to be put off by Paul’s focus on the Jews, as if everyone else was excluded from what he’s teaching here. The truth is, what’s here is for all God’s people, including us. In this section, we get to see how God works through centuries and people and even emotions to bring about his purposes. We get to see that his promises never fail. And we get to see that God determines the destiny of every human being. So, as you can see, all this matters a great deal for each one of us.

The Jews being cut off by their unbelief raises a perplexing question for those who know Bible history: Hadn’t God called set apart Israel, the Jewish people, to be his special people from the time of Abraham? Hadn’t God brought them out of Egypt and established them in the promised land of Canaan? Hadn’t he given them King David and the promise of David’s descendants to keep them forever secure? So, if the Jews have now been cut off by not believing in Jesus, doesn’t that mean God’s promises to Israel have failed?

Back in Genesis, God promised the patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah a son of their very own, but they got tired of waiting for God to fulfill this promise, so they obtained a son, Ishmael, by means of a surrogate. But a son born to Abraham’s true wife Sarah, a boy named Isaac, was the promised son (you’ll find God’s promise of this son in Genesis 18:10–15). So here Paul reminds his readers of this history. Then, to reinforce the point he’s making, he includes Isaac’s own sons, Esau and Jacob. According to custom, Esau, as firstborn, was entitled to special rights and privileges, but the younger son, Jacob, was given those blessings instead.

God’s choosing Jacob the younger over Esau the firstborn wasn’t breaking a promise— it was fulfilling a promise in his own way. So the problem isn’t that God doesn’t keep his promises—it’s that his people have their own expectations of how those promises should play out. But this now raises another question:

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. (Romans 9:14–18, ESV)

The question has to do with God’s justice, or fairness. Paul answers by drawing from yet more of Israel’s history. He first reminds his readers of how God revealed himself to Moses on Mount Sinai: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (You can read the fuller story in Exodus 33.)

So Paul has shown that God does keep his promises, but he fulfills them in his own way in his own time. And his promises are for both Israel and Gentiles:

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.” (Romans 9:30–33, ESV)

Reflection: God’s promises never fail. That’s our overarching takeaway today. Sometimes, though, what happens in the world and in our very own lives causes us to doubt. Consider what you learned about trusting God when circumstances seem to contradict his promises.