Lesson 118

Romans Chapter Nine

The Faithfulness of God to Israel

Review:

- When God desired to bless humanity.

He chose to do so through the channel of Israel, therefore He separated them as a special people.

I will speak with Israel, and Israel is to share the word with the world.

I will give to Israel her King and her Messiah, who will bless you.

** One last thing; All future hope for any real peace in the world is going to come via Israel.

** As important as it is to be properly oriented to the Church age; it is as vital to see the proper place of Israel in God's program for the ages;

It is the key to the past, it is the key to the future!

#2. "and the glory" this reflects what is probably one of the greatest miracle of Scripture!

- The glory is a sign of God's divine presence with Israel, from the day they were established and the glory/cloud traveled with them for 40 years.

- God gave the people of Israel the cloud and it did basically 2 things for them;

#1 it indicated God's presence. Nu 14:14

#2 it reminded them that they were the object of God's guidance, provision and protection;

Note: Just think of the logistics of moving 600,000 men, not counting the families; total probably in excess of 2 million; across a desert, no water, no twin arches, sand doesn't digest very well;

- There's another aspect related to the presence of God in the cloud in the tabernacle/temple.

Because it is the place for the functional presence of the Lord, of YHWH, the place of fellowship with Him, the place was also called, the "tent of the meeting" and the "tent of the testimony."

- The way of expressing fellowship, an ongoing relationship with God was through tabernacle terms;

- Psa. 15:1 "abide in your tent"

- Psa. 23:6 "dwell in the house of the Lord"

- Psa. 24:3-4 "His holy place"

- "tent of the testimony" Num. 9:15;

#3. "and the covenants" plural; Abrahamic with its provisions; Palestinian, Davidic and the New; all flow out of it. [reviewed at the beginning]

#4. "and the giving of the law" Mosaic law to govern their social, political and religious life.

- this was a conditional covenant; if you do this I will do this.

- only nation with a divinely given constitution is Israel

#5. "and the (temple) service"; latreia = refers to the ceremonial ritual of the tabernacle & temple;

- Israel had the only God given worship system; tabernacle, temple;

#6. "the promises" ai, evpaggeli,ai,

- not only the things related to the provisions of the covenants but also eschatologically the promise of a coming Messiah and His rule and reign.

9:5 Continues the Advantages

#7. "whose are the fathers"; w-n oi` pate,rej

- refers to the patriarchs, the regenerate line; through which comes their true heritage, Abe, Isaac and Jacob;

#8. (last and greatest) "and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh,"

- The Messiah the coming anointed one is from Israel, in His humanity.

- 1:3 the Son, "a descendant of David according to the flesh."

- In Jn 1:14 "the Word became flesh" [condescension]

What is said here can only be said of Deity?

- "Blessed" = euvloghto,j; verbal adjective; indicates one who is worthy of blessing, based on their character!

- The whole phrase appears as it does here 2 other times, 2 Cor 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3

- We are blessed by God NOT on the basis of our personal merit; but on the basis of our position IN CHRIST!

So what happened to them; in spite of all of these blessings, What has happened to Israel?

We find the answer in the following context - Rom 9:6-13.

3. 9:6-13 God's faithfulness to Israel

#1 not based on their genealogy; physical descent 9:6-10

Apparently, some were already questioning whether God had failed to keep His Word to the Israelites.

"But it is not as though God's word had failed." (Romans 9:6a)

Don't conclude that there has been a change in the promise to Israel!