Israel’s Rejection of Christ
1 I speak the truth in Christ r—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit — 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish s that I myself were cursed t and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites, u and to them belong the adoption, v the glory, w the covenants, x the giving of the law, y the temple service, z and the promises. a 5 The ancestors are theirs, b and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, c who is God d over all, e praised forever. ,f Amen.
God’s Gracious Election of Israel
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, g because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. h 7 Neither are all of Abraham’s children his descendants. ,i On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. ,j 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, k but the children of the promise l are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son. ,m 10 And not only that, n but Rebekah conceived children o through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand p— 12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger. ,q 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. ,r
God’s Selection Is Just
14 What should we say then? s Is there injustice with God? t Absolutely not! u 15 For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ,v 16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effort w but on God who shows mercy. x 17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth. ,y 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden. z
19 You will say to me, a therefore, “Why then does he still find fault? b For who can resist his will? ” c 20 But who are you, a mere man, to talk back to God? d Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this? ” e 21 Or has the potter no right over the clay, f to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? 22 And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience g objects of wrath prepared for destruction? h 23 And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory i on objects of mercy j that he prepared beforehand for glory k— 24 on us, the ones he also called, l not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? m 25 As it also says in Hosea,
I will call Not My People, My People,
and she who is Unloved, Beloved. ,n
26 And it will be in the place where they were told,
you are not my people,
there they will be called sons of the living God. ,o
27 But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
Though the number of Israelites
is like the sand of the sea, p
only the remnant will be saved; q
28 since the Lord will execute his sentence
completely and decisively on the earth. ,,r
29 And just as Isaiah predicted:
If the Lord of Hosts had not left us offspring, s
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have been made like Gomorrah. ,t
Israel’s Present State
30 What should we say then? u Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith. v 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, w has not achieved the righteousness of the law. ,x 32 Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. y 33 As it is written,
Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,
and the one who believes on him z
will not be put to shame. ,a
9:1–5. The present unbelief of many of his Jewish compatriots pains the apostle to the utmost, a fact that Paul underscores with the solemn affirmation that he speaks the truth (9:1). Jewish unbelief grieves Paul greatly (9:2). The cause for his grief is apparent from Paul’s argument in the larger context. His intense concern for the salvation of the Jews is expressed in dramatic fashion: if it could lead to the salvation of his people, Paul would wish to be cursed and thus cut off from Jesus Christ (9:3; cf. 10:1). Paul’s wish is similar to Moses’s plea after the Israelites reject the Lord and worship the golden calf (Ex 32:32). He knows that such a wish cannot be fulfilled (cf. Rm 8:35–39). The theological significance of the Jews’ refusal to believe in Jesus Christ becomes obvious in 9:4–5. Since Israel was God’s chosen people, who had privileges that the Gentiles did not possess, Israel’s unbelief raises the question of God’s covenant faithfulness (9:6). Paul ends the enumeration of Israel’s privileges with a doxology directed at Jesus the Messiah (9:5). [The Privileges of Israel]
9:6–13. Paul argues first that those who are heirs to the promise constitute the true membership in Israel. The word of God has not been rendered invalid. The point is that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (9:6), and not all Abraham’s descendants are “Abraham’s children” (9:7a). In 9:7b–9 Paul proves this to be the case first with reference to Isaac. From the two sons of Abraham (born of two different mothers), God chose Isaac, not Ishmael, as the person for whom his promise of offspring would be fulfilled (Gn 21:12). This means for the purpose of God’s election that biological descendants of Abraham are not automatically children of God. Rather, it is God’s promise that causes some of Abraham’s natural descendants to be God’s children (9:8). This is confirmed by Gn 18:10, 14—Isaac was the promised son, not Ishmael (9:9).
9:14–21. Second, Paul argues that it is God’s free mercy that makes people members of the true people of God. Paul repudiates the conclusion that God is unjust/unrighteous. This objection (9:14) follows naturally from what Paul has argued: if God elects people to be his children without regard for birth and works—without regard for affiliation with Israel—does this not call into question God’s covenant faithfulness? Is God not unjust? Paul dismisses this objection. God is the sovereign Creator of the world. Paul’s argument again proceeds in two stages. First, the freedom of God’s mercy revealed to Moses (Ex 33:19) demonstrates that affiliation with God’s election is the result of God’s mercy, not the result of human desire or effort (9:15–16). Second, the freedom of God’s power and judgment visited on Pharaoh (Ex 9:16) demonstrates that history is the work of God’s sovereign omnipotence (9:17–18). God grants mercy to some, while he decides to harden the hearts of others, though in the example of Pharaoh, Pharaoh hardened his own heart as well.
9:22–29. The application of this truth is compelling. As God has acted in the past without regard to ancestry or works of the law, so he has shown mercy to believers in Jesus Christ in the present, and in particular to Gentiles. In Jewish literature Esau and Ishmael are often viewed as outsiders/Gentiles, cut off from God’s covenant, but God has shown mercy to Gentiles through Christ, not just to those who bear the marks of Abraham’s lineage. God’s actions with regard to the “objects of wrath” are linked with the unbelieving Jews: God has endured them with much patience, but they have been made for destruction (9:22). In 1:18–3:20 Paul demonstrates that God’s wrath against the unbelieving Jewish people (as against pagans) is not arbitrary but the consequence of their own actions of disobedience.
9:30–33. Paul next addresses the situation of unbelieving Israel. Many of the Jewish people insist on attaining righteousness through the law, rejecting Jesus Christ, while many Gentiles have believed in Jesus and thus have been declared righteous (9:30–33). Unbelieving Israel’s zeal is misguided, as they have failed to subject themselves to God’s righteousness established through Jesus Christ, who fulfills the ultimate purpose of the law (10:1–13). Israel has no excuse for unbelief, as God has sent messengers to proclaim the good news of Jesus, a message that should have caused the Jewish people to come to faith (10:14–21).